British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[mattyl149]

Originally Posted by Drakath

Does anyone know if The Innocents will be getting the dual format treatment?

It should be. All titles that have separate Blu-Ray and DVD releases are being converted to dual format. There were some released this year and some more next year. I would say the following titles are likely for re-issue, but these aren't all definite:

A Zed And Two Noughts
The Innocents
The Leopard
The Edge Of The World
Separation
The Other Side Of The Underneath
Gazwrx - The Films Of Jeff Keen
Bill Douglas Trilogy

These are titles that have separate DVD and Blu-Ray releases so are possibilities. It's not to say that other DVD only or Blu-Ray only titles won't be converted to Dual Format releases

[Turtleheart]

Originally Posted by mattyl149

What I might do is start a Wiki page, that people can update with the details, as I think it would be really helpful. If anyone is interested then PM me, and I will provide the details

I now have a Wiki page in place. This list is from all my BFI titles I own, including six that I don't own. While searching for BFI, I found a COI DVD called Misinformation which I had never heard of which I have ordered. Does anybody else have this?

The link for the Wiki page is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BFI_Releases

Although knowing my past experience with creating pages, I'm sure it will get deleted for some reason

A more suitable venue might be to create your own on a free Wiki hosting service, which I thought from the paragraphs above was what you meant: would be much less-seen unless searched for specifically but would allow you format it however you want?

[mattyl149]

Originally Posted by Turtleheart

A more suitable venue might be to create your own on a free Wiki hosting service, which I thought from the paragraphs above was what you meant: would be much less-seen unless searched for specifically but would allow you format it however you want?

That's what my plan was. I just wanted to get something up straight away. I have found a site to use, so once I have something up I will post the new link

[pro-bassoonist]

A Bigger Splash Blu-ray PRE-ORDER

Special Features:

Special features
Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition (DVD & Blu-ray)
Love’s Presentation (James Scott, 1966, 28 mins)
Portrait of David Hockney (David Pearce, 1972, 14 mins)
Interview with Jack Hazan (2006)
Original film trailer
Illustrated booklet with essays and film notes

The BFI's first release of 2012 will be Jack Hazan's A Bigger Splash (1974) featuring British artist David Hockney, released on 30 January in a Dual Format Edition.

From 1971–1973, Jack Hazan gained intimate access to David Hockney and his circle of friends and lovers to create A Bigger Splash. Using a ‘structured reality’ format rather than pure documentary, he crafted a mesmerising film, groundbreaking in style and daring in nature.

The film was made during a critical time in Hockney’s life. A long-term relationship with fellow painter Peter Schlesinger had recently dissolved and during this acutely emotional period he was under pressure to work faster and create new work. Already an internationally successful artist, his famous paintings are magically brought to life through the mood, colours and tones of the film and Hazan and his co-writer and editor David Mingay (who went on to make The Clash: Rude Boy together) brilliantly capture the essence of Hockney the artist and a sense of his fashionable milieu.

Shot in London and California, the film offers a vivid snapshot of the early 70s art scene surrounding Hockney and features appearances by numerous legendary faces; there’s his muse, the iconic fashion and textile designer Celia Birtwell with her husband, fashion designer Ossie Clark; art dealer John Kasmin, curator and art critic Henry Geldzahler and Hockney’s loyal assistant Mo McDermott. Some of the ‘cast’ appear in Hockney’s paintings; Ossie Clark is seen taking his cat to the Tate Gallery to view Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy.

When released in cinemas in 1974, A Bigger Splash surprised audiences with explicit scenes of male lovemaking and nudity and it ran for over a year in London’s West End. This Dual Format Edition brings it to Blu-ray for the first time along with two rare shorts from the BFI National Archive; Love’s Presentation (1966) which captures the creation of Hockney’s Cavafy Etchings and Portrait of David Hockney (1972), a short portrait of Hockney in his home and studio. There is also an interview with Jack Hazan.

Coinciding with a major new David Hockney exhibition at the Royal Academy in 2012, the BFI release of A Bigger Splash, in which Jack Hazan has been personally involved, is a fascinating filmic record of one of Britain’s most recognisable artists.

[Monty70]

I purchased my first BFI BD recently, The Innocents. The image quality is absolutely pristine, presenting the beautiful photography of Freddie Francis in all of its glory.

This is why I purchased a region free BD player. (though Touch of Evil is nice also )

[mattyl149]

I know the Diana Dors releases now are DVD only but as there is a separate release for Penny Points To Paradise / Let's Go Crazy, will this be re-issued as a dual format? I have bought the other two dual format releases, and if this is not going to get the same treatment, then I will just buy the blu-ray. It's a shame that they are only going to be DVD releases in future for the other films in this collection, but then again something is better than nothing

[BigNickUK]

For anyone who is interested Moviemail have started a BFI winter sale today

http://www.moviemail-online.co.uk/sc...m_source=em898

[mattyl149]

Any news of what the next dual format upgrades are? I've been holding off titles like The Innocents and A Zed And Two Noughts as I would rather have the dual format versions

[Judex]

Originally Posted by mattyl149

Any news of what the next dual format upgrades are? I've been holding off titles like The Innocents and A Zed And Two Noughts as I would rather have the dual format versions

I asked about The Innocents in an email a couple of week ago they said no. :sigh:

[rkish]

Originally Posted by BigNickUK

For anyone who is interested Moviemail have started a BFI winter sale today

http://www.moviemail-online.co.uk/sc...m_source=em898

THANKS for the heads up BigNick!

Does anyone know if they deduct VAT for us cronies from the Colonies?

[mattyl149]

Looks like I'll be buying The Innocents sooner then if the only release worth having is a blu only release

[BigNickUK]

Originally Posted by mattyl149

Looks like I'll be buying The Innocents sooner then if the only release worth having is a blu only release

You wont regret it I promise, it is fantastic

[omonoba]

I have been eagerly awaiting a Criterion Ozu release on blu-ray. However it seems like this may not happen even in 2012.
Thanks to the posts on this forum and criterionforum.com I discovered BFI's quality output but have been on the fence for some time now about purchasing their Ozu releases since I did not want to buy a new region-free blu-ray player. Fortunately (not so much for my wallet ) I just found out about a simple and cheap do-it-yourself hardware modification I can make to my Oppo blu-ray player to make it region-free for blu-rays.

So I dived into the BFI pool today with the following purchases on amazon.co.uk:

Early Summer/What did the lady forget
Late Spring/The only son
Tokyo Story/Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family
Equinox Flower/There Was a Father
Good Morning/I was born but...
The Great White Silence

[zombivish]

Any word if BFI are putting out an edition of Eye of the Devil (1966)?
I recently rented the Warner burn on demand dvd and the film looked great. The photography in the film would look superb with a nice hgi-def transfer, imo. And hey, how can more David Nivien on bluray be a bad thing?

[rkish]

Originally Posted by omonoba

I have been eagerly awaiting a Criterion Ozu release on blu-ray. However it seems like this may not happen even in 2012.
Thanks to the posts on this forum and criterionforum.com I discovered BFI's quality output but have been on the fence for some time now about purchasing their Ozu releases since I did not want to buy a new region-free blu-ray player. Fortunately (not so much for my wallet ) I just found out about a simple and cheap do-it-yourself hardware modification I can make to my Oppo blu-ray player to make it region-free for blu-rays.

So I dived into the BFI pool today with the following purchases on amazon.co.uk:

Early Summer/What did the lady forget
Late Spring/The only son
Tokyo Story/Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family
Equinox Flower/There Was a Father
Good Morning/I was born but...
The Great White Silence

Not a loser in that group! I own them all!

I plan on buying all of the Ozus that are released by BFI...don't forget about the Ozu silents (The Student Comedies) coming out in Feb.

BTW...you will LOVE The Great White Silence!

[mattyl149]

Originally Posted by rkish

Not a loser in that group! I own them all!

I plan on buying all of the Ozus that are released by BFI...don't forget about the Ozu silents (The Student Comedies) coming out in Feb.

BTW...you will LOVE The Great White Silence!

I preordered the Ozu Student Comedies back on the 25th November and it was £22.49, it's showing on my account at £11.99 and now the price is £21.47. That's quite a price fluctuation. That's one of the reasons I pre-order early as you have a better chance of the price changing

It will be interesting to see what the price ends up on

[rkish]

Originally Posted by mattyl149

I preordered the Ozu Student Comedies back on the 25th November and it was £22.49, it's showing on my account at £11.99 and now the price is £21.47. That's quite a price fluctuation. That's one of the reasons I pre-order early as you have a better chance of the price changing

It will be interesting to see what the price ends up on

Same here...sans the VAT, I'm in at 9.99 BSP...13.07 if you include shipping. I ordered mine on Nov. 22

[pro-bassoonist]

Her Private Hell Blu-ray PRE-ORDER




Official Press Sheet:

Her Private Hell (1967), a cautionary tale of an innocent girl abroad caught up in London’s sleazy world of modelling was Britain's first narrative sex film. Previously unreleased, it finally comes to DVD and Blu-ray for the first time on 20 February in a Dual Format Edition on the BFI’s celebrated Flipside label. The new, director-approved High Definition transfer is accompanied by a wealth of rare and fascinating extra features and a comprehensive booklet.

Starring the Italian actress Lucia Modugno (Il generale Della Rovere, Danger: Diabolik), and directed by Norman J Warren, Her Private Hell put Britain on the map in the realm of home-grown adult features. The storyline features beautiful but naïve Marisa who arrives from the continent for a job as a fashion model, but soon discovers she’s being groomed for a different purpose.
By the late 1960s, British producers had begun to realise the commercial potential of sex and to test the limits of what the censors would permit on screen. Producer Bachoo Sen, a distributor who imported art-house titles to the UK, set up Piccadilly Pictures with cinema-owner Richard Schulman and financed Her Private Hell. It premiered at London’s Cameo-Royal cinema on 4 January 1968 and was so popular that it ran for over a year.

The film was the debut feature for young director Norman J Warren (Satan's Slave, Prey and Terror). Looking back at it now, 45 years on, he says: ‘Why it got so much publicity and why it was so successful was that the sex situation in this country was so naïve and innocent and you were so restricted.’

Her Private Hell features a screenplay by Glynn Christian, best known as BBC Breakfast Time’s resident chef in the 1980s, and a distinctive jazz soundtrack by renowned musician and composer John Scott.

Among the extensive extras are new cast and crew interviews, original screen tests (including one with a young Udo Kier), two early shorts by Norman J Warren and the rarely-seen The Anatomy of a Pin-up (1971), a lively documentary about ‘Penthouse Pets’ and nude modelling in Britain. All extras are presented in High Definition.

Her Private Hell (1967) - trailer - YouTube

[Yami]

I'm hoping the BFI finally get round to some Kurosawa releases this year. And Dreyer would be good too while they're at it...

[Judex]

Her Private Hell looks interesting i might pick it up.