Zulawski's "Polish Trilogy" coming from Mondo (Third Part / Devil / Silver Globe)

[AFFanAttic]

Okay. I'm sure they did what they were able to do with their funding and resources. Thank you for bumping this thread and causing my heart to jump.

[PowellPressburger]

I hope they dont rule out Blu-Rays, I’m not opposed to them doing a crowd funding option

[SpiderBaby]

I thought there was news.

[DrBabylon]

I mean, would some kind of update from them, say, once a year, be asking too much?
I have tried emailing them as well and they don't respond. I can only hope they are still moving forward with these, sorry to get everyone's hopes up with this post, I get excited too when I see the thread updated.

[PaperThinWalls]

Michael B gave a bit of an update a few months ago on the criterionforum, and unfortunately, the news isn't so great...

Originally Posted by MichaelB

The restoration was finished ages ago - in fact, I saw it at the Gdynia Film Festival back in 2016, along with the other two.

What's holding things up on both sides of the Atlantic (since Second Run is just as keen to acquire these films for the UK) is the same thing affecting international distribution of Polish titles across the board: for some reason Polish rightsholders have started asking for truly ridiculous licensing fees that clearly aren't commercially viable by any stretch of the imagination.

Hopefully sanity will prevail at some point, at least when the penny drops that the alternative is getting no money at all - but... well, you have only to look at Second Run's previous enthusiasm for Polish cinema versus the number of Polish titles that they've put out on Blu-ray, which currently amounts to a big round zero against two from Slovakia, three from Hungary and four from the Czech Republic. Believe me, this isn't down to lack of interest on their part.

[zbinks]

So.... they announced their intention to release the films before securing the necessary rights to do so?

[toozeup]

Matters were possibly affected by the death of Zulawski. I suspect licensing issues with previous titles were being smoothed-over with his assistance.

[cropduster]

Apologies for bumping this thread and getting everyone's hopes up, but to anyone's knowledge, has there been any news or movement on this release coming out? Is the rights holder(s) still asking for too much money to license the films or is something else entirely preventing a release?

I've been re-watching Zulawski's films recently, which has really gotten me hoping the rest of his films not already released on blu-ray will get an English friendly release.

[ticktock60]

In a recent FB post, Jared A from Mondo Macabro said that he "has it on good authority" that Mondo Vision has gone belly-up.

[Lope de Aguirre]

Originally Posted by ticktock60

In a recent FB post, Jared A from Mondo Macabro said that he "has it on good authority" that Mondo Vision has gone belly-up.

that sucks!

[anthonyls]

Originally Posted by Lope de Aguirre

that sucks!

And no real surprise. They served a very niche clientele without a lot of volume. Such is the times we live in.

[AFFanAttic]

So I think the only blu-ray option for these three is still the Japanese release without English subtitles. And I think I've heard it's slightly censored with male nudity being smudged in On the Silver Globe. Not sure of any other examples of censorship, and even that instance might need confirming.

My point being that at least the high def transfers seem to be accessible. Just wondering what all the limitations are.

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by AFFanAttic

So I think the only blu-ray option for these three is still the Japanese release without English subtitles. And I think I've heard it's slightly censored with male nudity being smudged in On the Silver Globe. Not sure of any other examples of censorship, and even that instance might need confirming.

My point being that at least the high def transfers seem to be accessible. Just wondering what all the limitations are.

I would rather these get released without censorship. That might just be me.

[AFFanAttic]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

I would rather these get released without censorship. That might just be me.

Pretty sure this goes without saying.

[Lutz]

It’s a shame about Mondo.

They really didn’t have it easy hitting the market just before blu ray and then having to change their business model.

[senseabove]

Originally Posted by ticktock60

In a recent FB post, Jared A from Mondo Macabro said that he "has it on good authority" that Mondo Vision has gone belly-up.

Do you have a link to that post?

[ElRobHubbard]

"The reports of my death were premature..." Perhaps? Next to Covid vaccine and the Rescue Act, this is probably the best news of the year.

https://www.criterionforum.org/forum...8024&start=675


JonathanK » Fri Mar 12, 2021 12:24 am

Some good news for Zulawski fans... Reached out to MV for an update and they confirmed that after taking some time off since Zulawski's passing, they have now begun working on the Polish Trilogy and are also preparing a 4K edition of Possession with possibility of a "disc upgrade program" in place for those who have purchased the original Limited Edition. When asked if they would continue their Limited Edition trend with the Polish Trilogy I did not get a straight answer but was told "we are weighing all options at this point, it would either come as a boxset or individual releases". Apparently they are sitting on ton of extras recorded with Zulawski while he was still alive...

[siavash1996]

Originally Posted by ElRobHubbard

"The reports of my death were premature..." Perhaps? Next to Covid vaccine and the Rescue Act, this is probably the best news of the year.

https://www.criterionforum.org/forum...8024&start=675


JonathanK » Fri Mar 12, 2021 12:24 am

Some good news for Zulawski fans... Reached out to MV for an update and they confirmed that after taking some time off since Zulawski's passing, they have now begun working on the Polish Trilogy and are also preparing a 4K edition of Possession with possibility of a "disc upgrade program" in place for those who have purchased the original Limited Edition. When asked if they would continue their Limited Edition trend with the Polish Trilogy I did not get a straight answer but was told "we are weighing all options at this point, it would either come as a boxset or individual releases". Apparently they are sitting on ton of extras recorded with Zulawski while he was still alive...

This is such fantastic news! Mondo Vision's releases are some of the best out there in terms of packaging and extras, so I'm ecstatic to hear that they're finishing the Zulawski works. Possession in 4K from them is also great, since I've been super skeptical of LCQF's customer service.

[GasmaskAvenger]

absolutely incredible news altogether regarding the 4K UHD of Possession and the Polish Trilogy

[GhastlyGraham]

Posted and translated automatically from Camera Obscura Filmdistribution in Germany:

No title have we buggled longer than the three early Polish masterpieces of the great Andrzej Żuławski. We still can't believe that it finally worked out. But the dream has actually come true, and we can now finally announce full of joy that we will soon publish THE SILVER PLANET (NA SREBRNYM GLOBIE), DEVIL and A THIRD OF THE NIGHT (TRZECIA CZESC NOCY) in a Blu-ray box set They will be!
There is no title we had to work on longer to get than the three early Polish masterpieces of the great Andrzej Żuławski -- it's still hard to believe that it has actually happened. But the dream really came true, and we can now happily announce that we'll soon release ON THE SILVER GLOBE (aka NA SREBRNYM GLOBIE), DIABEL (aka THE DEVIL) and THE THIRD PART OF THE NIGHT (aka TRZECIA CZESC NOCY) in a Blu-ray box set. Unfortunately we cannot offer any English options for these three films 🙁

I wonder if this means an English company has these films too....