Imprint: Collaborations - The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li

[Ribs]

The set as a whole is very unlikely to be bettered in its comprehensiveness but I expect especially the heavy hitters within will probably appear from other sources who would probably do a better release in the fullness of time. I, personally, was happy to just spend the money and if in two years Criterion does a new transfer of Raise the Red Lantern or whatever I would not have issues picking that up. I wouldn’t agree that it should have been put at the top of that list but I do think it is, overall, a good release.

[Yohei72]

You think that is embarrassing, I'm hearing about it for the first time, and I not only voted, but was quoted multiple times justifying winners all over that page! (Of course for sets #1 pick was All the Haunts, and it didn't even make the cut... some authority here #-o)

Even limited to 2000 copies, I can get the Imprint release for about even money at Japamazon, but reading replies here (and the hope of other locales) has me questioning the logic of it.

According to Amazon, All the Haunts isn't officially released until Jan. 22, so is it possible it wasn't considered eligible for 2021? It does sound like a fantastic set.

I'm a little confused about the 2000 copies thing. Some sources make it sound like the whole set is limited to that many, but something else I saw suggested that meant just the ones with the 60-page booklet, which is a common enough strategy for boutique labels like Eureka. The page at Imprint's own site phrases it ambiguously, and it could be interpreted either way. I'd be a little surprised to see so many copies floating around for big discounts if it were really only 2,000. (I just bought mine on eBay for US$140.)

[ikms]

According to Amazon, All the Haunts isn't officially released until Jan. 22, so is it possible it wasn't considered eligible for 2021? It does sound like a fantastic set.

It started shipping on December 7th, exclusive to the Severin online shop, but Jan 22 seems the general release (Flesh for Frankenstein and Blood For Dracula were both pre-released in a similar fashion). The Haunts set made the "also rans" picture listing on the beaver results page, but it seems not enough votes to crack the top 10 - disappointing in light of some of the competition that did make it - while Severin's director specific boxes have placed in the past Typically I get these heavy hitters delivered as a year ends so I generally vote in the polls based on my perception of a release's reception and not from first-hand experience (I have yet to be broadsided, fingers crossed). I actually didn't vote last year since corona hit shipping hard enough I didn't have a good feel for the field - but I was surprised to see Laurel and Hardy place highly considering the egregious destructive DNR done on that set, something I actually discovered watching for myself before logging into forums to make sense of it. For this year I voted Haunts at #1, and Julien Duvivier at #2 (seems the US release of that set was just delayed until January, so axed from any results) #3 Shawscope, #4 Play for Today 2, #5 Mae West.

I'm a little confused about the 2000 copies thing. Some sources make it sound like the whole set is limited to that many, but something else I saw suggested that meant just the ones with the 60-page booklet

I read on the "other forum" the booklet is only 36 pages? I haven't seen any of these films since the 1990s, when they were screened in college courses, and would be interested in revisiting them now that I have a greater appreciation of world cinema. Back in the early days of DVD I imported a lot from Asia and accepted the low quality of the releases, but since shifting to HD have missed out owing to the elusive nature of proper title restorations. To me if the presentation of the package isn't definitive, I don't see the need to spend the big bucks if there remains hope some of the important titles will get released elsewhere. I do appreciate the effort though, and I certainly understand how importance of the films contained can sway opinion to place the set above those with more typical fare but immaculate production (Shawscope, Mae West, Columbia Noir, ect, any of which cost me less than half the Imprint set). Without Criterion doing another Fellini or Bergman bonanza, there was never going to be a clear winner this time out.

[Calvin]

The Red Sorghum restoration has been around for over 4 years without any hint of a release from a US or UK label so I wish I was as optimistic as the rest of you about these being bettered any time soon!

Could it be bettered? Absolutely, but I dont expext it to happen any time soon and I think it deserved its place on top of my ballot for that poll

[The Pachyderminator]

I'm a little confused about the 2000 copies thing. Some sources make it sound like the whole set is limited to that many, but something else I saw suggested that meant just the ones with the 60-page booklet

I read on the "other forum" the booklet is only 36 pages?

Correct, the booklet is 36 pages, not 60. Someone needs to start a fact-checking service for the specs on Imprint's website.

[vsski]

I finally made my way through this set and like others have said it’s a mixed bag. Yes it’s nice to have all these films in one set which due to licenses is unlikely to happen in other regions, but the transfers are sorely lacking. I don’t consider myself a specialist when it comes to these things, but they all look dated and many, especially Red Sorghum and Curse of the Golden Flower are riddled with digital artifacts, while most of the others look washed out.

The other part that disturbed me were the colors especially on the first 3, RS, Judou and RTRL. I have seen these (and Qui Ju) in theaters when they originally came out and the first three again during retrospectives. And I do remember these viewings very well for primarily one reason the use of color and especially the color red. On RS the color red really popped off the screen in every image and during the eclipse at the end the screen was saturated in red. I’ve seen the screenshots of the WCL release and feel it is closer to the original, but doesn’t hit the mark either, as it has areas where the red renders the other colors completely unnatural like the wheat field or the sky and that was not the case on 35mm (except for the eclipse at the end where everything looked unnatural).
On Judou, while for me together with Coming Home the best looking of this set, the color red is a pale comparison to what I saw on 35mm. When in one of the key scenes the red cloth came down from the rafters in theaters the red was blood red (and even the yellow was much more vivid) while here it is rather muted. To me the way Zhang used the colors in this film again stood out to me, which is why I remember it after all these years.
And finally RTRL - I barely recognized the film, all washed out, as if someone had bleached the transfer. The red lantern in the title is a pale orange in this transfer and even the buildings look like they just had a sandstorm go over them. No vivid colors as I remember them.

The only one of the four that looks close to what I remember from theaters was Qui Ju, which had a very desaturated look and that is rendered here quite similar.

I guess Imprint didn’t have access to better sources and by all accounts it doesn’t sound like better ones are out there at the moment (except for the 4K restoration of RS, which I have not seen and isn’t on disc), but I hope that someone in the future can do the films justice, as I still after all these years find them incredible and they do deserve better.
The set is now sold out, and I don’t know if Imprint will release them individually, but even if they do, I’d say save your money and wait for better editions (surely Criterion can’t sit on their titles forever - I know, I know, famous last words).

[swo17]

Standard edition without booklet and box coming in October