...We continue the review of these extraordinary release in BD by the Italian Label STUDIO 4K, talking and analyzing today "THE STRANGER" by Orson Welles .
...Considered (wrongly) the more "formal" or "classic" among the Works of Orson Welles, "THE STRANGER" is instead a Thriller/Noir of great charm, also capable to "dare" with an argument (though not quite in the first person, but the whole story revolves around this topic, and his character) yet very delicate at the Epoch of the Filming, in 1946, the death camps and the Nazis .
...The Movie is full of acute symbolisms (the escape, the American province, the clock, the darkness...) and direct and interpreted as always in impeccable way by Welles, without forgetting the good interpretation of Edward G. Robinson, Furthermore the Movie was filmed and specifically Photographed by Russell Metty in a Magnificent B/W, which is now back to life thanks to the recent Restoration .
...Our BD Disc...:
...Since also in this case (now it has become a very pleasant habit for me ...) there is no doubt about it, I will leave the pictures of comparative here below speak for themselves...(
NOTE: : The second comparative refers to a past bad BD edition , published in USA in 2011 by Film Chest label who using an old master , and i insert it just for completeness...:
...1...
...Comparative directly in the frame,at FULL SCREEN Resolution 1920x1080 PNG UNCOMPRESSED: STUDIO 4K ITA VS. KINO LORBER USA...:
...2...
...Comparative directly in the frame, at FULL SCREEN Resolution 1920x1080 PNG UNCOMPRESSED: STUDIO 4K ITA VS. FILM CHEST USA...:
...then of course I'll be repetitive, as in this case we have "THE STRANGER" in BD, with the latest and great new Master used by KINO LORBER-USA for their latest edition, i also remember that this Master comes from the Restoration of the 35mm print provided and preserved by the Library of Congress of the United States, the result is quite remarkable, indeed even has the miraculous when compared to the old and poor editions available until a short time ago, and I repeat this, especially with regard to the B/W by Russell Metty now that is perfect, the detail on the close up's the textures of clothes o etc... now are really impressive .
...The only question I have (and that covers both BD editions of course, since they are exactly the same) ARE the grain structure which looks strangely "filamentous", perhaps someone who knows more than me about it here on the Forum, will be able to explain why the grain of this Restoration/Transfer has this structure and not the usual one that we all know , or if instead it is all natural and it's normal to be so, however I believe who that what we have with this Current Restoration (and the two respective Transfer in BD) is the maximum obtainable from this Film .
...Here the Commentary by Robert Harris about it, I think a bit "harsh" to vote on Video, I'd give him at least half a point ahead, and then 3 out of 5 stars, of course it is strongly recommended in any case the purchase and Viewing...:
""I have no idea where the original negative might be for Orson Welles' The Stranger, or if it even survives. The fact that what we have on Blu-ray is sourced from a used 35 print sends a message about film elements, but things could have been worse.
The preservation efforts by the Library of Congress have allowed us to view a very decent of the film, usually seen in poor quality 16mm dupes.
The result on Blu-ray is quite satisfying. A bit on the thin side, with a lack of full blacks, but quite attractive. A few splices, a bit of wear, but nothing untoward.
Overall, a very acceptable representation of the film, understanding it's nitrate and public domain status.
Absolutely worth viewing.""
Image - 2.5
Audio - 4
RAH
...Returning to analyze the Technical characteristics of our STUDIO 4K BD Edition , with regard to the sound, we have a nice English Original Audio track DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (probably higher compared to the audio KINO edition , an LPCM mono), which travels at about 1.6 Mbps, plus as usual, two other tracks in English and Italian, in simple and good DD 2.0 .
...As a further confirmation, about the Extras, even in this case we have one very interesting coming from KINO LORBER USA Edition, specifically a short film produced by Billy Wilder, 1945...:
"Death Mills", an informational film on the Nazi death camps (produced by Billy Wilder), footage of which appears in The Stranger; the duration of 21 minutes .
...Here below is a comparative between the three edition, that compares the three graphs of the three BD edition,
although remember that the U.S. BD Film Chest uses a bad master different from the New and Restored used by KINO LORBER U.S. & Studio 4K ITA Edition...:
...UP - FILM CHEST - USA ;
...CENTER - KINO LORBER - USA ;
...DOWN - STUDIO 4K ITA ...:
...FILM CHEST...
...KINO LORBER...
...STUDIO 4K...
...Here, as usual, insert the three different partial report, from the three different editions in BD, compared to an immediate and direct comparison...:
...KINO LORBER - USA :
Runtime: 1:34:27.328
Disc Size: 47,818,216,241 bytes
Feature Size: 28,636,854,720 bytes
Average Bitrate: 33.89 Mbps
Dual-layered Blu-ray AVC
...FILM CHEST - USA :
Runtime: 1:34:58.150
Disc Size: 17,247,871,853 bytes
Feature Size: 16,634,990,592 bytes
Average Total Bitrate: 21.56 Mbps
Single-layered Blu-ray AVC
...STUDIO 4K - ITA :
Runtime: 1:34:04.472
Disc Size: 24.296.699.492 bytes
Feature Size: 20.631.744.384 bytes
Average Total Bitrate: 29,24 Mbps
Feature Bitrate: 25005 kbps
Dual-layered Blu-ray AVC
...As is evident, the KINO Edition USA has about 8-GB or more dedicated to the main Feature, but that is absolutely NOTHING going to affect the quality of our Transfer edited by BD STUDIO 4K, which with an average of 25/30 Mbps , far exceeds the current safety standards in the compression of a Transfer in BD, and of course (as you can see yourself from the screen-caps of comparative) the end result is EXCELLENT, like KINO edition .
...Here however, the Full report of the Italian STUDIO 4K Edition...:
DISC INFO:
Disc Title: LO STRANIERO
Disc Size: 24.296.699.492 bytes
Protection: AACS
BD-Java: No
Extras: 50Hz Content
BDInfo: 0.5.8
PLAYLIST REPORT:
Name: 00001.MPLS
Length: 1:34:04.472 (h:m:s.ms)
Size: 20.631.744.384 bytes
Total Bitrate: 29,24 Mbps
VIDEO:
Codec Bitrate Description
----- ------- -----------
MPEG-4 AVC Video 25005 kbps 1080p / 23,976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
AUDIO:
Codec Language Bitrate Description
----- -------- ------- -----------
Dolby Digital Audio Italian 512 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 512 kbps
DTS-HD Master Audio English 1618 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1618 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Dolby Digital Audio English 512 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 512 kbps
SUBTITLES:
Codec Language Bitrate Description
----- -------- ------- -----------
Presentation Graphics Italian 24,827 kbps
Presentation Graphics Italian 0,569 kbps
FILES:
Name Time In Length Size Total Bitrate
---- ------- ------ ---- -------------
00001.M2TS 0:00:00.000 1:34:04.472 20.631.744.384 29.241
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THE STRANGER - ( Lo Straniero ) - 1946 - Orson Welles - STUDIO 4K
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