British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[rapta]

Originally Posted by KRW1

My only comment would be to grab M Hulot's Holiday as soon as you can, the other Tati's are looking a bit pricey from some places so I wouldn't be amazed if that goes OOP too.

Yup, gutted I didn't get Mon Oncle whilst I could. Didn't realise it was in danger of going OOP, and one day it just went!

[mattyl149]

Originally Posted by rapta

Yup, gutted I didn't get Mon Oncle whilst I could. Didn't realise it was in danger of going OOP, and one day it just went!

Studio Canal have the rights now and are releasing a box set next year. All titles have been remastered and will be in HD

This means Parade which only had a DVD release from the BFI and Traffic which was released by someone else on DVD only will finally be getting Blu-ray releases

If you don't own any Tati, then I'd suggest holding out for this set

[Hintermann]

BFI's Dual Format set of Polanski's Tess is available at under £10 and the BD gets 5/5 audio and video rating here! Why would anyone this side of the Pond want to spend more than twice as much for the Criterion? For the booklet?

[MacEachaidh]

Originally Posted by mattyl149

Studio Canal have the rights now and are releasing a box set next year. All titles have been remastered and will be in HD

Do you mean, remastered since the BFI releases?

Did they need it? I thought Les Vacances and Play Time were both pretty impressive.

Anyhow, I snagged all four BFI Tatis, so I doubt the SC box will have anything very compelling for me. Or am I missing something?

[Hintermann]

Originally Posted by KRW1

My only comment would be to grab M Hulot's Holiday as soon as you can, the other Tati's are looking a bit pricey from some places so I wouldn't be amazed if that goes OOP too.

Just did. The other 4 too. Added London In The Raw to boot.

Is there a chance Mon Oncle could be re-released, perhaps with a better video quality and a reasonable price? The review here was only 3.8/5 and for that film in particular, with its geometric designs and all that, top picture quality is important.

[Yami]

Originally Posted by Hintermann

Is there a chance Mon Oncle could be re-released, perhaps with a better video quality and a reasonable price? The review here was only 3.8/5 and for that film in particular, with its geometric designs and all that, top picture quality is important.

Yes, on February 8th as part of Studio Canal's Jacques Tati Collection

[Hintermann]

Originally Posted by Yami

Yes, on February 8th as part of Studio Canal's Jacques Tati Collection

Sure, but if one wants just a remastered copy of Mon Oncle, that would not be possible with that set, would it?

[theprestige85]

Originally Posted by ravenus

Arrow released some of his stuff on DVD (and pretty darn good editions they were), so perhaps they can do something. It remains to be seen if the masters they had access to are suitable for making HD encodes.

What titles did they release? Can't imagine the masters are in bad shape. At least I hope they aren't

Pretty much zero.

Why's that MichaelB? Did you hear something about another company doing it? Is it to do with rights and all that? I'd have thought a distributor like BFI would have lapped up Fassbinder by now.

[KRW1]

Originally Posted by mattyl149

Studio Canal have the rights now and are releasing a box set next year. All titles have been remastered and will be in HD

This means Parade which only had a DVD release from the BFI and Traffic which was released by someone else on DVD only will finally be getting Blu-ray releases

If you don't own any Tati, then I'd suggest holding out for this set

Ah, didn't realise there was actually a date for this. I'd given up any hope of new versions as it's been in preparation for as long as I can remember.

[Ozu Teapot]

Originally Posted by theprestige85

What titles did they release? Can't imagine the masters are in bad shape. At least I hope they aren't

They released two box sets of 8 and 9 discs respectively.
Amazon links :
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rainer-Werner-Fassbinder-Commemorative-Collection/dp/B000HOJF5U/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1386369647&sr=8-2&keywords=fassbinder
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Rainer-Werner-Fassbinder-Collection/dp/B000HOJF64/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386369647&sr=8-1&keywords=fassbinder

Not sure if they released the titles seperately. Second Sight released Berlin Alexanderplatz too I think.

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by Yami

The main problem is no longer Coppola but how to encode the triptych sequence on home video. Robert Harris and Criterion have hinted that a release will be coming - eventually.

I spent some time with KB last year and he gave pretty much this as the reasoning behind the lack of an home video release. He didn't think it would work in the same way that it does on the big-screen, although I gather he's coming around to the idea.

I too was at Napoleon last weekend, and would rank the experience as being one of the best theatrical events I've ever attended. I've never seen anything quite like it.

[filmmusic]

i'm not sure if it's off topic but is there a thread anywhere that lists the UK blurays that are cut (comparing to the US release) due to the BFI?
eg i know so far only about Conan the Barbarian.

[Yami]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

i'm not sure if it's off topic but is there a thread anywhere that lists the UK blurays that are cut (comparing to the US release) due to the BFI?
eg i know so far only about Conan the Barbarian.

You're confusing the BFI with the BBFC

[filmmusic]

Originally Posted by Yami

You're confusing the BFI with the BBFC

oops!

[deepbreathsanddeath]

Originally Posted by Hintermann

BFI's Dual Format set of Polanski's Tess is available at under £10 and the BD gets 5/5 audio and video rating here! Why would anyone this side of the Pond want to spend more than twice as much for the Criterion? For the booklet?

Probably better special features, sure, a booklet which will figure great reading material, a nicer cover, it'll go with the rest of our big criterion collections and most importantly, Criterion's release of the film is 186 minutes long. BFI's is 171 minutes.

Also most of us won't be spending "twice as much". £10 is now about $17-18 and during criterion 50% off sales, it'll be $20. Ultimately about the same (give or take a few dollars) and Criterion's will no doubt be the better release.

[Mansinthe]

Originally Posted by Hintermann

BFI's Dual Format set of Polanski's Tess is available at under £10 and the BD gets 5/5 audio and video rating here! Why would anyone this side of the Pond want to spend more than twice as much for the Criterion? For the booklet?

10 GBP = 16.34 US Dollar + ~2.50GBP shipping from amazon
so acutally the BFI release would cost me probably a about the same like the (most likely) superior criterion release will in the next B&N or amazon sale.

[Hintermann]

Originally Posted by deepbreathsanddeath

Probably better special features, sure, a booklet which will figure great reading material, a nicer cover, it'll go with the rest of our big criterion collections and most importantly, Criterion's release of the film is 186 minutes long. BFI's is 171 minutes.

Also most of us won't be spending "twice as much". £10 is now about $17-18 and during criterion 50% off sales, it'll be $20. Ultimately about the same (give or take a few dollars) and Criterion's will no doubt be the better release.

I had checked Criterion's website before placing the BFI order because I was aware that a single print of the 184-minute version had survived somewhere. But the Criterion site says that their edition of Tess is 172 minutes too.

The BFI edition has a reasonable selection of extras but they are all on the DVD. That will not be a major issue for me. BFI also have a booklet and shipping within the UK from Amazon is free.

I'll admit that Criterion have a better cover and an edge on the extras. But I do have a fallback. My sister-in-law will be visiting us in February and if by then the Criterion release looks significantly more appetising, I'll upload the BFI one on the SIL (I know that she likes Polanski films) and get myself the Criterion, which should be available cheaper by then.

[Hintermann]

Originally Posted by MichaelB

Since Polanski was involved with the restoration, if he'd wanted the running time to be bumped up 15 minutes or so, what would have stopped him?

Apparently, when the 184-minute version was first screened in Germany, it was not very popular and so certain scenes were edited out. I do not know the details - you probably do.

[tenia]

About Tess :

The restoration was carried by Pathé under supervisation of Polanski. Most of the extras included on the HD releases were made around this new restoration.

If you compare the French, UK and US releases, you'll see that :

- the PQ will obviously be extremely similar, all differences should be down to the encode.
- there are differences in the sound department : French + US have lossless 5.1 sound, when UK has lossless 2.0 + lossy 5.1 tracks.
- Most of the extras are identical, except that the French releases has an old 38min Making Of and a 53min 2006 documentary that the BFI has not. The Criterion will have the 2006 documentary and an exclusive 1979 ITW with Polanski.

So all in all, the only BIG difference would be the missing lossless 5.1 track. All the rest is down to missing extras, which would probably hardly justify being disappointed by the BFI release.

[Hintermann]

Originally Posted by tenia

About Tess :

So all in all, the only BIG difference would be the missing lossless 5.1 track. All the rest is down to missing extras, which would probably hardly justify being disappointed by the BFI release.

Well, the rating here is quite reliable and they gave the audio for the BFI version of Tess a 5/5. So, it must be good enough.