Has anyone obtained any of the DVDs that Ruscico is producing? I've read some reviews of their Tarkovsky films (at a Tarkovsky fan site) that says they rival the Criterion editions.

It looks like those of us who love Tarkovsky and would like to see some little seen Russian gems, have something to rejoice about if this is all verified. Check out this site of the company producing them

http://www.ruscico.com/about_en.php

We've had a few threads on this already. Try searching for <i><font color=blue>Solaris</font></i>.

I've seen them all and can't say enough good things about them. The transfers are superb, the extras are abundant, the subtitling and dubbing is unprecedented (at least in the U.S.) in quality and the variety of languages. I would strongly recommend, from the titles released so far:
<font color=blue>Solaris
Torpedo Bombers
The Cranes Are Flying
At Home Among Strangers, A Stranger Among His Own
Ballad Of A Soldier
Morozko
Viy
Autumn Marathon
The Princess And The Pea
Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears</font>

Thanks!
 

Thanks very much for your recommendations. I had done a search before posting, and hadn't come up with anything, so thanks for steering me in the right direction.

Where do you usually purchase these from?

http://www.st-p.com seems to be the lowest-priced. You can also subscribe to the entire collection directly at Ruscico web site. The cost for subscription is $17 per single disc, $25 for two-disc sets, and $35 triple-disc set, shipping included. You'll have to buy all 148 of them. They ask for 1O% advance too.

Finding out more about Russian titles?
 

Thanks Sem, I just went there and ordered Solaris. I found it had gone up to $44.95 on the other site mentioned in another thread on Solaris, but thankfully it was still $34.99 at this site.

I'm wondering about some of the other titles they will be releasing, anyone know of a site that might give at least an outline of what the stories are?

Cannot wait for Stalker! They are saying it will be released in Autumn.

Does anyone have a link to Solaris on the st-p.com site? I'm not finding it when I search. I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

St. Petersburg
 

Here ya go, http://www.st-p.com/edefault.asp

Link for Solaris DVD on St-P.com
 

<font color=red>WARNING</font>
Stay away from <b>Aladdin's Magic Lamp</b>. RusCiCo totally screwed up this film's transfer: all the images look vertically stretched.

<b>pancks</b>,
here's the link http://www.ruscico.com/catalogue_eng.php

...are you sure? perhaps it's an anamorphic transfer of a widescreen movie, your player is -erroneously- set to 'widescreen' (or '16:9', same thing), and you're watching it on a 4:3 TV... that would result in the 'stretched' image!... or, perhaps, the movie just features very tall, very thin actors?...

. . .

Thanks for the link to Solaris! :)

I have this problem with my BARBARA-BEAUTY disc as well, but other people said it's only on my APEX player. Can you verify that it plays fine for you?

Also, remember that Viy, Amphibian Man, Alladin's Magic Lamp (perhaps they will fix it) and a few others are going to be released by Image in July/August.

Moscow Doesn't Believe In Tears and Tchaikovskiy are going to be released by KINO in September.

Those discs are goingto be identical to Ruscico discs.

Picked up Viy and was suitably impressed with transfer etc..also featured a small documentary on director and a couple of silent films approx 12mins or so in duration if i remember rightly as i picked this up about 2 months ago almost and only watched it the once thus far.

I'm sure, 'cause I played around with my settings and I've seen the movie before.

I don't have a problem with that particular disc.

SOLARIS DVD Review !
 

Hey,

I am another who is very impressed with the Ruscico quality.

My review of their Solaris DVD is here:
http://207.136.67.23/film/Reviews/solaris.htm#solaris
Cheers,

Tarkovsky Knocks me out!
 

Thanks for the review, I'm jumping up and down waiting for Solaris to get here. I'm currently reading Tarkovsky's book, Sculpting in Time, it has only made me appreciate his films more, which I didn't think possible.

CANNOT WAIT for Stalker!

Sculpting in Time...
 

Yes I agree... I've read "Sculpting in Time" twice now.

For a while we were debating if "The Mirror" that is for sale was perhaps a Ruscico release and anamorphic ( different than the Kino version ), but I emailed them at rbcmp3.com and they told me it was the Kino version. After re-reading "Sculpting in Time" I would have sprung for an anamorphic Mirror even though I own the Kino one... Its visuals are so important to its appreciation.

Is there a release date for Stalker ?

Stalker arrives in Autumn
 

I've read on at least one of the Russian sites that Stalker is due for release this Autumn. How is the Kino copy of Mirror? Have you seen the Sacrifice on DVD yet? I'd imagine Ruscico won't be releasing that one since it was made in Sweden.

Yes...
 

Yes I've seen them all that are on DVD... but not Ivan's Childhood or Stalker... I am almost considering buying the video tapes, but Criterion is doing Ivan's Childhood soon..

Kino's Mirror quality is not bad at all... I would buy it if you don't own it. It's my #1 Tarkovsky.

Cheers,

Buy the videos!
 

Buy the videos Gary, you can always sell them on ebay after they come out on DVD, but since you are obviously a Tarkovsky fan, don't wait another minute till you see those two!

Loved your site BTW, now I've got to get Dreyer's film. I hope you are a Bresson fan too?

Does anyone know if the PAL version of Solaris is still available? I did a search on the French Amazon site but it didn't turn anything up.

Pal Solaris...
 

Pal Solaris was pulled by the French Amazon... they are not selling it... and I don't think ever did fulfill an order for it.

Bresson... never seen one of his films... I am basically a DVD guy...none of his are on DVD right ?

Cheers,

Afraid no Bresson DVD yet
 

Nope, I'm afraid that there are at present no Bresson DVDs, as there are none for another favorite director, Satyajit Ray.

But if you are tempted to try a video I'd recommend starting with Bresson's A Man Escaped, and just think of this, Gary, wouldn't you hate to have missed the Passion of Joan d'Arc?

Re: Yes...
 

<em>Mirror</em> is perhaps my #1 Tarkovsky as well. But the KINO release is not very good at all, so save your money (imho). The subtitles are ingrained, and the framing is wrong due to heavy overscan. I am eagerly awaiting the RusCiCo version. RusCiCo's <em>Solaris</em> has a preview for their upcoming <em>Mirror</em>. It looks stellar!

See framegrabs/comparison between RusCiCo's <em>Solaris</em> DVD and Image's Laserdisk on...
<a href="http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~tstronds/homepage/tarkovsky/posters.html">My Tarkovsky Site</a>.