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To start, all three movies contain feature-length audio commentaries by Annette Insdorf, who was Kieslowski's English translator, and as she relates it also his best friend and closest working companion in the whole world. Her approach to the commentary format is to treat it like a Symbolism for Dummies lecture, pointing out each and every instance of pretentious film language as they appear on screen. In the case of Blue, this means calling our attention to every usage of the color blue in the whole movie. I can tell you right now, every single shot in the movie contains the color blue. And she points out every last one. This grows tedious very quickly. Insdorf ingratiates herself throughout the supplements on these three discs, and either you will find her enormously insightful or you will rapidly grow to despise her. Can you guess which camp I'm in?

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Q: You were very involved in the Criterion edition of your film, "Two-Lane Blacktop." In fact, you conducted and produced the interviews with Kris Kristofferson and James Taylor for the "Two-Lane Blacktop" disc.

A: I did about four pieces for the DVD and that was a lot of fun. In fact, I'm going to be doing similar things for Criterion releases of my two Jack Nicholson westerns, "The Shooting" and "Ride in the Whirlwind."

Q: That's a scoop! Criterion hasn't even announced these discs.

A: They're a ways off. We haven't even closed the deal yet but we've talked about it and basically agreed. They're not going to be doing it until sometime in 2012.

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CRITERION FINDS US VERSION OF GODZILLA!
35mm Fine-Grain of GKOTM Discovered

Yesterday, I posted the fantastic news that the Criterion Collection had slyly announced, with a simple photo, that they will be prepping a DVD/BD release of the original Japanese version of GODZILLA aka GOJIRA (1954) — see previous blog post — and while, it seems, that Honda's seminal film will be getting a much-needed restoration, some have been asking if the corresponding US version helmed by Terry O. Morse, GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS! (1956), starring Raymond Burr, will be included in this release. Previous home video releases of this film — and all versions screened on television, cable, and online in the last 30 years — have been culled from the same, edited telecine transfer of a 35mm master, prepared in the early 1980s by Henry G. Saperstein's UPA (United Productions of America). Unfortunately, Toho has nothing for the US version (barring the cropped "cinemascope" version released in Japan in the late 1950s), and since there was nothing else readily available, Classic Media used this very same three decade-old transfer for their 2006 release.

What was delted? UPA's transfer is missing the original "Jewell Enterprises" logo at the top of the film (printed over Toho's sunburst logo), seen in early television versions (before UPA's acquisition), a starring and directed by card after the opening title, and the original — and full — ending credits sequence, which appeared between the fade out and "The End" title card. While Classic Media's release, reinstates the original ending credits sequence (taken from a 16mm print owned by a private collector), it was placed after the "The End" title card. But, the Jewell Enterprises logo remained absent. While several fans have 16mm prints of the original television transfer of GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS! — some complete, others not — the search for 35mm elements, or at the very least, an uncut 35mm theatrical print, had proved an elusive creature. While there are several private (and notable) collectors who do have 35mm prints of this film, most of them wish to remain nameless, out of fear that their prints will be confiscated (which has indeed happened to collectors in the past).

So, Criterion put the call out to film collectors, everywhere, to help locate 35mm elements for GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS! Startlingly, within 24 hours, through the auspices of several fans — working together and respecting the anonymity of the source — according to "insiders", a veritable Rosetta Stone, something far better than a 35mm print has been located: A 35mm Fine-Grain Print! "So, what does that mean?", you might ask. It's actually quite big deal, really. Why? The following explanation is from the article, "Duped Negatives" and "Lavender Prints": Understanding Film Restoration from The Picture Show Man:

Sometimes called a "fine-grain sub-master", or "protection print", or "lavender print", or "purple print" (because the fine-grains of the film have a slightly purple color to them). These are positive prints, made from either camera negatives or dupe (duplicate) negatives, using film that has a low contrast, extremely fine-grained emulsion. They are made expressly and exclusively for the purpose of making another dupe negative, and are not meant to be shown. (In fact, the projected image quality of these prints is poor compared to a timed projection print, and the perforations have a slightly different shape than projection prints.)

In plain English, this means that the next best thing to finding an original Interpositive (the first "positive print" made from the Camera Negative) — a first-generation print! So, while celebrating this early may be premature, I'm going to start popping the Champagne corks (or maybe some Champipple) — because a transfer from this Fine-Grain should prove to be stunning in comparison to what has been previously available to us, especially once such a transfer gets a Criterion Touch digital restoration! Many of you out there may not quite grasp the monumental thing that has happened here. This is an earth-shaking, screen-shattering thrill! This is big news, towering and tremendous — akin to the discovery of a Missing Link — and is more fantastic than I ever thought possible, to paraphrase Burr's character in GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS!

In the meantime, let's keep our fingers crossed for Criterion, but not hold our collective breath (we don't want to jinx this). But still, so far, this really has been a "tale to stun the mind!"

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