Am 22. Februar 2011 ist bei Criterion Luchino Viscontis “Sehnsucht / Senso” [I 1954] auf DVD und Blu-ray erschienen. Criterion nennt drei Gründe dafür, sich den Film anzuschauen.

Während der gerade stattfindenden Filmfestspiele in Cannes wird auch eine neue digitale Restaurierung von Luchino Viscontis “Der Leopard / Il gattopardo” [I / F 1963] präsentiert. Im Presseheft ist folgender Text über die Restaurierung zu finden:

ABOUT THE RESTORATION

“In order for everything to stay the same, everything must change.” Although Tancredi (Alain Delon) is speaking about the future of Italian aristocracy, his description is an apt one for film restoration as well. Motion picture technology has changed radically over time, and a primary challenge of restoration is the attempt to recreate the impossible experience of seeing the film as it was originally presented. Today, powerful digital tools allow us almost unlimited freedom in image manipulation and color correction – to almost entirely erase the ravages of time and more closely represent the original artistic and technical achievements of Il Gattopardo than was previously possible using traditional photochemical techniques.

Il Gattopardo was photographed in a process called Technirama, in which images were captured on 35mm film horizontally rather than vertically. The resulting anamorphic image, twice the size of a standard 35mm frame, is remarkably sharp and full of detail. Since 1963, the camera negative has now faded, and exhibits most of the issues common to films of its era – although interestingly, because of the photographic process, scratches and dirt move horizontally across the frame rather than vertically.

For this new restoration, the original Technirama camera negatives were scanned at 8K (8000 lines of horizontal resolution), resulting in twenty-one terabytes of data. A 35mm protection interpositive was also scanned for sections needed to replace material not present in the original camera negatives. After scanning, all files were converted to 4K, and the balance of picture restoration was performed entirely digitally at this resolution. Over 12,000 hours of manual restoration was performed, removing forty-seven years’ worth of dirt, scratches, and other physical anomalies. The original monaural soundtrack has also been carefully restored, using a 35mm magnetic source which was digitally captured and processed to remove distracting pops, clicks, and noise while still faithfully representing the characteristics of the original presentation.

The restoration of Il Gattopardo is presented both in a 4K digital cinema package as well as in traditional 35mm film prints. Archival film elements and data archives have been created of both the restored and unrestored versions of the film in order to preserve Il Gattopardo for generations to come.

Schawn Belston
Film Preservation, Twentieth Century Fox

(Hier geht’s weiter …)

Criterion hat die DVD- und Blu-ray-Titel für Juni 2010 bekannt gegeben. Darunter befindet sich Luchino Viscontis “Der Leopard / Il gattopardo / The Leopard” [I / F 1963], der am 21. Juni 2010 in Großbritannien über das BFI in den regulären Handel gelangt, dann in einer fehlerfreien Edition. Die britische Blu-ray bietet zwar nicht solch umfangreiches Bonusmaterial wie das Set aus den USA, allerdings aber einen exklusiven Audiokommentar und ein Interview mit Claudia Cardinale.
 
29. Juni 2010
Blu-ray #235: “Der Leopard / Il gattopardo / The Leopard” [I / F 1963, Luchino Visconti]
2 Discs
$49.95
2.21:1
Italian

Making its long-awaited U.S. home video debut, Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard (Il Gattopardo) is an epic on the grandest possible scale. The film recreates, with nostalgia, drama, and opulence, the tumultuous years of Italy’s Risorgimento—when the aristocracy lost its grip and the middle classes rose and formed a unified, democratic Italy. Burt Lancaster stars as the aging prince watching his culture and fortune wane in the face of a new generation, represented by his upstart nephew (Alain Delon) and his beautiful fiancée (Claudia Cardinale). Awarded the Palme d’Or at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival, The Leopard translates Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s novel, and the history it recounts, into a truly cinematic masterpiece. The Criterion Collection is proud to present the film in two distinct versions: Visconti’s original Italian version, and the alternate English-language version released in America in a newly restored special edition.

• High-definition digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Giuseppe Rotunno, with restored image and sound and presented in the original Super Technirama aspect ratio of 2.21:1
• Uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• The 161-minute American release, with English-language dialogue, including Burt Lancaster’s own voice
• Audio commentary by film scholar Peter Cowie
• A Dying Breed: The Making of The Leopard, an hour-long documentary featuring interviews with Claudia Cardinale, screenwriter Suso Ceccho D’Amico, Rotunno, filmmaker Sydney Pollack, and many others
• Video interview with producer Goffredo Lombardo
• Video interview with professor Millicent Marcus on the history behind The Leopard
• Original theatrical trailers and newsreels
• Stills gallery of rare behind-the-scenes production photos
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film historian Michael Wood

(Hier geht’s weiter …)

Durch meinen Screenshot-Vergleich und einigen Einträgen in internationalen DVD/BD-Foren hatte ich darauf aufmerksam gemacht, dass die – exklusiv bei HMV.co.uk erhältliche – “Der Leopard / Il gattopardo / The Leopard” [I / F 1963, Luchino Visconti] Blu-ray vom British Film Institute (BFI) fehlerhaft ist. Die letzten 71 Minuten des Films weisen auf dieser Disc falsche Kontrastwerte und somit auch geänderte Farbwerte auf. Im Dezember 2009 hatte sich das BFI dazu geäußert und einen Austausch der Blu-ray Discs in Aussicht gestellt. Im Criterion-Forum wurde nun bekannt gegeben, wie dieser vonstatten geht. Die fehlerfreie Disc soll am 21. Juni 2010 in den regulären Handel gelangen.

THE LEOPARD – FAULTY DISC REPLACEMENT SCHEME

As was highlighted in a detailed post on this forum, BFI’s November 2009 release of The Leopard on Blu-ray contained a fault which, unfortunately, affected the last third of the film. We are pleased to announce that this fault has now been fixed and that a new edition is shortly due for release. Further to this announcement, the BFI would like to offer those customers who purchased a faulty copy of the Blu-ray with a replacement disc.

Customers wanting to take advantage of this offer are asked to send the BFI only the faulty disc (please do not send the artwork, booklet or packaging) and to include details of their name, address and e-mail. Upon receipt of the faulty disc, BFI will post a replacement Blu-ray disc.

As a thank you for your patience and understanding on this matter (as well as in recognision of the fact that you will be incurring some postage fees), the BFI would also like to offer those customers returning faulty The Leopard Blu-ray discs a special discount price on any 2 Blu-ray or Dual Format editions released between now and December 2010. By redemption of a code, which will be supplied to you, you will be able to buy these editions at £10 each (inclusive of postage).

We would like to apologise for the frustration and disappointment that has been caused due to the original Blu-ray release of The Leopard and thank you once again for your patience during the period of time it has taken us to rectify the problem.

Please send faulty discs to: Trevona Thomson, Video Publishing, BFI, 21 Stephen Street, London, W1T 1LN, United Kingdom.

“Sehnsucht / Senso” [I 1954, Luchino Visconti]

Label: Kinowelt / StudioCanal | BRD | StudioCanal Collection | Blu-ray
VÖ-Termin: 18. Februar 2010

Regionalcode
B

Laufzeit
122:44 Min. [23,976 fps]
Gemessen ohne Restaurierungs-Vorspann (19 Sek.) und -abspann (7 Sek.).

Codec
MPEG-4 AVC | High Profile 4.1

Picture-in-Picture
Nein

BD-Live
Ja

Bookmarks
Nein

(Hier geht’s weiter …)

“Sehnsucht / Senso” [I 1954, Luchino Visconti]

“Sehnsucht / Senso” [I 1954, Luchino Visconti]

Auf der WebSite von Kinowelt sind über die Suchfunktion bereits die Details der am 18. Februar 2010 erscheinenden neuen “StudioCanal Collection“-Blu-ray Discs zu finden:
 
18. Februar 2010
“Sehnsucht / Senso” [I 1954, Luchino Visconti]

Als die venezianische Gräfin Serpieri zum ersten Mal dem österreichischen Offizier Mahler begegnet, ist ihr der schmierige Frauenheld im Grunde zuwider. Doch schon bald erliegt sie seinem Charme und stürzt sich in eine schicksalhafte Affäre.

Viscontis erster Historienfilm zeichnet vor dem Hintergrund einer Amour fou das Porträt einer überkommenen Epoche. In intensiven, farbgewaltigen Bildern spiegelt er den Zusammenbruch der gesellschaftlichen Ordnung im tragischen Schicksal seiner Protagonistin. Der Film erscheint erstmals in Deutschland auf Blu-ray.

• 1.33:1 | 1080/24p
• Sprachen: Deutsch, Italienisch, Französisch dts-HD Master Audio Mono
• Untertitel: Deutsch, Französisch
• “Francesco Rosi: Visconti, mein Lehrer”
• “Marco Tullio Giordana: Visconti zwischen Film und Oper”
• 20-seitiges Booklet mit einem Text des Filmkritikers und -wissenschaftlers Philip Kemp
• BD-Live

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Gary Tooze von DVDBeaver steht derzeit wegen der Kontrast-Problematik der BFI-Blu-ray (siehe Screenshot-Vergleich und News) von Luchino Viscontis “Der Leopard / Il gattopardo / The Leopard” [I / F 1963] mit dem Head of Technical Production des BFI, James White, in Kontakt. Die erste Antwort von James White hat er in der DVDBeaver ListServ-Yahoo-Gruppe veröffentlicht:

The basic answer is we’re not sure yet. There’s a possibility that something went wrong with the final section of the encode, causing a slight change in how this was authored. We’re checking this with the authoring house today and I should have an update soon, but until we know for sure I’m not confirmation anything on the forums. Will let you know about this ASAP.

“Der Leopard / Il gattopardo” [I / F 1963, Luchino Visconti]

Italienisches 4-Folio | 55″ x 78″ | 1963 – Titanus

(Hier geht’s weiter …)

Bezüglich des im Screenshot-Vergleich genannten Kontrast-Problems bei der Blu-ray des Luchino Visconti-Klassikers “Der Leopard / Il gattopardo” [I / F 1963] hatte ich dem BFI gestern eine eMail geschrieben und erklärt, dass während der letzten 71 Minuten des Films die Kontrast- und Farbwerte nicht stimmen. Hier die Antwort, die ich heute erhalten habe:

Dear Mr. Liemke,

Thank you for your comments regarding the BFI’s BD of ‘The Leopard’.

We have had reports of problems with this disc from people with Oppo multi-region players and I understand that Oppo are looking into this themselves.

Further work was done on the master but our Head of Technical Production, James White, reported that there was no general colour shift on the final master supplied for authoring. Screencaps from across the whole film here for reference http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare5/leopard.htm

Naturally the disc was also quality checked numerous times during which this problem was not reported.

Best wishes

Sonia Mullett
DVD Producer

Das Problem existiert jedoch, wie mir auch bereits in zwei DVD-Foren bestätigt wurde. Gary Tooze von DVDBeaver wurde daraufhin von einem User des Criterion-Forums darauf aufmerksam gemacht. Mittlerweile enthält sein Bildvergleich – auf den auch Frau Mullett vom BFI in der Mail verlinkt hatte – folgenden Zusatz:

NOTE: The last Blu-ray disc file (14.5 Gig – 00011.m2ts) has a predominantly darker transfer than we’ve seen from the DVDs (see our ballroom screen grab below). Rest assured – we will investigate – but it almost looks like moiring at times as the black levels are so uncharacteristically pitch.

Ich werde Frau Mullett eine weitere Mail schreiben und nochmals auf das Problem hinweisen.

In dieser Form ist die Blu-ray nicht empfehlenswert!

“Der Leopard / Il gattopardo” [I / F 1963, Luchino Visconti]

Label: British Film Institute (BFI) | GB | Blu-ray
VÖ-Termin: 2. November 2009 (HMV-exklusiv) | 15. Februar 2010 21. Juni 2010 (regulärer Handel)

Regionalcode
B

Laufzeit
185:23 Min. [23,976 fps]

Codec
MPEG-4 AVC | High Profile 4.1

Picture-in-Picture
Nein

BD-Live
Nein

Bookmarks
Nein

(Hier geht’s weiter …)

“Der Leopard / Il gattopardo” [I / F 1963, Luchino Visconti]

Italienische Fassung

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“Der Leopard / Il gattopardo” [I / F 1963, Luchino Visconti]

Italienische Fassung

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“Der Leopard / Il gattopardo” [I / F 1963, Luchino Visconti]

Italienische Fassung (Super Technirama 70)

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