Amazing news for Satyajit Ray films

[ravenus]

18 Satyajit Ray films to be restored and released over time by Criterion:
Times of India news article link HERE

The Criterion Collection, which has restored some of the world's best-known classics and critically successful obscure movies...is set to do a repeat with 18 of Satyajit Ray's movies.

Having bought the home video rights of The Apu Trilogy, Charulata, Mahanagar and Nayak among others, they are set to do "frame by frame" restoration before distributing them in the US and Canada.

[technobhatt]

That's really great news. The Music Room is already there and few more to be released by Criterion.
That's the irony in India. We Indians don't care about our own stuff and always run for imported stuff...
When will Bollywood producers wake up and try to store some good movies like Lagaan, Sholay etc. Wish Criterion comes ahead and restore some good old Bollywood movies as well.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by technobhatt

Wish Criterion comes ahead and restore some good old Bollywood movies as well.

In the case of the Ray films it is likely that Criterion is relying on the work done by the Merchant-Ivory foundation some decades ago for preparing good prints of Satyajit Ray's films for archiving at the Academy. So they may have access to better quality material than the typical Indian processing lab facilities.

The other aspect is that Criterion frequently focuses on a name director, so unless a particular director has a series of films that are internationally famous with the film festival crowd, it is IMO unlikely that Criterion will pick up those films. Even Shyam Benegal who is one of the few directors in the post Satyajit Ray - Ritwick Ghatak - Mrinal Sen phase to have some international recognition does not have home video releases of most of his films outside India.

[technobhatt]

Originally Posted by ravenus

In the case of the Ray films it is likely that Criterion is relying on the work done by the Merchant-Ivory foundation some decades ago for preparing good prints of Satyajit Ray's films for archiving at the Academy. So they may have access to better quality material than the typical Indian processing lab facilities.

The other aspect is that Criterion frequently focuses on a name director, so unless a particular director has a series of films that are internationally famous with the film festival crowd, it is IMO unlikely that Criterion will pick up those films. Even Shyam Benegal who is one of the few directors in the post Satyajit Ray - Ritwick Ghatak - Mrinal Sen phase to have some international recognition does not have home video releases of most of his films outside India.

That's really a new heads-up for me. Thanks revenus

[kashif]

Originally Posted by ravenus

18 Satyajit Ray films to be restored and released over time by Criterion:
Times of India news article link HERE

Thanks for this wonderful news. I am very new to the Legendary Satyajit Ray and what could be more better than watching his movies on blu for the very first time.

[ravenus]

Also, the BFI has some while ago restored some of Ritwick Ghatak's films including his most famous Meghe Dhaka Tara (Cloud-Capped Star), so it's possible. depending on when the restoration was carried out and whether it is suitable for an HD release, that one may hear of some blu-ray announcement in this regard. MDT is not a film I have a great love for, but it's still good news for Indian arthouse fans. Subarnarekha would really make me happy.

I am very new to the Legendary Satyajit Ray and what could be more better than watching his movies on blu for the very first time.

If you want to see the films I'm not sure if its the best idea to wait for BD releases because apart from the Apu trilogy as a 3-film set, they're likely to be released over a very staggered period, maybe 1-2 a year or something like that.

[Jafar]

omg omg omg omg omg omg omg

[Dragun]

Originally Posted by ravenus

Also, the BFI has some while ago restored some of Ritwick Ghatak's films including his most famous Meghe Dhaka Tara (Cloud-Capped Star), so it's possible. depending on when the restoration was carried out and whether it is suitable for an HD release, that one may hear of some blu-ray announcement in this regard. MDT is not a film I have a great love for, but it's still good news for Indian arthouse fans. Subarnarekha would really make me happy.

I'm not counting on Criterion to release any Ghatak films, though their release of MDT on DVD could indicate a possible Blu-Ray release. I haven't seen any Ghatak films, though I vaguely remember my dad telling me about Ajantrik.

I'd also love to see some of John Abraham's films. Not the Bollywood actor, but this one. I have a torrent of his lone Tamil film, Agraharathil Kazhuthai (Donkey in the Brahmin Village), but AFAIK no DVDs have been released of his films.

I have great memories of watching Ray's films as a kid. My dad was a huge Ray fan, and he special ordered a beat-up VHS of Pather Panchali from an Indian store, which he watched over and over. I was more drawn to Charulata and Jalsaghar, but I think Pather Panchali reminded my dad of his childhood. Eventually he got all the Sony VHS releases (except for Jana Aranya) of his films.

I still have his moth-eaten copy of Marie Seton's Ray biography that he got in the 70s.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Dragun

I'm not counting on Criterion to release any Ghatak films, though their release of MDT on DVD could indicate a possible Blu-Ray release.

You mean BFI

I'd also love to see some of John Abraham's films. Not the Bollywood actor, but this one. I have a torrent of his lone Tamil film, Agraharathil Kazhuthai (Donkey in the Brahmin Village), but AFAIK no DVDs have been released of his films.

This! I have not seen the film, but have heard a lot about it from a cinephile cousin.

I have great memories of watching Ray's films as a kid. My dad was a huge Ray fan, and he special ordered a beat-up VHS of Pather Panchali from an Indian store, which he watched over and over. I was more drawn to Charulata and Jalsaghar, but I think Pather Panchali reminded my dad of his childhood. Eventually he got all the Sony VHS releases (except for Jana Aranya) of his films.

I still have his moth-eaten copy of Marie Seton's Ray biography that he got in the 70s.

Reminiscences like this are what make it really worthwhile to be on a forum . I remember watching a good number of Ray's more prominent films when DD had a retrospective following his demise (In '92, I think, I do believe it was in the midst of some college exams ). I was really stunned by some of the films and became a fan of the man's work.
If you're interested in reading on Ray's films I highly recommend The Inner Eye by Andrew Robinson. I was initially skeptical about a firangi writing on Satyajit Ray's films but the book is an extremely well-researched, interesting and insightful read.

Oh, here is a post detailing the work done by the Academy in conjunction with the Satyakit Ray Society for the restoration of the Ray filmography LINK - there are 19 films in that catalog and I suspect that Criterion will essentially use these restorations as a basis for their releases.

The Academy has so far restored 19 Ray titles which include such early classics like Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road), Aparajito (The Unvanquished), Parash Pathar (The Philosopher’s Stone), Jalsaghar (The Music Room), Apur Sansar (The World of Apu), Devi (The Goddess), Teen Kanya (Three Daughters), Abhijan (The Expedition), Mahangar (The Big City) and Charulata (The Lonely Wife) as also his mid-career works like Kaprush-o-Mahapurus (The Coward and the Holy Man), Nayak (The Hero) Goopi Gyne Bagha Byne (The Adventures of Goopi and Bagha), Seemabaddha (Company Limited), Jana Aranya (The Middleman) Shatranj Ke Khilari (The Chess Players) and Joi Baba Felunath (The Elephant God). Besides, Two, a wordless, 15-minute short Ray made in 1964, and Sikkim are the lone short and documentary, respectively, that have mounted the restoration anvil till now.

[Dragun]

Originally Posted by ravenus

You mean BFI

Yes. That's what happens when I post late at night after a couple of beers!

Masters of Cinema released a rather nice DVD (now OOP) of Abhijan years ago. I wonder if they'll release a Blu-Ray.

Unfortunately the negatives to some of Ray's films were lost in a fire at Henderson's Film Laboratories in 1993.

http://satyajitray.ucsc.edu/articles/sragow.html

Not even the combined clout of Merchant and the Academy can protect films from acts of God: a fire at the Henderson Film Laboratories, in London, on July 4 of last year destroyed the original negatives of six Ray classics licensed to Merchant: Pather Panchali, Aparajito, The World of Apu (1959), The Music Room (1958), Devi, and Three Daughters. Friend says that the bad shape the negatives were in before the blaze mitigated the tragedy — he was planning to use alternative sources anyway. In his view, the loss underscores the need to gather backup materials and store them at separate locations.

I hope the complete Teen Kanya is one of the Criterion titles. The film was released outside India as "Two Daughters" with one of the three short films (Monihara) cut from the film.

I hope these films sell well, encouraging quality release for filmmakers like Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, etc. Ray is the Kurosawa of India as far as international name recognition is concerned, but he's not the only one whose films deserve quality home video releases. If not Criterion, I hope Kino Lorber, Artificial Eye, BFI, MoC/Eureka, etc. step up to the plate.

[intacto]

Superb superb news...have sent them many mails/twitter/fb msges requesting to do more satyajit ray and other filmmaker movies.

[Harvey Dent]

Great news. Also Artificial Eye seems to be doing some sort of restoration to Ray movies in UK. No confirmed news but they are releasing Charulata on blu ray this June.

As an aside I do hope they get Sandip Ray to do some of the commentary on these movies. He is an excellent narrator of episodes of his father's life

Originally Posted by ravenus

18 Satyajit Ray films to be restored and released over time by Criterion:
Times of India news article link HERE

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Harvey Dent

As an aside I do hope they get Sandip Ray to do some of the commentary on these movies. He is an excellent narrator of episodes of his father's life

There are some that would say that's all he is good for
No, I have very good childhood memories of his work for the Satyajit Ray Presents series. I would really love for there to be a home video release of that series. As I remember they were shot on FILM, not video. The episode of Gagan Chowdhuri's Studio with Amol Palekar and Shriram Lagoo is one of the most frightening movie/TV experiences I had as a kid, and it worked a lot better than the original story

[Show spoiler]with its stupid "woken up by the servant from a dream" ending. A good number of Ray's horror stories seem to end that way, like it's a cheap exit from when he runs out of ideas of where to take the plot

[Harvey Dent]

Well to give him his due, he has managed to popularise the Feluda stories/ movies with the present generation. All the movies of the Feluda series directed by him have received fairly good response in the box office and have been critically acclaimed.

His latest movie , Jekhaney Bhooter Bhoy , is being touted as one of the best comedies to come out of Kolkata in recent times.

Originally Posted by ravenus

There are some that would say that's all he is good for
No, I have very good childhood memories of his work for the Satyajit Ray Presents series. I would really love for there to be a home video release of that series. As I remember they were shot on FILM, not video. The episode of Gagan Chowdhuri's Studio with Amol Palekar and Shriram Lagoo is one of the most frightening movie/TV experiences I had as a kid, and it worked a lot better than the original story

[Show spoiler]with its stupid "woken up by the servant from a dream" ending. A good number of Ray's horror stories seem to end that way, like it's a cheap exit from when he runs out of ideas of where to take the plot

[ravenus]

^Well, I hope it was better than Bhooter Bhobhishyot (not made by Sandip, but a comedy with ghosts), which after an okay first half went completely to shit.

[Harvey Dent]

Actually a substantial amount of the comedy in such films like Bhooter Bhobishyot lies in the nuanced dialogues and is lost entirely in the subtitles. I am sure you would have enjoyed it more if you could have followed the language. I for one liked it immensely.



QUOTE=ravenus;7355886]^Well, I hope it was better than Bhooter Bhobhishyot (not made by Sandip, but a comedy with ghosts), which after an okay first half went completely to shit.[/QUOTE]

[intacto]

Felt same for Bhooter bhobisyot...2nd half was terrible n yaa may be lost in the translation.... N yes sandip ray has done a good job in reviving feluda stories..loved all of them n also bymkesh bakshi both the movies recently made were fun.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

[nrD]

Originally Posted by Dragun

Yes. That's what happens when I post late at night after a couple of beers!

Masters of Cinema released a rather nice DVD (now OOP) of Abhijan years ago. I wonder if they'll release a Blu-Ray.

Unfortunately the negatives to some of Ray's films were lost in a fire at Henderson's Film Laboratories in 1993.

http://satyajitray.ucsc.edu/articles/sragow.html

Not even the combined clout of Merchant and the Academy can protect films from acts of God: a fire at the Henderson Film Laboratories, in London, on July 4 of last year destroyed the original negatives of six Ray classics licensed to Merchant: Pather Panchali, Aparajito, The World of Apu (1959), The Music Room (1958), Devi, and Three Daughters. Friend says that the bad shape the negatives were in before the blaze mitigated the tragedy — he was planning to use alternative sources anyway. In his view, the loss underscores the need to gather backup materials and store them at separate locations.

I hope the complete Teen Kanya is one of the Criterion titles. The film was released outside India as "Two Daughters" with one of the three short films (Monihara) cut from the film.

I hope these films sell well, encouraging quality release for filmmakers like Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, etc. Ray is the Kurosawa of India as far as international name recognition is concerned, but he's not the only one whose films deserve quality home video releases. If not Criterion, I hope Kino Lorber, Artificial Eye, BFI, MoC/Eureka, etc. step up to the plate.

Hopefully, with even one good film source available to scan at 4k and correct, we wont need the physical film anymore and just store digital DPX and whatnot files instead. Easier to maintain and less susceptible to mother nature

[Dragun]

Originally Posted by nrD

Hopefully, with even one good film source available to scan at 4k and correct, we wont need the physical film anymore and just store digital DPX and whatnot files instead. Easier to maintain and less susceptible to mother nature

Archives still have to maintain the film sources. Digital files have to be migrated to various physical formats throughout the years, and who knows if the files can be read in the future, but film can be preserved in temperature-controlled vaults with little active maintenance, especially with YCM separation masters on black-and-white film, which is even more stable than color film.

See The Digital Dilemma report about digital archiving.

[kashif]

Originally Posted by ravenus

If you want to see the films I'm not sure if its the best idea to wait for BD releases because apart from the Apu trilogy as a 3-film set, they're likely to be released over a very staggered period, maybe 1-2 a year or something like that.

Thanks I ll be grabbing the DVDs then and will buy the ones I like on Blu.