Derek Jarman's Sebastiane on DVD

[ozladbulgakov]

Hey guys,

Lots of us will be familiar with the breakthrough Derek Jarman film, featuring male nudity galore...

A question though, according to this review

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=3526

one of the actor's erections can clealy be seen - however, in the version released here in Oz, I can't see it no matter what ratio I watch it in. In Australia it's put out by a company called Siren, and I suspect it has just used the TV print which cuts out the bottom of screen with the erection. Was wondering if any fellow members (sic) could tell me if they have copies in which they can see this bit of celluloid history, and if so, through which company their dvd is released so I can order the right one online. In the meantime, possible screen captures of the moment, anyone? ;-)

 

[D_alex8]

In Australia it's put out by a company called Siren, and I suspect it has just used the TV print which cuts out the bottom of screen with the erection. Was wondering if any fellow members (sic) could tell me if they have copies in which they can see this bit of celluloid history, and if so, through which company their dvd is released so I can order the right one online. In the meantime, possible screen captures of the moment, anyone? ;-)

*All* currently available DVDs of the film are transferred from the same master, and lack the centurion's erection. The excised erection from Sebastiane was shown projected behind Jarman during an interview in the British Channel 4 documentary Sex and the Censors (part of the station's Banned season) in 1991. However, repeat broadcasts of that documentary since 1999 have used optical fogging to disguise the background content. Consequently, I'm not sure that the erection has ever been seen outside of cinema prints.

 

[ozladbulgakov]

Hey thanks for the info, Alex - how do you account for the review linked above though? Have u got it on DVD yourself?

 

[D_alex8]

Hey thanks for the info, Alex - how do you account for the review linked above though? Have u got it on DVD yourself?

I don't have the current DVD from Second Sight in the UK (from which the Australian release is derived), but the point of the article seems to be that it has been slightly cropped, so that while the 4:3 ratio makes it possible to see the erection on a cinema screen, viewing the DVD in that ratio won't help due to the image already having been cropped.

"Sebastiane was shot open-matte in 16mm, but was blown up to 35mm for cinema showings at a wider ratio (either 1.66:1 or 1.75:1). However, if you show the film in 4:3, in one scene you can see at the very bottom of the frame actor Ken Hicks’s real-life erection.

Unfortunately, it makes no appearance in Second Sight’s DVD, although the transfer is 4:3. This looks distinctly like it has been panned and scanned slightly: there is no room for cropping at all at the top and bottom of the picture."

At any rate, all reviews of the Second Sight transfer (and its use for the Australian and Italian DVD releases) likewise berate the absent erection.

 

[B_RoysToy]

It seems like some feverish desire to see the erected penis on the screen, so I'm reminding you that Penthouse Magazine editor Bob Guccione has produced Gore Vidal's "Caligula" packed full of erected penes in different kinds of situations, the most notable being serviced with oral sex. A favorite of mine is the thick, nine or so inch-one getting two beautiful women at the same time, until his climax flows from her mouth. There can be no question of its authenticity, since artificial ones just don't throb and explode as do the real live ones. "Caligula" is available on DVD and Netflick has the two hrs, 36 min. of raw Roman debauchery.

 

[ozladbulgakov]

Alex8 - Thanx for you patient reply - next time I'll READ the web page I link thoroughly instead of just skimming it :redface:

RoysToy - thx for the recommendation :wink:

 

[Merman127]

Well, now that you've gotten me (and surely others) all hot and bothered, has anyone had any luck locating any pics of these Caligula scenes?