The Trial on DVD

[Hannaford]

Here's a humorous little quote from FILMING THE TRIAL:

ORSON WELLES: I see the monstrous bureaucracy, which is the villain of the piece, as not only Kafka’s clairvoyant view of the future, but of his racial and cultural background — of being occupied by the Austria-Hungarian Empire. I see a curious combination in the book of an unthinkable sterile future, combined with an unthinkable dusty accumulation of those traditions which bureaucrats set up in order to perpetuate their monstrous lies.

If I sound like our President, I profoundly apologize.

[Glenn Anders]

Hannaford: You may have something. The Course of Empire tends to be the same in every era. Only the players and appearances change. Corruption, coverups, and over-reaching tend to bring them down.

Glenn

[Wilson]

Per board rules, let's make sure this remains on topic with Welles rather than a political discussion. Thanks.

[Hannaford]

Another quote from Mr. Welles:

OW: I've never cared much for movies, I never cared much for the theater, you know, I just loved doing it, which makes me a very bad person to interview on the subject that these magazines are about (movies). All I read about and care about is politics, all of my life. You know, I read certainly ten times more a week than Reagan has in his life. It's my subject. But the fact that I might have been successful in politics is very much open to question.

[Knowles Noel Shane]

That's another lost vista, how Welles' career as a politician would have turned out. Even if he'd failed to defeat McCarthy, had he run against him it would have been another fascinating aspect of his career. The most sustained of his political output are the Almanac newspaper columns and the Commentaries radio series. I find both too esoteric, since I don't know anything about OPA price controls or the other topical events of the political landscape of the 1940s to which Welles referred. I wouldn't doubt they were incisive observations, I wish I knew more. I suggested to Sid Gottlieb that he provide a little background to the more obscure references in the newspaper columns to help clarify his book, but then Beatrice murdered it anyway. I hate to keep thinking she's such a culprit, but the culpability for interference keeps seeming to be hers. Whatever.

Since this thread is on The Trial (and I seem to be babbling off topic again,) I hope some version of Filming The Trial shows up someday. I know very little about what was shot or written. If anyone knows, please post.

[Knowles Noel Shane]

While I'm off topic, I thought of something else concerning Welles' political activities. Again (and I apologize) I don't remember what biography mentions this, but it stated that Welles took Roosevelt's place in a presidential debate during one of the campaigns because FDR was ill. Whatever the venue was, there must be some transcript or recording of it, and it's an amazing gesture on the President's part to name Welles as his surrogate. Perhaps the account is a misrepresentation or purely fallacial, but I've been intrigued and bothered by it since first I read of it.

[nosenseofharmony]

I've been watching my Laserlight copy of The Trial a lot lately and have come to the conclusion that it is one of my favorite films ever made. The final scene is probably the best death ever. I was wondering about the quality of the Milestone version. Is the synching better and the picture the correct ratio to view on a television? The laserlight version is so absolutely awful. There are portions of the film that drop out for a split second and the framing is distracting. The introduction by Tony Curtis is only enjoyable in an ironic kind of way. Films like this shouldn't be subjected to semi-obsurity and bargain-bin presentation.

[Terry]

I have the Laserlight version, but I've never watched it.

If you want to upgrade, the Focus Films version (in the Citizen Welles set) looks okay and is cheap. The audio is remixed in 5.1 and the original mono is not included. The Milestone version has much better picture quality and the original mono sound, but is very expensive. The Studio Canal version is supposed to be the best, but I've never seen it (that version is titled "Le Proces.") I don't know where you'd find it or how much it is.

Hey, Jeff, can you list the Amazon links for the individual versions on the "video availability" pages? Would that still credit Wellesnet with the sale? There's a lot of Welles stuff on Amazon - you could do a page catalouging all the items and providing links for each one.

Here's the page (from Wellesnet) which compares the picture quality on these three versions:
Trial Comparison

I have another VHS version (Connoisseur Video) with a slightly different sync to the sound than the Milestone sync. There's no clear verdict, though. Dialogue which matches the lip-movements in one version doesn't match in the other. That's one soundtrack I wouldn't mind hearing some fine-tuning done on. It's possible the Focus Films version addressed this issue - they did a lot of work on the audio.

[colwood]

Here's another comparison page,
http://dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare8/trial.htm

It is a bit pricier than some of the others, but the Studio Canal disc is clearly the best version available. It can be purchased from Amazon.fr (and if you've ever used amazon.com, your login info will work just the same). I think it'll run about $30 for disc and shipping to US, at least it did the last time I checked.

[Terry]

So, the Studio Canal release has French subtitles which cannot be removed - or a special short version of the film that doesn't have subtitles.

Okay, I'm not buying it now.

What's this business about PAL speedup? Is that the Keystone Cops version?

[Jeff Wilson]

The Studio Canal version's subtitles can be removed, at least on my player. You have to turn them off via remote after the movie starts playing. I think we discussed this some time ago, and it may have been a player-based issue.

PAL speed-up is the 4% increase in runtime of material played in the PAL video format; the primary way people notice it is in the soundtrack, which is a half-pitch higher, if I remember correctly. One's tolerance of it seems to depend on familiarity with the material and other factors. Some are violently opposed to it, others don't notice it. It doesn't overly bother me on most things I've seen from Europe.

I will try to get individual Amazon links up at some point soon; it just takes time, and I've been planning on revamping the video pages, so I might do it then.

[Terry]

I'm watching the Focus Film version now...

You know, it really doesn't look bad. It really looks pretty good. It may have been remastered from a video tape, it has some smears, halos, and blurs I associate with VHS tapes, but it looks vastly better than any VHS tape I've ever seen.

Concerning those screen captures... Those look as they would on a high resolution computer monitor. They do not look like that on an American television set. I'm sure the captures are accurate, but the Focus Film version looks much much better on my TV than in those comparisons. TVs are low resolution and hide many flaws.

The 5.1 soundtrack mix is excellent. There's a little bit of hiss in the background, which could be support for the idea that the source was a video tape. The EQ is excellent. The stereo panning is minimal and functional. We aren't talking BWS Othello here. This still sounds like the original soundtrack, though somewhat enhanced - and not changed enough for my money to damage the film. Really, there's very little different in the stereo mix and I like how it sounds. I never even noticed the birds twittering in the background during the balcony scene (between K and the Inspector) in the Milestone version - but they sure as heck are tweeting in this version.

We've been beating this version with a stick for awhile, but it is honestly decent.

AND!!!!!!! The BEST THING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is NO OVERLAY! I do not have to zoom back on the DVD player! The picture proportion is perfect at full screen. This is the ONLY DVD I own that gets this pretty essential factor right.

[dmolson]

I'm truly curious about this latest collection that is hitting the streets this week. It includes a strange bundle and a drab, non-descript cover, which is usually a bad sign -- the Trial, the Stranger, King Lear and David & Goliath -- from Passport Int'l, listed at amazon.ca as $24.49 pre-sale and $34.99 list price. I remember a few months ago a report that said Paramount was putting out Trial and Stranger editions, but that has disappeared and up pops this release. I have no info about Passport Int'l, is it bottom-of-the-barrel pd factory, or is it affiliated with someone who might take some care and stock into their dvds? Ever since dvdverdict dumped their page on dvd companies, I've been lost in getting any info on these kinds of releases. I certainly don't want to support some 'squeezed off an ol' RCA Victor' video to dvd company...

http://www.amazon.ca/exec....2154422

[Terry]

I suspect its Public Domain crap. I too was looking for any info on the set last night. At least you found the titles it includes - I couldn't even find that much!

The Criterion Arkadin is the one I'm waiting (impatiently) for.

[Le Chiffre]

Here's a 2007 Region 2 DVD of THE TRIAL that omits the opening animated prologue for the film. I don't think it's yet been clearly resolved whether Orson Welles himself ordered the prologue to be omitted or not:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Trial-DVD-A ... B000RWDY1S



This truncated version is also included in the Studio Canal set.