British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[Gerby]

Looking at that BFI list, i'm surprised no one yet has tackled the 1979 film The Man Who Stole The Sun. Brilliant film that seems a perfect fit for a company like Arrow.

[JoePo]

Originally Posted by manicsounds

I have the Carlotta Naruse box and the transfers are from dated HD masters that were used for the DVDs and for TV broadcast, and while they are good there are still telecine wobble, scratches, inconsistent grey levels, etc.

Thanks. Does this one have English subtitles?

[Yami]

Originally Posted by JoePo

Thanks. Does this one have English subtitles?

There are not.

[CouncilSpectre]

Nice article from the BFI - the best Japanese movie per year (1925 onwards)

https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/...ampaign=buffer

[LAPrice]

Bit late to the party here, but the Trilogy of Life box set that BFI released, is it the same as the Criterion releases? Or is it the same as their earlier editions. Its part of their sale at HMV, so tempted if its an upgrade.

[magnetiques]

yeah they're newer, same as criterion

good price, i think i'll bite if it's still available next week

[LAPrice]

Originally Posted by magnetiques

yeah they're newer, same as criterion

good price, i think i'll bite if it's still available next week

Just ordered it. Thanks for the clarification. Watched my older BFI version of Canterbury Tales a few weeks ago and the quality is rough as old boots. An upgrade was very much needed for such a visual trilogy.

[Scottishguy]

Not that I'm complaining about the recent run of Japanese films the BFI has been bringing out. But they are suppose to be the BRITISH film institute, not JFI.

It's all well and good they are bringing Koreeda film's from the lost decade out of obscurity.

Yet you think things like Loach's The Navigators might be something of higher priority to them. If they are indeed a organisation dedicated to the preservation and promotion of British film.

Sure, maybe certain sources just don't exist for HD. But isn't also part of their job with preservation and promotion to make these sources....exist? Network gets the job done.

[James78]

Scottishguy, I take your point, but the British Film Institute is not solely dedicated to British film. One of the objectives in their Royal Charter is "to promote access to and appreciation of the widest possible range of British and world cinema".

https://www.bfi.org.uk/about-bfi/bfi-s-royal-charter

[Dougling]

Should the BBC never broadcast shows/films from other countries?

[mattyl149]

Originally Posted by Scottishguy

Not that I'm complaining about the recent run of Japanese films the BFI has been bringing out. But they are suppose to be the BRITISH film institute, not JFI.

It's all well and good they are bringing Koreeda film's from the lost decade out of obscurity.

Yet you think things like Loach's The Navigators might be something of higher priority to them. If they are indeed a organisation dedicated to the preservation and promotion of British film.

Sure, maybe certain sources just don't exist for HD. But isn't also part of their job with preservation and promotion to make these sources....exist? Network gets the job done.

Apart from their bigger titles, a lot of the older films Network put out on Blu-ray as part of The British Film range only have basic restoration done. In every release they state what they've done. A lot of the titles still have warps, scratches, missing frames and so on

The ones they've put more work into have Network Restoration on the front

Why should any particular film have a higher priority over something else? As for the whole British Film argument, The Red Shoes (a British film) was restored with funding from the United States Film Foundation and Martin Scorsese an American film director oversaw and fundraised for it. Shouldn't they be more concerned about all the American films that need restoration as well rather than focusing on a British film?

The BFI have a budget and they have to decide how best to spend that. They haven't necessarily spent their money restoring French or Japanese films, but they have put them out as they have the rights, and it may also be that they hold a copy of the print which might be the best one in existence

I'm glad they're putting these films out as we may not see them otherwise. Every label has a limit to what they can feasibly release every month and so if not for the BFI, then there's no guarantee that another label would have released them

[Cinematt]

Originally Posted by James78

Scottishguy, I take your point, but the British Film Institute is not solely dedicated to British film. One of the objectives in their Royal Charter is "to promote access to and appreciation of the widest possible range of British and world cinema".

https://www.bfi.org.uk/about-bfi/bfi-s-royal-charter

I also suspect they're in it for the money, in the nicest possible way. They have a strong relationship with Japanese studios that allows them to make these films available to an English speaking audience, and Japanese film clearly does very well here. If these lines turn a profit then it helps them bring British films that have less of an audience to the screen, with less worries about those ones turning a profit.
Also, this was meant to be the year of the Tokyo Olympics, Japan has been doing a major international cultural push to build a long term tourism audience while the focus is (or was supposed to be) on the country. It's no coincidence you've had the likes of Sue from bake off, Paul from bake off, and that muppet from Top Gear all doing headline tour of Japan shows recently. It wouldn't even surprise me if that was a factor with Studio Ghibli finally going to streaming services. It also makes it an opportunity for the BFI to do something that has been on their wish list and to get more out than they would have been allowed to access in other years.
Whatever the reason though, I bloody love Japan so I've been very happy

[aewb]

Seems harsh to criticise the BFI when they've released the complete Humphrey Jennings, massive Alan Clarke and Derek Jarman box sets and restored the reputation of neglected/forgotten filmmakers like John Krish, Margaret Tait and Jack Bond. Not to mention the British Transport films, Flipside range and loads of other stuff I can't be bothered to list.

Two British releases I'd like to are the Terence Davies trilogy and a selection of Ben Rivers shorts.

[Scottishguy]

Originally Posted by aewb

Seems harsh to criticise the BFI when they've released the complete Humphrey Jennings, massive Alan Clarke and Derek Jarman box sets and restored the reputation of neglected/forgotten filmmakers like John Krish, Margaret Tait and Jack Bond. Not to mention the British Transport films, Flipside range and loads of other stuff I can't be bothered to list.

Two British releases I'd like to are the Terence Davies trilogy and a selection of Ben Rivers shorts.

I've just been noticing more and more their releases are becoming more heavy with Japanese films. It's probably just a trend. But I'd be really be p*ssed off it emerges they brought some young blood in that's heavily titlting their home video curation towards their own personal bias for one countries cinema.

Again I stress I'm not knocking Japanese film's getting released here. I'm just being wary.

And yes I'm also aware of the charter. They are a British cultural organisation though, and thus promoting British film technically should be their main focus, and expand outward from that foundation. But that raises another point of Japan is not the "widest" representation of the world.

[Si Parallel Universe]

The BFI are a repository for the preservation and the enjoyment of film and television works.
They have a membership scheme, a cinema a commercial label and a shop to help keep their remit. Their funding has shrunk over the years so they have had to widen their net so to speak.
I'm not even sure why this needs to be pointed out. I certainly don't know why someone would need to say 'It's not the JFI'


They are called the BFI because they are based in Britain not because they are supposed to be committed to one culture only.

[Scottishguy]

Originally Posted by Si Parallel Universe

The BFI are a repository for the preservation and the enjoyment of film and television works.
They have a membership scheme, a cinema a commercial label and a shop to help keep their remit. Their funding has shrunk over the years so they have had to widen their net so to speak.
I'm not even sure why this needs to be pointed out. I certainly don't know why someone would need to say 'It's not the JFI'

Yeah widen the net by all means. But there are other countries apart from Japan that could do with some representation.

Oh I don't know. New Mexican cinema? I'm pretty sure Deep Crimson is more lost to Western audiences than any lost decade film that came out of Japan.

[Si Parallel Universe]

Originally Posted by Scottishguy

Yeah widen the net by all means. But there are other countries apart from Japan that could do with some representation.

Oh I don't know. New Mexican cinema? I'm pretty sure Deep Crimson is more lost to Western audiences than any lost decade film that came out of Japan.

As I said before they are called the British Film Institute because they are based in Britain not because they are supposed to only represent one region. Rather like the RAC don't have minor royals as mechanics or admins.

*looking at my my BFI Shelf* I see British, French, German , Italian , Austrian, Swedish , American , Japanese , Czech , Hungarian representation.

Film is International

[Rutger Lundgren]

Originally Posted by Scottishguy

I've just been noticing more and more their releases are becoming more heavy with Japanese films. It's probably just a trend. But I'd be really be p*ssed off it emerges they brought some young blood in that's heavily titlting their home video curation towards their own personal bias for one countries cinema.

Agreed. BFI, more films from Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, and mainland China, please.

[Scottishguy]

Originally Posted by Rutger Lundgren

Agreed. BFI, more films from Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, and mainland China, please.

Whoa slow down buddy. The London hipsters have yet to get beyond anime and Japan yet

You also forgot Vietnam

[jackranderson]

To be fair, Japanese cinema is amongst the richest on this planet, even with all the releases of theirs on blu-ray ..there’s still so many masterpieces not yet released. So I’m happy for BFI to continue releasing such incredible films.