Coffret João César Monteiro (Spectrum Films)

[Hiruko]

French editor Spectrum Films is releasing a 10 film João César Monteiro retrospective blu-ray boxset, from 2k and 4k restorations



The product page advertises English subs, a common feature of Spectrum releases.
Release date is set to the december 12 of 2024 but Spectrum is notorious for delays.


The included movies are the following :

Veredas (1978)
Silvestre (1982)
À Flor do Mar (1986)
Recordações da Casa Amarela (1989)
O Último Mergulho (1992)
A Comédia de Deus (1995)
Le Bassin de J.W. (1997)
As Bodas de Deus (1999)
Branca de Neve (2000)
Vai~E~Vem (2003)

[Hiruko]

After multiple delays I was assured by a french distributor that the release date was confirmed for the 20 of this month.... only for this set to be delayed once more.
I'll update this thread once this finally comes out but as of right now the date is set for the 11 of april.

[Rayjg]

I was reading about this set on the other forum last year and it sounded interesting. Who would be a good director to compare Monteiro to?

[Aunt Peg]

Originally Posted by Rayjg

I was reading about this set on the other forum last year and it sounded interesting. Who would be a good director to compare Monteiro to?

Wish I could help you.

I've only even seen one of his films, A Comédia de Deus (1995), which is excellent, but that was 30 years ago. So based on that film alone I'm going to buy the set.

[bergelson]

Any news about the release date?

[Hiruko]

Originally Posted by bergelson

Any news about the release date?

I forgot to update this thread since I haven't received my order yet (for other reasons), but the set is supposedly available and shipping, the 11 of april was indeed the final date.

[dessie]

Originally Posted by Hiruko

I forgot to update this thread since I haven't received my order yet (for other reasons), but the set is supposedly available and shipping, the 11 of April was indeed the final date.

Can you please give some feedback once it arrives? I can't seem to order to Portugal from the website so idek how to get my hands on this but as a Portuguese cinephile seeing Portuguese films on Blu-ray gives me immense joy. I can count with my hands the amount of Portuguese films on Blu-ray and the amount of physical media releases we have had in the last few years overall.

[Cremildo]

Should we expect subtitles to be optional? Not familiar with the label.

[Hiruko]

I got my hands on it so I can confirm the set exists.

Originally Posted by dessie

Can you please give some feedback once it arrives? I can't seem to order to Portugal from the website so idek how to get my hands on this but as a Portuguese cinephile seeing Portuguese films on Blu-ray gives me immense joy. I can count with my hands the amount of Portuguese films on Blu-ray and the amount of physical media releases we have had in the last few years overall.

I haven't had much time to spend with the set but I was quite pleased with the picture quality. Restoration wise the older films retain some light damage, the rest look super clean, and I'm no expert but overall I thought that the picture quality was very solid, no big issues to report (keep in mind that there are ten feature lenghts so I've only got a chance to glance at a tiny part of it).
I'm currently having some issues with my multimedia PC but I could try getting some screenshots for you later if you want
By the way, I don't know if you knew this but Capricci have also announced that they're going to release twelve films by Manoel de Oliveira, the first is already out and it's a great blu-ray

Originally Posted by Cremildo

Should we expect subtitles to be optional? Not familiar with the label.

French and English subtitles seem to be included on every film, they're optional

[Hiruko]

Here are some screenshots, I took them using mpv in PNG format
1-2 are from Silvestre
3-5 are from À Flor do Mar
6-8 are from Recordações da Casa Amarela

[Show spoiler]

Seems like my PC setup is still working so don't hesitate to ask if you want to see screenshots from more films



edit : More screenshots (the first three are from A Comédia de Deus, the other two from As Bodas de Deus)

[Show spoiler]

[Aunt Peg]

Not for sale on Amazon or FNAC - anyone know where I can purchase this box set or will it only be available through Spectrum Films?

I've only seen God's Comedy which I adore so am eager to see more of this directors work.

[Hiruko]

Originally Posted by Aunt Peg

Not for sale on Amazon or FNAC - anyone know where I can purchase this box set or will it only be available through Spectrum Films?

I've only seen God's Comedy which I adore so am eager to see more of this directors work.

You can get it from Potemkine, but shipping outside of france may be a bit steep. They're very reputable however, I've been buying with them for years.
Beware that the extras in the Monteiro set are not english friendly!

https://store.potemkine.fr/dvd/37604...esar-monteiro/

[dessie]

Originally Posted by Hiruko

Here are some screenshots, I took them using mpv in PNG format
1-2 are from Silvestre
3-5 are from À Flor do Mar
6-8 are from Recordações da Casa Amarela

[Show spoiler]

Seems like my PC setup is still working so don't hesitate to ask if you want to see screenshots from more films



edit : More screenshots (the first three are from A Comédia de Deus, the other two from As Bodas de Deus)

[Show spoiler]

Thank you so much for this they look wonderful hoping to get my hands on them soon!

[Aunt Peg]

Received my box set earlier this week.

I only flicked through God's Comedy and it looks gorgeous.

I probably watch a film or two each week from the set for the next month or so.

[Hiruko]

I'm about halfway through the set and so far it's been really amazing, there hasn't been a single film I haven't loved.
Even A Comédia de Deus, which at first left me very cold, ended up winning me over and by the end I was absolutely enchanted by it.
O Último Mergulho is my favourite, and a re-watch may be needed eventually but I think it already secured a spot in my all time top 10.

Picture quality overall is very good, oftentimes excellent.

However, given how literary those films are I wish Spectrum invested a bit more into the subtitles, when set to french they're riddled with typos and odd translation choices, and when I tried english the phrasing felt rather dull and wooden to me.
The uninspired cover art is the only other negative I encountered.