Saturday 12 January 2019

The Virgin Spring (1960)

Of the four editions I could track down, I like the old Criterion DVD best.

The 2018 Criterion blu-ray uses that same audio transfer but with more noise reduction applied. Mind you, not a major amount (certainly less than The Seventh Seal), but enough to mute ambient sounds and veil things.

The early Tartan DVD is one of the few Bergman Tartans that is noticeably inferior to its Criterion counterpart -- it sounds dupey and undetailed (and its video is washed-out too).

The Spanish Vértice Cine blu-ray from 2011, which does actually use the same Svensk Filmindustri restoration now on the Criterion blu-ray, has major clipping and is pitched too low (even though it plays at 25 fps). No apparent noise reduction, though, which makes me interested in hearing the StudioCanal blu-ray from 2013.



Update (12/30/2020): The Dutch Moskwood Media DVD from 2005 sounds and looks like the Tartan. So it's reasonable to assume that all the early DVDs licensed from Svensk Filmindustri share the same transfer. It's very possible that the Criterion LaserDisc sounds better than the Criterion DVD.

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