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Maria Candelaria (1944)
Maria Candelaria (1944) poster

Maria Candelaria (1944)

María Candelaria (Xochimilco)

Drama, Romance • 1h 42m

Director: Emilio Fernández

Best video format

DVD

Overview

A young journalist asks an old artist about the portrait of a naked Indian woman that he has in his study. The artist tells the story of Maria Candelaria, a young Indian woman who was rejected by her own people for being the daughter of a prostitute. She is protected by a young Indian man, Lorenzo Rafael, who has fallen in love with her.

Release details

Best Video Release

DVD only. New restoration is done in 2024 from original camera negative, but no home release yet

Length
102 mins
Type
Movie

Featured in Cannes Palme d’Or Winners

See more →

Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

> BFI 4K Blu-ray. caps Criterion presents the master as originally graded in SDR whereas FiM added HDR / Dolby Vision for the BFI.

Best Audio:

1991 Criterion LaserDisc

Audio Notes:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray's audio mix has more detail than BFI’s and same applies to the subtitles, covering both English and France spoken word

Director: Luis Buñuel

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

Radiance Blu-ray / Criterion DVD

Additional Info:

Radiance's audio is ported from the Criterion DVD, see Blah-ray

Director: Jacques Demy

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

For Blu-ray Criterion Demy Set > StudioCanal

Director: Renato Castellani

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Best English-Friendly:

UK New Wave Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:
Video Notes:
Best Audio:

Germany Universum Blu-ray or France Memento Blu-ray seems to be better than UK New Wave Blu-ray? https://slow.pics/c/LD1gLnYF

US Blu-ray only has 2.0 and no DTS-HD MA 5.1

Additional Info:

UK New Wave Blu-ray, compared to the US Adopt Blu-ray, has the making of documentary and no burned in subtitles

Director: Carol Reed

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray or Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray/Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray (shared encode); slight improvement over the 2015 StudioCanal Blu-ray

Best Audio:

StudioCanal/LG UHDs

Audio Notes:

StudioCanal/LG UHDs port the 1999 Criterion DVD, considered the best source

Additional Info:

StudioCanal has a remastered Blu-ray, Lionsgate only a 4K Blu-ray

Director: Martin Scorsese

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook

Sources: blah-ray.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook fixes duplicate shot seen on the previous Columbia Classics release and has better encoding

Best Audio:

Original mono mix: 1990 Criterion LaserDisc/1991 Columbia LaserDisc
The 4K Blu-ray mono is only minimally worse (see blah-ray).

5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray

Director: David Lynch

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Censored US version: Shout! Factory or Twilight Time Blu-ray

Uncensored version: old DVD

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

2026 Criterion 4K Blu-ray, confirmed to be uncut

Director: Roberto Rossellini

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

BFI Blu-ray slightly better encode but gamma is off

Director: Michelangelo Antonioni

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

More Drama on Blu-ray

Director: Samuel Fuller

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-Ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: Steve De Jarnatt

Best English-Friendly & Video:

2024 Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

UK Transmission 4K Blu-ray in January 2027

Best Audio:

Either the 2015 Kino Lorber Blu-ray or the Arrow Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

The 2024 Kino Lorber Blu-ray is botched.

Director: Maurice Tourneur

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

VCI Blu-ray Dec 15th

Director: James Kirkwood

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

VCI Blu-ray Dec 15th

Director: Joel Coen

4K · Disappointing
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Director's Cut: Disappointing UK StudioCanal/US Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Theatrical Cut: LaserDisc or 2001 UK Universal DVD

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?p=21782879#post21782879 - comparison. StudioCanal is a massive improvement to the Criterion but still flawed in some areas (chroma noise)

Director: Liliana Cavani

4K · Solid

Director: Iain Softley

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Capelight Germany 4K Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Both 88 Films and Germany Capelight are superior to the Shout! Factory in HDR10 but their FEL layer may even things out. Objectively, the Capelight looks best as they avoided the chroma blocking that’s visible in 88’s disc but they in turn included an Atmos mix. I have the Shout! Factory, love how it looks and the 4K transfer is spectacular. https://slow.pics/c/vPmFQSAH

Best Audio:

88 Films 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Shout! Factory has the exclusive The Beauty of the Baud and the You Can't Stop Us All featurettes.

Director: Akira Kurosawa

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

BFI 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

2015 Star Media Blu-ray/2019 BFI Player WEB-DL

Director: Hiroshi Teshigahara

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

Criterion DVD

Director: Bruce Robinson

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray has stronger encode than Criterion

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Researched and maintained by

vanshady

· last reviewed 1 year ago

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