8.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.4 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
On New Year's Eve, the driver of a ghostly carriage forces a drunken man to reflect on his selfish, wasted life.
Starring: Victor Sjöström, Hilda Borgström, Tore Svennberg, Astrid Holm (I), Concordia SelanderForeign | 100% |
Drama | 89% |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Horror | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080i
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Music: LPCM 2.0
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 3.0
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Victor Sjostrom's "Korkarlen" a.k.a "The Phantom Carriage" (1921) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an exclusive audio commentary by Danish film historian Casper Tyberg; video essay by film scholar Peter Cowie; and an archival video interview with Ingmar Bergman. The disc also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring featuring Paul Mayersberg's essay "Phantom Forms". With Swedish intertitles and optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Death's Assistant
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 and granted a 1080i transfer, Victor Sjöström's The Phantom Carriage arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc:
"The restoration of The Phantom Carriage presented here was originally undertaken by the Archival Film Collections of the Swedish Film Institute. A new film master was created from two source elements, an incomplete black-and-white nitrate print with Swedish intertitles and an incomplete color-tinted nitrate print with English intertitles. From these source elements, a new black-and-white duplicate negative with Swedish intertitles was completed in 1975. New 35mm polyester viewing prints were then struck from this restored negative, using the color-tinted nitrate print as a color reference.
This new digital transfer was created on an ARRISCAN film scanner in 2K resolution from the new duplicate negative, as the Chimney Pot in Stockholm, using the same color-tinted print from the Swedish Film Institute as reference. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using MTI's DRS system and Pixel Farm's PFClean system, while Digital Vision's Phoenix system was used for small dirt, grain, and noise reduction.
Original restoration supervisor: Inga Adolfsson/Swedish Film Institute, Stockholm.
Original telecine transfer, color grading, and printing: Nils Melander, Bjorn Selander/FilmTeknik, Stockholm (formerly Nordisk Film Post Production).
Telecine colorist: Lee Kline."
I am beyond impressed with how The Phantom Carriage looks in high-definition. I ran a few quick comparisons with my R2 DVD, which Tartan produced quite some ago, and everything looks substantially better on Criterion's Blu-ray, from detail and clarity to contrast and color reproduction. The various artifacts and macroblocking patterns have also been eliminated. Now the only visible limitations are the ones inherited from the two elements the restorers worked with to create the duplicate negative. In other words, the few damage marks that occasionally pop up here and there could not have been removed without affecting irreversibly the integrity of the film. Additionally, some image stabilizations have been performed. As a result, all of the flicker around the edges present on the R2 DVD is gone. The tinted footage also looks richer and more vibrant. All in all, this is a fabulous presentation, which I am convinced will be regarded as the definitive presentation of The Phantom Carriage for years to come. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: DTS-HD Master Audio 3.0 and LPCM 2.0. The former is used for Matti Bye's chamber score, while the latter is used for KTL's experimental score. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English subtitles for the Swedish intertitles.
I prefer KTL's experimental score. It is by far the very best score done for a silent film (considering even the ones done by Maxence Cyrin). It is indescribably dark and intense, blending electronic and ambient sounds in a way that perfectly enhance the terrific visuals. Fortunately, the LPCM 2.0 track has a very good dynamic amplitude and handles the score exceptionally well. The wailing guitars, the surprising screeching, and unique electronic solos sound great.
Matti Bye's chamber score will appeal primarily to those who prefer traditional orchestration over experimental and/or contemporary scores. The DTS-HD Master Audio 3.0 track handles the compact sound rather well, and the strings in particular. The clarinet solos, however, occasionally feel pushed back a bit.
Swedish director Victor Sjostrom's The Phantom Carriage is a deeply moving, incredibly atmospheric silent film that inspired Ingmar Bergman to become a director and prompted Charlie Chaplin to state that it was the best film he'd ever seen. Luckily for us, its transition to Blu-ray is beyond impressive - the film looks excellent, certainly the best it ever has, and sounds terrific (I urge you to view it with KTL's experimental score). I believe that this is an essential film to see and own, and one of the year's best releases. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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