ADDITION: Arrow Region 'B' - Blu-ray - February 2018: Arrow Academy have given Tree of Wooden Clogs a truly remarkable transfer from a new 4k scan. Criterion's transfer seems excessively dark and blue/green. There is a growing opinion in the HD videophile community that the company, L'Immagine Ritrovata, tends to occasionally over-digitize and incorrectly color grade their restorations. For this new Arrow disc, they decided on a new color grading - what they felt was more faithful to the original, and the resulting transfer is much brighter, accurate with earthy tones. This appears closer to the original theatrical presentation. The captures below speak for themselves.

Arrow gives us the option of two mono tracks, in the original Bergamasque (in 2.0 channel mono and Italian in 1.0 channel mono) I can't hear much of a difference between the Criterion and the Arrow, they both have a clear and crisp sound, and the classical music sounds as good as its ever going to sound, given its mono roots. There is also a feature with the director explaining how he wants to perfect the sound, while staying true to its mono origins...

Supplements include a 2-minute introduction by director Ermanno Olmi plus two, brief, interviews with the director from the 1978 Cannes Film Festival, recorded on either side of his Palme d Or win. There is also a 1/4 hour interview with Olmi from Italian film programme Appuntamenti con il cinema and the package has a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin and a 44-page booklet with essays by David Jenkins + Marc Gervais.

The disparity is so great that purists may want the Arrow Blu-ray for the image quality and, possibly, the Criterion for the extras. Kudos to Arrow for giving this masterpiece in an alternative 4K HD presentation.

Colin Zavitz

***

ADDITION: Criterion Region 'A' - Blu-ray - January 2017: Criterion's transfer is cited as being from a "New 4K restoration, created in collaboration with The Film Foundation at L’Immagine Ritrovata and supervised by director Ermanno Olmi". Like some of the SD renderings it can look a bit green in spots, and blue but this 1080P grandly rises above the lesser format with a dynamic, earthy, flat presentation that only adds further to the film's unforgettable impact. I see some grain - the overall image is, authentically, darker, no gloss and certainly not crisp. Has it been Ritrovata'ed? It remains a beautiful film... 

Criterion offer a linear PCM mono track in the original Bergamasque dialect (24-bit) and the option of an alternate, lossy, Italian track in simple Dolby. There is no score but plenty of Bach in the film with a little Mozart. It sounds delightfully flat but rich. The Blu-ray disc is coded for region 'A'.

Supplements start with a new, 7-minute long, introduction by filmmaker Mike Leigh on The Tree of Wooden Clogs and his insights and appreciation is always interesting. Ermanno Olmi: The Roots of the Tree, is a 52-minute-long 1981 episode of The South Bank Show, featuring an interview with Olmi on the film and a visit to the tenant farm where The Tree of Wooden Clogs was shot. There is a new, 34-minute, program featuring cast and crew discussing the film at the Cinema Ritrovato film festival in Bologna, Italy, in 2016. It is moderated by festival; director Gian Luca Farinelli and filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher. The participants include production manager Enrico Leoni, script supervisor and longtime Olmi assistant Fiorella Lugli, assistant production designer Rossella Guarna and cast members Omar Brignoli (Minek) and Franco Pilenga (Stefano.) Criterion also include 2 two interviews, thirty years apart, with Olmi from 1978 - 7-minutes from a French television broadcast aired May 19th, 1978 and the second, over 1/2 hour long, from 2008 conducted by film critic Lorenzo Codelli. There is also a trailer and the package has a liner notes booklet with an essay by film critic Deborah Young.

This is one of the pure gems from international cinema. A film experience you want to have in the absolute best possible quality. Thank goodness it was Criterion transferring this and the 4K restoration imbues the film rich, painterly qualities embracing the viewing and it makes me want to watch it all over again. We recommend!

***

ADDITION: Nouveaux - Region 2 - PAL - June - 05 - You know this Nouveaux DVD has been out for over 3 years - you think someone else could have reviewed it? I look on DVDBasen HERE and I see no one has done the UK edition. So, as we knew the Italian Luce disc was superior to the Koch, that is the one I hunted down and babel-fished until, almost as soon as I got a copy someone send me caps to show the cheaper (with the entire film on one disc), and virtually same extras - is at an English e-tailor site. I am the consummate DVD loser.

Okay, I still haven't come to a positive conclusion but so far the Nouveaux Pictures DVD is a head by a length, but we now see it has non-removable subtitles.  It is as sharp, seems to have more accurate color (see red skin tones of the LUCE + Koch discs) and next to the LUCE DVD, the Italian disc seems brightened. I will be conforming the details of the Nouveaux disc as soon as I receive it. Right now it is the one to buy unless you despise burned in subtitles.

***

The Instituto Luce is more accurate in terms of color. The Koch has a greenish haze over it. There is minor ghosting on the Koch (1st and 3rd captures) as it was transferred to NTSC directly from a PAL source.  The film is originally in the Bergamasco dialect. Both have the original language but the  Instituto Luce also has the more standard Italian as a dub option. The  Instituto Luce has a commentary (in Italian) and the film is divided over 2 discs. The Instituto Luce subtitle font an color are superior to the Kochs'. We recommend the Instituto Luce package.

Gary Tooze