Wings of Desire

November 21, 2009

I have Wings of Desire on VHS and I just picked up the Criterion Blu Ray. It looks great, but I have to say that I actually prefer the VHS version visually. I like having the original audio on the Blu Ray, but this movie just looks a lot better to me with the details a little blurry. I'm glad Blu Ray is not likely to supplant DVD any time soon, because I think there are a lot of movies that just look bad with too much fidelity.

One early scene when they are in the BMW dealership is a good example. In the Blu ray, it looks like it was filmed last week. On VHS, the movie seems like something shot in the 40s or 50s... One interesting thing that I wouldn't have known without the criterion though is that it was filmed by a super old and famous cinematographer, who used his grandmother's stocking from the '30s as a lens filter.

Edited November 21, 2009 by Great Maker ShaiHulud