Othello streaming on FilmStruck

[magadizer]

OTHELLO is now streaming on Criterion's new service, FilmStruck. Unfortunately it seems like it's in the wrong aspect ratio.
Hopefully this is just whetting the appetite for a Blu-ray release soon.

[Roger Ryan]

OTHELLO is now streaming on Criterion's new service, FilmStruck. Unfortunately it seems like it's in the wrong aspect ratio.
Hopefully this is just whetting the appetite for a Blu-ray release soon.

Is is cropped to approximately 1.78:1? That was the way it was broadcast on TCM last year. Better than having the image stretched, but 1.37:1 is the aspect ratio the film should be shown in.

[magadizer]

It's been cropped to standard widescreen 16:9 ratio. Here's an example I screenshotted:

[Roger Ryan]

Thanks - yeah, standard 16:9 widescreen is, technically, 1.78:1 (the aspect ratio needed to completely fill a 16:9 screen with no black bars visible). HBO will regularly crop the sides of films using a 2.35:1 or a 2.40:1 ratio so the image will completely fill the frame (often compromising the compositions considerably).

TCM has run promos in the past about how the channel honors a film's original aspect ratio and, certainly, Criterion has always been sensitive to this as well. The fact that Othello has shown up on TCM and, now, on FilmStruck with the wrong framing is surprising. I can only say that Criterion will never hear the end of it if they release Othello in this fashion on Blu-ray!

[magadizer]

Yes, the care which Criterion shows for their disc presentations made me surprised to see this.
Using a less than optimum transfer for streaming if that's all that's available is understandable, but cropping the image is a sin I had hoped we were all past. Sadly, the advent of widescreen TVs just changed the way that they committed the same old cropping problems from the era of pan and scan.

[tonyw]

Criterion is showing a surprisiog lapse in standards these days as my review of THE CAT PEOPLE on filmint.nu points out.

[Le Chiffre]

Good review, Tony. I like your one for the new Olive Signature MACBETH too:
http://filmint.nu/?p=19885

Finally, comment is necessary on the mediocre art work characterizing recent Criterion DVDs that not only raise issues of quality and evaluation but also suspicion that the company may be using these designs to avoid paying copyright fees for stills and other materials. The cover of this DVD has an ugly reproduction of the film’s tragic heroine that does an injustice to the screen persona of the beautiful and very talented actress selected to play Irena.

What do you think of the cover artwork for Criterion's CHIMES Bluray?

[Jay1968]

It would be great if Criterion released Othello and Macbeth on DVD. These two films really need a company of quality to release them. I guess it all understandably hinges on how much profit can be made. Hopefully, the recent release of Chimes at Midnight and The Immortal Story will rake in some money to make it worth their time.

[atcolomb]

I have been unimpressed with some of the Criterion releases lately and wish they would release more of the classics that are not on Blu-ray yet. It would be nice to see Othello and Ambersons released by Criterion just like they did back in the laserdisc days and proudly have both of them on my shelf.

[Roger Ryan]

It would be great if Criterion released Othello and Macbeth on DVD...

Othello has been announced as forthcoming from Criterion (on DVD & Blu-ray), but no date has been set. A two-disc set of Macbeth has just been released as part of the Olive Signature series (Tony William's glowing review has been posted in the appropriate thread). I seriously doubt Criterion could better the restoration and comprehensive bonus features that Olive has provided; it's a moot point, anyway, since Criterion currently does not have the rights to the film.

[Jay1968]

Roger,
Thanks for the information. Much appreciated. I don't know how that article eluded me about the Olive release of Macbeth. I'm definitely going to purchase a DVD. The only copy I have now is an old VHS version in a plastic case that I purchased as a teenager in 1986. It still works!
Jay