Films
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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 format

1080p Blu-ray

Overview

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

Release details

Best Video Release

Potemkine France Blu-ray

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.

Length
82 mins
Type
Movie

More from Robert Bresson

See more →

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

See more →

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: Paul Thomas Anderson

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Japan Blu-ray 2021 reissue

Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Japan Blu-ray has better encode than other BDs.

Additional Info:

US and UK Blu-rays have their framing slightly positioned higher and lower respectively caps. JP BD is closest to center frame.

Directors: Emeric Pressburger & Michael Powell

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Imprint 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · filmalert101.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

FiM encode and none of the low-pass filtering present on the Criterion 4K, resulting in more detail and better handling of highlights on Imprint
Review, comparisons

Best Audio:

ITV UK Blu-ray or Indigo DE Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

All HD and 4K sources use the same 2009 restoration. Criterion's master (also used by Imprint) is a bit more rolled off, though the difference is minor.

Director: Doug Liman

4K · Worse Than BD
Best English-Friendly & Video:

US Cut: Universal HD-DVD

International Cut: International Universal Blu-ray but slightly filtered and DNR'd

Video Notes:

The Universal Blu-ray is slightly filtered and DNR'd compared to the HD-DVD, and the Universal 4K Blu-ray, on top of being upscaled, adds additional DNR and is softer than both previous HD releases.

Best Audio:

Universal Blu-ray DTS-HD 5.1

Additional Info:

Versions:
- The International version contains a short additional scene (part of the "Farmhouse" extended scene from the special features). See additional detail below.
- The US version does not contain this scene during the film. Director Doug Liman confirms in his audio commentary that the scene was cut from the original US theatrical release "for time".
- "The Explosive Extended Edition" found on some DVD releases is not an alternate cut of the film, simply an access mode that plays "The Bookend Scenes" features via non-seamless branching.

Deck the Halls scene:
The U.S. release is 118:17 while the European/Australian/Japanese releases are 118:36. There is no difference between the two running times from the start, but at 81:21, the U.S. version cuts from a kitchen scene of Marie and Eamon washing dishes, to a scene of Eamon bringing blankets to Jason and Marie. On the European/Australian releases, at the same point, there is a scene of Jason, Marie, Eamon and his children eating dinner while "Deck the Halls" plays in the background. There is no dialogue, the characters just each exchange uncomfortable glances. The scene goes to 81:40, then picks up the same scene of Eamon bringing blankets. This scene is included as an extra ("Farmhouse" extended scene) albeit sans the holiday themed music. Many thanks to Rewind user Mark Bowen for comparing these releases and letting us know the difference.

Director: Stanley Kubrick

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

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Director: Stanley Kubrick

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the WB release without the filtering, 1.85 ratio restored

Best Audio:

Mono: Criterion 4K Blu-ray (restored for the box set)/1999 WB R1 DVD
5.1 remix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Director: Michael Mann

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray is encoded by FiM and is better than Criterion, see caps https://slow.pics/c/Z2RRQAAT

Criterion 4K Blu-ray vs Blu-ray: caps colors are more different and nuanced than anticipated even in the SDR-converted caps and the usual gain in highlight detail is also apparent. Encode looks excellent except for the brightest areas as usual.

Best Audio:

5.1/5.0 mix (essentially a 4-track mix in 5.1 and 5.0 containers respectively)-Arrow/Criterion 4K Blu-ray. Only imperceptible differences in bit-depth: 20 vs 24. 

2.0 mix- Arrow 4K Blu-ray (original stereo)

Additional Info:

Arrow and Criterion 4K Blu-rays have differing extras 

Criterion has FEL Dolby Vision, Arrow has MEL

Arrow Limited Edition includes the Theatrical Cut Blu-ray from an older HD master, most likely from a 2K scan of an interpositive.

Directors: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly & Video:

UK StudioCanal UHD

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

US Magnolia BD

Audio Notes:

UK Entertainment One release contains directors commentary track

Director: Simon Wells

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Dolby Stereo: THX Certified Laserdisc

Director: Samuel Fuller

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-Ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

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· last reviewed 9 months ago

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