Three Colours Trilogy - best version ??
 

Can anyone shed some light on this, are the R2's better or R1's?

I've looked at the dvdbeaver and the dvdtimes screenshots multiple times but can not make up my mind. Can anyone who has actually owned bothat any stage give a better answer than those screenshots?

thanks

R1.
(if additional comments are needed...ask).

Ciao,
Pro-B

pro-b,

yes please. I'm primarily interested in picture quality. Thanks.

You know, it's been a little while since I've watched the "Three Colors" trilogy (I have the MGM R1 set). But I've just finished going through his career on DVD - or at least as much as we have. That great Polish set with many of his early documentaries, the Kino set with the crappy transfers of his early features, the great looking Polish WB set of "Dekalog", and Criterion's amazing new "Veronique" release.

I was all set to revisit "Three Colors", but this thread has reminded me of some possible issues with the R1 set - am I wrong, or is there a failure to subtitle some crucial lyrics in "Red" and possibly "Blue" as well? Again, it's been awhile, so I apologize for not being more specific, but I seem to recall something along these lines...

This should be noted as a point in the R2s' favor, IMO. :)

I've listened to Insdorf's Colors commentaries before, but it's been so long that I can't recall my reaction. However, "Double Lives..." is a great book, and her commentary on Criterion's "Veronique" is outstanding, so I suspect I also disagree with Josh on this one.

Here's an excerpt from one of Insdorf's commentaries:

"Hello, my name is Annette Insdorf. I was Krzysztof Kieslowski's working partner and best friend in the whole world. In this film, titled "Blue", you may notice that Kieslowski, of whom I was his working companion and best friend, uses many instances of the color blue symbolically. This first shot you will notice is suffused in blue. The next shot also uses much blue. You may also see blue in this shot. And again here is some blue. The blue, and here you will see some again, is important because it means that the character is sad. Did I mention that I was Krzysztof Kieslowski's best friend?"

The lyrics to the choral part of the Concert for the Unification of Europe are not subtitled, but since it's the text of Paul's Letter to the Romans Chapter 13, you can easily look it up.

As for Insdorf's commentary, it's a very watered down version of her book Double Lives, Second Chances. Useful for the first-time viewer, redundant for anyone familiar with Kieslowski.

I've owned the R2 set and sold it after I obtained the R1 boxset. In my opinion the color scheme on the R2 UK releases was heavily manipulated (too bright) and macro-blocking was an issue as well (although the AE discs are ports of the MK2's the transfers are NOT identical, the AE are not as smooth). Contrast boosting is not something that sits well with me either and the AE discs are full of it.

Hope this helps,
Pro-B

Yes, and she points out every last use of it, in every single frame, over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.