The Color of Pomegranates (1969) : Limited Edition Blu-ray by Second Sight

[DefLeppard]

Finally The Color Of Pomegranates will be on blu-ray scheduled to be released on Nov 20, 2017 by Second Sight.



Having owned the Kino's DVD (pathetic PQ/VHS rip) box set, I hoped Kino would pick this up before any one do ever since I read about its restoration project.

Details of the restoration work can be found here!

In short "the restoration was conducted by the Cineteca di Bologna/L’Immagine Ritrova and the Film Foundation/World Cinema Project. It was derived from multiple picture and sound elements. The camera negative held at Gosfilmofond of Russia was scanned in 4k, as was the duplicate negative of the Armenian version held at National Cinema Centre of Armenia. For a color reference they used an early Orwocolor release print from the Harvard Film Archive.

For the soundtrack, where possible they used the original magnetic recording held at Gosfimofond, and the optical track from an Armenian print for the audio portions not present in the Yutkevich cut. "

Looking at this Cannes trailer,I am of the opinion that the picture is soft lacking the sharpness but nevertheless a worth upgrade.

Sayat Nova, la couleur de la grenade de Serguei Paradjanov - Bande-annonce - YouTube

Not sure why this is being released as LE by Second Sight but I hope this will enter the larger market soon.

[Vakulinchuk]

In before Ritrovata can-of-worms....

[brainofj72]

What are the chances of this being region-free? Not good, I assume?

[qw0aszx]

Saw this restoration back in 2015, I think it's a huge upgrade.

[Cremildo]

A Paradjanov film restored and remastered in HD? Can't wait for this.

[CouncilSpectre]

Originally Posted by brainofj72

What are the chances of this being region-free? Not good, I assume?

Second Sight do lock their releases unfortunately.

[brainofj72]

Originally Posted by CouncilSpectre

Second Sight do lock their releases unfortunately.

I still have a very faint glimmer of hope since their Betty Blue BD is region-free, but yeah, I'm probably screwed since it's starting to look like this isn't gonna get a US release.

[PaperThinWalls]

Originally Posted by brainofj72

I still have a very faint glimmer of hope since their Betty Blue BD is region-free, but yeah, I'm probably screwed since it's starting to look like this isn't gonna get a US release.

At a recent screening someone confirmed that the film is playing with a Janus logo, so Criterion will very likely release it in the US in the future.

[Boris_Karloff]

I'm looking forward to finally watching this film in HD.

[brainofj72]

Originally Posted by PaperThinWalls

At a recent screening someone confirmed that the film is playing with a Janus logo, so Criterion will very likely release it in the US in the future.

That is fantastic news! I know Scorsese's World Cinema Project was involved with the restoration, so I was hoping maybe it would be released in one of Criterion's box sets.

[malakaheso]

Releasing it in a boxset would be sacrilege, unless it's packaged with a few of the director's other films.

[jsteffe]

Originally Posted by addy5684

Finally The Color Of Pomegranates will be on blu-ray scheduled to be released on Nov 20, 2017 by Second Sight.



Having owned the Kino's DVD (pathetic PQ/VHS rip) box set, I hoped Kino would pick this up before any one do ever since I read about its restoration project.

Details of the restoration work can be found here!

In short "the restoration was conducted by the Cineteca di Bologna/L’Immagine Ritrova and the Film Foundation/World Cinema Project. It was derived from multiple picture and sound elements. The camera negative held at Gosfilmofond of Russia was scanned in 4k, as was the duplicate negative of the Armenian version held at National Cinema Centre of Armenia. For a color reference they used an early Orwocolor release print from the Harvard Film Archive.

For the soundtrack, where possible they used the original magnetic recording held at Gosfimofond, and the optical track from an Armenian print for the audio portions not present in the Yutkevich cut. "

Looking at this Cannes trailer,I am of the opinion that the picture is soft lacking the sharpness but nevertheless a worth upgrade.

Sayat Nova, la couleur de la grenade de Serguei Paradjanov - Bande-annonce - YouTube

That trailer was created by the French distributor and does not represent the actual quality of the restoration. I've seen it a handful of times on DCP.

The great majority of the restoration comes from a 4K scan of the camera negative, and thus has a lot of detail in the image. It's much sharper than you see in that trailer. The color is also different.

For the restoration, just under 7 minutes total of the footage throughout the film was taken from the Armenian duplicate negative. When Sergei Yutkevich reedited the film, he cut a number of shots, shortened others, and shuffled the order of some scenes. Unfortunately, the camera negative was cut to conform to the Yutkevich version.

The original Armenian release version only survives in a not-so-good quality duplicate negative and release prints. The audio in particular has always been in bad shape. This restoration effort helps to preserve the original Armenian version, while taking advantage if the superior quality of the camera negative whenever possible.

(Note that I am speaking from my own perspective, not from the World Cinema Project and L'Immagine Ritrovata, who conducted the restoration.)

--James Steffen

[DefLeppard]

Thank you James Steffen. Glad to meet you here! Nice to know about your contribution to this project and literature work on Parajanov films. Agree that youtube trailers can be misleading and I read about the limitation on audio earlier. Once again, thanks for the information.

Full spec detailed-

From Second Sights ; http://www.secondsightfilms.co.uk/ne...nates-box-set/

We can confirm the full contents of THE COLOUR OF POMEGRANATES LIMITED EDITION BOX SET which will be available 20th November;

• The Film Foundation restoration of Parajanov’s ‘Armenian’ Cut
  
• Feature length subtitle commentary by James Steffen, author of The Cinema of Sergei Parajanov, and adviser on the new Film Foundation restoration.
  
• Kiev Frescoes – Parajanov short film; restored and available for the first time
  
• Kiev Frescoes subtitle commentary by Daniel Bird, adviser on the new Film Foundation restoration
  
• Pomegranates Rediscovered: Cecilia Cenciarelli of Bologna Cineteca on the multi-national effort to save The Colour of Pomegranates
  
• Free Parajanov! Featurette on Parajanov's imprisonment
  
• Poetry, Pomegranates and Parajanov: A new appreciation by Daniel Bird
  
• The World is a Window: The Making of the Colour of Pomegranates (now with removable subtitles)
  
• 100pp soft cover book
  
• Packed in rigid slipcase

[brainofj72]

If anyone picks this up, I would love to get confirmation as to whether it's region-locked or not.

[rapta]

Delayed to January 29th, but a bargain price of £14.99 via HMV.com (and Amazon UK will probably match it). Have locked a pre-order in at HMV, surely incorrect pricing since the RRP is £29.99 - this is a 2-disc release with hardbound slipbox and 100-page booklet! Not one to ignore.

[Ste7en]

Now I'm worried the HMV one is a slimmed down single disc release

[rapta]

Originally Posted by Ste7en

Now I'm worried the HMV one is a slimmed down single disc release

Oh that would suck wouldn't it. However, no word of anything like that - Second Sight have only been doing Sainsbury's exclusives as far as I'm aware (though I never actually saw The Amityville Horror in my local). More likely HMV just listed it too low and haven't updated the listing...happened with a few recent listings (e.g. Black Christmas, Hope and Glory).

[malakaheso]

Until January?!??!

[arou54]

Originally Posted by malakaheso

Until January?!??!

Yes, they were looking to add some additionnal material, and succeeded :

THE COLOUR OF POMEGRANATES: LIMITED EDITION BOX SET. Thanks for your support as we put together the best possible release for this classic film. Pleased to announce that we also now include the ‘Yutkevich Cut’, using The Film Foundation’s restored materials, plus the 60 minute documentary, ‘Parajanov: A Requiem’, in addition to all the features we have already announced.

[rapta]

Whoever gets this for other territories (Criterion?) are going to be hard pressed to beat them on the extras front, that's for sure.