British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[koberulz]

A world where I've never heard of any of the other movies and am interested in Battleship Potemkin.

I did find that Michael Brooke article, but it of course never mentions the Kino and the Kino runs three minutes longer according to DVD Compare, whereas if it'd been the same film but at 24fps it would presumably have run shorter, which made no sense to me.

[koberulz]

Originally Posted by EddieLarkin

Just make sure you end up with the V2 disc, as the original was accidentally presented in the wrong resolution. The did a replacement programme at the time.

I assume it'd be fine now, given it's almost ten years old?

[EddieLarkin]

Originally Posted by koberulz

I did find that Michael Brooke article, but it of course never mentions the Kino and the Kino runs three minutes longer according to DVD Compare, whereas if it'd been the same film but at 24fps it would presumably have run shorter, which made no sense to me.

Both run at 18fps, the BFI within a 24fps container, the Kino within a 25fps container slowed down to 24fps. This 1 frame per second slow down is what has caused the Kino to have a 4% longer runtime.

[koberulz]

So then...the Kino doesn't actually run at 18fps, does it?

[EddieLarkin]

Right, more like 17.3fps

[Stoicdelon]

Renoir's The River. Awesome release.. but I've already got the Criterion

Not sure about The Pawnbroker. I like Rod Steiger but not a huge fan of Lumet's films. Might be a cop down the line.

[CelestialAgent]

Originally Posted by Stoicdelon

Not sure about The Pawnbroker. I like Rod Steiger but not a huge fan of Lumet's films. Might be a cop down the line.

I mean, it is somewhat atypical for what one expects of a Lumet film I think - of course the New York setting means it's in keeping with his later films, but he only made black and white films in the 50s/60s (as a social issues drama it's probably closer to something like 12 Anrgy Men), and I don't believe he made any other films about the Holocaust, or even much else about being Jewish. I could be wrong. I'm not sure Lumet ever used traumatic flashbacks as a device elsewhere either.

[floor pie]

Originally Posted by CelestialAgent

I could be wrong. I'm not sure Lumet ever used traumatic flashbacks as a device elsewhere either.

The Offence used traumatic flashbacks, maybe flashforwards too, can't remember that clearly. The reconstruction of the murder in Murder on the Orient Express counts as a flashback too.

[sjt]

Originally Posted by CelestialAgent

I mean, it is somewhat atypical for what one expects of a Lumet film I think - of course the New York setting means it's in keeping with his later films, but he only made black and white films in the 50s/60s (as a social issues drama it's probably closer to something like 12 Anrgy Men), and I don't believe he made any other films about the Holocaust, or even much else about being Jewish. I could be wrong. I'm not sure Lumet ever used traumatic flashbacks as a device elsewhere either.

I'm not sure just exactly how traumatic most of them are, but the whole of The Anderson Tapes is structured around flashbacks/forwards.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by CelestialAgent

I don't believe he made... much else about being Jewish.

Bye Bye Braverman, Daniel and A Stranger Among Us/A Price Above Rubies.

[CelestialAgent]

Originally Posted by Aclea

Bye Bye Braverman, Daniel and A Stranger Among Us/A Price Above Rubies.

Thanks for the reminder I need to watch more Lumet! I think it's hard to typify him as a director so if you dislike a few of his films that doesn't mean you'll dislike others. People remember films about crime, the mob or police corruption but that wasn't all he did. Although The Pawnbroker does also deal with criminality too so it is in keeping.

Another good aspect of the film is having Quincy Jones on the score!

[sjt]

Originally Posted by Aclea

Bye Bye Braverman, Daniel and A Stranger Among Us/A Price Above Rubies.

It's almost totally unknown now, but Just Tell Me What You Want also has a very strong Jewish vibe - all business and Bergdorf's - strongly reminiscent of Neil Simon in Plaza Suite vein. And it's Lumet's father Baruch, a Yiddish theatre doyen, who plays the "dirty old Rabbi" who gets into late-career bondage in Woody Allen's Everything You Wanted to Know about Sex etc..

As for the director's versatility, he directed more than half-a-dozen adapted stage plays - including Long Day's Journey into Night, Miller's A View from the Bridge and The Seagull - as well as (for him) uniquely genre-defying efforts like The Group and The Wiz. An all-round master of his craft.

[Aclea]

I wondered about Just Tell Me What You Want, but even when Lumet was still an A-lister it was always pretty obscure - during one of his Guardian lectures he bemoaned the fact that it was barely released outside the USA, and never in the UK and most major markets: it didn't even make it to rental VHS in the UK. I've never seen it but I guess Alan King was right - "they made a deal with some forget-it distributor in New Jersey. Now, who the **** lives in New Jersey? I'll tell you who lives in New Jersey. Cousins live in New Jersey!"

[HotRats]

I wonder if BFI might do a disc of Guilty Bystander (1950) as they have the only existing print which they provided to Nicolas Winding Refn for his excellent restoration available on Mubi? Its a flawed but interesting film that deserves to be better known. It has a great premise that would still work as a modern remake - alcoholic ex-cop eking out a living as a house detective in a seedy hotel tries to stay off the booze long enough to find his kidnapped son. The plot is confusing, the dialogue is messy and frequently doesn't accomplish anything, pacing feels too slow for something that really needed an air of desperate urgency and Dimitri Tiomkin's score is often intrusive and syrupy. Joseph Lerner's direction is mostly uninspired but there's a great shot of Max in the warehouse elevator and a very well staged chase and fight on the subway. Other positives are solid performances from most of the cast particularly Zachary Scott as Max, Jed Prouty as a sleazy doctor and a really good one from Mary Boland as the owner of the hotel. The writers of the original novel also wrote Badge Of Evil, the source for Orson Welles' Touch Of Evil.

[James78]

19 July

Blu-ray: INGMAR BERGMAN: VOLUME 1 – the first release in an eventual four volume collection of films spanning the career of the great Swedish auteur. With 2K restorations of eight early films either directed or written by Bergman, this set presents the films on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK.



DVD: AN UNFLINCHING EYE: THE FILMS OF RICHARD WOOLLEY returns to the BFI DVD catalogue. Tackling controversial themes, such as class, race, sexuality and the human instinct for violence, Woolley directed a number of radical and uncompromising films from 1970-1988. Long out of print, this 4-disc re-issue features two never-before-released audio commentaries by the director and newly created English hard-of-hearing subtitles.



26 July

Blu-ray: Directed by Julian Henriques, BABYMOTHER (1998), the story of a teenage single mum determined to make it as a singer, is widely considered to be the first truly black British musical. Depicting the vibrant, energetic culture at the heart of late-1990s Harlesden, the film – newly remastered by the BFI – is released on Blu-ray for the first time.



2 August

Blu-ray: A grieving widow uncovers her husband’s secret life in Aleem Khan’s immensely moving debut feature AFTER LOVE (2020). Spotlighting a compelling lead performance from Joanna Scanlan, and already a festival award-winner, the film is released on Blu-ray following its UK-wide theatrical run that begins on 4 June.



16 August

DVD: GREAT NOISES THAT FILL THE AIR is a colourful collection of music, poetry and performance on film from the Arts Council England archive. From jazz to contemporary composition, tape experiments, spoken word, rap and innovative DJ excellence, the styles and approaches vary; and so does the manner of each film, made from 1979-1996. By turns poetic and impressionistic, personal and experimental, these bold, unusual works highlight the wide-ranging, inspiring potential of arts documentary. Films include Linton Kwesi Johnson in Dread Beat an’ Blood (Franco Rosso, 1979) and John Cooper Clarke in Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt (Nick May, 1984).



Blu-ray/DVD: In THE PAWNBROKER (1964), Rod Steiger, Oscar-nominated and a BAFTA winner for his breath-taking performance, stars as a disillusioned and bereft survivor of the Holocaust. Directed by Sidney Lumet, this Dual Format Edition marks the first time this milestone drama has been made available on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK.



23 August

DVD: Nine more fun-packed adventures made from the 50s to the 80s by the CHILDREN’S FILM FOUNDATION arrive on a 3-disc set in BUMPER BOX: VOLUME 3. As always, the films feature a plethora of familiar faces, including George Cole, Melvyn Hayes, Ronnie Barker, Sheila Reid, Brenda Fricker and the one and only Phil Collins!



Blu-ray: Jean Renoir's intoxicating first colour feature THE RIVER (1951) is a lyrical adaptation of Rumer Godden's autobiographical coming-of-age tale of an adolescent girl living with her English family on the banks of West Bengal during the waning years of British colonial life. Presented on Blu-ray in a high definition digital transfer from the restoration by the Film Foundation, this sumptuous Technicolor romance has been described by Martin Scorsese as ‘one of the most beautiful colour films ever made’.



Each of these releases will contain a selection of extra features and an illustrated booklet (first pressing only) to provide contextual information. Full details will be available closer to release dates.

[Aunt Peg]

Most admit it is a shame that the Richard Woolley films aren't being reissued on Blu Ray. I'd upgrade in a heartbeat.

[fatboyslim142]

Originally Posted by Aunt Peg

Most admit it is a shame that the Richard Woolley films aren't being reissued on Blu Ray. I'd upgrade in a heartbeat.

Ben Stoddart said the a lot of them were shot on video so NO BD release & it was either a DVD release or NOTHING.

This has reminded me of the upcoming US release of the low budget SHOT ON VIDEO Fench film Baise-moi on BD. How does someone get HD out of something shot on video?

[CelestialAgent]

Originally Posted by HotRats

I wonder if BFI might do a disc of Guilty Bystander (1950) as they have the only existing print which they provided to Nicolas Winding Refn for his excellent restoration available on Mubi?

Maybe Indicator could do it

Originally Posted by fatboyslim142

Ben Stoddart said the a lot of them were shot on video so NO BD release & it was either a DVD release or NOTHING.

This has reminded me of the upcoming US release of the low budget SHOT ON VIDEO Fench film Baise-moi on BD. How does someone get HD out of something shot on video?

Upscaling. Blu-ray will always have better compression and audio on BD than an SD DVD.

He also suggested the obscurity and low sales numbers were a reason for keeping it DVD, as with the CFF where it’s a nostalgiv audience and wouldn’t sell that well on Blu-ray and dual format would be prohibitively expensive.

[mmarczi]

Based on the listing, it would appear that the edition of County Lines with a booklet is gone already. Was going to order a copy but no rush if the booklet is already gone.

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by CelestialAgent

Upscaling. Blu-ray will always have better compression and audio on BD than an SD DVD.

Not necessarily true in regards to the latter.