Trance and Dance in Bali (1952)
Documentary • 22m
Directors: Gregory Bateson & Margaret Mead
Cast: Margaret Mead
Best video & English-friendly release
Updated 6 months ago
About the film
Filmed in Bali in 1937 and released in 1952, this short documentary records a staged performance of the Kris Dance, documenting trance, ritual possession, and ceremonial movement within Balinese religious practice.
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- National Film Registry
Year of Induction: 1999
Director: Victor Sjöström
Video format: 1080p Blu-ray
Director: Leo McCarey
Director: Philip Kaufman
Criterion 4K Blu-ray is a significant upgrade over previous WB Blu-ray see comparison
Criterion for the first time on home video have provided the 70mm 6-track as well as the Dolby stereo which was previously on LaserDisc. Both tracks are unique so included both with the 6-track default. Criterion’s 5.1 remix is lossless compared to the lossy tracks of the previous blu-rays and DVDs.
See comparison
Director: Joel Coen
Shout is still very good but Arrow has the edge due to better handling of highlights and less chroma noise, comparison
All the same
Director: John G. Avildsen
Sony boxset or 2024 VHS packaging 4K Blu-ray
Sony boxsets or 2024 VHS packaging has Dolby Vision, 2019 Sony 4K Blu-ray is HDR10 only.
Original Stereo mix: Columbia Pictures LaserDisc, Sony 4K Blu-ray (any)
5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray, Sony Blu-ray
Dolby Atmos remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray (any)
Director: Mike Nichols
StudioCanal 4K caps.Criterion Blu-ray better encode than StudioCanal Blu-ray.
Director: W.W. Young
Video format: HD Streaming
Reconstruction on YouTube better
Complete 2-hour film is lost, only Wonderland and Looking-Glass reissue prints survive
Video format: Only Unofficial Sources
Unofficial Streaming
Complete copies survive in Library of Congress
Director: William A. Seiter
Video format: Only Unofficial Sources
Unofficial sources ripped from TCM
Library of Congress has completed a digital restoration around 2018 but no release yet
Director: Frank Borzage
Video format: Only Unofficial Sources
Only has really bad public domain copies
New restoration done by Library of Congress with DCP has no release yet
Video format: HD Streaming
Library of Congress official HD Streaming https://www.loc.gov/item/00694367/
Director: Billy Bitzer
Video format: HD Streaming
Library of Congress official HD Streaming https://www.loc.gov/item/00694394/
Video format: HD Streaming
Library of Congress official HD Streaming https://www.loc.gov/item/00694192/
Video format: HD Streaming
3min excerpt available on HD Streaming by Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/item/2023602024/
No full copy available
Video format: HD Streaming
Library of Congress HD Streaming https://www.loc.gov/item/2023600536/
Directors: William K.L. Dickson & William Heise
Video format: HD Streaming
Library of Congress HD Streaming https://www.loc.gov/item/00694133/
More Documentary on Blu-ray
Sony Music 4K Blu-ray
AI upscale but color and HDR grading is improved as it's way more subdued see caps
Mono: 1999 WB DVD
5.1: Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Director: Werner Herzog
Director: Steve James
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has excellent master in SDR and a good encode. BD caps here.
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has poor audio: The 2.0 is fine but unremarkable, the 5.1 is presumably an upmix with a botched, strongly raised LFE channel which makes the entire track unlistenable on well-tuned equipment. Audio graphs here.
Director: Ebrahim Golestan
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