British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[javi92]

Originally Posted by jhird2007

Wow great news!

I have the French release which I think is very good. However none of the extras had English subtitles. If this has good extras I will double-dip for sure.

Would highly recommend to anyone who hasn't seen this film. A true masterpiece!

Yep, I also have the french release, which is region-free. The transfer is improved on the Criterion, though not stellar. Would double-dip for English friendly extras though.

[rapta]

Originally Posted by Gerby

Nice! I will buy Madame De...save me importing the Criterion.
Been wanting to see it as i love the other films i've seen by him Letter From An Unknown Woman, Caught & The Reckless Moment.

I've only seen Letter from an Unknown Woman but do have La Signora di Tutti on MoC DVD yet to watch. Despite the lack of extras, was going to pick up La Ronde (probably next time I get the 3 for £20 offer at HMV).

I assume with these recent announcements, Second Sight have lost the rights to most of the Ophüls titles, so I hope we eventually get Letter from an Unknown Woman, Caught, and Lola Montès on UK Blu-ray too. At one time I assumed one or two would come from MoC, but at this point we're probably more likely to see either The Reckless Moment or Le Plaisir from their Sony deal (though the latter would likely be sourced from Gaumont).

[jhird2007]

Originally Posted by rapta

I've only seen Letter from an Unknown Woman but do have La Signora di Tutti on MoC DVD yet to watch. Despite the lack of extras, was going to pick up La Ronde (probably next time I get the 3 for £20 offer at HMV).

I assume with these recent announcements, Second Sight have lost the rights to most of the Ophüls titles, so I hope we eventually get Letter from an Unknown Woman, Caught, and Lola Montès on UK Blu-ray too. At one time I assumed one or two would come from MoC, but at this point we're probably more likely to see either The Reckless Moment or Le Plaisir from their Sony deal (though the latter would likely be sourced from Gaumont).

Would definitely pick of Lola Montes. It's available in France but with no english subtitles I have the Gaumont blu-ray of Le Plaisir. Another gem!

[SilverBlueSnow]

I love the cover of Madame de!

If this release is very special then I am set to triple dip (Criterion DVD - Gaumont Blu - BFI Blu).

Such a wonderful film - hope they get Le Plaisir from Gaumont next!

[Yami]

Gaumont have also restored Ophuls' masterful Sans lendemain, so here's hoping that sees the light of day

[nitin]

More than the audio, I hope BFI fix the black levels on the Gaumont re-restoration. I have managed to make the Gaumont look okay but a proper fix would be good. Although BFI tend to release as is so probably not likely (eg Band of Outsiders where they didn't fix the chroma issues).

[mattyl149]

My copy of The Crying Game has shipped from Amazon. Looking forward to watching this again

[bixente]

Just saw The Moon Over the Alley, loved it. Great songs too.

[rapta]

Didn't know where to post this, but thought it may be of interest to many: the recent BFI Southbank talk with Martin Scorsese was filmed by the BBC, and will be shown on BBC2 on Saturday 4th March @ 10pm. I'll almost certainly be tuning in, or at least going to iPlayer to watch it.

Some transcribed snippets: http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/n...ation-irishman

Also a BFI podcast is available to stream/download (first part of at least two): https://soundcloud.com/bfi-1/bfi-pod...artin-scorsese

Shame they couldn't release any Scorsese on Blu-ray, but I'm hoping Criterion will release the newly restored The Age of Innocence later in the year (even though Alice would've been preferable, in my opinion).

[ParisTexan]

Originally Posted by rapta

Shame they couldn't release any Scorsese on Blu-ray, but I'm hoping Criterion will release the newly restored The Age of Innocence later in the year (even though Alice would've been preferable, in my opinion).

I'm dying to see Age of Innocence, and I've been holding out for a good blu-ray of it for a while! I really hope we get one this year

[grahams76]

Originally Posted by ParisTexan

I'm dying to see Age of Innocence, and I've been holding out for a good blu-ray of it for a while! I really hope we get one this year

It's been out in Italy for years. Fantastic transfer.

[rapta]

Yeah, it's one of those films Sony thought logical to release everywhere but any English-speaking countries.

I bet that's because they were planning a Criterion edition, a proposition which would obviously dominate the English-speaking market. However, assuming that is the case, why it has taken over 2 years to even announce it we will never know. The only thing I can think of is they're trying to include a Scorsese short film or lengthy documentary...something that may take a while to produce or restore.

[CrockettandTubbs]

£27.99 on Amazon/HMV:



https://www.amazon.co.uk/Two-Films-b...A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

http://store.hmv.com/film-tv/dvd/man...-light-insiang

Special features:

[Show spoiler]New 4K restorations of both films

Manila... A Filipino Film (Mike de Leon, 1975, 33 mins): fascinating making-of documentary featuring interviews and behind-the-scenes footage

Manila stills and collections gallery

Visions Cinema: Film in the Philippines (Ron Orders, 1983, 40 mins): Tony Rayns interviews Lino Brocka and other prominent Filipino directors.

Signed: Lino Brocka (Christian Blackwood, 1987, 84 mins): award-winning, feature-length documentary exploring the director's life and work

The Guardian Lecture: Lino Brocka in conversation with Tony Rayns (1982, 62 mins, audio only)

Illustrated booklet featuring a new essay by Cathy Landicho Clark, an archive interview with Lino Brocka and full film credits.

This looks like a must for me. Must confess I've never heard of Lino Brocka, but:

"Filipino director Lino Brocka was a force of nature in world cinema, his powerful work illuminating the harsh social realities of life in his home country. His films have been largely unavailable on DVD and Blu-ray but now, thanks to Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project (), his two finest works have been rescued from obscurity and restored in 4K."

[rapta]

Yeah, this has been posted about a handful of times before! Surprised you missed it until now. There were rumours that Manila in the Claws of Light might come from MoC at one point, but glad to see the BFI pull through and release both Brocka films recently restored by WCP (and added some decent extras too)!

£28 is certainly more palatable, roughly £14 for each film, but unfortunately I have a lot of pre-orders for March already so can't get it straight away. Will get it later in the year though, that's for sure. There's a Beaver review already and the transfers look excellent (particularly Insiang).

[aewb]

Originally Posted by CrockettandTubbs

£27.99 on Amazon/HMV:



https://www.amazon.co.uk/Two-Films-b...A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

http://store.hmv.com/film-tv/dvd/man...-light-insiang

Special features:

[Show spoiler]New 4K restorations of both films

Manila... A Filipino Film (Mike de Leon, 1975, 33 mins): fascinating making-of documentary featuring interviews and behind-the-scenes footage

Manila stills and collections gallery

Visions Cinema: Film in the Philippines (Ron Orders, 1983, 40 mins): Tony Rayns interviews Lino Brocka and other prominent Filipino directors.

Signed: Lino Brocka (Christian Blackwood, 1987, 84 mins): award-winning, feature-length documentary exploring the director's life and work

The Guardian Lecture: Lino Brocka in conversation with Tony Rayns (1982, 62 mins, audio only)

Illustrated booklet featuring a new essay by Cathy Landicho Clark, an archive interview with Lino Brocka and full film credits.

This looks like a must for me. Must confess I've never heard of Lino Brocka, but:

"Filipino director Lino Brocka was a force of nature in world cinema, his powerful work illuminating the harsh social realities of life in his home country. His films have been largely unavailable on DVD and Blu-ray but now, thanks to Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project (), his two finest works have been rescued from obscurity and restored in 4K."

Release of the year and a total bargain at £28.

[Yami]

The BFI officially launched India on Film today, a massive showcase of Indian cinema they're putting on between April and December.

A restoration of the silent Indian/British/German co-production, Shiraz (1928) will premiere as the London Film Festival's archive gala.

[ParisTexan]

Originally Posted by Yami

The BFI officially launched India on Film today, a massive showcase of Indian cinema they're putting on between April and December.

A restoration of the silent Indian/British/German co-production, Shiraz (1928) will premiere as the London Film Festival's archive gala.

I'm unsure on the rights, but I'd love to get the Apu trilogy over here. One can hope!

[rapta]

I'll be surprised if we don't get at least one home video release tied into the India season.

The Apu Trilogy was last released by Artificial Eye, and if they let the rights go for whatever reason, I'm sure Criterion would snatch them up at the first chance and port their set over here. Would love some more Ray on UK Blu-ray from anyone at this point.

[Yami]

Well, Shiraz will definitely be released by the BFI and they also advertise other new restorations so we can keep our fingers crossed. Personally, I'm hoping for some rarer Ray like Days and Nights in the Forest and Distant Thunder because they really need to be restored. I also hope that we'll see some Bollywood like Mughal E Azam and Sholay.

Guru Dutt's Pyaasa was restored and shown at festivals; I'm fairly certain it'll feature in the Southbank season and I hope the BFI or another label sees fit to release it

[rapta]

I wrote on the Eureka thread about Julie Dash's Daughters of the Dust, and apparently BFI are re-releasing it in cinemas followed by a Dual Format Edition in June.

Great news, was wondering if someone would pick that up for the UK!

Originally Posted by Yami

Well, Shiraz will definitely be released by the BFI and they also advertise other new restorations so we can keep our fingers crossed. Personally, I'm hoping for some rarer Ray like Days and Nights in the Forest and Distant Thunder because they really need to be restored. I also hope that we'll see some Bollywood like Mughal E Azam and Sholay.

Guru Dutt's Pyaasa was restored and shown at festivals; I'm fairly certain it'll feature in the Southbank season and I hope the BFI or another label sees fit to release it

Junoon (1978, Shyam Benegal) was shown at last year's LFF. Wondered if BFI might try to get that one, assuming it has been restored...otherwise, I'd love some Ritwik Ghatak, Renoir's The River, or maybe some Bollywood if they can get any.