British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[sjt]

In the US, Kino revealed a few days ago that they plan to release the exact seven Truffaut films that have never made it to HD so far and none of which appeared in the AE sets here.

Rather than going down the lamentably lazy Criterion route of rehashing and re-releasing titles that have already had perfectly decent blu ray editions in the UK anyway, the BFI would be better advised to pursue these titles - La mariée était en noir, Mississipi Mermaid, L'enfant sauvage, L'histoire d'Adèle H. L'argent de poche, L'homme qui aimait les femmes and La chambre verte - where Ben Stoddart's wish to assess the comparative visual quality first is irrelevant given that they are/would be the only versions available.

[Yami]

It has come up on a few occasions and the 'MGM Truffauts' are not happening. I'll be curious to see what the Kino releases end up looking like as I've had the same discussion with Fran (from Arrow) and they didn't think that MGM had HD masters for all of the films. While MK2 evidently did, they only had French domestic rights. Good on Kino though.

[wabrit]

Originally Posted by sjt

In the US, Kino revealed a few days ago that they plan to release the exact seven Truffaut films that have never made it to HD so far and none of which appeared in the AE sets here.

Rather than going down the lamentably lazy Criterion route of rehashing and re-releasing titles that have already had perfectly decent blu ray editions in the UK anyway, the BFI would be better advised to pursue these titles - La mariée était en noir, Mississipi Mermaid, L'enfant sauvage, L'histoire d'Adèle H. L'argent de poche, L'homme qui aimait les femmes and La chambre verte - where Ben Stoddart's wish to assess the comparative visual quality first is irrelevant given that they are/would be the only versions available.

I would gone for any of those titles like a shot if the BFI had opened with them; I thought they made the wrong choices to have only the most obvious titles already with decent AE/Criterion coverage and should have gone the Bergman route with a vol 1 that mixed it up a bit.

[Yami]

I think that the BFI were mainly in it for the theatrical rights - otherwise, they surely wouldn't be non-committal about releasing them on home video at all.

[grahams76]

Originally Posted by sjt

In the US, Kino revealed a few days ago that they plan to release the exact seven Truffaut films that have never made it to HD so far and none of which appeared in the AE sets here.

Rather than going down the lamentably lazy Criterion route of rehashing and re-releasing titles that have already had perfectly decent blu ray editions in the UK anyway, the BFI would be better advised to pursue these titles - La mariée était en noir, Mississipi Mermaid, L'enfant sauvage, L'histoire d'Adèle H. L'argent de poche, L'homme qui aimait les femmes and La chambre verte - where Ben Stoddart's wish to assess the comparative visual quality first is irrelevant given that they are/would be the only versions available.

Yes, great news. Some of those have already made it to HD though - Twilight Time released Mississippi Mermaid and The Story Of Adele H. (All (?) of the others have come out in France but without English subtitles).

[Jgreenan]

Originally Posted by greenrose

This makes me happy. I wonder if a boxset is imminent?

Do you know what films they will be showing?

The season is up on their website now for anyone interested, it's all of his films (Four Nights of a Dreamer is unconfirmed though).

[CelestialAgent]

Originally Posted by Yami

I think that the BFI were mainly in it for the theatrical rights - otherwise, they surely wouldn't be non-committal about releasing them on home video at all.

Also streaming rights for BFI Player

[TheHistorian]

Originally Posted by grahams76

Yes, great news. Some of those have already made it to HD though - Twilight Time released Mississippi Mermaid and The Story Of Adele H. (All (?) of the others have come out in France but without English subtitles).

They released The Bride Wore Black as well.

[trobrianders]

Just ordered a copy of Renoir's The River from Amazon now it's cheap. Have the Criterion blu already but wanted it for the additional blu of extras that has Rossellini's doc on India.

[CelestialAgent]

Per the Facebook group, The Day The Earth Caught Fire is being reissued sans booklet, DVD and a 9 minute interview with Leo McKern, with the previous release now OOP but some copies still available from BFI Shop.

[Hollywoodnova]

Anyone heard anything yet regarding an Ingmar Bergman Volume 3 release yet?

[rapta]

Originally Posted by Hollywoodnova

Anyone heard anything yet regarding an Ingmar Bergman Volume 3 release yet?

I believe Vol. 3 and 4 were going to be announced for Q3/4 2022 or Q1/2 2023. Can't remember exactly, but I'd be surprised if Vol. 3 wasn't announced in the next batch of announcements (they tend to do several months of announcements in one go).

[Nedoflanders]

Originally Posted by Hollywoodnova

Anyone heard anything yet regarding an Ingmar Bergman Volume 3 release yet?

It's due around Autumn/Winter - at least that's what I remember reading.

EDIT: Ah, rapta beat me to it.

[SeaHawk]

Their announcement last December said Volume 3 in August and Volume 4 in November.

https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/bfi-programme-2022

[Yami]

July-September Line-Up announced

[andantelise]

I like that Mary, Queen of Scots has an alternate cover.

[Richard A]

Originally Posted by andantelise

I like that Mary, Queen of Scots has an alternate cover. ...

Rather more appropriate, given the title of the film.

[Yami]

It's another great line-up. The Bressons are a highlight, particularly The Trial of Joan of Arc seeing as I already have the Criterion releases of Pickpocket and L'argent, and I'm looking forward to seeing what extras they have in mind. Hopefully Les affaires publiques but I'm not holding out much hope.

Kuhle Wampe is also very exciting. It's not a film I'm familiar with but I'm happy to see the BFI release more German cinema - it would be great if they could do some Helmut Kautner and some later DEFA films as well

[Killer Meteor]

TARGETS is still due next month according to the BFI shop, but no extras appear to have been announced yet?

[CouncilSpectre]

Great line up. Definitely in for Bergman v3 and the Bressons at least.