La Dolce Vita - Anita Ekberg

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka 'La Douceur de vivre' France)

Italy 1960

"Profound and poignant work by the great Federico Fellini, perhaps at his peek as a director. Sobering details of life are explored including fame, selfishness and religious conviction. Powerful and timeless 'La Dolce Vita' is a classic film that will be reviewed and discussed for many years."

Gary W. Tooze

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DVD Comparison

Koch Lorber (2 disc Collector's Edition) - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Medusa (Italy) Region 2 - PAL vs. Universum Film (German) Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Gregory Meshman, Ole of DVDBasen and Markus Mathis for the screen caps!

(Koch Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC LEFT vs. Medusa - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE vs. Universum Film - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	Koch Lorber Region 0 - NTSC	Medusa Region 2 - PAL	Universum Region 2 - PAL
Runtime	2:53:42	2:47:01	2:46:40
Video	2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.93 mb/s NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s	2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate:6.40 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	2.30:1 Slightly cropped 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.75 PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Koch Lorber
Bitrate: Medusa
Bitrate: Universum
Audio	Italian - Dolby Digital 2.0 (Mono), 2.0 (Stereo), 5.1	Italian (DD 1.0 mono)	Italian (DD 1.0 mono), DUB: German (DD 1.0 mono)
Subtitles	English, Spanish, None	Italian, English, None	Italian, German, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Koch Lorber Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.35:1 Edition Details: • Intruduction by Alexander Payne • Audio Commentary by Richard Schickel • Fellini TV - Collection of rare Fellini shorts • Remembering the Sweet Life - Interviews with Marcello Mastroanni & Anita Ekberg • Cinecitta - The House of Fellini - Musical montage • Fellini, Roma and Cinecitta - Interview with Fellini • Restoration Demo • Photo Gallery • Biographies and Filmographies • 8-page booklet with liner notes by Dennis Bartok • Trailers to 8 other films released by Koch Lorber DVD Release Date: September 21, 2004 Double Keep Case Chapters 33	Release Information: Studio: Medusa (Italy) - Region 2 Theatrical Release Date: February 3rd, 1960 - Italy Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic 2.35:1 (Totalscope). Subtitles: Italian and English (NOTE: English language in the movie is not subtitled). Extras (Disc 2): Cinema Forever (1980) (7:36) (English subtitles) Caleidoscopio (1:08) (No Eng subtitles). Presentazione di Maurizio Porre (5:42) (No Eng subtitles): I ritratti di Enzo Biagi: Federico Felini (1982) (43:09) (No Eng subtitles): 24 pages booklet (In Italian). Two Discs DVD Release Date: February 2003 Keep Case Chapters: 24	Release Information: Studio: Universum Film ( Germany ) Theatrical Release Date: February 3rd, 1960 - Italy Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic 2.30:1 Photo gallery from the set. Promotional pictures of the movie. Several sides of text including Biography and Filmography of the main actors and the director. Trailer for Fellini's "la citta delle donne". DVD Release Date: November 18th, 2002 Keep Case Chapters 24

Comments

ADDITION: (Koch Lorber - Sept 2004) - The Koch Lorber looks quite good aside from the noted artifacts. I think it is as sharp as the Medusa if maybe a little softer, and also a shade weaker in contrast. The problem is the very bad banding. I dislike the default gaudy yellow subtitles but you have an option to change them to white, and the Extras are quite stacked with an audio commentary and a whole second disc of featurettes and interviews etc. The Koch has a bumped 5.1 audio track as well as the original mono. If you can get by the artifacts then this is an okay buy folks... and for lovers of the film - a reason to replace your alternate DVD copy, but only for the extras.

***

The Italian Medusa DVD is far superior. It has almost perfect contrast where as the Universum (German) release has noticeable edge enhancement (hair in the first and third captures are obvious signs). The Universum release also has contrast boosting (see capture #2). The Medusa disc is sharper and has a whole second disc of Extras. The BIG plus for me is that the Italian release has English subtitles where as the German Universum does not. Ohhh yeah, the German release is slightly cropped. Case closed. Medusa all the way.

- Gary W. Tooze

NOTE: (From Eric Cotenas): When I watched the opening credits (an English version of the Italian sequence over black rather than the AIP cloudscape titles -- with the annoying addition of an "INTERNATIONAL MEDIA FILMS presents A FEDERICO FELLINI FILM" in place of the Cineriz logo), I noticed credits for an English version of the film. I was not aware that this film had been dubbed in English. Since the AIP version was subtitled, do you know if the UK version any other English-speaking country releases were dubbed? Despite these credits the disc only has Italian audio options. If it was dubbed and Koch did not opt to include it, it was an oversight to use the English title sequence.

NOTE (From Chris) - There's a lot of color banding on the Koch disc and a fair number of compression artifacts. Check the scene where the wife attempts suicide. The walls fairly scintillate with banding where there should be an even color gradation.

DVD Menus

(Koch Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC LEFT vs. Medusa - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE vs. Universum Film - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)

Screen Captures

Capture #1