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I Was Born, But... (1932)
I Was Born, But... (1932) poster

I Was Born, But... (1932)

大人の見る繪本 生れてはみたけれど

Comedy, Drama • 1h 40m

Director: Yasujirō Ozu

Cast: Tatsuo Saitō, Tomio Aoki, Mitsuko Yoshikawa, Hideo Sugawara, Takeshi Sakamoto, Teruyo Hayami, Seiichi Katô, Shoichi Kofujita, Seiji Nishimura, Zentaro Iijima, Shôtarô Fujimatsu, Masao Hayama, Kuniyasu Hayashi, Akio Nomura, Teruaki Ishiwatari

2024 BFI Blu-ray

Best English-friendly & video release · updated 1 year ago

Video notes:

2024 BFI Blu-ray is new 4K restoration

Overview

Two young brothers become the leaders of a gang of kids in their neighborhood. Ozu's charming film is a social satire that draws from the antics of childhood as well as the tragedy of maturity.

Release details

TSPDT
2026: #389
2025: #379
2024: #368
2023: #397
2022: #397
Length
100 mins
Type
Movie
Alternative Titles
Children of Tokyo

More from Yasujirō Ozu

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Director: Yasujirō Ozu

Best English-Friendly & Video:

2020 BFI Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

2005 Raro DVD

Director: Yasujirō Ozu

Best English-Friendly & Video:

BFI Tokyo Story Blu-ray extras

Director: Yasujirō Ozu

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Carlotta

Video Notes:

Carlotta and Criterion have new resto, Carlotta slightly better encode

Best Audio:

2009 Australia Madman DVD

Audio Notes:

(Tartan/Raro/Shochiku probably the same)

Director: Yasujirō Ozu

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion DVD

Best Video:

Carlotta Blu-ray

Best Audio:

2013 Criterion Hulu+ Streaming

Director: Yasujirō Ozu

Best English-Friendly:

Japan Shochiku Blu-ray

Best Video:

4k resto available in France Carlotta boxset or Japan Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Tartan/Shochiku DVD

Director: Yasujirō Ozu

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Carlotta Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Carlotta Blu-ray slightly better encoding than Criterion

Best Audio:

Shochiku DVD

Director: Yasujirō Ozu

Best English-Friendly:

Hong Kong/Japan Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

France Carlotta Blu-ray has best encoding of France/Hong Kong/Japan. Criterion/BFI are older master

Best Audio:

2004 Tartan DVD

Audio Notes:

(Raro/Madman/Shochiku DVDs probably similar)

More from BFI

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Director: Ingmar Bergman

Best English-Friendly:

BFI Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

2022 BFI Boxset Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Tartan DVD, Criterion DVD

Director: Martin Rosen

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

BFI 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

2002 R2 WB DVD

Director: Jean-Luc Godard

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-ray/BFI Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Criterion and BFI very similar

Best Audio:

Fox Lorber DVD

Director: F. W. Murnau

Best English-Friendly & Video:

2006 Restoration: Eureka Blu-ray
1995 photochemical restoration: BFI Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Eureka with Murnau institute restoration featuring score based on original score, BFI uses Photoplay restoration with James Bernard score

Additional Info:

Both Eureka and BFI Blu-rays are worthy of owning. Each restoration has unique positives and extras. The James Bernard score on the BFI is outstanding and the image tinting is different to how the Murnau institute official restoration was done. The Eureka MoC Blu-ray is stuffed with extras and remains one of the best-made Blu-rays of all time. Whatever you do: AVOID THE Kino Lorber Blu-ray!!! It uses the same Murnau institute restoration but drops frames for the whole feature - thus it loses a significant portion of the film! This was never acknowledged or addressed. The Kino Lorber Blu-ray remains one of the worst Blu-rays of all time for this reason.

Director: Ingmar Bergman

Best English-Friendly & Video:

BFI Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

BFI better encode than Criterion

Best Audio:

2006 Criterion DVD

Director: Edward D. Wood Jr.

Video format: 4K Streaming

Director: Dennis Hopper

4K · Disappointing
Best English-Friendly & Video:

BFI Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

BFI Blu-ray renders grain structure better than Severin 4K Blu-ray’s disappointing encode, although Severin does feature an HDR grading with Dolby Vision. Furthermore, Severin’s soundtrack is worse due to the noise reduction applied.

Additional Info:

Severin 4K Blu-ray has very good extras that are more relevant to the film

Director: Jan Švankmajer

Best English-Friendly & Video:

BFI Blu-ray or Athanor The Films of Jan Svankmajer Blu-ray

Best Audio:

BFI Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

BFI Blu-ray for both original Czech and English dub audio in lossless format

Additional Info:

Athanor The Films of Jan Svankmajer Blu-ray has exclusive extras

Directors: Cecil M. Hepworth & Percy Stow

Best English-Friendly & Video:

BFI Alice (1988) Blu-ray

Director: Ingmar Bergman

Best English-Friendly & Video:

BFI Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

> 2018 Boxset Criterion (slightly). 2012 Standalone Criterion significantly worse.

Best Audio:

2004 R2 Tartan DVD

More Comedy on Blu-ray

Director: Vincente Minnelli

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1991 MGM LaserDisc

Director: Olivier Assayas

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow UK Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Encoding is clunky on both Arrow and Criterion BDs but Arrow at least included the original stereo mix in addition to the 5.1 remix, while Criterion only included the 5.1 remix.

Director: Morton DaCosta

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Bros Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray Nov 24th

TV series

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative for all episodes

Director: Norman Taurog

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Delbert Mann

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Charles Walters

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

TV series

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Director: Garson Kanin

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Video:

Only Streaming has 1080p

Director: Preston Sturges

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Video Notes:

No information on French Elephant Films Blu-ray

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· last reviewed 1 year ago

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