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A PEEK AT LA STRADA (1 Viewer)

haineshisway

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From Studio Canal in the UK. I couldn't wait to get this. Perhaps I should have. I watched the first twenty minutes and if the rest is like that, well... I never cry DNR - those initials really irritate me because frequently they are bandied about arbitrarily and many times when it simply isn't true. But if my eyes aren't deceiving me I could not locate a spec of any kind of real grain and there is simply such a lack of definition that I wanted to toss it in the trash. Maybe it gets better after the first reel - I'll report back.

Someone put up some stuff on that silly caps-a-holic site - and like all the caps there, you can't trust what you're seeing because it does look like there's some grain there, but none of that was apparent on the Blu-ray itself. And people are already saying it's DNR'd so I guess I'm right.
 
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Dick

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Very disappointed to read this. La Strada is my favorite Fellini film, so when next I buy it, it must be worth the money.

I have had LA STRADA in my Amazon UK queue for a number of weeks, and have been looking forward to ordering it along with a bunch of other titles. Disappointing to hear Bruce's assessment of it, and now I have moved the title into "save for later." I do hope Criterion can get around to it eventually and I'd love to see that happen with NIGHTS OF CABIRIA also, but apparently there are rights issues there, as maybe Studio Canal controls both titles (?).

Studio Canal has become a considerable villain when it comes to Blu-ray releases of their catalog during the past few years. Sure wish they had a desire to actually release this stuff.

As a post script, I would add that my first exposure to this wonderful film was inexplicably via WOR TV's Million Dollar Movie in New York, a long-running program series which primarily ran RKO and Warner Bros. films (16 times each per week), offered LA STRADA one year, and despite its having been severely edited, and, of course, dubbed (as was the original Italian release, although into Italian), left its mark on this teenage boy, and I have picked it up in numerous video formats since. I thought the Criterion DVD was fine, but with the introduction of Blu-ray, I have of course been hoping for a definitive disc. Looks as though, so far, we haven't one.
 
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haineshisway

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Watched more - got better after a bit, but I see little to no grain from where I'm sitting - maybe it's there and just really fine. Detail got a bit better and there are a lot of opticals in the film so there's that. But I had 35mm prints on all the Fellini films through Juliet and they were very sharp. Just not sure what to think of this, frankly. Contrast is certainly fine and it looks better than the DVD, certainly.
 

Derrick King

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I have had LA STRADA in my Amazon UK queue for a number of weeks, and have been looking forward to ordering it along with a bunch of other titles. Disappointing to hear Bruce's assessment of it, and now I have moved the title into "save for later." I do hope Criterion can get around to it eventually and I'd love to see that happen with NIGHTS OF CABIRIA also, but apparently there are rights issues there, as maybe Studio Canal controls both titles (?).
Criterion's LA STRADA DVD is still in-print, so I assume that means StudioCanal do not have the US rights to it. Unfortunately SC does have the US rights to NIGHTS OF CABIRIA.
 

Dick

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Criterion's LA STRADA DVD is still in-print, so I assume that means StudioCanal do not have the US rights to it. Unfortunately SC does have the US rights to NIGHTS OF CABIRIA.

I believe, though, that licensing Blu-ray releases is often a separate negotiation for films that were once released on DVD. Criterion does retain the DVD licensing rights, but may not yet have them for a future Blu-ray. SC might own those rights.
 

lark144

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Perhaps instead of calling this "A Peek at" LA STRADA, you should call it an EEEK!

Like many others who have posted their intentions here, this is going to the bottom of my Amazon Uk cart. Thanks, Bruce, for letting us know in a timely fashion.

Also, a shout out to Dick, for i also first saw LA STRADA on MILLION DOLLAR MOVIE & fell madly in love with it.
 

JPCinema

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I watched it last night. Only the Italian version with subtitles are there.
The PQ is the best I've seen of this film, however, I would love to to see a 4K restoration.
A wonderful extra is a French interview with Masina given around the time of The Cannes film festival during its original release.
Purchased it in London for 12 pounds at FOPP.
 

haineshisway

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As I said, it certainly is better than the DVDs I have (from various countries). I just found, especially in the opening sequence, a lack of grain and detail - as I said above, it got better as the film went on, but I just want perfection in my Fellini. People should purchase and see for themselves, as always.
 

AnthonyClarke

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I also want my Fellini just perfectly presented!
I first saw it in Melbourne in the early 1960s ... Russell St Cinema.
Then in around 1969 I took my girlfriend Robyn (see our pic!) to the Baker Street Cinema in London .. and almost got arrested as a consequence......
We saw the movie, left, and after about 20 paces Robyn just started crying uncontrollably, lost control of her legs and sat on the pavement. A potentially ugly little crowd gathered around us ... fortunately they finally believed the scene was the aftershock of Fellini's little tragedy.
 

JPCinema

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Just saw the new musical adaptation in London last night. I
376540_770_preview.jpg
It was extraordinary!
 

haineshisway

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I'm curious to see what others think of this transfer - I really don't think my eyes are deceiving me about the grain and perhaps Ken has more tolerant eyes. Or perhaps it's there and I'm just not seeing it.
 

haineshisway

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The previous musical of La Strada, which was shorn of most of its Lionel Bart score by the time it crawled to Broadway (songs replaced with others by Martin Charnin and the musical director), ran exactly one performance before it closed. It starred Bernadette Peters. I have a reel-to-reel tape of the entire show.

EDIT: I just looked up this thing that's playing in London - it's not really a musical - according to what I've just read it has a few songs that don't advance plot or come from character and has a lot of background scoring - I guess you can call anything a musical these days - I guess Marat/Sade would be called a musical these days, or The Hostage, but not from where I sit. I watched the trailer. Seems like every other show that comes from London these days - arch, overly lit, and story theater time, something this particular director is known for - in fact, it seems it's all she's done, Peter Pan being the last example. It got good notices with a lot of caveats.
 
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titch

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I'm curious to see what others think of this transfer - I really don't think my eyes are deceiving me about the grain and perhaps Ken has more tolerant eyes. Or perhaps it's there and I'm just not seeing it.
I'm waiting for mine to arrive. I'll project it on my 130 inch screen when it does and let you know what I think. DNR and other digital artefacts usually show up very clearly on my system.
 

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