Hi John
I won't claim to have watched the Avalon/YMAC release, but posters on another forum responded to a review I had written of
Harem based on my French Art copy, praising the beauty and clarity of the picture, by complaining that theirs (the US release) was really mediocre and disappointing (and missed the extras).
The other thing is, I have it from Cadinot himself whom I asked about it, that he had nothing to do with that American edition, contrary to what misleading publicity and press releases would try to suggest. Same goes for the second such release,
The Traveling Journeymen, which is the US version of his
Le Désir en ballade, a 1989 film. So I assume the US distributor who had previously acquired the rights of those two films at the time of their VHS releases just went ahead and did it with the masters he had.
I am not particularly flaming the US distributor here. I guess this is the unavoidable result of Cadinot's refusal to enter into a new distribution deal with a US partner. He's always been an independent and has grown ever more wary of any tampering or messing around with his films. As you know, such was often the case in the 80s when his films were often cut and excised by timid (?) US distributors, although often the rationale for such cuts was hard to understand. You're right to emphasize that the current DVD version sold in the US is at least complete.
The other thing Cadinot does want total control over is the pricing of his films! He doesn't want to cut prices and doesn't want to give his films to a distributor who will eventually, sooner or later, offer them at reduced rates, etc... That's of course pretty steep for the customers (and doesn't prevent piracy etc...) but he claims, and I think rightly, his films are unique in that they are real movies and thus warrant such unique prices. And he says, if you want to buy my films, go to my store (
www.cadinot.fr).