British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[Gacivory]

I could see 400 Blows & Jules and Jim getting a 4K. I figure the major titles. Although I would’ve guessed/hoped Wild Strawberries got a 4K. But what do I know?

[Aclea]

On a visual level, of the Frankie Truffles titles Fahrenheit 451 probably would gain the most on 4K, but I think that may be down to Criterion picking it up.

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by Aclea

On a visual, level of the Frankie Truffles titles Fahrenheit 451 probably would gain the most on 4K, but I think that may be down to Criterion picking it up.

The bad Blu that’s out and the Roeg Cinematography would make that a worthwhile 4K upgrade! At least to me!

[Aclea]

Sadly I think the thing holding it back for boutiques is that it had such a great DVD extras package the only thing left a boutique can add is a new transfer, and with MK2 owning it in France it's not enough of a moneymaker for Universal to do a 4K upgrade themselves. Which for the UK pretty much limits the possibilities to the BFI and Arrow.

[hanz0]

anyone think Ingmar Bergman Vol.2 will drop to £38.99 like the first set?

[prophecygirl]

Originally Posted by hanz0

anyone think Ingmar Bergman Vol.2 will drop to £38.99 like the first set?

It’s down to £41.99 on Amazon now. Good enough for me!

[The Hornets]

Can’t understand the Amazon pricing of the Bergman boxsets on Amazon being miles lower than elsewhere. Others BFI titles are similar prices to the best elsewhere.

[xiiidan]

Is my memory correct that Volume 1 is the only one with films that weren't in the Criterion box set?

[Member-244966]

I've just cancelled my HMV pre-order in favour of Amazon. That's a whole £13 off, had to jump on it.

[minister_x]

Originally Posted by xiiidan

Is my memory correct that Volume 1 is the only one with films that weren't in the Criterion box set?

Yes, correct. Looking at the listings on this site for all four volumes, only the first volume has films that aren't in the Criterion set - 5/8 of the BFI set films aren't in the Criterion one:

- Torment
- Eva
- Music in Darkness
- Prison
- Three Strange Loves

Not sure how accurate the third and fourth volume listings are, mind, as both the second and third sets list The Magician and I am assuming it isn't going to be in both sets. But so far, only the first volume has films not in the Criterion set!

[dbvsh]

Originally Posted by prophecygirl

It’s down to £41.99 on Amazon now. Good enough for me!

I find it worth putting in a pre-order early on Amazon. The price can often drop randomly on BFI and in particular Eureka releases. Sometimes it's just a couple of quid but it all adds up

[rapta]

Originally Posted by minister_x

Yes, correct. Looking at the listings on this site for all four volumes, only the first volume has films that aren't in the Criterion set - 5/8 of the BFI set films aren't in the Criterion one:

- Torment
- Eva
- Music in Darkness
- Prison
- Three Strange Loves

Not sure how accurate the third and fourth volume listings are, mind, as both the second and third sets list The Magician and I am assuming it isn't going to be in both sets. But so far, only the first volume has films not in the Criterion set!

Apologies, that was probably my fault when I made the listings and took what was initially said by the BFI on Facebook as gospel. Didn't realise they'd put The Magician in Volume 2 and just assumed it'd be in Volume 3, but it's likely Volume 3 will now be:

The Virgin Spring, Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, The Silence, All These Women, Persona, The Rite, Fårödokument 79

And Volume 4 will likely be:

Cries and Whispers, Scenes from a Marriage, Autumn Sonata, From the Life of the Marionettes, Fanny and Alexander, After the Rehearsal, Saraband

Again, just a guess though. I forget if they said they'd include both versions of Scenes from a Marriage and/or Fanny and Alexander or not. It's likely they'd at least try to include either so maybe that would mean that set is technically 7 titles, with different cuts for 2 of them (rather than 8 titles as with all the other volumes).

It was confirmed that other than the first set, the next three volumes would all be titles that were previously in the Tartan/101 Films DVD set. So a good alternative to the Criterion box set, but missing a handful of titles from that.

It's funny how there were only a few Bergman titles available to UK collectors and now we're spoilt for choice. I have a lot of double-dips all of a sudden - the Artificial Eye box set, the handful that Tartan, BFI and Arrow put out before, the Criterion box and now the first BFI volume. I bet BFI will now add loads of amazing extras that will make me jealous and want to buy all their volumes too (I prefer the artwork/packaging for these sets to the Criterion set).

[Nedoflanders]

Originally Posted by minister_x

Yes, correct. Looking at the listings on this site for all four volumes, only the first volume has films that aren't in the Criterion set - 5/8 of the BFI set films aren't in the Criterion one:

- Torment
- Eva
- Music in Darkness
- Prison
- Three Strange Loves

It's actually four out of the eight. Three Strange Loves is the UK title for Thirst and it's included on the Criterion set.

Originally Posted by rapta

Again, just a guess though. I forget if they said they'd include both versions of Scenes from a Marriage and/or Fanny and Alexander or not. It's likely they'd at least try to include either so maybe that would mean that set is technically 7 titles, with different cuts for 2 of them (rather than 8 titles as with all the other volumes).

It was confirmed that other than the first set, the next three volumes would all be titles that were previously in the Tartan/101 Films DVD set. So a good alternative to the Criterion box set, but missing a handful of titles from that.

There's a strong chance the TV cut of Fanny and Alexander will make it since Tartan released it on DVD at some point. I think they're trying to get Scenes from a Marriage but need to negotiate another deal with the rights holder (SF for the theatrical and SVT for the TV?).
The biggest steal would be either version of Face to Face.

Originally Posted by rapta

It's funny how there were only a few Bergman titles available to UK collectors and now we're spoilt for choice. I have a lot of double-dips all of a sudden - the Artificial Eye box set, the handful that Tartan, BFI and Arrow put out before, the Criterion box and now the first BFI volume. I bet BFI will now add loads of amazing extras that will make me jealous and want to buy all their volumes too (I prefer the artwork/packaging for these sets to the Criterion set).

You've said it. I can't bring myself to double dip on that amount of films. If the Criterion set didn't include the MGM titles or extras (bonus disc and the book), I would settle for the UK equivalents.

[minister_x]

Based on the latest BFI newsletter, it seems the Seventh Seal UHD has been pushed back to 1st November (also reflected on their site: https://shop.bfi.org.uk/the-seventh-...-ray.html.html).

[AnnThrope]

One Of Our Aircraft is Missing is released today.
Well someone should tell Amazon cos one of my pre-order deliveries is missing.

Someone should tell Amazon a lot of things.
Manfully moving past the many obscenities that spring to mind there's also the little matter of the not-so-little Mae West Indicator set that they've STILL got as released on the 22nd Nov.
Well i hope I do get my copy then - that'll show all you lot who buy direct from Indicator - you'll be waiting til 13th Dec and i'll have my grubby little mitts all over Mighty Mae first.
I may seem like a pedant (and a pervert) with all this but... actually yes I'm a pedant. And a pervert. So what. Somebody's gotta be.

[prophecygirl]

Originally Posted by dbvsh

I find it worth putting in a pre-order early on Amazon. The price can often drop randomly on BFI and in particular Eureka releases. Sometimes it's just a couple of quid but it all adds up

I always order early on Amazon because of that. I was happy to see this one had dropped

[mattyl149]

I received my copy of One Of Our Aircraft Is Missing yesterday. I haven't had any Sunday Amazon deliveries in a long time

[James78]

After BFI Flipside’s SHORT SHARP SHOCKS VOL. 1 became of the BFI’s best-selling Blu-ray releases of 2020, we raided the archives again! Return once more to the heyday of the supporting programme with a second cornucopia of eerie, eccentric and edgy short films.

This strange cinematic journey traverses uncanny stories, twists in the tale, low-budget weirdness, stylish spectacle, peculiar public information, monstrous music and provocative experiment – all with oodles of atmosphere, and in High Definition too. Plus there are new interviews with some of the writers and directors. The films and special features are:

QUIZ-CRIME NO 1 Ronald Haines, 1943
Can you beat master sleuth Detective Inspector Frost at his own game? Take his vintage whodunit test, in the case of the golfing-holiday murder and the affair of the slain showgirl.

QUIZ-CRIME NO 2 Ronald Haines, 1944
‘Everyone likes a detective story,’ chuckles the Detective Inspector. But can you crack the cases of kidnap in the Soho backstreets and a bloodily botched boarding house murder?

THE THREE CHILDREN 1946
The public information film takes an eerie turn in this disquieting child-peril frightener crafted to unsettle neglectful post-war parents.

ESCAPE FROM BROADMOOR John Gilling, 1948
An insane killer is on the run (Dad’s Army’s John Le Mesurier in an edgy early role) in this weird, tornfrom-the-headlines thriller by John Gilling (The Plague of the Zombies).

MINGOLOO Theodore Zichy, 1958
A clockwork dog with a sinister secret haunts the dreams of all who see it. What is the nightmarish answer to its riddle?

JACK THE RIPPER WITH SCREAMING LORD SUTCH 1963
Joe Meek-produced rock’n’roll and tasteless Hammer-inspired theatrics collide in a bloodcurdling protomusic video.

THE FACE OF DARKNESS Ian FH Lloyd, 1976
A politician (Lennard Pearce, Only Fools and Horses) out to reinstate the death penalty stirs a malignant medieval spirit.

THE DUMB WAITER Robert Bierman, 1979
A woman (Geraldine James, Beast) receives a mysterious phone call, beginning a night of knife-edge terror in this debut shocker from the director of cult favourite Vampire’s Kiss.

HANGMAN David Evans, 1985
Industrial accidents are presented with graphic glee by a mysterious masked executioner, who seems to enjoy his work, in a video nasty-era public information film like no other.

THE MARK OF LILITH Bruna Fionda, Polly Biswas Gladwin, Zachary Nataf 1986
Black lesbian filmmaker Zena becomes involved with Lillia, a white undead wraith in a radical dismantling of the cinematic vampire mythos.

The Blu-ray will be launched with a special screening at BFI Southbank on Wednesday 27 October at 18:10 in NFT1 where The Face of Darkness, The Dumb Waiter and The Mark of Lilith will be shown.

Special features

• Darkness Falls (2021, 43 mins): an interview with The Face of Darkness writer and director Ian FH Lloyd
• Heads Will Roll (2021, 40 mins): an interview with The Dumb Waiter writer and director Robert Bierman
• Making Their Mark (2021, 33 mins): an interview with The Mark of Lilith directors Bruna Fionda, Polly Biswas Gladwin and Zachary Nataf
• Puttin’ on the Ritzy (2021, 13 mins): Ritzy alumnus Clare Binns celebrates the radical history of the legendary London cinema where The Mark of Lilith was shot
• Image galleries for The Face of Darkness, The Dumb Waiter and The Mark of Lilith
• Newly commissioned sleeve artwork by renowned illustrator Graham Humphreys
• ***First pressing only*** Illustrated booklet with contributions from filmmakers Ian FH Lloyd and Robert Bierman and other writing from Vic Pratt, William Fowler, Josephine Botting, Jon Dear, Jonathan Rigby and Caroline Champion; notes and credits for each film and for the special features

Product details
RRP: £24.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1431 / BFI Flipside No. 043/ 15
UK / 1943-1986 / black and white, colour / 217 mins / English language, with optional subtitles for the deaf and partial hearing / original aspect ratios 1.37:1, 1.66:1 / BD25 + BD50: 1080p, 24fps, LPCM mono audio (48kHz/24-bit)

[AnnThrope]

Originally Posted by mattyl149

I received my copy of One Of Our Aircraft Is Missing yesterday. I haven't had any Sunday Amazon deliveries in a long time

They still haven't even sent my OOOAIM.
But that's fine. i shall rise above this. (like a bleedin' aircraft) (a missing one)

[Darby1985]

Wow, I was not expecting the BFI's new edition of The Archers' One Of Our Aircraft to be quite so deluxe, especially at the same price as the regular blurays they put out. You get the regular Scanovo, reversible art, with 32 page book but then the storybook Pressberger wrote is included full size, not shrunk down a la Network, and all in a sturdy (but stil card) box. Lovely stuff.