MovieChat Forums > El espíritu de la colmena (1975) Discussion > What do people think of the Criterion-DV...

What do people think of the Criterion-DVD edition of S.o.t.B. (just the film, set aside extras)

posted 2 years ago by swanstep (2769)
1 reply | jump to latest

In 2003 Criterion's DVD of the film did its own scanning and color-grading, resulting in a noticeably sharper (less grain) and warmer image compared to previous dvds and vhs versions. [Skintones no longer always make everyone deathly pale and almost ghost-like, rather they're only that way in key night time scenes.] Note that Criterion was also the first home edition to get the film to play at the right framerate and so have the proper running time of 98 mins.

Here are two image comparisons to give a feel for what's at stake:
Daytime Faces Pre-Criterion:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview/spirit%20of%20the%20beehive/beehive06.jpg
Daytime Faces Criterion:
https://tinyurl.com/mrbswv37
Landscapes Pre-Criterion:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview/spirit%20of%20the%20beehive/beehive07.jpg
Landscapes Criterion:
https://tinyurl.com/4fbzmde3

Criterion has not done a blu-ray edition, and all blu-rays existing so far have followed the pre-Criterion preferences on color, grain etc.. All blu-rays so far have also abandoned the film's original 1.66-1 aspect ratio in favor of a widescreen image that loses lots off the top and bottom of that original anamorphic image.

What does everyone else think of Criterion's innovation? I first saw a pre-Criterion edition of the film and the Criterion struck me as a relevation. It made the film less ghostly/chilly and the landscape less desolate which some people won't like, but for me it made the film more alive and less of a museum-piece. S.o.t.B. is a masterpiece either way, don't get me wrong! I rate it as the best film of 1973, one of the very best years in the history of film. (Cont'd)

[–] swanstep (2769) 2 years ago

(Cont'd) It's just so weird to have to have *two* home versions of the (same cut of the) film, one with a radically different, warmer/browner color scheme and basic look and feel but with the correct/theatrical asp. ratio, and the other chillier with higher definition but more grain and the flat-out wrong asp. ratio (sometimes with non-anamorphic distortion within the image too). Sometimes it seem to me that someone with clout and smarts like Guillermo del Toro needs to sort this mess out, supervise the best possible restoration and checking of colors with the best possible negatives and prints.