Eric Cotenas

New Yorker

Region 1 - NTSC

1.65:1 Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 4.36 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 7.48 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

New Yorker

Oscilloscope Laboratories

English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen letterboxed - 1.65:1

Edition Details:
� 'La Ciudad: The Making of a Community Film
� Theatrical Trailer

DVD Release Date: 7 June 2005
Amaray

Chapters 16
 

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1

Edition Details:
� 'Cinema from Below' making-of (4:3; 27:58, English with optional Spanish subtitles)
� 'Fifteen Years Later' discussion between director David Ryker and actors Guillermina de Jesus and Cesar Monzon (16:9; 23:58, Spanish with optional English subtitles)
� Theatrical Trailer (16:9; 1:46)
� Trailers for 'The Maid' and 'Mother of George'
 

Chapters 16

Transferred from a new 2K scan of the original film elements, LA CIUDAD is improved in every way on Oscilloscope's DVD. While I do not have the New Yorker disc on hand, the specs say it has mono sound but the film was recorded in Ultra Stereo (a more budget-friendly but no less sophisticated matrixed surround sound alternative to Dolby Stereo in the eighties and nineties) and is presented here in stereo on a Dolby Digital 2.0 track. As with the older disc, subtitles are available in English and Spanish, but Oscilloscope also adds an English SDH track.

Both extra featurettes are also bilingual with Riker's vintage making-of featurette featuring optional Spanish subtitles (English subtitles are burnt-in for the Spanish dialogue) and optional English subtitles for the new retrospective featurette in which Riker and the two cast members speak Spanish. The vintage featurette with the academic title "Cinema from Below" is a satisfying look at the origins of the project, Riker's casting and workshop processes (not so much training them as actors so much as working with them until they felt that no one else was capable of telling their stories but themselves), and the inspirations for each of the stories and how they were shaped by the performers with an emphasis on the seamstress and bricks stories (although the other two are also discussed to lesser degree). The retrospective featurette has the two cast members Guillermina de Jesus and Cesar Monzon reflecting on why they chose to participate (often attending workshops on their only day off each week), how the stories resonated with their real lives, and the ways in which the workshops and their collaboration on shaping the stories functioned as a sort of therapy.

Gary on the New Yorker DVD: New Yorker have drastically improved their DVD packages in the past few months with strong extra feature additions, but their image quality appears to have plateau'd. This is non-anamorphic and exhibits minor coming in spots (non-progressive) but much of the inferiority of the image is a function of the independent manner in which it was produced. I watched on a tube and it was quite acceptable but putting it under the microscope we can see some deficiencies. Being positive I would love to focus more of the wonderful film which really deserves an audience. The featurette addition is a super extra and helps further appreciation of this fine film. Even with the weak image we strongly recommend!

 - Eric Cotenas