British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[Gentle Star]

The Pasolini box set is currently going for £26.99 over at Zavvi.

[adamhopelies]

The BFI's annual poll of the best home video releases is live.

http://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-sound-ma...ampaign=buffer

My ballot -

Buster Keaton: Sherlock, Jr., The General, Steamboat Bill, Jr. Eureka/Masters Of Cinema

Death in the Garden Eureka/Masters of Cinema

L’argent Criterion

The Marseille Trilogy: Marius, Fanny, Cesar Criterion

Mickey One Indicator/Powerhouse Films

[CouncilSpectre]

I'd struggle to get it down to a top 5 per label such has been the glorious wealth of love we've been shown this year!

[stepeanut]

Odd to see a few 2016 releases sneaking onto people’s lists. Napoleon and The Human Condition are two such examples.

My top five would look something like this:

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (Arrow)
Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day (Arrow)
Othello (Criterion)
Blow-Up (Criterion)
Stalker (Criterion)

[rapta]

Originally Posted by CouncilSpectre

I'd struggle to get it down to a top 5 per label such has been the glorious wealth of love we've been shown this year!

Me too, and I can barely keep up; of this year's new releases more than ever, I've seen far less than I've actually bought!

Originally Posted by stepeanut

Odd to see a few 2016 releases sneaking onto people’s lists. Napoleon and The Human Condition are two such examples.

My top five would look something like this:

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (Arrow)
Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day (Arrow)
Othello (Criterion)
Blow-Up (Criterion)
Stalker (Criterion)

Nice to see Alfredo Garcia struck a chord with at least one other list-maker - that too will be in my own Top 10 (probably even Top 5).

People including 2016 releases clearly just bought them a bit late and assumed they were from this year. Some folk aren't quite as rabid as us...

[stepeanut]

Originally Posted by rapta

Nice to see Alfredo Garcia struck a chord with at least one other list-maker - that too will be in my own Top 10 (probably even Top 5).

I can only assume that some people forgot about Alfredo Garcia, as it was released way back in January. I already owned four copies of the film on BD, but Arrow’s extras are so exceptional that their release deserves a place on my list.

I tried to pick releases that either:

A) Are new to Blu-ray — Eight Hours, Othello (Carlotta’s release of the 1992 restoration doesn’t count), and Blow-Up.

B) Feature new, exceptional extras — Alfredo Garcia.

Or C) Feature a new, exceptional upgrade in quality — Stalker.

Barry Lyndon just missed out on my top five, based on the above criteria, but it would certainly make my top ten.

[gap]

Originally Posted by Gentle Star

The Pasolini box set is currently going for £26.99 over at Zavvi.

Picked this up. I've liked the Pasolini that I've seen but am not such a huge fan that I fancy dropping huge cash on the Criterion Trilogy of Life as a blind-buy. £4.50 per film seems a decent outlay to check out the rest of his work.

[Se.Vero]

Originally Posted by IVI13

German Concentration Camps Factual Survey is back in stock at Zoom and still £10.99

thanks for the heads up.
ordered with code (that works every time for me) for £9.89 and free shipping (they also never add shipping if i checkout with paypal).

[lemoncurry?]

Originally Posted by IVI13

German Concentration Camps Factual Survey is back in stock at Zoom and still £10.99

At £10.99, this is an absolute steal as this is one of the finest releases BFI has put out. The film itself has some of the most horrific footage I've seen, but it's an important documentary which everyone should watch at least once. I haven't gone through the entire booklet (or is it a book?) which is included, but what I've read so far is very, very good.

I'd say this is a must-own, which transcends the simple "documentary" tag. File next to SHOAH and NIGHT AND FOG.

[koberulz]

I've seen some pretty negative reviews of Shoah.

[lemoncurry?]

Originally Posted by koberulz

I've seen some pretty negative reviews of Shoah.

I thought it was very good.

It’s all a matter of taste, I guess.

[koberulz]

From what I recall the sentiment was that the director wasn't too concerned with any facts that got in the way of his chosen narrative, which is a pretty strong mark against a documentary.

I'm not overly familiar with either the film or its subject matter, though.

[lemoncurry?]

Originally Posted by koberulz

From what I recall the sentiment was that the director wasn't too concerned with any facts that got in the way of his chosen narrative, which is a pretty strong mark against a documentary.

I'm not overly familiar with either the film or its subject matter, though.

A strong mark, indeed. Nothing I thought about while watching it, but on the other hand my knowledge of WWII is pretty basic.

It would be interesting to read more about this. You don't happen to remember where you read it?

[koberulz]

Criterion forum, maybe? That or here.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by koberulz

From what I recall the sentiment was that the director wasn't too concerned with any facts that got in the way of his chosen narrative, which is a pretty strong mark against a documentary.

I'm not overly familiar with either the film or its subject matter, though.

The film has long been a favourite target for Holocaust deniers who are particularly pissed off that the film features Nazis openly, and at times quite cheerfully talking about their involvement in the Holocaust. It's also hugely unpopular in Poland for pointing out Polish collaboration in the Holocaust: when it was broadcast on TV there, Solidadarity launched mass protests demanding it be cancelled claiming it was communist propaganda and Jaruzelski had to intervene to make sure the broadcast went ahead. Lanzman is a particularly sleazy and oafish individual, something which is frequently used against him by Holocaust deniers but which was probably very helpful in convincing various Nazis that he was one of them and to talk freely (and they do without a hint of remorse), but the documentary is painfully accurate.

[koberulz]

As I recall the criticism was that a large part of the narrative was 'look at how awful all Polish people are, unlike my awesome country where nothing of the sort could possible happen', undeterred by the fact that similar things did happen in his own country.

[lemoncurry?]

Originally Posted by Aclea

The film has long been a favourite target for Holocaust deniers who are particularly pissed off that the film features Nazis openly, and at times quite cheerfully talking about their involvement in the Holocaust. It's also hugely unpopular in Poland for pointing out Polish collaboration in the Holocaust: when it was broadcast on TV there, Solidadarity launched mass protests demanding it be cancelled claiming it was communist propaganda and Jaruzelski had to intervene to make sure the broadcast went ahead. Lanzman is a particularly sleazy and oafish individual, something which is frequently used against him by Holocaust deniers but which was probably very helpful in convincing various Nazis that he was one of them and to talk freely (and they do without a hint of remorse), but the documentary is painfully accurate.

I did a a quick Google search on the subject matter last night, which only led me to a couple of dubious right-wing websites, so thanks for clearing things up.

[koberulz]

Here's the thread. Starts towards the bottom of page one.

EDIT: Also this.

[lemoncurry?]

Originally Posted by koberulz

Here's the thread. Starts towards the bottom of page one.

EDIT: Also this.

Thanks!

I think Marcel Ophüls' THE SORROW AND THE PITY (recently put out by Arrow!) could act as a good counterweight to SHOAH for those bothered by Lanzmann's eventual lack of self-awareness and his alleged lenient nature towards the actions of Vichy France during WWII.

I didn't notice an overt anti-Polish stance in the film, and the complaints about a few errors in the translation is, IMO, of lesser importance in the grand scheme of things.

But perhaps I need to watch it again with these things taken into account. A re-watch is not likely to occur any time soon, though.

[koberulz]

I'm not sure how much of a problem the 'they spoke Jew' thing is, but by my reading the one at the end of that page changes 'the Jews never bothered me' to 'removing the Jews never bothered me', which is entirely the opposite of what was actually said.