Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
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Dragnet Girl
(1933)
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This silent drama, directed by Yasujiro Ozu, stars Kinuyo Tanaka and Joji Oka, with Sumiko Mizukubo, Koji Mitsui, Yumeko Aizome, Yoshio Takayama, Koji Kaga, Yasuo Nanjo and Shunsaku Kashima.
A former boxer and an office girl sink into a life of petty crime and are eventually consumed.
Due to the entrenchment of the Benshi narrator tradition in Japanese film exhibition, the production of Japanese silent films extended well into the 1930s. These three films are excellent examples of the continued development of the Japanese silent film and excellent films in the Ozu oeuvre.
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 Eclipse Series
2015 DVD edition
Silent Ozu: Three Crime Dramas (1930-1933), black & white, 262 minutes total, not rated, including Dragnet Girl (1933), black & white, 100 minutes, not rated.
The Criterion Collection, ECL195 (Eclipse series 42),
UPC 7-15515-14511-4, ISBN 978-1-60465-988-7.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 1 NTSC DVD disc (three DVDs in the set); 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 6.2 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 384 Kbps audio bit rate; Japanese language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; 14 chapter stops; three slimline DVD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; $44.95.
Release date: 21 April 2015.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 9 / additional content: 0 / overall: 7.
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This DVD edition has been mastered from a very-good 35mm source print, with dust, speckling, exposure fluctations, timing marks and other print flaws.
The film is accompanied by a wonderful music score composed and performed on piano by Neil Brand.
As would be expected of a Criterion Collection release, this edition has been lovingly produced for home video and is enthusiastically recommended.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
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This Region 1 NTSC DVD edition is also available directly from . . .
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 Loving the Classics
201? DVD edition
Dragnet Girl (1933), black & white, 100 minutes, not rated.
Loving the Classics,
no catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $14.99.
Release date: 201?
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.
The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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Other JAPANESE FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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