The Trial DVD question - Nothing THAT important but...

[SFT]

Are we sure that the french DVD of The Trial has the original english mono soundtrack? Amazon.fr. only lists a french mono track.

SFT

[SFT]

...and is the documentary in english?

[Jeff Wilson]

Yes, the movie (both versions) has the English soundtrack, and no, the documentary is not in English. The documentary is primarily a talking heads kind of piece, so it's not worth getting solely for the documentary if you don't speak French. No subtitles of any kind.

[SFT]

And, this wouldn't be one of those dvds where french subtitles appear when you chose the original english sound track?

SFT

[Jeff Wilson]

The audio menu says English with French subtitles, but I found that by selecting the French soundtrack and beginning the film, I could then switch to the English track without subtitles coming on. This might be player-specific, or not. I haven't been able to try it on multiple players.

[SFT]

Thanks for the info Jeff. But here is the new problem: For some reason amazon.fr. refuses to accept my credit card! I have no idea why, but I need to find another on-line shop to buy the DVD. None of my usual sources can help me. Do you, or anyone else here, know a good place to buy region 2 french DVDs?

SFT

[Jeff Wilson]

Others here may have places they've tried, but I've never had a problem with Amazon France, consequently I haven't ordered anywhere else. You can check the French etailers listed at the following thread from DVD Talk's international forum:
International DVD Buying Info



Edited By Jeff Wilson on Aug. 22 2003 at 10:10

[SFT]

Well, that's certainly a bit strange...Amazon.fr wouldn't accept my credit card, but they WOULD accept an expired one. I was then able to switch payment options when the order was made. Hmmmm....

But thanks for info! That link will be helpful once I start tracking down a place to buy the Spanish Chimes at Midnight DVD.

SFT

[Cole]

I finally got to see the French DVD of The Trial. I’d already seen the Milestone DVD of the film a few times, and it’s decent enough, but the French DVD blows it out of the water. It would seem that the print they used to make the French DVD was close to pristine condition. Overall, the quality of this DVD equals or surpasses the best DVD’s I’ve seen for older black and white movies. If you like The Trial, and you have a DVD player that can play Region 2 / PAL DVD’s, you’ll definitely want to pick this one up.

There is no pre-set option to watch the film in English without French subtitles, so to do that, as Jeff indicates above, you have to start the film in French then switch the audio to English. I spent several minutes trying to turn off the French subtitles and found that impossible to do, then I looked up this old thread to find out how Jeff removed them. Starting the movie in French then switching the audio to English worked just fine. Now if I only had a nice widescreen HDTV to watch it on….

[blunted by community]

does this new trial have the scene of joseph k crossing that strange death camp of the accused during the day?

there is a tiny snippet of it in the desilu trailer but that is the only place i have seen it.

and cole, why do you have glenn ander's avatar?

[Cole]

The French DVD, by Studio Canal, actually comes with two discs. It has a second disc with a version of the film that was assembled in 1984 which I haven’t watched. I know nothing about the 1984 version, but if there’s footage of prisoners in the day time under the statue draped with a cloth, it’s on that disc. The first disc has some footage that was excised from the movie but it shows Joseph K in his office.

As to my avatar, I've had it for a long time now. I think the better question is why does "Glenn Anders" use my avatar's name?

[blunted by community]

oh my god, clarify this: the whole scene with k crossing the camp during the day? not the snippet from the trailer, but the whole scene is on this new dvd?

oh my. i hope you meant the whole scene is there.

[colwood]

I haven't watched the Desilu version in its entirety, but I just did give it a thorough skim and I'm sorry to say, the scene of K in the camp during the day is not in this version, the whole scene or the snippet.

I'd love to see that scene in the film. I'd also like to see the brief headshot of K from the trailer when he says "who accuses me" in the first scene instead of the group shot they use in the film.

(On a side note I did notice something odd. The Desilu version completely omits the brief scene of K going through the camp at night on his way to the court, and it also moves the scene of K walking with Irmie to before his meeting with the court guard.)

[blunted by community]

ah, too bad, we'll never get to see that day time camp footage.

the desilu version also clips some of the breakfast dialog with mrs burstner, no camp scene, and i think it has different
editing of the existential threesome with k, bloch, and the advocate's centerfold nurse..

if you can find the desilu trailer, the snippet of the camp during the day is there.

[colwood]

I forgot to mention, the French DVD includes the trailer in French and the scene of K in the camp during the day is in there. The trailer also includes the headshot from the opening scene I mentioned as well as a snippet (with sound) of the deleted scene that is included as a silent extra on the french dvd.

The Trial trailer can also be found at the Turner Classic Movies website (along with trailers for Kane, Ambersons, Stranger, and TOE).

And of course the biggest omission with the Desilu version is it completely omits the pin screen opening.