British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[burdette]

Is there normally a end-of-the-year BFI sale? I really need Cassavetes' Opening Night and a couple of the Ozu films.

[jonali]

Anyone knows why the release date of Friendship's Death (1987) has been moved yet again to June 21 next year?

[Wes M.]

Not sure if it's been called out previously, but I noticed that the BFI are no longer carrying their edition of Birth of a Nation. What's more Amazon UK it seems are no longer selling the Masters of Cinema edition. We're all film academics here so no one needs to defend themselves for having the film in their collection (as do I), but I wonder will Eureka continue to carry the title into the future or will it quietly slip out of print one of the days...

[Ben_C]

Originally Posted by Wes M.

Not sure if it's been called out previously, but I noticed that the BFI are no longer carrying their edition of Birth of a Nation. What's more Amazon UK it seems are no longer selling the Masters of Cinema edition. We're all film academics here so no one needs to defend themselves for having the film in their collection (as do I), but I wonder will Eureka continue to carry the title into the future or will it quietly slip out of print one of the days...

Shame if it did disappear. Whilst some of the content is obviously rather dubious, from a film history point of view it’s a fairly important film (as are plenty of others from the earliest days of cinema).

[Wes M.]

Originally Posted by Ben_C

Shame if it did disappear. Whilst some of the content is obviously rather dubious, from a film history point of view it’s a fairly important film (as are plenty of others from the earliest days of cinema).

I agree. I thought this was a good discussion on the film:

The Birth of a Nation at 100 discussion | BFI

[benkell]

Originally Posted by Wes M.

Not sure if it's been called out previously, but I noticed that the BFI are no longer carrying their edition of Birth of a Nation. What's more Amazon UK it seems are no longer selling the Masters of Cinema edition. We're all film academics here so no one needs to defend themselves for having the film in their collection (as do I), but I wonder will Eureka continue to carry the title into the future or will it quietly slip out of print one of the days...

I did notice a couple of months ago that the BFI release had disappeared from their website,but i wasn't sure if it had gone OOP anyway, i imagine you could be right and they pulled it - would have been nice if they had been upfront about it and gave a reason for it's disappearance,going forward i would think the same thing will happen with the Eureka in time and that will probably be it regarding physical media for the title.

[CelestialAgent]

Originally Posted by benkell

I did notice a couple of months ago that the BFI release had disappeared from their website,but i wasn't sure if it had gone OOP anyway, i imagine you could be right and they pulled it - would have been nice if they had been upfront about it and gave a reason for it's disappearance,going forward i would think the same thing will happen with the Eureka in time and that will probably be it regarding physical media for the title.

I mean, BFI’s booklet does have a defence of the film by Kevin Brownlow, but it also has Ashley Clark (a Black critic) and Cedric Robinson in the roundtable. The disc isn’t only worth it for the (awful) feature film itself, but also Confederate/Civil War short films from around the same period. The BFI does manage to cover a lot of context, but it probably isn’t as comprehensive as some of the other reference books (there’s also the PBS documentary Birth of a Movement, about the NAACP, censorship, the revival of the KKK and the film).

That said I’d be a little suspicious of anyone who pays scalper prices for the film. (Although I wouldn’t pay scalper prices for German Concentration Camps Factual Survey either, a film that is not racist, because I think Holocaust education shouldn’t have significant financial barriers.)

However even rewriting the silent canon to decentralise The Birth of a Nation is difficult - The Birth of a Race wasn’t as retaliatory as intended, Intolerance is Griffith defending himself against... people being intolerant of his racism, his early shorts are still Griffith, and the early films within Pioneers of African American Cinema were still made for segregated Black audiences, rather than a mainstream audience. (Within Our Gates was a response to Birth.) Advocating for silent feature films before Birth can also mean advocating for Cabiria, a film which influenced Italian Fascism.

Wikipedia on the Roman salute:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_salute

This was further elaborated upon in popular culture during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in plays and films that portrayed the salute as an ancient Roman custom. These included the 1914 Italian film Cabiria whose intertitles were written by the nationalist poet Gabriele d'Annunzio. In 1919, d'Annunzio adopted the cinematographically depicted salute as a neo-imperial ritual when he led the occupation of Fiume.

Through d'Annunzio's influence, the gesture soon became part of the rising Italian Fascist movement's symbolic repertoire. In 1923 the salute was gradually adopted by the Italian Fascist regime. It was then adopted and made compulsory within the Nazi Party in 1926, and gained national prominence in the German state when the Nazis took power in 1933. It was also adopted by other fascist, far right and ultranationalist movements.

There are other early 1910s silent features - Der Tunnel, Inferno - but they lack being known widely, or available in the UK or US on remastered DVD/BDs.

I would recommend The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), but half of it is lost, with some frames only surviving in Bill Morrison’s favourite of decay, becoming lost in patterns.

As ever, I would recommend contacting the BFI about it. Ultimately, I don’t have an issue with racist episodes of series being pulled (although a disclaimer is preferable), or Little Britain vanishing from streaming and DVD, because they’ll still be out there, in used second hand copies or illegal rips.

I don’t think it’s necessarily a self image thing because the BFI does stand behind Black voices quite well, whether it’s the Black Star season four years ago, Charles Burnett, Stuart Hall, Isaac Julien, Daughters of the Dust, Tales of the Hood, Black Girl, Carmen Jones, Playing Away, Borderline, The Night of Truth, Pressure, Burning an Illusion.

I can’t say how much racist power the film carries in the sense of radicalisation - maybe some film students without the proper context could have their beliefs reaffirmed. I think 4Chan is too busy with other racist memes to use Birth for inspiration. But as a racist text, it’s still racist.

If the film is reissued again, it could be contextualised with some of the responses to the film - DJ Spooky’s Rebirth of a Nation, Spike Lee’s The Answer. However even Lee defends the right for the film to be shown in film schools. I remember the BFI booklet making a point about how the film has been unable to screen in the US in the past few decades due to the controversy. And I completely understand that. The film was boycotted and seen as racist the moment it was released (same with Gone with the Wind) - it just wasn’t seen as racist by the wide mainstream.

[Miriod]

Originally Posted by Wes M.

Not sure if it's been called out previously, but I noticed that the BFI are no longer carrying their edition of Birth of a Nation. What's more Amazon UK it seems are no longer selling the Masters of Cinema edition. We're all film academics here so no one needs to defend themselves for having the film in their collection (as do I), but I wonder will Eureka continue to carry the title into the future or will it quietly slip out of print one of the days...

It still available at Zavvi, both of them. And Masters of Cinema edition at Eureka website. Not checked Ebay, I'm sure there are copies. I personally own both, bought years ago.

[sjt]

"Advocating for silent feature films before Birth can also mean advocating for Cabiria, a film which influenced Italian Fascism."

So what? Wagner certainly influenced Nazi philosophy - even though he died in 1883 - as did Nietzsche, dead in 1900. Are we not meant to enjoy their music and writing for what they are, as opposed to what others later made out of them? Personally, though I dislike the Griffiths (as much for its cornpone sentimentality as much as anything else), I would absolutely love one of the major boutiques to produce a properly curated bells-and-whistles edition of Cabiria, and be first in the queue to buy it. It's the start of cinema as mind-boggling spectacle, and without it none of the big historical epics of the later C20th would even exist (not to mention Fellini's hysterical send-up in Roma).

[CelestialAgent]

Originally Posted by sjt

"Advocating for silent feature films before Birth can also mean advocating for Cabiria, a film which influenced Italian Fascism."

So what? Wagner certainly influenced Nazi philosophy - even though he died in 1883 - as did Nietzsche, dead in 1900. Are we not meant to enjoy their music and writing for what they are, as opposed to what others later made out of them? Personally, though I dislike the Griffiths (as much for its cornpone sentimentality as much as anything else), I would absolutely love one of the major boutiques to produce a properly curated bells-and-whistles edition of Cabiria, and be first in the queue to buy it. It's the start of cinema as mind-boggling spectacle, and without it none of the big historical epics of the later C20th would even exist (not to mention Fellini's hysterical send-up in Roma).

I agree, I would love to see it given a deluxe treatment. But it’s important to remember silents can’t be seen within a vacuum, like the eventual Nazi sympathisers that populate Weimar cinema.

Here’s a story about Nosferatu I was pointed to yesterday.

https://www.bh.org.il/blog-items/myt...-blood-libels/

1922 saw the first cinematic meeting of the concepts of the vampire and the Jew. “Nosferatu,” the first silent vampire film, was inspired by the book “Dracula” that had been published two decades earlier. Count Orlok, the film’s main character, had the face of a mouse with a curved nose and greedy little eyes that lusted hungrily after young, fair-haired Aryan women.

Seated in the audience at the film’s premiere was Julius Streicher, who would become chief editor of “Der Stürmer,” Hitler’s anti-Semitic newspaper. Streicher was immediately infatuated with “Nosferatu.” So aroused was he by the blood gushing from the young woman’s fair flesh that he returned to watch the film day after day. As chief editor of “Der Stürmer” he was inspired by the film’s vampire image, and soon dozens of caricatures began to appear of vampire-like Jews. For Streicher, the vampire represented the Other — the deformed, ugly, un-German, disease-ridden well-poisoner. In other words, the Jew.

I think Birth is the epitome of the ‘problematic’ silent, because the racism is encoded specifically within the book and the film. Griffith was not a KKK member either and can’t be held directly responsible for racist attacks that came out of the film. But connections can still be drawn, whether you want to ban the film because of it or not - Birth isn’t the only silent of its kind either.

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by sjt

"Advocating for silent feature films before Birth can also mean advocating for Cabiria, a film which influenced Italian Fascism."

So what? Wagner certainly influenced Nazi philosophy - even though he died in 1883 - as did Nietzsche, dead in 1900. Are we not meant to enjoy their music and writing for what they are, as opposed to what others later made out of them? Personally, though I dislike the Griffiths (as much for its cornpone sentimentality as much as anything else), I would absolutely love one of the major boutiques to produce a properly curated bells-and-whistles edition of Cabiria, and be first in the queue to buy it. It's the start of cinema as mind-boggling spectacle, and without it none of the big historical epics of the later C20th would even exist (not to mention Fellini's hysterical send-up in Roma).

A book about Wagner just came out called, Wagnerism by: Alex Ross (Not the comic book artist) that goes into this discussion and acts as a biography on him. I just picked it up, haven't read it yet, but heard good things.

Thought I would throw that out there in case anyone likes books.

[James78]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X_H0eYlhVM

MOGUL MOWGLI follows the story of Zed (Riz Ahmed), a British Pakistani rapper, who, on the cusp of his first world tour, is struck down by an illness that threatens to derail his big break and forces him to face his past, his family, and the uncertainty of his legacy.

Stuart Brown, BFI Head of Programme and Acquisitions says: “MOGUL MOWGLI is a rare thing. Every now and then a piece of art will feel like a jolt. Bassam Tariq and Riz Ahmed have achieved that with this film, it’s electrifying. We love how urgent it feels and how layered it is; it’s raw and sophisticated at the same time. Riz’s performance is mesmerising, magnetic – his best ever. We can’t wait to bring this film to audiences in the UK.”

[CelestialAgent]

Originally Posted by James78

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X_H0eYlhVM

MOGUL MOWGLI follows the story of Zed (Riz Ahmed), a British Pakistani rapper, who, on the cusp of his first world tour, is struck down by an illness that threatens to derail his big break and forces him to face his past, his family, and the uncertainty of his legacy.

Stuart Brown, BFI Head of Programme and Acquisitions says: “MOGUL MOWGLI is a rare thing. Every now and then a piece of art will feel like a jolt. Bassam Tariq and Riz Ahmed have achieved that with this film, it’s electrifying. We love how urgent it feels and how layered it is; it’s raw and sophisticated at the same time. Riz’s performance is mesmerising, magnetic – his best ever. We can’t wait to bring this film to audiences in the UK.”

I’m praying this will arrive in ODEON (they played Little Joe, La haine). But who knows.

[BigNickUK]

Preorder for Mogul Mowgli

Heard amazing things about this

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/produc...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[HotRats]

It would be really nice if the BFI could do a blu of Julien Temple's superb London: The Modern Babylon. A sedate journey through a century of London to the 2012 Olympics with lots of archive film (Temple watched over 6000 hours during the making) and interviews (106 year old Hetty Bower is extraordinary).

[djhig]

Originally Posted by CelestialAgent

I’m praying this will arrive in ODEON (they played Little Joe, La haine). But who knows.

If you have Mubi Go (Mubi's cinema ticket subscription service) it's next week's featured film, so there's a decent chance it might hit the chains (Vue tend show a number of them).

[CelestialAgent]

Anyone know how to get Simply to stop sending me product catalogues after they cancelled L’Age d’Or (and sent a cancellation notice in the post!) I tried signing onto my account on the website but I don’t seem to have one? Currently feeling anger towards this company.

[Wes M.]

Originally Posted by CelestialAgent

Anyone know how to get Simply to stop sending me product catalogues after they cancelled L’Age d’Or (and sent a cancellation notice in the post!) I tried signing onto my account on the website but I don’t seem to have one? Currently feeling anger towards this company.

I received that letter as well, which I thought was....odd ! But I haven't received any more correspondence from them, spam or otherwise so they clearly value your business more than mine ! Do you mean on email or actual printed catalogues ?

[CelestialAgent]

Originally Posted by Wes M.

I received that letter as well, which I thought was....odd ! But I haven't received any more correspondence from them, spam or otherwise so they clearly value your business more than mine ! Do you mean on email or actual printed catalogues ?

Actual printed catalogues sealed in plastic bags!

[minister_x]

Keep crossing out your name and address, writing "RETURN TO SENDER - UNWANTED SPAM" or something and sending them back. That worked for me for one company (can't remember which) a few years back. Eventually they got the message...