SHAM019 - Baba Yaga: The Final Cut

[GPR79]

Hey Leelee can get kinky too, with added Cylon bonus action........

[vincenzo]

Originally Posted by GPR79

I enjoyed this! Do think Carroll Baker was miscast though.........

Anne Heywood was originally cast but withdrew without reason and ended up getting fined (even her own agent sued her).

Baker also appeared in Lenzi's weird Silent Horror around the same time.

[bdc]

Seems I will have to google Leelee...

Originally Posted by vincenzo

Baker also appeared in Lenzi's weird Silent Horror around the same time.

I thought she was pretty good in Silent Horror aka Knife of Ice,imo the film could have benefited from a stronger ending though.
But I like Baker in anything!

[Pete]

Originally Posted by bdc

The doll should look like the lovely Ely Galleani.

Sexy Ely is the only good thing in Baba Yaga.

[g053584398]

I still haven't seen this one yet but it just has to be fantastic based on what I've read about and have seen in the trailers. If I don't enjoy it I will eat my hat!

[bdc]

The Director's cut is the one to watch as that is the way the movie was intended.
I like it...

[docvoltage]

I finally watched the Shameless Cut of Baba Yaga this weekend. Do I rave about all the great things about it or go straight to the one minor quibble ?

OK then, quibble time: the fact track was suboptimal this time around.

The snarky, funny, yet informative fact track works great with the New Barbarians trilogy, but not so much for Baga Yaga. Honestly, I found it so rambling and superficial that I eventually turned it off to really enjoy the film. Baba Yaga is so full of fascinating visuals that a fact track would have to be pretty damn informative to make it really worthwhile. What did I expect to read there? More in-depth social and political analysis of the film in the context of the time in which it was made. More details about the locations and their significance to the story. More of everything, really. The film is such a rich story that really drilling down would have been wonderful, especially since you had access to the director.

Having said that, the documentaries were a wonderful complement to the film.

Overall, I still give it an A-, which is pretty damn good. Money and time very well spent.

Best regards,

--Volker

[damek]

This dvd suffers from 'stuttering motion' a lot, if you know what i mean.

[bdc]

"This 'final cut' of the film is effectively a reconstruction carried out by director Corrado Farina in an effort to return it as closely to his original edit as possible, including the re-insertion of a couple of cut scenes and censored shots. The previously available version had been recut by the producers behind Farina's back, a re-edit that that was taken through to the negative cut, the final stage of an edit that once carried out is – or at least used to be – impossible to reverse, as the cement join made on each edit (it's a technique known as A/B roll negative cutting if you want to look it up) would involve destroying the frame on which the join was made. Thus to bring the film to anything close to his original vision, Farina has had to draw on what looks like either a slash print (a low quality print made from the negative that editors would use to cut the film in pre-digital days) or a low band video transfer for the missing material. In his interview in the extra features, Farina admits that some shots were impossible to re-insert because of these very problems.

As a result there are some sudden and drastic shifts of quality here and there, but given the circumstances this is something we should accept as inevitable and be grateful that we can see at all. The sequences in question are short, sometimes only a small part of a single shot, and some aren't as bad as you might expect. Certainly overall the quality of the picture is rather good. Framed 1.78:1, anamorphically enhanced and slightly windowboxed, its contrast and sharpness are sound, though the colour has lost some of its punch with the passing of time. There are also some occasional but very noticeable motion glitches on panning shots. The rescued material stands out a mile, having generally weaker colour and less accurate contrast and sometimes accompanied by a blizzard of dust and dirt, but such is the price we have to pay and as I said before, they don't last long. Unusually for Shameless, there is no front-of-film warning of this." (Dvd Outsider)

Seems the motion glitches are caused by missing frames?

[MatteiOfTheDead]

I recently watched this fantastic film and all I can say is I was blown away. I thought I would be getting some mighty fine sexploitation sleaze but to my surprise (and joy) I was treated to a very clever, witty and deep film. Some very clever themes and undertones. The special features where amazing too. I haven't got round to watching with the fact track but the 2 documentaries and the interview where fantastic. If anyone has not seen this film yet I would seriously suggest you go check it out.

I did a review for it on my blog and my Youtube page. Unfortunately I cannot share links yet as I have been relatively quiet on the forum but if you are interested in reading/ seeing my review my Youtube account is Matteiofthedead and my blogspot account is Mondo Squaliido.

Speaking of blogs and Youtube. If any of you guys have a Youtube account or a blog feel free to get in touch and i will put you on my pages and give you a mention. I don't have the biggest audience but I love supporting film enthusiasts ad like minded people.

Thanks a lot guys,

Pete