A French Blu-ray release of Confidential Report (Mr. Arkadin) has drawn a favorable, if somewhat belated, notice from DVD Beaver.
The website has done an in-depth review of Carlotta’s Blu-ray Dossier Secret A.K.A. Mr. Arkadin, which first arrived on shelves back in July 2015.
The review of the Region B release offers a detailed comparison against the three versions offered by The Criterion Collection (Region 1) in its The Complete Mr. Arkadin DVD set from 2006, as well all-region DVD releases from Continental Home Video, Laserlight and Metrodome.
“Carlotta, out of France, bring us Orson Welles’ Mr. Arkadin, as the 98-minute Confidential Report cut, on a dual-layered Blu-ray with a max’ed out bitrate. It looks quite strong with sequences of exquisite grain texture and some pleasing detail. There are some light marks and scratches but it holds up very well in-motion. The higher resolution has advanced upon the DVDs even the slightly picture-boxed Criterion SD transfer,” critic Gary W. Tooze wrote. “I was impressed with the appearance – and it looked better than I was anticipating. It has slightly more information in the frame. This is a definite thumbs up for the HD video.”
Extras include Orson Welles and the Arkadin Case,a 47-minute interview with Jean-Pierre Berthomé; Men of Mystery: Simon Callow about Secret File, which clocks in at 25 minutes; and 19 minutes of rushes from the archives of the Cinematheque of the City of Luxembourg.
The full review can be found at dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare/mr_arkadin_blu-ray.htm
The Carlotta release is available for order from several online retailers, including Amazon.fr
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