ČT2 DVB (frame 711)

ČT2 DVB

Reviewed by dvdfreak

Last modified on Thursday 19th March 2020, 11:40:34 PM

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Label:  ČT2 DVB (Czech Republic)

Region:  n/a
RCE protection:  n/a
Copyright protection system:  n/a

Disc type:  n/a

Playback time (hh:mm:ss.frames):  1:32:54.10

Video:  PAL
Aspect ratio:  1.29:1 non-anamorphic


Bitrate (min / avg / max):  2.31 / 7.10 / 8.82 Mbps

Bitrate (min / avg / max)

Audio:
 

Slovak MPEG-1 Layer 2 2.0 mono* / 256 kbps

Subtitles: None

Menus available in: None

Special features:
 

None

Notes: This is a recording from ČT2's digital satellite broadcast.
Its purpose here is to provide a kind of reference for
the RHV's release reviewed below.

*difference between channels is -66.12 dB (0.05 %)


Ripley’s Home Video (frame 1283)

Ripley’s Home Video

Reviewed by dvdfreak

Last modified on Thursday 19th March 2020, 11:40:35 PM

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Label:  Ripley’s Home Video (Italy)

Region:  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8
RCE protection:  No
Copyright protection system:  None

Disc type:  DVD5 (the data occupy 3.77 GB)

Playback time (hh:mm:ss.frames):  1:33:09.01

Video:  PAL
Aspect ratio:  1.33:1 non-anamorphic*


Bitrate (min / avg / max):  1.49 / 4.63 / 7.76 Mbps

Bitrate (min / avg / max)

Audio:
 

Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 mono** / 192 kbps
French Dolby Digital 2.0 mono** / 192 kbps

Subtitles: Italian (forced on the French soundtrack)

Menus available in: Italian


Special features:
 

  • Trailer (3:14, in French)
  • "L'homme qui ment. Le contrepoint entre l'image et le son."
    Interview with Alain Robbe-Grillet (5:04, in French***)

  • 8-page booklet (in Italian)

Notes: 
The following are examples of damage / mark(er)s the Czech-o-Slovak prints display; RHV's (restored) French print looks - not surprisingly - much better:

ČT2 DVB (frame 12089 | 15098 / 15099 | 15108 / 15109 | 60033 | 131680 / 131681)
Ripley’s Home Video (frame 12336 | 15345 / 15346 | 15356 / 15357 | 60296 | 131983 / 131984)
STV 2 DVB (frame 11969 | 14978 / 14979 | 14986 / 14987 | 59901 | 131561 / 131562)

ČT2 DVB (frame 12089)





Or does it? Well, the master itself might have been good, but "squeezing" the encode to a measly 3.01 GB (pure video data) introduced numerous compression artefacts, e.g.:

Ripley’s Home Video (frame 1033)

Anyway, you'd think I'm mad, but I prefer the excessively grainy, contrast boosted Czech TV broadcast version; it fits the film's "surreal" atmosphere better... (c:

*it says "1.66:1 16/9" on the cover, but it's a mistake
**difference between channels is -75.39 dB (0.02 %), resp. -75.34 dB (0.02 %)
***subtitled in Italian


Slovak Film Institute (frame 712)

Slovak Film Institute

Reviewed by dvdfreak

Last modified on Thursday 19th March 2020, 11:40:35 PM

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Label:  Slovak Film Institute (Slovakia)

Region:  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 8
RCE protection:  No
Copyright protection system:  None

Disc type:  DVD5 (the data occupy 3.85 GB)

Playback time (hh:mm:ss.frames):  1:32:57.24

Video:  PAL
Aspect ratio:  1.34:1 non-anamorphic


Bitrate (min / avg / max):  0.63 / 5.51 / 7.80 Mbps

Bitrate (min / avg / max)

Audio:
 

Slovak Dolby Digital 2.0 mono* / 256 kbps

Subtitles: Slovak, French & English

Menus available in: Slovak, French & English


Special features:
 

  • Press coverage (1, 2 & 2 pages, in Slovak, French & English)
  • About the movie (2 pages, in Slovak, French & English)
  • Biographies (in Slovak, French & English)
    • Alain Robbe-Grillet (2, 2 & 3 pages)
    • Igor Luther (2, 3 & 3 pages)
    • Albert Marenčin (2, 3 & 3 pages)

Notes: Only available in a 2-disc set, together with:


I can't say I'm too thrilled about this here SFI restoration; compared to the one RHV did themselves (actually, the booklet credits Technicolor, Rome), it looks weaker - shows less detail (notice e.g. the patterns on the old women's clothes in frame 19824), and is a tad too dark (but that's just my opinion). RHV might be slightly oversharpened (notice e.g. the halos around the picture frames in frame 24612), but for all I know it could be a side-effect of Igor Luther's high-contrast B&W cinematography (taken to the extreme in Jakubisko's "The Prime of Life").

Well, given the fact that - disregarding the opening title sequence - the French ("L'homme qui ment") and the Slovak ("Muž, ktorý luže") cuts of the film are identical, I think SFI should have just licensed RHV's resto and had done with it (of course, they would still have to restore the Slovak dub track, but I guess it's possible to do that without touching the picture).

My verdict: if you understand French, go for the Italian edition; if English subtitles are a must, SFI (dubbed in Slovak!) is the only alternative right now...

Edit: I forgot to mention that this comes in a really nice digipak; there's no booklet, but there are some liner notes (in Slovak & French) on the sides of the digipak itself. And the DVD's got no chapter menu even though the film's split into 8 chapters (accessible via the prev/next buttons on the remote).


*difference between channels is -88.53 dB (0.00 %)


STV 2 DVB (frame 705)

STV 2 DVB

Reviewed by dvdfreak

Last modified on Thursday 19th March 2020, 11:40:35 PM

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Label:  STV 2 DVB (Slovakia)

Region:  n/a
RCE protection:  n/a
Copyright protection system:  n/a

Disc type:  n/a

Playback time (hh:mm:ss.frames):  1:32:49.11

Video:  PAL
Aspect ratio:  1.30:1 non-anamorphic


Bitrate (min / avg / max):  3.29 / 3.90 / 4.55 Mbps

Bitrate (min / avg / max)

Audio:
 

Slovak MPEG-1 Layer 2 2.0 mono* / 192 kbps

Subtitles: None

Menus available in: None

Special features:
 

None

Notes: This is a recording from STV 2's digital satellite broadcast.
Its purpose here is to provide a kind of reference for
the RHV's release reviewed above.

*difference between channels is -49.74 dB (0.33 %)

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Mouse over the links to see the other version(s) - requires JavaScript.

ČT2 DVB | Ripley’s Home Video | Slovak Film Institute | STV 2 DVB

ČT2 DVB (frame 2893)

ČT2 DVB | Ripley’s Home Video | Slovak Film Institute | STV 2 DVB

ČT2 DVB (frame 13141)

ČT2 DVB | Ripley’s Home Video | Slovak Film Institute | STV 2 DVB

ČT2 DVB (frame 13689)

ČT2 DVB | Ripley’s Home Video | Slovak Film Institute | STV 2 DVB

ČT2 DVB (frame 19825)

ČT2 DVB | Ripley’s Home Video | Slovak Film Institute | STV 2 DVB

ČT2 DVB (frame 24365)

ČT2 DVB | Ripley’s Home Video | Slovak Film Institute | STV 2 DVB

ČT2 DVB (frame 37538)

ČT2 DVB | Ripley’s Home Video | Slovak Film Institute | STV 2 DVB

ČT2 DVB (frame 45105)

ČT2 DVB | Ripley’s Home Video | Slovak Film Institute | STV 2 DVB

ČT2 DVB (frame 56384)

ČT2 DVB | Ripley’s Home Video | Slovak Film Institute | STV 2 DVB

ČT2 DVB (frame 69674)

ČT2 DVB | Ripley’s Home Video | Slovak Film Institute | STV 2 DVB

ČT2 DVB (frame 70981)

ČT2 DVB | Ripley’s Home Video | Slovak Film Institute | STV 2 DVB

ČT2 DVB (frame 82490)

ČT2 DVB | Ripley’s Home Video | Slovak Film Institute | STV 2 DVB

ČT2 DVB (frame 93178)

ČT2 DVB | Ripley’s Home Video | Slovak Film Institute | STV 2 DVB

ČT2 DVB (frame 134895)

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