The Bird with the Crystal Plumage – The Archive Conversation

[Stephen@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Djangooo

With Blue Underground no longer having the rights and seemingly not able to get them back you have to wonder if Storaro is trying to pull that version from circulation unless people take his reframed version. So I'm guessing Arrow would have to wait until Storaro is no longer around if that were the case.

That's exactly what I'm thinking. He's forced his versions of Apocalypse Now (thankfully rectified) and The Last Emperor on us for years. I'm wondering what kind of hold he has over directors that they would allow him to do this to their work? Are they all scared of him?

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Maybe he has something in his contracts that means he has 'final cut' on the visuals and aspect ratio?

[L'enfant Errant]

Originally Posted by Stephen@Cult Labs

I'm wondering what kind of hold he has over directors that they would allow him to do this to their work? Are they all scared of him?

Usually it's the DP - not the director - who oversees the home video transfer. The exceptions are typically the crazier ones like Ridley Scott, William Friedkin and David Fincher who are (for better or worse) control freaks and make sure the home video release is up to their exacting specifications. Sometimes it goes well and you get Se7en or Alien, and sometimes... well, sometimes you get The French Connection.

I could be wrong, but I'm guessing Arrow Video could have the option of making their own HD transfer from scratch, which is what Blue Underground must have done... of course if they only expect to sell X number of copies, and they'd need to sell Y percentage of "X" just to cover the transfer, it might not have been a realistic option. Licensors offer materials, but in most cases a licensor can choose to bear the expense of trotting the negative out of storage and then making their own materials, right?

For that matter, BU may not own the distribution rights to BIRD, but if they were smart they own the actual HD transfer they made indefinitely... of course in that scenario it would involve paying Italy the rights first, paying Blue Underground for the materials second, and then hoping the contracts from both parties don't contradict one another! It's enough to make almost anyone go...

[bdc]

As stated before the same hd master that Arrow used was used for the recent French dvd/bd...
According to the French company Wild Side,the hd transfer was made in Italy under supervision of Storaro and then further restoration was done in France.

"Après la restauration et l’édition ces dernières années des chefs-d’œuvre Les frissons de l’angoisse et Suspiria (disponibles en DVD), Wild Side Films a procédé Ã* la restauration en haute définition de 4 œuvres majeures de Dario Argento : L’oiseau au plumage de cristal, Le chat Ã* 9 queues, Ténèbres et Phenomena.

Sous la supervision de Brigitte Dutray, directrice technique de Wild Side Films, les transferts HD ont été réalisés Ã* partir des négatifs originaux chez Technicolor Rome en présence des chefs opérateurs de chacun des films, dont Vittorio Storaro et Luciano Tovoli. Les restaurations HD ont été effectuées par le laboratoire VDM Ã* Paris."

Babelfish roughly translates :

"After the restoration and the edition these last years of the masterpieces the shivers of the anguish and Suspiria (available in DVD), Wild Side Films proceeded to the restoration in high-definition of 4 major works of Dario Argento: The bird with the crystal plumage, the cat with 9 tails, Darkness and Phenomena.

Under the supervision of Brigitte Dutray, chief technical officer of Wild Side Films, transfers HD were carried out starting from the negative originals at Technicolor Rome in the presence of the operators chiefs of each film, of which Vittorio Storaro and Luciano Tovoli. Restorations HD were carried out by laboratory VDM in Paris."

[springjack]

If Demons is being delayed because the right materials were not found, then why Arrow can´t put this release on hold until they found the trace of the BU print.

I mean, not you have more information on a print of "Bird" than the information that has been available regarding the Demons print.

[Djangooo]

Originally Posted by springjack

If Demons is being delayed because the right materials were not found, then why Arrow can´t put this release on hold until they found the trace of the BU print.

I mean, not you have more information on a print of "Bird" than the information that has been available regarding the Demons print.

Chances are that the print BU has been recalled or whatever because Storaro doesn't want the film to exist on home video in that ratio anymore. That would also explain why Blue Underground didn't bother re-newing the rights, because they'd have to release it cropped.

Again, this is just speculation on my part.

[springjack]

Originally Posted by Djangooo

Chances are that the print BU has been recalled or whatever because Storaro doesn't want the film to exist on home video in that ratio anymore. That would also explain why Blue Underground didn't bother re-newing the rights, because they'd have to release it cropped.

Again, this is just speculation on my part.

If that´s the case here, I wonder how much Storaro has control over "The Bird With The Crystal Plumage".

Storaro has photographed a handful of recent films in the Univisium format but no film has utilized the full aspects of the proposal format, regarding the projection standards, because they have not been publicly adopted.

This "Univisiun" move has already been proved controversial with many film enthusiasts, who believe that regardless of Storaro's attempt to unify all aspect ratios, films should be viewed in the ratio they were filmed in, without any cropping. It´s been proved so many times in the past that people don´t give a damn about this "Univisium" to be used on past movies. There´s no real gain in this movie regarding the alteration made on the original aspect ratio. One thing is to shot new movies using the "Univisium" ration composition, not altering what has already shot.

Like someone said earlier, on DVDBeaver is written "Every scene is framed the way it should be to create maximum impact."

I wonder what´s the view of the Argento family regarding this move.

[springjack]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

Blu-ray only

On the first post this is listed as blu-ray only but Amazon, Play and HMV list the DVD as a pre-order but without any date listed.

[Der Spieler]

Originally Posted by Daemonia

Don't Arrow have a say in how the film is presented? Surely, at some point in negotiations, Arrow would have become aware of what they might be getting? It's inevitable that there would be something of a backlash regarding this news.

Frankly, and I'll know I'll probably get banned for saying this, but we're talking about the same company who released THE BEYOND with a B&W intro. So I wouldn't be too sure about them "knowing what they're getting".

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

My understanding is that the choice was between the 2.0:1 aspect ratio or nothing as they didn't have the rights to the Blue Underground 2.35:1 HD master. Surely it's better to have this version than none at all?

I'd prefer none at all. What's the point in releasing a half-assed version of the movie? Argento is a visual director to say the least. Putting out a cropped version of his movie is nothing short of disrespectful. Plus you're actually contributing to Storaro's egotrip.

Most ridiculous thing though is trying to pass a cropped ratio as a special feature, sugar-coating it with a mention of "the original DP's vision" and so on. Who are you trying to kid?

Worst decision Arrow has ever taken.

[bgart13]

And let's face it -- Storaro is a has-been.