British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[MacEachaidh]

Originally Posted by Yami

I would beg to differ! Not only Penda's Fen, but also the rest of Alan Clarke's works and Ken Russell's and Peter Watkins'. To name but a few.

Yes, I would love some more Peter Watkins! But that would be more on Eureka's hunting range, no?

(Sorry, BarnDoor, I know that's not what you were referring to. But since it's been raised ...)

And surely it's time someone showed Ken Russell a bit of Blu love? (J know, there's Tommy, but I mean for his own stuff.)

[BarnDoor]

In a radio interview earlier this year (or late last) Sam Dunn did say that more BBC stuff was on the agenda (I think beyond documentaries since they were talking in relation to the sci-fi season IIRC). So I would think they know the demand is there.

[Yami]

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

Yes, I would love some more Peter Watkins! But that would be more on Eureka's hunting range, no?

(Sorry, BarnDoor, I know that's not what you were referring to. But since it's been raised ...)

And surely it's time someone showed Ken Russell a bit of Blu love? (J know, there's Tommy, but I mean for his own stuff.)

I don't think anyone but the BFI licenses from the BBC - they're notoriously expensive and even the BFI took ages to work out a deal with them (after their early, now-OOP DVD releases of things like The War Game and Song of Summer).

And I get you now, BarnDoor!

[rapta]

Originally Posted by Yami

Fantastic!

Yeah, Black Girl and Borom Sarrat are actually WCP restorations. I wonder why the BFI got them instead of MoC? Though I remember Craig Keller saying that the BFI had a claim to Manila in the Claws of Light, so perhaps there was a swap of some sort?

Cohen doesn't actually own The Wind Will Carry Us but licensed it from the same people as AE did. The WCP has restored Bahram Beyzaie's Downpour and there are, of course, many other Iranian films that it would be great to see released - the works of Mohammed-Ali Talebi, Mohsen Makhmalbaf's A Moment of Innocence, Samira Makhmalbaf's The Apple, Jafar Panahi's White Balloon, The House Is Black - but I suspect that materials may prove difficult for some of them.

Ah right, that is indeed interesting that Eureka aren't releasing Sembene before the BFI...I wonder what's going on with the WCP Vol. 2 set! Itching for a follow-up.

Didn't know that about The Wind Will Carry Us...does that make it a possibility? As you said it might be difficult getting to the materials, but I assumed Kiarostami's stuff is more available since there are many of his already on DVD and he has made films in Europe and Japan. Would love to see some other Iranian directors' work on Blu-ray though...been meaning to see The Apple for some time, and a few Panahi films as well.

[kuro_sawa]

Originally Posted by rapta

I sent that Bergman-Rossellini set back to MovieMail and haven't been refunded yet...been over a week and I'm getting worried! I did email them and they said it can take up to 3 weeks which doesn't sound right (I've returned stuff to them before).

In my experience with them they take their sweet ass time. I only bite if it's dirt cheap now.

[charnier]

Originally Posted by 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.

The BFI release has received some unfair bad press - I think it looks quite good in motion, despite its disadvantages.

[tenia]

Originally Posted by MichaelB

If people are that bothered, they can always pay vastly more for the Flicker Alley release

Don't forget the French release is English Friendly and available at Amazon.fr for about £20 (including shipping fees).

[cool hand bluke]

And (sorry BFI) available for just under 20 euro on amazon.es plus about €4.60 postage. Out of stock atm.
As it's such an amazing film, you can't blame anybody for going for the best edition. And with the Alloy Orchestra score. Anyway, well done BFI for your next batch of releases.

[charnier]

Nyman's score is no slouch either.

[tenia]

I bit the bullet on the Preminger set thanks to the £10 reduction since it was more than £50.
I don't own any of these on DVD, so even if it's not perfect, I should be happy with it. However, I'm hoping it'll more than simply decent !

[cash_black]

surely thus has been posted already



pre orders up for Sept 28

[ravenus]

^Have seen the listing before. Any word on whether it is from the same restoration that Criterion used or is it a different source?

[rapta]

Yeah I was going to pre-order a few BFI titles with that £10 discount code today but want to know if these are indeed going to be great transfers. Rocco and His Brothers has been confirmed as the recent 4K restored version, but what about Black Girl/Borom Sarret, The Wages of Fear or Night and the City? Same goes for already-announced titles like Vivre Sa Vie and Rashomon (I already know Eyes Without A Face looks stunning)...

[Yami]

I would be surprised if the new WCP restorations of Black Girl and Borom Sarret aren't the only HD masters in existence.

[cash_black]

Originally Posted by ravenus

^Have seen the listing before. Any word on whether it is from the same restoration that Criterion used or is it a different source?

I don't know, this was the only real info

Special features
Includes both the US and the previously unseen British version of the film
Audio commentary on the US release by Paul Duncan
New audio commentary on the British version by film critic Adrian Martin
The Guardian Lecture: 1981 interview with Jules Dassin by film critic Alexander Walker
Actor Richard Widmark interviewed at the National Film Theatre in 2002 by Adrian Wootton
US | 1950 | black and white | English language | 95 minutes | Cert PG

[tenia]

Honestly, on Night and the City, looking how both releases (BFI and Criterion) will have the same cuts (including the "long time unseen British cut" which suddenly pops up on both releases), I'd be surprised if they don't share the same material (at least on the British cut).

I guess we'll know better about what sources uses the Criterion soon.

[rapta]

The upcoming Eyes Without A Face seems to come from the same source as the Criterion, so if you go by that it's likely they'll use the same that's available. That said, for Man With a Movie Camera they used their own materials, and are doing the same for Rashomon.

So at this point, does that mean that unless we are told otherwise, we should generally assume that the BFI's transfers will likely be from the same sources as discs that have already been released abroad (such as Criterion) except for titles we know they have materials for (e.g. titles they released on DVD in the past)? It'd be much more helpful if they told us up-front, much like Arrow and Eureka often do...instead of just pre-ordering based on guess-work and waiting for a review to see if we're right or not?

[nitin]

used the Amazon 10off to get the Preminger set. I also confirmed with them that if the pre-order price drops below 50, the 10GBP discount will still apply.

i am tipping it to be 35GBP or so on release day which will mean 25GBP after the 10off

[rapta]

I ended up going for Arrow's Yoshida set myself, since it's probably the last chance I'll get to get it for a similar price to their early bird pre-order (I cancelled before as I needed the money at the time). Should be good birthday present for myself!

And the £10 definitely still counts if it drops in price - your basket just needs to be £50+ today. However, if you pre-order several items - like I was going to do with these new BFI titles - and decide to cancel one or two of the items, I'm not sure if you still keep the discount or not (or at least you lose the discount for each one item you cancel, which isn't always an equal portion of the £10 discount). Couple with that the risk that one or two of these new BFI titles could end up with disappointing results (but considering their recent output, that's admittedly not likely), I'd advise anyone reading this to use the offer on a pre-order of a box set (i.e. one item that costs £50+), a pre-order of several items they're certain they want (in my opinion Eureka/Arrow titles are most reliable), or any in-stock items (tip: the £10 discount works alongside multibuy offers! I checked last night, so if you can pick items that total over £50 in the basket that are in the 2 for £10/3 for £20/3 for £24/2 for £25 offers, it takes off the multibuy discount and the £10 promotional discount too at checkout).

[nitin]

Originally Posted by rapta

I ended up going for Arrow's Yoshida set myself, since it's probably the last chance I'll get to get it for a similar price to their early bird pre-order (I cancelled before as I needed the money at the time). Should be good birthday present for myself!

And the £10 definitely still counts if it drops in price - your basket just needs to be £50+ today. However, if you pre-order several items - like I was going to do with these new BFI titles - and decide to cancel one or two of the items, I'm not sure if you still keep the discount or not (or at least you lose the discount for each one item you cancel, which isn't always an equal portion of the £10 discount). Couple with that the risk that one or two of these new BFI titles could end up with disappointing results (but considering their recent output, that's admittedly not likely), I'd advise anyone reading this to use the offer on a pre-order of a box set (i.e. one item that costs £50+), a pre-order of several items they're certain they want (in my opinion Eureka/Arrow titles are most reliable), or any in-stock items (tip: the £10 discount works alongside multibuy offers! I checked last night, so if you can pick items that total over £50 in the basket that are in the 2 for £10/3 for £20/3 for £24/2 for £25 offers, it takes off the multibuy discount and the £10 promotional discount too at checkout).

the CS rep told me that the discount is split amongst any pre-orders so, if you have 2, 50% of the 10GBP will apply to both and if you cancel one, the other will still have its percentage applied.