British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[RazorwireRyan]

Thank God for DVDBeaver. Was going to get the new Man With a Movie Camera blu-ray from BFI, but compared to the US release it looks terrible, wow.

[Yami]

The BFI have had this to say on Twitter:

Unfortunately, despite long negotiations to secure DVD and Blu-ray distribution of the new restoration, we were unsuccessful. We have endeavoured to make our release as good as possible by including Michael Nyman’s celebrated score, newly commissioned music on the included short films, and other special features that are unavailable on other editions.

Which makes me wonder if another label has the rights?

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by Yami

The BFI have had this to say on Twitter:

Which makes me wonder if another label has the rights?

Often it just comes down to price: often the people with the best master material have spent a lot of money restoring it and are understandably unwilling to let other distributors have access to it for less than they think it's worth. Sometimes there are contractual or even personal issues with them that simply can't be resolved easily - look how long it too Warners to get an agreement with Jerry Perenchio to allow Ridley Scott access to the material Warners held in their own vaults to re-edit Blade Runner.

[rapta]

Originally Posted by Yami

The BFI have had this to say on Twitter:

Which makes me wonder if another label has the rights?

Nah I think they're just defending their decision to release their own edition. They gave me a similar response on Facebook:

Unfortunately, despite long negotiations in an effort to secure DVD and Blu-ray distribution of the new restoration, we were unsuccessful. We have endeavoured to make our release as good as possible by including Michael Nyman’s celebrated score, newly commissioned music on the included short films, and other special features that are unavailable on other editions.

In other news, I think we're due a release announcement from the BFI in the next week or two, as they seem to be roughly every 3 months. Maybe there will be some surprises in the last quarter!

[BarnDoor]

Originally Posted by rapta

Nah I think they're just defending their decision to release their own edition. They gave me a similar response on Facebook:



In other news, I think we're due a release announcement from the BFI in the next week or two, as they seem to be roughly every 3 months. Maybe there will be some surprises in the last quarter!

Well MichaelB hinted that the Flipside series was due to return in some style, which has me very excited.

[tenia]

Flipside will come back at some point (it seems this year) but nobody around this wants to let any info slip about the content. Needless to say I'm eager to know.

[stepeanut]

Love Flipside. Great to hear it's coming back.

[Yami]

Originally Posted by rapta

Nah I think they're just defending their decision to release their own edition.

Indeed, but the new restoration will be available to other labels if one wanted to put it out. I'd love an MoC release with multiple score options.

Re: Flipside. Fingers and toes very much crossed for an Alan Clarke box set

[tenia]

Originally Posted by Yami

Re: Flipside. Fingers and toes very much crossed for an Alan Clarke box set

I think it will be someone whose movies are much more unaccessible so far.

[edcresdee]

Originally Posted by Yami

The BFI have had this to say on Twitter:



Which makes me wonder if another label has the rights?

If the BFI release is the only one containing the Nyman score then that's the one for me. The price helps considerably and I like supporting the BFI.

[rapta]

Yeah I'm still gonna buy it, just not a priority right now (with Eyes Without A Face finally coming out, along with Vivre sa vie and Rashomon too).

[Yami]

I don't think the Nyman score is bad but I don't think it's particularly good for the film either. The Cinematic Orchestra's would be my runaway favourite, though I still need to hear Alloy Orchestra's

Originally Posted by tenia

I think it will be someone whose movies are much more unaccessible so far.

Most of Alan Clarke's films have never been released on DVD; I'm certain he fits the bill

[Ozu Teapot]

I'm hoping it's Alan Clarke too, but the BFI have just been having a Dennis Potter retrospective so now I'm wondering if it might be him.

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by stepeanut

Love Flipside. Great to hear it's coming back.

I hope it's something no one has even heard of and is really, really weird. Those are my favourite Flipsides.

[stepeanut]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

I hope it's something no one has even heard of and is really, really weird. Those are my favourite Flipsides.

This.

If they can dig up something of the magnitude of Requiem for a Village, I'll be a happy man indeed.

[edcresdee]

Originally Posted by rapta

Yeah I'm still gonna buy it, just not a priority right now (with Eyes Without A Face finally coming out, along with Vivre sa vie and Rashomon too).

Yeah I'm getting Rashomon and Vivre sa Vie but will wait for EWAF to drop. They are releasing some great stuff at the moment though. Wondering if VSV will come down any more on preorder. Do we know the extras for it yet?

[tenia]

Originally Posted by Yami

Most of Alan Clarke's films have never been released on DVD; I'm certain he fits the bill

I don't know, in France, we have Scum (including the TV cut), Made in Britain, Elephant (including the short version), The Firm, Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire, Rita sue and bob too.

In the UK, Scum, Made in Britain, The Firm, Rita Sue and Bob too are available on DVD. Scum is even out on BD.

Basically, what's mostly missing is his TV work (except Made in Britain).

[Yami]

Originally Posted by tenia

Basically, what's mostly missing is his TV work (except Made in Britain).

Indeed, but they represent his very best work - Penda's Fen even made the Time Out Top 100 British Films list despite never being released on DVD. The BFI's recent relationship with the BBC means that they have a great opportunity to release them.

I know Nick Wrigley has been trying to get something off the ground for years and he's written about a few for his blog

[BarnDoor]

Has the Flipside range prominently featured any TV productions aside from Schalcken? A multi-disc release with a good chunk of Clarke's unreleased TV work would be tremendous, but I suspect the best we can hope for is individual releases of his more prominent works like Penda's Fen (which would be entirely welcome in any case, and perhaps one or two of his other dramas could be included among the extras).

[Ozu Teapot]

Originally Posted by Yami

Indeed, but they represent his very best work - Penda's Fen even made the Time Out Top 100 British Films list despite never being released on DVD. The BFI's recent relationship with the BBC means that they have a great opportunity to release them.

I know Nick Wrigley has been trying to get something off the ground for years and he's written about a few for his blog

Also on his blog he mocked up some quad poster designs for a number of Clarke's TV works. Now I know it's adding two to two to get five, but the fact that he also posted poster designs for the Dreyer films which later emerged as a box set from the BFI gives me a faint glimmer of hope! Personally I would love to see Penda's Fen, Road, etc get a decent release!