British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[Dan8700]

Sooo, Amazon is harbinger of GREAT news.
CC's Eyes Without a Face was at ridiculous prices at bioh, and I was just about to order it, when... I checked Amazon and found out that the supplements for the BFI disc(s) had been updated. Now, it looks like this is going to be a monster release, far superior than CC's effort! We're also getting another so-far-untraceable Franju's short and more:

Le sang des bêtes (Franju, 1949, 22 mins)(TBC)
La Première nuit (Franju, 20 mins)
Les Fleurs maladives de Geroges Franju (2009, 50 mins): documentary with Claude Chalbrol, Robert Hossein and others
For Her Eyes Only – an interview withy Edith Scob (17 mins)
Audio commentary by Tim Lucas On/Off
Extensive booklet with essays and full film credits

Even a commentary!

Originally Posted by Yami

BFI trailer for Spring in a Small Town

It's a masterpiece. I'm looking forward to the Blu-Ray release, which I presume/hope is happening.

Woooow, thanks for that, I didn't know this had been restored! Looks marvellous. I still have a poor copy of it stored somewhere in my "titles that will never get decent releases" unofficial collection. (I fansubbed lots of Chinese classics years ago and this was one of the most successful in the project!).

[Mansinthe]

nice news with Eyes without a Face, gonna double dip if they not scew up the the encode on this movie


but its not like criterions release is barbeone

Trailers - original U.S. and French trailers for Eyes Without a Face.

1. French Trailer. In French, with printed English subtitles. (4 min, 1080p).
2. U.S. Trailer for a double-bill presentation with The Manster. In English, not subtitled. (4 min, 1080i).

Blood of the Beasts - Georges Franju's short documentary Le sang des betes a.k.a Blood of the Beasts (1949) offers a fascinating but quite disturbing look at Paris' abattoirs. The film is presented with two tracks: the original French soundtrack (Dolby Digital 1.0) and an English dub (Dolby Digital 1.0). With optional English subtitles. (23 min, 1080p).





Franju on the Film - an excerpt from an episode of the French television series Cinema de notre temps in which Georges Franju discusses Blood of the Beasts. In French, with optional English subtitles. (3 min, 1080i).

Edith Scob - in this new video interview, legendary French (9 min, 1080p).

"Le Fantastique" - an excerpt from an episode from the French television show Cine-parade (6 min, 1080i).

Boileau-Narcejac - Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac wrote the script for Eyes Without a Face. In this collection of excerpts from the documentary Les grands-peres du crime, the two gentlemen discuss their friendship and work. In French, with optional English subtitles. (8 min, 1080i).

Booklet - illustrated booklet featuring Patrick McGrath's essay "Appearances to the Contrary" and David Kalat's essay "The Unreal Reality".

[huntauk]

Originally Posted by Yami

It's a masterpiece. I'm looking forward to the Blu-Ray release, which I presume/hope is happening.

Agreed! Fabulous film! Hopefully we will see a release sometime this year. I have only seen it previously on vhs. Yellow Earth would be nice also if were talking Chinese Cinema.

[Yami]

Originally Posted by Dan8700

Sooo, Amazon is harbinger of GREAT news.

CC's Eyes Without a Face was at ridiculous prices at bioh, and I was just about to order it, when... I checked Amazon and found out that the supplements for the BFI disc(s) had been updated. Now, it looks like this is going to be a monster release, far superior than CC's effort! We're also getting another so-far-untraceable Franju's short and more

Fantastic! Thanks for letting us know! La Premiere Nuit is a wonderful short, and I know that it's been restored recently (I've only seen a low quality copy taped off of Italian TV) so I'd buy the BFI release for that alone.

[crazyman]

Finally a commentary for EYES WITHOUT A FACE!

[Clare2904]

Originally Posted by Mansinthe

nice news with Eyes without a Face, gonna double dip if they not scew up the the encode on this movie


but its not like criterions release is barbeone

26 minutes of Extras is really much. I was all set to buy the Criterion until I started to look around (now I am region free) Hands down the BFI wins this battle and my money

[Judex]

Originally Posted by Mansinthe

nice news with Eyes without a Face, gonna double dip if they not scew up the the encode on this movie


but its not like criterions release is barbeone

Then stick with that edition? if it isn't "barebones".

You complain when UK labels don't have as many extra's as their Criterion counterparts. When they do you still complain...

If the picture quality matches or betters the Criterion release I'll probably sell that and get this. Providing the extra video content is on the blu and not dvd like BFI seem to do.

[Dan8700]

Oh, and just to raise interest for the Fei Mu's masterpiece, Wong Kar Wai fans will be pleased to know he cited it as a key influence for In the Mood for Love - indeed, when you'll see it, pay attention to the relationship between the characters, I even recall some gestures to be alike.

[Mansinthe]

Originally Posted by Judex

Then stick with that edition? if it isn't "barebones".

You complain when UK labels don't have as many extra's as their Criterion counterparts. When they do you still complain...

i already said im gonna double dip
but i wouldnt be suriprised if somethings goes wrong with the encode, or like you mentioned bonus features on the DVD.

[Yami]

Originally Posted by Judex

Providing the extra video content is on the blu and not dvd like BFI seem to do.

The BFI puts HD extras on the Blu and SD extras on the DVD. I'd expect Le sang des bêtes and La Première nuit to be on the Blu, at least.

[aewb]

Originally Posted by Mansinthe

i already said im gonna double dip
but i wouldnt be suriprised if somethings goes wrong with the encode, or like you mentioned bonus features on the DVD.

Huh? Why would an encoding problem not surprise you? Apart from Battleship Potemkin and Autumn Afternoon (both of which were rectified very quickly) I can't think of any problematic discs.

Originally Posted by Yami

The BFI puts HD extras on the Blu and SD extras on the DVD. I'd expect Le sang des bêtes and La Première nuit to be on the Blu, at least.

Yes. If they are HD they will be on the blu.

[Mansinthe]

Seven samurai....
Privilege looked like it had some mild dnr...


Trilogie of life , salo from bfi compared to criterions

[mattyl149]

Originally Posted by Mansinthe

Seven samurai....
Privilege looked like it had some mild dnr...


Trilogie of life , salo from bfi compared to criterions

I wouldn't class those as encode problems, more issues with either the quality of the masters used or any additional processing work done on the transfers such as DNR

Encode problems are issues with the image breaking up or freezing, the audio going out of sync, etc

[Mansinthe]

It sounds always like im a criterion fanboy.
I always try to get the best release.
Got the three colors trilogie from AE for that reason.
Dont even own the two movies that always get mentioned.

Got repo men and nashville from moc as well. And la notte from criterion same for ace in the hole.

If its the fault of the master they received than they should have gotten a different one... or maybe not release the movie till they get it, so shouldnt criterion released the two movies that look so bad.

[David M]

The problem with saying that Studio X or Label Y has great encoding/bad encoding/so-so encoding is that it comes from a mindset of people thinking that all this stuff is done in-house. There are various compression and authoring facilities doing this work for studios. Each disc should be looked at individually.

In cases where one studio seems to use one facility for all their stuff though, or where the studio is known for demanding certain levels of quality, you could obviously make such a claim.

[rapta]

Can anyone tell me if BFI have confirmed the change of release date for Eyes Without A Face?

[Ozu Teapot]

Originally Posted by rapta

Can anyone tell me if BFI have confirmed the change of release date for Eyes Without A Face?

Well the BFI shop pre-order page says "Release date: 22nd September 2014".

LINKY

[Akijama]

Per Amazon:

Kurosawa Samurai Collection is coming on Sep. 22nd.

"Five classic samurai films by the legendary Japanese director, Akira Kurosawa. 'Seven Samurai' (1954) tells the story of a group of 17th-century warriors recently detached from the powerful masters who once paid them. Veteran samurai Kambei (Takashi Shimura) is the leader of the group hired by the residents of a village suffering at the hands of a marauding band of thieves. Five of his cohorts are trained warriors, but the sixth, Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune), is actually the son of a farmer, desperate to earn his spurs on the battlefield. The basics of the story served as the blueprint for the western classic 'The Magnificent Seven'. 'Throne of Blood' (1957), Akira Kurosawa's film version of 'Macbeth', transfers the action to medieval Japan. A samurai warrior (Toshiro Mifune) is urged to murder his lord (Takashi Shimura) and his best friend (Minoru Chiaki) by a forest spirit and an ambitious wife (Isuzu Yamada). Kurosawa renders 'the Scottish play' through the conventions of traditional Japanese Noh theatre, creating what was reputedly TS Eliot's favourite film. The famous ending sees Toshiro Mifune caught under hails of arrows. Winner of the Best Director Award at the 1959 Berlin Film Festival, 'The Hidden Fortress' (1958) is regarded by many to be one of Kurosawa's finest, and has been acknowledged by George Lucas as the principle inspiration for 'Star Wars'. Set in 16th-century Japan, the story centres on rival clans, hidden gold and a princess in distress. Tahei (Minoru Chaiki) and Matashichi (Kamatari Fujiwara) are two cowardly soldiers on the run from an advancing enemy army. As they search the country for a cache of secret gold, they join forces with Rokurota Makabe (Toshiro Mifune), a samurai warrior who is escorting a fiesty princess (Misa Uehara) through enemy territory. The mismatched travellers then have to fight a number of battles before they finally come within sight of their goal. Kurosawa combines elements of the western and the film noir in the classic adventure 'Yojimbo' (1961). Yojimbo (Toshiro Mifune), a freelance Samurai warrior, sells his services to rival factions in a small Japanese village. When he is betrayed, he turns his skills against his former employers, determined that the two warring sides should destroy each other. 'Yojimbo' was later remade by Sergio Leone as the Clint Eastwood spaghetti western 'A Fistful of Dollars'. In the samurai spoof 'Sanjuro' (1962), a sequel of sorts to 'Yojimbo', shabby samurai Sanjuro (Toshiro Mifune) teams up with eight young warriors who seek out corruption among the elders of their clan. They also embark on a mission to rescue a kidnapped chancellor from a corrupt war lord. "

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kurosawa-Sam...3&keywords=bfi

[Funktion]

I would love it if the BFI would release a nice boxset of their Ozu releases. I own a few myself, but a box set with all of the standalone BDs, and maybe a nice booklet or so, would look lovely next to their upcoming BD boxsets. Plus, it would be a cheaper way to "complete" my collection...

[NoirFan]

Originally Posted by Funktion

I would love it if the BFI would release a nice boxset of their Ozu releases.

I would love it if the BFI would release the rest of their Ozu releases. Or has that series definitively come to an end?