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Around the World With Orson Welles - The Complete Series [Blu-ray]
(Orson Welles, 1955)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: ITA-TV Video: B2MP
Disc: Region: FREE (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player) Runtime: (6 X 0:27:00 + 0:54:05) Total = 3:36:48 Disc Size: 48,446,134,581 bytes Feature Size: 48,238,393,344 bytes Video Bitrate: 25.98 Mbps Chapters: 44 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: July, 2015
Video: Aspect ratio: 1.33:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Episodes:
•
Pays Basque l - The Basque Countries (1955,
26:08) • The Dominici Affair by Orson Welles (Christophe Cognet, 2000, 54:05)
Audio: LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles: N one, (Burned in English used for The Dominici Affair)
Extras: • New essay by Peter Tonguette, author (Orson Welles Remembered), journalist, and film critic• DVD of the Series
Bitrate:
Description: The renowned Orson Welles, who wrote and directed this 1955 British television series for Associated Rediffusion, leads his inimitable style to this tour through Europe, meeting up with celebrities and ordinary people, discussing everything from bullfighting to Sacher Tortes. This Blu-ray contains all 6 episodes for the series, including the previously lost Revisiting Vienna aka The Third Man Returns To Vienna, where he take us to some of the locations of The Third Man. The documentary, The Dominici Affair, tells the story of and reconstructs the unfinished episode also known as The Tragedy of Lurs, and is included as a bonus.
Included in this set are: Pays Basque I (1955) 26 minutes Pays Basque II (1955) 26 minutes Revisiting Vienna aka The Third Man Returns to Vienna (1955) 26 minutes St-Germain-des-Pres (1955) 26 minutes Chelsea Pensioners (1955) 26 minutes Madrid Bullfight (Corrida Madrid) 1955) 26 minutes Bonus film: The Dominici Affair aka The Tragedy of Lurs (2000) (Directed by Christophe Cognet) 52 minutes (Standard Definition) First time the complete series has been released on Blu-ray and DVD.
The Film: In 1955, Orson Welles directed and hosted a mini series for British television. He leads us through a few famous places of Europe with his inimitable touch. In Paris he introduces us to famous artists such as Juliette Gréco or Jean Cocteau who lived in the Saint Germain Des Pres quarter. In London we meet the Chelsea Pensioners, in Spain we attend a Madrid Bullfight and visit the Basque country (Basque Country 1&2). Somewhere between a home movie and a cinematic essay, these short films have been described by French critics as the missing link in Welles' work. Excerpt from MRQE located HEREIn 1955, the celebrated polymath Orson Welles was invited to write, direct and present his first television production - a series of travelogues exploring Europe. Part home-movie, part cinematic essay, each episode of Around the World with Orson Welles takes the viewer on a fascinating journey to meet famous people and explore the continent's most romantic cities. In Paris, we are introduced to famous artists such as Jean Cocteau; in Madrid, we attend a bullfight; and in Vienna, in an episode which was long believed lost, we are taken to the locations of The Third Man. Excerpt from BFI's upcoming Blu-ray located HERE
Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. The entire series of Around The World With Orson Welles was a pleasure to watch in 1080P. It's from B2MP who brought us the wonderful Blu-ray releases Tomorrow (Robert Duvall) and Jerzy Skolimowski's Moonlighting. It is advertised as a "New high definition transfer from the 35mm interpositive". It looks inconsistent, varying in quality, with the first episode showing some age/weakness, but the visuals eventually improves looking quite decent with only sporadic sequences, shot differently, looking heavier and less sharp. It's on a dual-layered disc with a supportive bitrate. There aren't a lot of speckles or scratches (a few, mostly under the surface.) We also get Christophe Cognet's, hour-long, The Dominici Affair by Orson Welles (L'affaire Dominici par Orson Welles) from 2000 (a partial reconstruction exploring the making of Welles unfinished Around the World episode The Tragedy of Lurs, about the controversial Dominici murder case in France) and it looks a shade superior - but, of course, some of it is in color. There is some decent grain and, for the most part, contrast is respectable with some deep, rich, black levels. I was pleased with the presentation accepting the inconsequential inferiorities here and there. the screen captures should give you a decent idea of the video quality.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :We get a linear PCM in 2.0 channel mono at a decent 2304 kbps. There is no score per-se but live music in spots. So, the dialogue and narration is clear and audible, but there are no effects to support any depth. There are burned-in English subtitles for The Dominici Affair (see sample above) on the region FREE Blu-ray disc. NOTE: This will become available from BFI on BD in the UK in late August HERE.
Extras : No digital extras beyond The Dominici Affair but the package does have a new essay by Peter Tonguette, author (Orson Welles Remembered), journalist, and film critic and there is a second disc, region FREE, NTSC DVD which has the same content as the Blu-ray, but in SD.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze July 13th, 2015
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About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 5000 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.
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