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Daybreak
[Tianming]
(1933)

This Chinese drama of the 1930s, directed by Yu Sun, features Li-li Li, Zhanfei Gao, Langen Han, Jiqun Liu, Peng Luo, Juanjuan Ye and Congmei Yuan.

Cinema Epoch
2007 DVD edition

Crossroads (1937), black & white, 104 minutes, not rated, with Daybreak (1933), black & white, 97 minutes, not rated.

Epoch Entertainment, EPODV1238, UPC 8-91514-00123-8.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc; 1.76:1 aspect ratio picture in windowboxed 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; Chinese language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; 9 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $19.98.
Release date: 8 May 2007.
Country of origin: USA •

Ratings (1-10): video: 3 / audio: 6 / additional content: 4 / overall: 4.

This DVD edition has been mastered from a 16mm reduction print that presents flat greytones and is soft in image detail. The analog video transfer (or the source print itself) crops the top and bottom of the original picture to an image of approximately 1.50:1, which means that often the tops of heads are cropped out of the frame. If the opening credits are representative of the entire film, a substantial portion of the left side of the original image is cropped out, as well. The picture is a bit unstable as the image bounces around in the frame. As would be expected, there is the usual amount of dust, speckling and flaws in the source print.

The film is accompanied by a passable music score performed on synthesizers.

Not a great presentation but this is the only home video edition of the film that we know of.

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