A Soul Haunted by Painting 4K UHD (1994) - WCL Limited Edition

[qw0aszx]

Disk Kino detailed their upcoming UHD release of Huang Shuqin's 1994 film A Soul Haunted by Painting, starring Gong Li, this set is coming on October 16th.


Cover art:

[Show spoiler]

DISC 1 - UHD BD-100

• Feature film presented in 2160p with new Dolby Vision / HDR10 grade
  4K restoration of the original 130-minute mainland China version from the original camera negatives, done by Shanghai Film Studio in 2018, supervised by the cinematographer Lü Yue.
• Original Mandarin in DTS-HD MA 5.1, restored and remixed from the original 4-track Dolby Stereo sound

DISC 2 - BD-50

• Feature film presented in 1080p
  4K restoration of the original 130-minute mainland China version from the original camera negatives, done by Shanghai Film Studio in 2018, supervised by the cinematographer Lü Yue.
• Original Mandarin in DTS-HD MA 5.1, restored and remixed from the original 4-track Dolby Stereo sound
• Huang Shuqin and Her Films (SD, 36 minutes)
  Archival program on Huang Shuqin's films, including interviews with Huang.

PS: This film is incorrectly listed as co-directed by Zhang Yimou on various sites, including IMDB and blu-ray.com, which is completely false. The only director of this film is Huang Shuqin, no credits of Zhang Yimou as the director ever appeared in film. Zhang Yimou's credit on this film is "special executive producer".

[apollo828]

Copies are already up on Buyoyo. HK$910 with shipping to the US, or ~US$117. I did pull the trigger but it definitely hurt a bit. I'm sure Disk Kino did their best but having only one video extra (the archival program) does sting a bit. I guess Tony Rayns didn't have anything to say about the film? That's surprising. I swear he's seen every Chinese film ever made. Oh well.

[qw0aszx]

Originally Posted by apollo828

I'm sure Disk Kino did their best but having only one video extra (the archival program) does sting a bit. I guess Tony Rayns didn't have anything to say about the film? That's surprising. I swear he's seen every Chinese film ever made. Oh well.

As far as I know, Tony only chose to record introductions for films he likes or interested in. I believe Disk Kino also tried to contact cinematographer Lü Yue and Huang Shuqin's son Zheng Dasheng, but neither worked out due to different reasons. The fact that there's an archive program with Huang's interview that can be licensed and included is better than most old Chinese films.

[Ikari]

Originally Posted by apollo828

Copies are already up on Buyoyo. HK$910 with shipping to the US, or ~US$117. I did pull the trigger but it definitely hurt a bit. I'm sure Disk Kino did their best but having only one video extra (the archival program) does sting a bit. I guess Tony Rayns didn't have anything to say about the film? That's surprising. I swear he's seen every Chinese film ever made. Oh well.

The shipping really kills it and I fall under the most expensive zone

[apollo828]

Thanks. I apologize if I came off as implying that Disk Kino was being lazy. Things happen, and like you said, nobody's obligated to contribute anything to any release. It's just a little frustrating after buying so many feature-rich releases. Oh well. I'm looking forward to this release anyway.

[apollo828]

Yeah, I'm not totally thrilled myself, although I doubt there's much that can be done about it. I logged into DDDHouse and played around a bit with my shopping cart. Pre-COVID, my recollection is that shipping wasn't too bad, and was a pretty good deal if you bought multiple discs. Now, it's about as bad as shipping from the US. Shipping for one disc is ~US$20. Five discs, which is approximately the equivalent of these sets, is ~US$40. For whatever reasons, cheaper shipping options just aren't a thing anymore.

The one thing I wish Disk Kino would do is release more plain editions. I'm sure they'd get at least a few more sales if they just released the discs that way. But, I'm sure they have their reasons. I get the impression that they're doing this more as a passion project than a way to get rich; officially releasing obscure movies in China isn't a millionaire's move. That and every distributor has their methods to make money (e.g., the Germans and their 10,000 mediabook releases for the exact same disc). Oh well. At least the sets look beautiful on my shelf, and the movies have, for the most part, been a joy to watch.

(Well, I also wish they'd open an e-shop, and let people buy directly from them. I'm not sure how easy that is from a legal & logistical standpoint. Technical should be pretty trivial.)

[e_d]

Idea: Someone pulls the trigger and buys it, and we do a Blockbuster-esque loaning program.

[apollo828]

So, being a nerd, I did a little research. Long story short, I really don't think there are any great ways to keep the prices down, short of Disk Kino releasing plain editions (and even then, shipping will still be a lot).

To be fair, I'm not aware of all the international shipping options in mainland China. That said, I'm guessing they're not great. I'm not aware of any cheap Air Mail options that are reliable. That leaves couriers like DHL and FedEx. Prices are basically what you'd expect. Hong Kong appears to be in the same boat for some reason. I have a guy who hooks me up with some stuff on occasion. He insists that the post office isn't worth it, even though I send him packages once or twice a year via the post office and never have issues. So, unless all these people are truly ignorant, the shipping options that don't take, say, 2-3 months (i.e., shipping on a boat) are just going to be pricey.

Now, as for this release, my understanding is that the retail price is ¥488, or ~US$67 at today's exchange rates (which, mind you, are the best they've been since 2007-2008). Buyoyo is charging HK$555, or ~US$71. (Keep in mind that the HKD is pegged to the USD.) So, Buyoyo's charging a bit extra but not that much, on top of shipping, which I just discussed. Finally,I don't know where the box and printed materials originate. (I assume China.) However, I do know that, for the 4K releases at least, there are only 2-3 presses left that can handle such discs (or at least BD100s), with no Blu plants that I'm aware of in China. With the yuan taking a hit and shipping to China probably costing quite a bit, I'm guessing each disc costs quite a bit more than they did even a couple of years ago.

So, our options are limited. Disk Kino has produced plain editions of sets in the past. For whatever reasons (low sales, I'm guessing), it appears that they're sticking to first presses from here on out, at least for the box sets. (Not sure about regular Disk Kino releases, which are typically mainland films & TV shows in plain slipcases.) While it would be nice to have Disk Kino put together an e-shop, or at least make cheaper editions available, I just don't think either one is in the cards. (That and, as mentioned above, shipping from China/HK is just not cheap these days.) If you want these releases, you'll have to pay handsomely, especially since, for whatever reasons, inflation has hit Disk Kino pretty hard. IIRC, Red Sorghum was $69 and The Black Cannon Incident was $75 shipped on Media Psychos a couple of years ago. That's ~50-70% extra for what I'm guessing is a simiarly sized set, although this one is 4K, at least.

Sorry if that was a lot. I do love these releases, and just wish there was a better solution beyond hopping on a plane to China and buying them...wherever you buy them. (Are there even any physical shops selling copies? Something tells me that, if such shops do exist, you could count them with one hand.)