Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
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A Mother Should
Be Loved
(1934)
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This late silent drama, directed by Yasujirô Ozu, features Mitsuko Yoshikawa, Den Obinata, Kyôko Mitsukawa and Hideo Mitsui.
A family copes with the death of their patriarch and the mother is challenged with raising two young boys in the aftermath. When preparing for college, the oldest boy discovers that the mother he has known his whole life is only his stepmother and he is distressed that he was never told the truth.
Unfortunately, reels one and eight of the film have not survived.
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 British Film Institute
2011 DVD edition
Late Autumn (1960), color, 129 minutes, BBFC Certification PG, with A Mother Should Be Loved (1934), black & white, 70 minutes, BBFC Certification PG.
British Film Institute, BFIB1076, UPC 5-035673-010730.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region B Blu-ray Disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) 24fps progressive scan AVC (MPEG-4) format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Mbps audio bit rate, PCM 48 kHz (16 bit) 2.0 mono sound, Japanese language intertitles, optional English language subtitles, chapter stops; and one single-sided, single-layered, Region 2 PAL DVD disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 576 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, 320 Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 mono sound, Japanese language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; chapter stops; standard BD keepcase; $14.95.
Release date: 23 May 2011.
Country of origin: England
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This Region 2 DVD edition (only Late Autumn is presented on the Blu-ray Disc) has likely been mastered from a very-good but incomplete 35mm print.
The film is presented with musical accompaniment by Ed Hughes.
We will hazard an assumption that this is the best-looking edition of A Mother Should Be Loved available on home video.
North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 2 PAL DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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 Panorama Entertainment
2006 DVD edition
A Mother Should Be Loved (1934), black & white, 73 minutes, not rated.
Panorama Entertainment,
PCLDVD520015, UPC 4-895033-747260.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 3 NTSC DVD disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 mono sound, Japanese language intertitles, optional Chinese and English language subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; unknown suggested retail price.
Release date: 2006.
Country of origin: Hong Kong
Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 0 / additional content: 5 / overall: 5.
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This Region 3 DVD edition has been mastered from a very-good but incomplete 35mm print. The picture is grey in its shadows and soft in image detail (rendering a picture quality similar to a 16mm reduction print), which may be due to the quality of the source print, but is still watchable.
The film is presented silent, with no musical accompaniment whatsoever.
North American collectors will need a region-free DVD player to view this Region 3 edition.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 3 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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 Unidentified company
20?? DVD edition
A Mother Should Be Loved (1934), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Unidentified home video company,
unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 3 NTSC DVD disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 mono sound, Japanese language intertitles, optional Korean language subtitles?; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; unknown suggested retail price.
Release date: (unknown)
Country of origin: Korea
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This Region 3 DVD edition has likely been mastered from an incomplete 35mm or 16mm print.
The film is likely presented with some sort of music score soundtrack.
North American collectors will need a region-free DVD player to view this Region 3 edition.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 3 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Other JAPANESE FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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