philo

I've seen Baby of Macon listed as fullscreen. However, a reputable seller on Ebay had this version for sale and mentioned it was actually letterboxed even though its described as fullscreen on the box.

So can someone who's actually seen the disc confirm which one is true?

Thanks.

fnordboy

I have not seen this disc personally but i hae emailed the xploited store about this. The exact reply I got from him is in a thread on Greenaway in the DVD Talk forum.

Basically he said that it is in fact letterboxed and that it does say Fullscreen on the box. From what I am told they are a very reputable source so you should be able to trust the seller on that.

But of course I personally haven't seen it yet so I can't confirm it 100%. Unless you are making a huge savings buy it from an online store and if it is in fact fullscreen it should be a whole lot easier to return (especially if they say letterboxed in the description).

If you do get it, please confirm that it is letterboxed here

Hemulen

Australian e-tailers list this as being fullscreen.. and given that a large number of art house films have been released as panned and scanned in r4, i would well believe that this is true

however, if you're willing to take that risk, why not order it from an australian e-tailer:

Eyzdvd.com.au have it listed as instock, and at a price of around US$19 including shipping:http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/221745/id=sqXZy:tWngy

Atlanticdvd have it for US$18 including shipping, but they list it as out of stock : http://www.atlanticdvd.com.au/index_...d=4283~content

Hemulen

philo

Well, I placed an order. I'll let you know if its widescreen when I receive it.

I noticed that the same distributor is releasing Drowning By Numbers in March.

Thanks for the feedback.

fnordboy

Awesome. Great news!

Please let us know about the widescreen issue, it has been bothering a few of us on these forums.

astrophore

I ordered it too. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

basher

i just watched this and it is widescreen.

Josh Z

I received word from a trusted friend who watched the disc yesterday. The disc is only partially letterboxed to 1.78:1, cropped from the original 2.35:1. He also says that the transfer is terrible, with bluish blacks and a generally poor appearance.

philo

That would certainly explain the conflicting descriptions.

From what I've read of this distributor and previous films I am not surprised by the quality. Cropping of any Greenaway film is a real disappointment.

Anyone know if the tape of this was in 2.35:1?

Josh Z

I believe there were letterboxed VHS editions in the UK and possibly Australia too. There was also a letterboxed Japanese laserdisc release.

Hemulen

I've just measured up my PAL VHS copy, and have to report tht it too is cropped to 1.78:1

Hemulen

Dan Average

I'm fairly certain that the UK VHS is 2.35:1. NTSC transfers of this are pretty much constantly available on eBay so check there. Sometimes you will find a VHS copy of the Japanese LD release, which looks vastly better than copies made from the UK edition (since there is no PAL-to-NTSC transfer) but is also censored -- the male frontal nudity (of which there is not a tremendous amount, at least by Greenaway standards) is optically blurred and a violent scene at the end (which I won't describe because it's a spoiler) has been edited in a fairly odd fashion (offending shots are freeze-framed so that the shot retains its original length but doesn't actually show the controversial bits).

philo

Thanks everyone for the info.

I've seen listings of tapes on Ebay but similar to the R4 confusion, I was unsure whether they were 2.35:1. Didn't know if it was worth it.

For a director of such multimedia talents, its a shame that Greenway's films cannot receive, at the very least, a decent transfer. It would be excellent to see him have the carte blanche to release material of his own to DVD.

fnordboy

If anyone deserves it, it is Greenaway. One of my favorite filmmakers of all time.

I always hoped that Criterion would pick up his stuff, seems a perfect match. Hopefully one day.

Giles

The PAL to NTSC transfer (UK) VHS copy I own IS the full 2.35 aspect ratio.

philo

Well, I received the R4 Baby Of Macon.

The most surprising thing I noticed that hasn't been mentioned, is that the picture is vertically distorted. People appear taller and thinner than normal. This is not a result of my player but something native to the transfer. The image is also placed slightly higher (a larger black area at the bottom of the screen than at the top.)

Disregarding the distortion, at first glance the film appears to be 1.85:1.

However, by adjusting the scaling and compressing the image vertically, I obtained a more normal looking proportion for the image. This resulted in an image that seems closer to a 2.35:1 ratio. While looking at the title credits it does appear that a portion of the left side of the image has been cropped. The left side of the image ends at the 'T' in 'The Baby Of Macon' with some space to the right of 'Macon'

Without another source to compare it to it's tough for me to judge, but I'd say its probably closer to 2.35 than 1.85, with some cropping on the left side of the image.

The transfer definitely looks like it was taken from a tape source. The occasional flicker of tape-like noise bands is visible on several occasions. Color was not as bad as I expected though the "bluish blacks" description is accurate. The audio track is Stereo. I thought it sounded clear, with an occasional pop but no hissing or distortion.

I'm glad to have had the chance to see this film but Greenaway deserves so much better than what this company is putting out. If this is any indication of what's in store for the Kaleidoscope/Shock release of Drowning By Numbers then I'll pass.