Dersu Uzala (Akira Kurosawa)

[McCrutchy]

General Video will release Akira Kurosawa's Dersu Uzala (1975) in Italy on 20 April 2017.

[sanjuro_61]

Great news.

Amazon.it link: https://www.amazon.it/Dersu-Uzala-Piccolo-Grandi-Pianure/dp/B0041KWG4S

Only italian subtitles.

128 minutes? Is it a typo? Should be 144 min.
This site says 144 http://www.dvdweb.it/Scheda_DVD/PSB31079/default.html
Also, 2.35:1, or 2.21:1 ?

[TheHutt]

Originally Posted by sanjuro_61

Great news.

Amazon.it link: https://www.amazon.it/Dersu-Uzala-Piccolo-Grandi-Pianure/dp/B0041KWG4S

Only italian subtitles.

128 minutes? Is it a typo? Should be 144 min.
This site says 144 http://www.dvdweb.it/Scheda_DVD/PSB31079/default.html
Also, 2.35:1, or 2.21:1 ?

You are quoting the DVD link instead of BluRay. This is the right one:

https://www.amazon.it/Dersu-Uzala-Pi...7f17863af8aaf0

Though I cannot decipher the runtime on that one. Seems incorrect as well.

[McCrutchy]

Yes, the 2007 Italian DVD release from General says 128 minutes (PAL speed):

[Show spoiler]

But the current low-resolution Blu-ray back cover seems to claim 108 minutes:



Obviously, neither run time is accurate for the entire film, which is 144 minutes at film speed, or 138 minutes at PAL speed. We shall have to wait and see how long the actual Blu-ray is.

EDIT: There is confusion regarding the length of this film, see below.

[sanjuro_61]

I've checked italian DVD rips on "e-animal" (you know what I mean), and the length is indeed 129 min.
Given that is released only in Italy, I expect the BD to be the same lenght (but without the PAL speedup).

BTW, a few years ago, this movie, Pixote http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082912/?ref_=nv_sr_1 was released in DVD in Spain. Since the old dub was made for a cut version (90 min), they cut the movie to match the only existing dub instead of redubbing the uncut movie.

I hope italians do better.

[McCrutchy]

It seems I might be incorrect. There does seem to be some general confusion about how long this film should be, and it's possible that 144 minutes is not correct. According to an old discussion thread on another forum here, part of this confusion stems from the fact that two credit sequences exist, and that even longer run times have been quoted for the American version of the film. Regardless, it seems that the film may exist in separate 135 and 140-minute versions, the latter being the US version, with English credits.

Originally Posted by sanjuro_61

I've checked italian DVD rips on "e-animal" (you know what I mean), and the length is indeed 129 min.
Given that is released only in Italy, I expect the BD to be the same lenght (but without the PAL speedup).

BTW, a few years ago, this movie, Pixote http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082912/?ref_=nv_sr_1 was released in DVD in Spain. Since the old dub was made for a cut version (90 min), they cut the movie to match the only existing dub instead of redubbing the uncut movie.

I hope italians do better.

I should hope they will. The 128-minute DVD has a notice that parts of the Italian dub are missing, and are presented in the original language with Italian subtitles, so hopefully whatever version General have, it is complete and runs 141 minutes at 1080p, or 136 minutes at 1080/50i. I was getting a bit confused before, but I really don't see how any complete version of the film can run 128-129 minutes, as even taking PAL speeds into account, there would seem to be about seven or eight minutes of missing footage.

Given that the 2002 and 2013 Japanese DVDs both claim to run 141 minutes, and that Odessa, the label behind the 2013 DVD, mentions in their listing that the film has been remastered in HD by Mosfilm, I am starting to believe the film should indeed run about 141 minutes or less, depending on which credit sequence is used. But it would be helpful to find out why the 144-minute run time has spread over the internet, and what the exact run times are of the US and Korean DVD editions.

EDIT: Also, Mosfilm's YouTube upload of the film runs 1:07:38 + 1:08:25, which is 2:16:03 (or 136 minutes). It appears to be running at PAL speed, so that also reinforces the idea that the film probably should not be longer than 141 minutes at film speed and on Blu-ray.

[Dan8700]

Let me shed some light on this.
Number one: don't take runtimes at IMDb too seriously, I've been correcting them for years, and there are still dozens of inaccuracies (and they don't seem to accept corrections anymore). 2. The Japanese Movie Database, which is far more accurate, says 141, which is the right runtime. http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1975/cy002400.htm

The confusion comes from the 2000 Kino DVD, which runs for 2:23:44.
These are the differences:
1. some brief English titles at the beginning (12") which are not featured in the original print.
2. the end credits are in English too: they run for just 1'25", while the Russian ones are longer, running for 2'5" (in PAL, therefore about 2'10" at 23.976).
3. More importantly, the Kino DVD has a 2'40" American trailer at the end, which is the main culprit.

Calculating by the second the differences between the credits, the 23.976 runtime is 2:24:17; minus the 2:40 trailer, the actual runtime is 2:21:37 (therefore 142' is more accurate here). Certainly not 144'.
This is exactly why I keep cataloguing movies by the second, and this is why databases can be a mess... they're not for everyone.

Regarding the Italian release: in January '77, it was released in Italy cut (the always incorrect archives say 126', but the DVD print runs for 129' in PAL, so the theatrical runtime is 134'). This Blu might be cut as well. Wait and see.


I noticed that General Video are also releasing Aleksandr Nevskij on the same day... this is incredible, PROVIDED they are recent restorations. Do new restos of these exist at all?

[sanjuro_61]

Thanks for the info.

[Vakulinchuk]

Originally Posted by Dan8700

I noticed General Video are also releasing Aleksandr Nevskij on the same day... this is incredible, PROVIDED they are recent restorations. Do new restos of these exist at all?

Honestly, what chance do we have that these two releases will be decent, and not upscaled dvd...?

[Dan8700]

Originally Posted by Vakulinchuk

Honestly, what chance do we have that these two releases will be decent, and not upscaled dvd...?

Eh...

[nils]

Originally Posted by Vakulinchuk

Honestly, what chance do we have that these two releases will be decent, and not upscaled dvd...?

good chances. Mosfilm made good HD restoration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKskdbazW7w

[Vakulinchuk]

Originally Posted by nils

good chances. Mosfilm made good HD restoration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKskdbazW7w

That assumes General Video might shell out cash to license new restorations? While not even a British powerhorse like Artificial Eye does that for Tarkovsky?

[Lucabeer]

I will get it tomorrow, hopefully I will be able to report my considerations on quality and cut/uncut status very soon.

[Lucabeer]

Got my copy one day earlier!

First the good news: the running time is 141 minutes and 44 seconds (I checked personally), so it looks like it's the uncut version. The back cover has been corrected from the image posted above, and reports 141 minutes and not 108.

So far so good!

Now the less good... Image quality... Perfectly watchable, very filmic. BUT... the look of a film which has faded a lot. Muted reddish colors, high black levels, a lot of softness. I have only jumped here and there (not watched the whole movie), but I haven't seen major print damage (big scratches, etc). Definitely no serious restoration has been performed. It very much looks like this, in terms of quality (I wouldn't be surprised to discover it's the same master):

Dersu Uzala film 1 - YouTube

Only Italian subtitles.

Considering that I have last seen this movie on pan&scan VHS and the lack of truly great alternatives, I will keep it.

[Dan8700]

First the good news: the running time is 141 minutes and 44 seconds

See, it's 142', like I said!
Thanks for the report, Luca. Sad news about the PQ, but it was expected. Hopefully, Nevskij is sourced from the Mosfilm resto... Might bite on that one.

[Vakulinchuk]

Thanks! for the lack of better options, I'll consider it as well.

[Lucabeer]

Watched the movie yesterday evening. Overall, I confirm that the biggest complaint is the softness in several scenes (although it's much better than in the Youtube video posted above, since the compression is so much better on the disc) and the brightness/colors fluctuation (not digital, though, it clearly comes from the age of the film and the lack of restoration). Not a speck or scratch to be seen, anyway, just a couple of instances of dirt near the top black bar (gate dirt).

Altogether, though, I can say I am happy with the purchase. Colors are actually quite decent, with a brownish warm palette that actually fits the mood of the movie. Autumnal colors are well represented.

[sanjuro_61]

Good news, indeed.

[Vakulinchuk]

has anyone plunged on Nevskij yet?

[Vakulinchuk]

Good news:

https://www.afdigitale.it/aleksandr-nevskij-blu-ray/

It seems I was wrong on General Video, kudos to them!