Question:
I'd like to catch up with a few films from these two directors.
There's a recent Korean release of Farewell My Concubine which I'll pick up, aside from that what are Kaige's best films, and what DVD options exist?
Same goes for Hou Hsiao Hsien - where's a good place to start? A few of his films are available from Fox Lorber in the US but the transfers have been criticised - are the discs really so bad? are there any alternative versions?
And, on an Eastern theme, has anyone seen 'City of Glass', the 1998 HK film?
The releases of these chinese directors have been very patchy and many of their films aren't even available. Basically its whatever you can find ... sorry of no help really :p
City Of Glass is suppose to be run of the mill poo poo HK romance.
Temptress Moon (http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/index.cgi?page=Review&id=1099&story=3747) and The Emperor and the Assassin (http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/index.cgi?page=Review&id=657&story=2821) from Chen Kaige seem well served on DVD. They can be had cheap too, £10.50 for Temptress Moon at DVDBoxoffice & £9.99 for Emperor & The Assassin at Play.com
Ta kanedda :)
For anyone who's interested - Korean release of '...Concubine' here - http://www.krdvd.com/details.php?id=180 - includes soundtrack CD
I'm rather interested in 'Killing Me Softly' too - probably due to the dreadful reviews.
Oh, and I just saw 'City of Glass' mentioned on someone's website that popped up when I was doing a Kaige search - the synopsis made it sound more interesting than it probably is.
I wasn't impressed by the Korean release of 'Farewell My Concubine'. The colours are dull and faded, but the 5.1 mix is good and it is anamorphic. The CD that comes with it is not the soundtrack but some dreadful Chinese pop songs. There is no indication who the songs are by - all the information is in Korean - but it could just be an album by Leslie Cheung. The R1 release of 'Farewell My Concubine' isn't anamorphic, but it has far better picture quality than the Korean R3. I'd certainly prefer the R1 release. I'm meaning to do a full comparison for DVDTimes one day, as well as the R1 release of Kaige's 'Life On A String'. (Thanks for the links to my other reviews, Kanedaa:) ).
There are a couple of cheap releases of Hou Hsiao Hsien films available. I have the Hong Kong R3 of 'Millennium Mambo', which is letterboxed, but very good picture. I wasn't terribly taken by the film though. There is also a cheap FoxLorber release of 'Flowers of Shanghai' on R1. Haven't watched the film yet but the quality of the letterbox transfer looks reasonably good.
There's a very nice french (R2) 2 disk version of Millenium Mambo - anamorphic, DD5.1, with english subtitles on the film, but not the extras.
I rather liked the film, but I can see how it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea.
Hou Hsiao-hsien's Goodbye South Goodbye is available from French sites (MK2/Warner) - hopefully with English subtitles because I ordered one myself from DVDShoppingcenter, DD5.0, 16/9 anamorphic.
Originally posted by adamvbarker
There's a very nice french (R2) 2 disk version of Millenium Mambo - anamorphic, DD5.1, with english subtitles on the film, but not the extras.
I rather liked the film, but I can see how it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea.
Am I right in assuming that you have watched the film from DVD? I'm asking this because all the usual sources claim that there are French subtitles only.
I've also read that the French TF1 release of 'Millenium Mambo' contains English subs on the film only - a grab from the Subtitles menu on this page seems to prove that fact... - http://www.dvdrama.com/news.php?5103
Yep, I've watched the french Millenium Mambo and it does have english subs (film only), and it says so on the box, so I don't know why various sites would get that wrong - but unfortunately they do, rather often.
Kanedaa's link provides good visual proof for any doubting Thomases still out there.
There's a recent Korean release of Farewell My Concubine which I'll pick up, aside from that what are Kaige's best films, and what DVD options exist?
Same goes for Hou Hsiao Hsien - where's a good place to start? A few of his films are available from Fox Lorber in the US but the transfers have been criticised - are the discs really so bad? are there any alternative versions?
And, on an Eastern theme, has anyone seen 'City of Glass', the 1998 HK film?
Answers:
The releases of these chinese directors have been very patchy and many of their films aren't even available. Basically its whatever you can find ... sorry of no help really :p
City Of Glass is suppose to be run of the mill poo poo HK romance.
Answers:
Temptress Moon (http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/index.cgi?page=Review&id=1099&story=3747) and The Emperor and the Assassin (http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/index.cgi?page=Review&id=657&story=2821) from Chen Kaige seem well served on DVD. They can be had cheap too, £10.50 for Temptress Moon at DVDBoxoffice & £9.99 for Emperor & The Assassin at Play.com
Answers:
Ta kanedda :)
For anyone who's interested - Korean release of '...Concubine' here - http://www.krdvd.com/details.php?id=180 - includes soundtrack CD
I'm rather interested in 'Killing Me Softly' too - probably due to the dreadful reviews.
Oh, and I just saw 'City of Glass' mentioned on someone's website that popped up when I was doing a Kaige search - the synopsis made it sound more interesting than it probably is.
Answers:
I wasn't impressed by the Korean release of 'Farewell My Concubine'. The colours are dull and faded, but the 5.1 mix is good and it is anamorphic. The CD that comes with it is not the soundtrack but some dreadful Chinese pop songs. There is no indication who the songs are by - all the information is in Korean - but it could just be an album by Leslie Cheung. The R1 release of 'Farewell My Concubine' isn't anamorphic, but it has far better picture quality than the Korean R3. I'd certainly prefer the R1 release. I'm meaning to do a full comparison for DVDTimes one day, as well as the R1 release of Kaige's 'Life On A String'. (Thanks for the links to my other reviews, Kanedaa:) ).
There are a couple of cheap releases of Hou Hsiao Hsien films available. I have the Hong Kong R3 of 'Millennium Mambo', which is letterboxed, but very good picture. I wasn't terribly taken by the film though. There is also a cheap FoxLorber release of 'Flowers of Shanghai' on R1. Haven't watched the film yet but the quality of the letterbox transfer looks reasonably good.
Answers:
There's a very nice french (R2) 2 disk version of Millenium Mambo - anamorphic, DD5.1, with english subtitles on the film, but not the extras.
I rather liked the film, but I can see how it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea.
Answers:
Hou Hsiao-hsien's Goodbye South Goodbye is available from French sites (MK2/Warner) - hopefully with English subtitles because I ordered one myself from DVDShoppingcenter, DD5.0, 16/9 anamorphic.
Answers:
Originally posted by adamvbarker
There's a very nice french (R2) 2 disk version of Millenium Mambo - anamorphic, DD5.1, with english subtitles on the film, but not the extras.
I rather liked the film, but I can see how it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea.
Am I right in assuming that you have watched the film from DVD? I'm asking this because all the usual sources claim that there are French subtitles only.
Answers:
I've also read that the French TF1 release of 'Millenium Mambo' contains English subs on the film only - a grab from the Subtitles menu on this page seems to prove that fact... - http://www.dvdrama.com/news.php?5103
Answers:
Yep, I've watched the french Millenium Mambo and it does have english subs (film only), and it says so on the box, so I don't know why various sites would get that wrong - but unfortunately they do, rather often.
Kanedaa's link provides good visual proof for any doubting Thomases still out there.
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