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Four Nights of a Dreamer (1972)
Four Nights of a Dreamer (1972) poster

Four Nights of a Dreamer (1972)

Quatre nuits d'un rêveur

Drama, Romance • 1h 22m

Director: Robert Bresson

Cast: Isabelle Weingarten, Guillaume des Forêts, Jean-Maurice Monnoyer, Giorgio Maulini, Lidia Biondi, Patrick Jouané, Jacques Renard, Marku Ribas

Best video release

Potemkine France Blu-ray is a recent 4K restoration compared to the old Japan Imagica Blu-ray, it unfortunately also has the eclair teal https://slow.pics/c/BIIWAPtO

Given that it's a Janus theatrical release, an English-friendly and Criterion release can be expected in the near future.

Updated 10 months ago


About the film

Jacques, a young man with artistic aspirations, spends four nights wandering Paris with a young woman, whom he rescued from suicide.

More from Robert Bresson

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Director: Robert Bresson

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

BFI Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Strong VDMS encode of a 4K scan.

No comparisons available against France Potemkine or Japan IVC. They are presumably from the same master, but do not feature English subs.

Audio Notes:

TBD: BFI Blu-ray’s mono sounds clean. No hiss but not noticeably muffled/filtered either. No known comparisons against older releases.

Director: Robert Bresson

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Criterion Blu-ray, 2K restoration

Best Audio:

2004 New Yorker DVD

Director: Robert Bresson

Best English-Friendly & Video:

France Gaumont Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Gaumont France is 4k transfer, not sure about Japan

Director: Robert Bresson

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

Director: Robert Bresson

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Radiance Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Upcoming Radiance Blu-ray is the only Blu-ray so far, although it's only an HD transfer, not 4K like other recent Bresson releases

Director: Robert Bresson

Best English-Friendly:

France Gaumont Blu-ray

Best Video:

Germany/France/Japan

Video Notes:

Germany/France/Japan has Blu-ray, 4K restoration

Director: Robert Bresson

Best English-Friendly & Video:

BFI Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

BFI Blu-ray is better than Criterion, see DVDBeaver comparison. 4K transfer, but has the eclair teal tint

Director: Robert Bresson

Best English-Friendly:

No Blu-ray has EN subtitles, HD Streaming is the easiest way to watch

Best Video:

France StudioCanal or Kadokawa Blu-ray, 4K restoration

Director: Robert Bresson

Best English-Friendly & Video:

BFI Blu-ray/Criterion Blu-ray (preference)

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

BFI and Criterion BDs are same restoration, but BFI is much darker and Criterion is much brighter. Unsure which is correct.

Director: Robert Bresson

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Criterion, 4k transfer

More from Potemkine

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Director: Werner Herzog

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

HD Streaming

Best Video:

Potemkine Blu-ray

Director: Éric Rohmer

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Rohmer Potemkine set

Video Notes:

Rohmer Potemkine set vs Criterion set?

Best Audio:

Netherlands 2006 Homescreen DVD

Director: Leos Carax

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Shout! Factory BD (caveat: burned-in English subtitles)

Best Video:

France Potemkine Blu-ray

Additional Info:

The Indomina release (and possibly some other releases) censor a scene of full frontal nudity via optical blurring, the Shout release is uncensored.

Director: Lars von Trier

4K · Disappointing
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Italy Eagle Pictures 4K Blu-ray or France Potemkine Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

(needs gamma correction)

The movie was shot in HD and  France Potemkine Blu-ray (needs gamma correction) has slightly stronger encoding than Italy Eagle Pictures 4K Blu-ray. Curzon Blu-ray is the worst of all three (not by much) see caps.

Director: Lars von Trier

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

No disc has correct frame rate (25fps) and English subtitles

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

Best Audio:

Nordisk NOR Blu-ray / Potemkine France Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

About the same

Director: Abbas Kiarostami

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion, 4K transfer

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

Best Video:

Potemkine Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Criterion is regraded with no reference information provided. Comparisons

Director: Abel Gance

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Potemkine 4K

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

Video Notes:

Potemkine 4K for the 7h Grand Version https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=36908

Director: Larisa Shepitko

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

2022 France Potemkine Blu-ray

Video Notes:

2022 France Potemkine Blu-ray > Criterion

Best Audio:

France Potemkine

Audio Notes:

France Potemkine > Criterion

Director: Mikhail Kalatozov

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

2019 Potemkine France Blu-ray

Video Notes:

2019 Potemkine France Blu-ray less processing than Criterion. Need to adjust luminence from 16-235 (limited) to 0-255 (full) to fix crushed blacks

Director: Éric Rohmer

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Criterion and Potemkine

Video Notes:

Criterion and Potemkine both have boxsets

More Drama on Blu-ray

Director: Alan J. Pakula

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Olive Films Blu-ray

Director: Vincente Minnelli

Best English-Friendly & Video:

MGM Blu-ray

Director: Steve Gordon

Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB Blu-ray

Director: John Woo

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray or Imprint 4K Blu-ray

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

Upcoming Release:

Plaion Germany 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Arrow has a different grade and a better encode than the Shout! Factory, though the difference in either is not major. Imprint release, which leaves Shout! Factory's master and subtitles as is, is encoded by FiM. https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24473097&postcount=56

Best Audio:

Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray

Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD

Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)

Audio Notes:

Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray (similar to Criterion LaserDisc, but less distorted)

Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD

Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)

Arrow used the alternate mix, but with extra filtering and lowered dynamic range. The alternate mix has much better fidelity.

Imprint presumably used the Shout! Factory original mix and left it as is, though no official confirmation.

Additional Info:

Arrow has a much better translation.

Arrow LE has the Taiwan Extended Cut which will not be present on the standard edition. However, Imprint is FiM and has its own archival extras not present on the Arrow.

Director: Richard Brooks

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Vincent Sherman

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Jonathan Demme

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Criterion Blu-ray has exclusive extras

Director: Compton Bennett

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from original technicolor negatives

Director: Jack Conway

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from safety preservation elements

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· last reviewed 10 months ago

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