The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978)
L'albero degli zoccoli
Drama • 3h 5m
Director: Ermanno Olmi
Cast: Luigi Ornaghi, Francesca Moriggi, Omar Brignoli, Antonio Ferrari, Teresa Brescianini, Giuseppe Brignoli, Carlo Rota, Pasqualina Brolis, Massimo Fratus, Francesca Villa, Maria Grazia Caroli, Battista Trevaini, Giuseppina Langalelli, Lorenzo Pedroni, Felice Cervi, Pierangelo Bertoli, Brunella Migliaccio, Giacomo Cavalleri, Lorenza Frigeni, Lucia Pezzoli, Franco Pilenga, Guglielmo Badoni, Laura Lecatelli, Carmelo Silva, Mario Brignoli, Emilio Pedroni, Vittorio Capelli, Francesca Bassurini, Lina Ricci
Best English-friendly release · updated 1 year ago
Overview
On a northern Italian farm, Batistì and his wife decide to send their son Minec to school, sacrificing his help in the fields but hoping to break the cycle of poverty in the family. But when Minec’s shoe breaks while walking for miles, Batisti puts the family’s future at risk to replace the clog.
Video format: 1080p Blu-ray
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Gaumont Blu-ray but no English subtitles: https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Deux-sous-de-violettes-Blu-ray/288976/
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Caps for France vs Germany vs UK vs Turkish release https://slow.pics/c/jYBS2CWE not sure what the correct grading is but Germany release looks too dark
Director: Carol Reed
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray or Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray/Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray (shared encode); slight improvement over the 2015 StudioCanal Blu-ray
StudioCanal/LG UHDs
StudioCanal/LG UHDs port the 1999 Criterion DVD, considered the best source
StudioCanal has a remastered Blu-ray, Lionsgate only a 4K Blu-ray
Director: Martin Scorsese
2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook
Sources: blah-ray.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab)
2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook fixes duplicate shot seen on the previous Columbia Classics release and has better encoding
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
Censored US version: Shout! Factory or Twilight Time Blu-ray
Uncensored version: old DVD
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
2026 Criterion 4K Blu-ray, confirmed to be uncut
Director: Roberto Rossellini
> Artificial Eye Blu-ray, Korea Nova Media 4K Blu-ray release is AI upscaled
Director: Federico Fellini
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
2014 Criterion Blu-ray is from the same master and has only slightly worse compression. JP/DE/FR releases all have incorrect levels. Caps
All Blu-ray releases are from the same mastering, superior to the one on older DVD releases which is sourced from a higher generation source. They all sound about the same, with the exception of Criterion, which sounds worse due to extraneous filtering.
Paramount's disc also includes a contemporary English dub, previously unreleased on home video.
Director: William Friedkin
Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)
Plaion have also released a BD sourced from Arrow's recent 4K remaster, holds up strongly in comparison https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1=19341&d2=19005&c=5415
Director: John Carpenter
Sources: blog.sporv.com (opens in a new tab)
1997? Signature Collection LD
Good: 2017 Arrow and 2016 Shout! Factory Blu-ray have the original audio options.
the only track on Universal 4K, which is in DTS:X, has a mixing error of around 6dB too low on side channels, otherwise very similar to other 5.1 mixes.
Director: Rob Reiner
Arrow 4K Blu-ray releasing December 14 2026
Director: Brian De Palma
Arrow 4K Blu-ray has a better encode than the Kino Lorber and Capelight 4K Blu-rays. Capelight 4K Blu-ray looks low-passed in comparison to the Arrow but is slightly closer to the Arrow in PQ than the Kino Lorber.
Director: Bob Clark
Scream Factory 4K Blu-ray
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray in December
Director: David Lynch
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray in December
Subtle difference in encoding to the Criterion in encoding, trading blows in different shots, with Plaion taking a slight edge with less highlight blocking
Criterion's 2.0 sounds muffled due to noise reduction and EQ.
Plaion's 2.0 lacks bass and has a very bright EQ, more resembling the 5.1 remix. Plaion’s 2.0 doesn't have any filtering unlike the Criterion, see https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23831289&postcount=110
Director: John Woo
> US Shout! Factory, better encoding by Engine House and redone opening credits, errors present in Shout! Factory fixed
Mono is from an alternate higher fidelity source than Shout! Factory.
Director: Fred M. Wilcox
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Arrow 4K Blu-ray used what was also originally screened theatrically: The Perspecta Stereo 3.0 and a mono option. The Perspecta track sounds best with better dynamic range and was set as default with the mono as optional. The previous releases stereo were downmixes of a now lost original 4-track, and it sounds very thin as a result. See comparison
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· last reviewed 1 year ago
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