This 4K UHD release must surely be the last and final incarnation for these gorgeous restorations for Gaumont which were first screened at Bologna in 2017, and released in a sublime Blu-ray coffret in 2018.
I went back to review the Gaumont box released last night. Frankly I don’t think a 4K release could possibly improve on the gorgeous Blu-ray transfers done by Gaumont. They are at absolute peak for clarity and definition with intact grain and spectacular gray scale.
But being the sucker for Vigo that I am, I’ll doubtless shell out 61 Euros/USD/UK plus postage for this boxset in November.
But I must keep the Gaumont, not least for its two discs of extras including the staggering full length collection of alternate takes for L’Atalante, titled “tournage en hiver” which includes completely sublime footage of sequences not included in the restoration including Père Jules’ muscle-man tat parade and his harem of cats, several takes of the singing “vendeur” pitching his routine at the circus especially for the newly married couple.
Perhaps most mystifying and magical of all are several minutes of long shots, after the wedding as the new couple apparently walk directionlessy back and forth, zig-zagging between the hay bales on their way to the boat. That particular sequence was retained in a privately curated “restoration” cut by a gifted follower on a well-known back channels site. I think it is the one genuinely glaring omission from Eisenschitz’ basically perfect total restoration for Gaumont’s new 4K master in 2016.
The beauty of this 60 minute-plus extra is that it contains every imaginable outtake you could ever hope to see down to Dita Parlo inspecting the preserved creatures in Père Jules’ cabin.
The 4K UHD disc is due out in the UK late November.
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