French Ozu DVD info (Re: Mizogouchi)

[Michael Kerpan]

On Tuesday 13 November 2001 05:23, "Jasper Sharp" <jasper_sharp at hotmail.com> 
wrote:

> If you are a French reader, 2 Ozu DVDs have been put out on Les Filmes de
> Ma Vie label in France as a double disc set for the very reasonable price
> of 189 francs - yes they are out now. Try fnac.fr or amazon.fr. Also
> there's a Mizoguchi disc too. I picked them all up this last weekend - I'll
> post with more details (the titles, for example!) a little later. The same
> label also put out Kinugasa's JIGOKUMON / LA PORTE D'ENFER  a while back.

I just got my Ozu DVD set today (courtesy of www.alapage.com -- always 
cheaper than Amazon, sometimes a little cheaper, and sometimes a little more 
expensive than FNAC).  Only French subtitles, alas (as expected).  

The Tokyo Story DVD looks better than the New Yorker video (as I recollect 
it), but does not seem to be based on as good-looking a source as the Hong 
Kong VCD.  Because it is a higher resolution medium than the VCD, however, it 
looks about as good (but a DVD based on the source of the VCD would 
presumably be better yet). 

The Autumn Afternoon/Taste of Mackerel/Samma no aji DVD is a big improvement 
over the New Yorker video release.  Color is more lively and the image is 
considerably sharper.

N.B. Since my DVD player is doing a PAL->NTSC conversion, these might look a 
bit better on a PAL television.

I'll be interested in hearing what the Fravidis release of Mizoguchi's Ugetsu 
is like (that's the only French Mizoguchi DVD I've found mentioned so far).

Michael Kerpan
Boston, MA