British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[Quuhod]

Originally Posted by andantelise

What are the chances we get rereleases of the Jarman sets. I missed out on these when they were first released.

I wouldn't lose sleep over it if I were you, you're really not missing much. I had both sets but was so unimpressed with the content I sold them. The sets are padded out with very underwhelming extras, way too many talking heads, and some of the films don't benefit in any noticeable way from an HD upgrade. I compared my DVD's of The Angelic Conversation (BFI) and The Last of England (Second Sight) with the Blu-Ray's and I could not tell the difference, so I'm more than satisfied with the DVD's. The films that do benefit are the obvious ones like Caravaggio, Sebastiane, and Jubilee, and you can buy all those separately.

[Quuhod]

Originally Posted by Mr. Thomsen

Does anybody here know whether Psychomania still comes with the booklet?

I just got it a couple of weeks ago and it has the booklet.

[Mr. Thomsen]

Originally Posted by Quuhod

I just got it a couple of weeks ago and it has the booklet.

Thank you. I picked it up myself earlier this week, and it did indeed come with the booklet.

I guess that means it hasn't sold all that well? It's been out for quite a long time now.

[BarnDoor]

Originally Posted by Mr. Thomsen

Thank you. I picked it up myself earlier this week, and it did indeed come with the booklet.

I guess that means it hasn't sold all that well? It's been out for quite a long time now.

Don't quote me on this, but I want to say that only releases from a certain point in time (maybe 2018ish?) have limited edition booklet runs.

[Quake1028]

How quickly do booklets sell out on newer releases? Would I be able to wait a bit and still get a booklet for

L'Argent
Pickpocket
The Trial of Joan of Arc

Or should I buy soon?

[Nedoflanders]

Originally Posted by Quuhod

I wouldn't lose sleep over it if I were you, you're really not missing much. I had both sets but was so unimpressed with the content I sold them. The sets are padded out with very underwhelming extras, way too many talking heads, and some of the films don't benefit in any noticeable way from an HD upgrade. I compared my DVD's of The Angelic Conversation (BFI) and The Last of England (Second Sight) with the Blu-Ray's and I could not tell the difference, so I'm more than satisfied with the DVD's. The films that do benefit are the obvious ones like Caravaggio, Sebastiane, and Jubilee, and you can buy all those separately.

Completely disagree in regards to the extras. Every disc is stacked with home movies, archival interviews, short films, commentaries and galleries of Jarman's notebooks. Sure, the newly recorded interviews were hit-and-miss, but they were still informative and rarely boring.

The BFI really went to town with those packages. I absolutely adore the sets and have gone back to them on numerous occasions.

[Quuhod]

Originally Posted by Nedoflanders

The BFI really went to town with those packages.

My reply was to someone who was agonising about missing out on the sets and my point was that they aren’t worth losing sleep over as most of the content is available separately, plus the super 8 footage does not benefit in any massive way from the HD upgrade. It’s great you have the sets and are happy with them, I personally can live without them.

[andantelise]

Originally Posted by Nedoflanders

Completely disagree in regards to the extras. Every disc is stacked with home movies, archival interviews, short films, commentaries and galleries of Jarman's notebooks. Sure, the newly recorded interviews were hit-and-miss, but they were still informative and rarely boring.

The BFI really went to town with those packages. I absolutely adore the sets and have gone back to them on numerous occasions.

Originally Posted by Quuhod

My reply was to someone who was agonising about missing out on the sets and my point was that they aren’t worth losing sleep over as most of the content is available separately, plus the super 8 footage does not benefit in any massive way from the HD upgrade. It’s great you have the sets and are happy with them, I personally can live without them.

Thanks for the advice and replies. I managed to grab a brand new copy of vol. 2 from eBay at at fair price, so all's well.

[Hammerlover]

Recently watched HEROSTRATUS. It's certainly one of the more outre films I've seen in awhile.

[dallywhitty]

Originally Posted by Hammerlover

Recently watched HEROSTRATUS. It's certainly one of the more outre films I've seen in awhile.

Great film. It's a real shame Don Levy didn't direct more.

[Hammerlover]

Originally Posted by dallywhitty

Great film. It's a real shame Don Levy didn't direct more.

I've heard that it had an influence on A CLOCKWORK ORANGE.

[rossbirks]

Originally Posted by Hammerlover

Recently watched HEROSTRATUS. It's certainly one of the more outre films I've seen in awhile.

Fun bit of trivia about that movie, in a recent book about Christopher Nolan, The Nolan Variations, he talks about seeing Herostratus when he was younger and seeing art movies in London and how it made a huge impression on him and his early work. BFI should slap a quote from him on the cover if they ever do a repress, they'd likely shift some extra copies!

[bleedandtrim]

Less than a 1000 units left of the Get Carter limited UHD in BFI's warehouse;
https://www.facebook.com/groups/bfid...7426729881571/

[Quake1028]

Originally Posted by bleedandtrim

Less than a 1000 units left of the Get Carter limited UHD in BFI's warehouse;
https://www.facebook.com/groups/bfid...7426729881571/

OK, OK. You got me. I visited my good friends at Zavvi.com again

[James78]

Burning an Illusion (1981) clip - on Blu-ray from 19 September 2022 | BFI - YouTube

Pat (Cassie McFarlane), an ordinary London girl with a caring family, a job she enjoys and her own flat, seeks nothing more than to settle down to a life of married, middle-class conformity. Her cosy world is jolted when she meets Del (Victor Romero Evans), a charming and vaguely discontented toolmaker, who soon moves in but then loses his job, causing them both to challenge their assumptions about each other and their aspirations.

Special features

• Presented in High Definition
• Vintage commentary by Menelik Shabazz, Cassie McFarlane and Victor Romero Evans (2001)
• Introduction by Menelik Shabazz (2005, 10 mins): the director discusses the background to Burning an Illusion and Blood Ah Goh Run
• Cassie McFarlane Introduction (2022, 7 mins): the actor talks about her role and discusses the film’s production
• Blood Ah Goh Run (1982, 13 mins): a short documentary on the response to the New Cross fire of 1981 and the Black People’s Day of Action
• Step Forward Youth (1977, 29 mins): interviews with first-generation Black British youth on their attitudes to identity, family, police, race and fashion
• Original theatrical trailer
• Gallery
• Sleeve featuring original poster artwork by Anum Iyapo and Shakka Dedi
• ***First pressing only*** Illustrated booklet with a new essay by Alex Ramon, an article by Dr Clive Nwonka from Sight and Sound (March 2022), an interview with Menelik Shabazz from Monthly Film Bulletin (1988), a director biography, notes on the special features and credits

Product details RRP: £19.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1472 / 15 UK / 1981 / colour / 106 minutes / English language, with optional subtitles for the Deaf and partial hearing | original aspect ratio 1.66:1 // BD50: 1080p, 24fps, PCM 2.0 mono audio (48kHz/24-bit)

[dr727]

Brilliant release! Looking forward to it! BFI is unstoppable these days.

[CZDK]

Since BFI has started releasing some Robert Bresson titles would it be plausible that they release A Man Escaped? It was released in the UK by Artificial Eye in 2018 so maybe they still hold the rights? I would just prefer BFI's extras and booklet (I don't believe the AE release has either).

[Aunt Peg]

It would be great if the BFI could get their hands on all the Bresson titles that have yet to have a Blu Ray release in the UK.

[ricky_dicky]

I bought the Gaumont French release of Lancelot Du Lac which comes with English subtitles. I think they are releasing The Devil, Probably at some point. Would be nice if the BFI could pick these up.

[James78]

Kuhle Wampe (1932) clip - on BFI Blu-ray from 19 September 2022 | BFI - YouTube

At the height of the Depression, Anni (Herta Thiele, Mädchen in Uniform) and her family are evicted from their Berlin apartment and forced to move in with her boyfriend, Fritz, at Kuhle Wampe, a lakeside camp on the outskirts of Berlin that now accommodates the ever-growing numbers of the dispossessed. Exquisitely photographed by Günther Krampf (Nosferatu), this semi-documentary combines inspired montage sequences with intimate realist and comic scenes of Anni’s family life, driven along by Hanns Eisler’s celebrated score. Conceived at the political and artistic watershed of the waning Weimar Republic, it was swiftly banned in 1933 as the Nazis took power and was rarely seen for many years.

Special features

• Presented in High Definition and Standard Definition
• Newly commissioned commentary by film scholar Adrian Martin (2022) Introduction and Q&A by Andrew Hoellering (1999, 36 mins + 14 mins): the writer discusses his father’s work on Kuhle Wampe
• Bread (1934, 12 mins): a short political film made in protest against social inequality, poverty and unemployment
• Beyond This Open Road (1934, 11 mins): modernist short by B Vivian Braun and Irene Nicholson, with poetic images of workers’ leisure time
• Housing Problems (1935, 16 mins): Arthur Elton and Edgar Anstey’s powerful documentary about slum housing
• Eastern Valley (Donald Alexander, 1937, 17 mins): a documentary about a Welsh co-operative scheme run by unemployed miners
• ***First pressing only*** Illustrated booklet with essays by Martin Koerber and Henry K Miller, an archival review by Jill Forbes (Monthly Film Bulletin, July 1978), notes on the special features and credits

RRP: £19.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1462 / PG Germany / 1932 / black and white / 75 mins / German, with optional English subtitles / original aspect ratio 1.19:1 // BD50: 1080p, 24fps, PCM 2.0 mono audio (48kHz/24-bit) / DVD9: PAL, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio (256kbps)