British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[rkish]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

Seconded, been waiting months for a pre-order. Be interesting to see how well this one sells...

Besides the obvious...what else can you tell me about this film?

[cool hand bluke]

This quote from BFI's facebook forums is taken from the BFI thread on criterionforums

That's right, we're releasing L'Age d'Or on Dual Format (in HD), but due to licensing issues, Un Chien andalou will be included as an extra (in SD).

Great that it's being released. Pity about Un Chien Andalou though. Licensing issues. It's not even going to be remastered.

Still, Buňuel and Dali in HD, what a treat. More to look forward to. Bigger holes in pockets

[Tdonnelly3]

Originally Posted by AnimeOnBlu

New BFI release (and preorder):

Just watched a documentary on the restoration of this on the discovery channel, quite interesting, had never heard of it before seeing on the forum, checked out the documentary and will now definatly be preordering

Looks outstanding

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by rkish

Besides the obvious...what else can you tell me about this film?

Zip, I'm blind-buying it. (Oh, there is a MPFC sketch about Scott ('of the Antarctic!", though)

[rkish]

Originally Posted by MichaelB

It's the official record of Captain Scott's ill-fated expedition to the Antarctic, as shot by photographer/cinematographer Herbert Ponting in 1910-11. He spent the rest of the decade giving illustrated lectures before turning the footage into a feature-length documentary, The Great White Silence, which was released in 1924.

Although he shot lots of material of the expedition's early stages (penguin fans will adore this film), Ponting didn't accompany Scott and co on the final trek to the South Pole, but he was able to mount a surprisingly convincing recreation by means of existing footage, animated diagrams and a lucky accident whereby he filmed a demonstration of how to keep warm in a tent that just happened to feature four out of five of the actual Polar team. So the "you are there" impression is remarkably powerful.

Thanks to the original negatives surviving (Ponting's estate donated them to the BFI decades ago), it was possible to mount a complete restoration of a truly extraordinary visual quality considering the age of the footage - if you date it from when it was actually shot, as opposed to the film's release date, this will be by far the oldest film given a high-quality Blu-ray release.

You can sample some of the shots via the trailer and a Q&A with the restoration team - and the Discovery Channel also uploaded a mini-documentary about the restoration.

MichaelB:

As always...thanks very much for your inciteful information on BFI and other UK releases.

I'm still very tempted to pick this up from BFI, but since Discovery is involved with this project are there plans to release this is the US?

Once again...thanks the the information.

[pro-bassoonist]

Coming in May:



June:


Pro-B

[rkish]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Coming in May:



June:


Pro-B

WOW Pro-B...EXCELLENT!

I noticed that An Autumn Afternoon shows up as "out of stock". I guess this must be a glitch, as May is quite a ways off.

EDIT: I was so excited about An Autumn Afternoon, that I forgot it said slated for June.

I just watched the Criterion DVD about a week ago and loved it!

Thanks again!

[AnimeOnBlu]

Four new ones:

[manicsounds]

L'age D'or will come with "Un Chien Andalou", which will be in standard def only. I was really really close to buying the DVD set, and then it went out of print, along with this news...

[Buffalo66]

Too bad Un Chien Andalou won't be in HD (I wonder why) but I'll grab that set anyway. Excited about the main feature since I've never seen it.

[huntauk]

Originally Posted by Buffalo66

Too bad Un Chien Andalou won't be in HD (I wonder why) but I'll grab that set anyway. Excited about the main feature since I've never seen it.

Its definately worth the excitement, I can't wait to see it in HD - and its still nice to have Un Chien as part of the package in some form. It will be my first BFI Blu purchase.

[Buffalo66]

Originally Posted by MichaelB

L'Age d'or is also region-free.

Also, if anyone's keeping track of the oldest film released on Blu-ray, one of the extras on Alice is the 1903 adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, which will be presented in HD.

That's really cool. Has it been restored in any way?

[irascian]

Originally Posted by huntauk

Its definately worth the excitement, I can't wait to see it in HD - and its still nice to have Un Chien as part of the package in some form. It will be my first BFI Blu purchase.

Be careful. They can become very addictive!

[AnimeOnBlu]

[rkish]

MichaelB and/or Pro-B:

Concerning the late May BFI releases of "An Autumn Afternoon" and "Late Autumn", do you know if "A Mother Should Be Loved" and "A Hen In The Wind" will both be on the BD disc in HD?

Is "A Mother Should Be Loved" complete, or is it still missing its first and last reels?

[rkish]

Originally Posted by MichaelB

They're both on the DVD only - sorry, HD masters weren't available, and because the supporting features on these releases are technically extras the BFI couldn't justify the expense of creating new ones.



Unless the first and last reels are found in the next few days, it'll still be incomplete. But better that than nothing at all.

Thanks MichaelB! Both of those "supplemental" films have never seen a decent release, so I'm pumped about this!

[HotRats]

Any news of a blu release of Robinson In Ruins? Amazon are listing a DVD for 20th June but no mention of a blu

[Arkadin]

stunned that "Un Chien Andalou" will not be in hd.
I mean WHY, WHY, WHY???
what in the world could possibly be the reason?
didn't it just get restored also?

[rkish]

MichaelB and/or Pro-B:

Have you seen the BFI blu-ray version of "The Valley" (La vallée) yet and if so, what are your thoughts on it (PQ/AQ/Content)? Thanks!

[rkish]

Originally Posted by MichaelB

There are review links in the dedicated The Valley thread here.

THANKS MichaelB!