Macbeth/Jane Eyre DVD?

[operator13]

Hi everyone, great big newbie here…

There's a post from last month in the Wellesnet blog about possible R1 DVD releases of both Macbeth and Jane Eyre...I tried to do a little detective work on the DVD forums I frequent but I can't find any further information. Does anyone know any details, even if they're just rumors? Thanks in advance - the recent release of Mr. Arkadin has gotten me back on a full-blown "I want more Welles on DVD" binge.

[Jeff Wilson]

Neither film has been announced officially, but both have been mentioned unofficially, as it were, so anything could happen. Jane Eyre I heard about at the Locarno Welles retrospective, Macbeth has been mentioned here on the board. The French 3-DVD release of Macbeth is now unavailable it appears, so hopefully a US release is coming before too much longer.

[Ste]

It being somewhat of a personal favourite of mine, I have craved the Welles/Fontaine version of Jane Eyre on DVD for several years now. Rumours of an impending R1 release aside, can anyone here attest to the quality of this Japanese DVD? Is the transfer any cop? Are there forced subtitles?

The price is a bargain one, but CDJapan insists on a minimum three-unit order, and there isn't much else I want from the Land of the Rising Sun at the moment. If there is enough interest, perhaps a few of us could club together and place a joint order ...?

[catbuglah]

I got this discount Chinese DVD (Buddha Video Co.(!)) on ebay that's OK - watchable I'd say - resolution a little fuzzy.

[Ste]

I got this discount Chinese DVD (Buddha Video Co.(!)) on ebay that's OK - watchable I'd say - resolution a little fuzzy.

Yeah, I've seen the Chinese one offered for sale ... doesn't it have forced subs, though?

There's also this Korean DVD, which is unfortunately sold out at the present time.

So, nobody's seen the Japanese one and nobody's interested in it? Okay. I'd risk a blind buy if it wasn't for this silly minimum order business. It was difficult enough explaining to the missus why I need two DVDs of Citizen Kane. If she sees three Jane Eyres on the shelf I might well find myself sleeping on the sofa

Addendum: some quick math indicates a total individual price of approx. $10 per DVD, based on a minimum three-disc order (incl. shipping from Japan and subsequent mailing within the United States). I'm not looking to make a profit on these at all. Like I say, I simply can't justify having three copies on the shelf. Send me a PM, or something, if you are interested.

[catbuglah]

No forced subs, actually - you can turn 'em off. Always interesting to hear about the relative merits of the various Welles DVDs.

[ToddBaesen]

If Paramount is preparing a MACBETH DVD release, as Roger suggested, it should be simple matter for them to include an alternate music and effects only track. And presumably Robert Gitt could do a presentation as he did for the DVD on the two versions of THE BIG SLEEP.

What's a bit strange is why UCLA has elected to do a showing for the short version without the dialogue, since it's the long version that is presumably the more visually interesting of the two... it also has the complete 10 minute take that surrounds the murder of King Duncan.

[Roger Ryan]

What's a bit strange is why UCLA has elected to do a showing for the short version without the dialogue, since it's the long version that is presumably the more visually interesting of the two... it also has the complete 10 minute take that surrounds the murder of King Duncan.

After reading Lawrence French's interview with Mr. Gitt, I'm led to believe that separate audio elements only exist for the short version of "Macbeth"; the long version only exists with a locked-in mono soundtrack making it impossible to remove just the dialogue.

[mteal]

If Paramount is preparing a MACBETH DVD release, as Roger suggested, it should be simple matter for them to include an alternate music and effects only track. And presumably Robert Gitt could do a presentation as he did for the DVD on the two versions of THE BIG SLEEP.

That would be the best thing to do with it, I would think. Actually, with all the seperated sound elements, what might be more interesting would be to present the film in a concert hall with the dialogue track only, then hire an orchestra to perform the Ibert score live; presenting the film "in concert", as it were. They did it with ALEXANDER NEVSKY.

[dkovacev]

r1 DVD of "Jane Eyre" has just been announced. It is going to be released on 4-24-2007. There's no news about eventual bonus material at the moment.