The Stone Tape (BBC, 1972) - 9th December, 2024 (101 Films)

[wabrit]

Originally Posted by puffketeer

I've looked at the letterboxd reviews for this, since I find that site to be a better barometer of what people online think about movies nowadays, and I've seen a few people there take umbrage with its portrayal of casual racism (the anti-japan stuff) & misogyny (how jane asher's character is treated).

I have a few points to make regarding that.

firstly, I really wish more people online would understand that having deliberately unlikeable characters in your story is not a flaw. if you just want people to root for, go watch football.
secondly, you're watching something produced over 50 years ago, when the standards of what was acceptable in mainstream entertainment were different. people, understandably so if you ask me, bristle at portrayals of discrimination a lot more now than they would have then.
thirdly, I think it's made pretty clear by the ending where the story's sympathies lie.

ultimately, when you watch a movie older than yourself through a modern lens, you're not going to see it the same way people at the time did, but I really wish more people had the media literacy to understand that portraying racism & misogyny in fiction is not even remotely the same thing as endorsing it

There's an interesting article on The Stone Tape in the current edition of Sight & Sound that expands on how the attitudes of the male scientists are central to the themes of Kneale's script.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by puffketeer

I've looked at the letterboxd reviews for this, since I find that site to be a better barometer of what people online think about movies nowadays, and I've seen a few people there take umbrage with its portrayal of casual racism (the anti-japan stuff) & misogyny (how jane asher's character is treated).

I have a few points to make regarding that.

firstly, I really wish more people online would understand that having deliberately unlikeable characters in your story is not a flaw. if you just want people to root for, go watch football.
secondly, you're watching something produced over 50 years ago, when the standards of what was acceptable in mainstream entertainment were different. people, understandably so if you ask me, bristle at portrayals of discrimination a lot more now than they would have then.
thirdly, I think it's made pretty clear by the ending where the story's sympathies lie.

ultimately, when you watch a movie older than yourself through a modern lens, you're not going to see it the same way people at the time did, but I really wish more people had the media literacy to understand that portraying racism & misogyny in fiction is not even remotely the same thing as endorsing it

Post of the week.

[pferreira]

Originally Posted by puffketeer

secondly, you're watching something produced over 50 years ago, when the standards of what was acceptable in mainstream entertainment were different. people, understandably so if you ask me, bristle at portrayals of discrimination a lot more now than they would have then.
thirdly, I think it's made pretty clear by the ending where the story's sympathies lie.

All the characters in the film are supposed to be flawed and unlikable. Their greed and competitiveness is what dooms them. How could anyone on a film related website look down on something made in the 70's???

[drush9999]

Got mine today, didn't realise it'd be a heavy thick boxset.

[T4ffer]

Originally Posted by drush9999

Got mine today, didn't realise it'd be a heavy thick boxset.

That's why I'm still waiting for the standard edition to appear, since I have Ghostwatch in SE as well.

[puffketeer]

Originally Posted by wabrit

There's an interesting article on The Stone Tape in the current edition of Sight & Sound that expands on how the attitudes of the male scientists are central to the themes of Kneale's script.

to be clear, I saw plenty of (non-joke) reviews on letterboxd from people who actually got that point. like the guy who quipped, "No one has a tougher row to hoe than a woman in STEM."

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Post of the week.

heh, I try.

Originally Posted by pferreira

All the characters in the film are supposed to be flawed and unlikable. Their greed and competitiveness is what dooms them. How could anyone on a film related website look down on something made in the 70's???

there's always going to be somebody online with a Hot Take nowadays but it's not like they're speaking for anyone but themselves. plus, like I said before, discrimination just is more shocking to people in media now than it used to be (the BBFC recently re-rated this film a 12 for that reason)

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by drush9999

Got mine today, didn't realise it'd be a heavy thick boxset.

Well, it is the normal sized booklet plus the complete camera script repro which is 100 or so pages.

[blueman_Richie]

I had no idea this was going to include the complete script in book form, a great surprise! (I thought it was maybe just going to be some odd repro pages or notes on the script)

[oddbox83]

A facsimile of the script they'd have been working from at the time too, not a retype.

[WaverBoy]

Finally got my order in for this one. I love Nigel Kneale and I’d never heard of this. Can’t wait!

[Steedeel]

This was on C4’s 100 most scary moments when it was broadcast on C4 in U.K.

[everygrainofsand]

Received mine today, and oh boy: what a handsome looking set! Like others have said, it's a perfect companion to 101's limited edition of Ghostwatch, and I hope other titles come along too!

Nothing noted as to who handled the encode (that I can see). That of course is the big determining issue as to whether this ends up being one of those superlative releases that's great on every front. I look forward to seeing others' comments on the encode, and their feedback in general. (I'll add mine too, just as soon as I have my first watch!)

Enjoy, everyone!

[LigandFields]

Just watched it there on my trusty Sony Bravia.
I've had it on DVD for years and seen it many times over the past 20-odd years... but it's been a couple since the last time - I've always thought it was excellent, and it still gave me goosebumps at several points tonight!

As for the sound and picture quality - well, it was still definitely 625-line PAL video from 1972! But it did look better than the DVD. No miracles, no pimping the colour, no attempts to fake more dynamic range out of than it posseses - even a couple of tape dropouts (or are they head clogs? - momentary horizontal black lines across the picture) left in. A soupcon of tape hiss still there. But perfectly watchable - an honest transfer of the source, getting the best out of it, without trying to make it look or sound better than it is (which I am totally sympathetic too: cos in my opinion, when you try and polish that kind of source, it seldom actually improves it - I certainly didn't want to see Jane Asher's hair looking saturated orange, for instance).

I also think the original video effects were damn good, considering they were done live on the takes, vision mixed live - there's some amazing shot composition when Jill is menaced by "the others" for instance.
Bottom line: the story itself is bloody excellent! One of the best bits of telly ever made.

[Katatonia]

Originally Posted by everygrainofsand

Received mine today, and oh boy: what a handsome looking set! Like others have said, it's a perfect companion to 101's limited edition of Ghostwatch, and I hope other titles come along too!

And both were even paired together on an old UK DVD Double Feature release:



I can finally get rid of that now...

[LigandFields]

Reading the script book is fascinating two - so far I've discovered one deleted scene
But more than anything else, I'm just struck have much the cast and director bring to it - reading Michael Briant, Jane Asher, Ian Cuthbertson's lines on the page, they're about 20% of what's actually in the scene! The performance and delivery really take it all to another level.

[mpreed]

For those like me, who had out of habit pre-ordered at Amazon, then they are showing it as being available in 3-7 months time (presumably that will change when they get delivery) whereas it's available for the same price as Amazon, and with free 24-48 hours postage, from the 101 films web store. So cancel those Amazon orders and order direct - plus 101 won't need to give a hefty cut to Amazon.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by mpreed

For those like me, who had out of habit pre-ordered at Amazon, then they are showing it as being available in 3-7 months time (presumably that will change when they get delivery) whereas it's available for the same price as Amazon, and with free 24-48 hours postage, from the 101 films web store. So cancel those Amazon orders and order direct - plus 101 won't need to give a hefty cut to Amazon.

Yeah, what is that all about? Pre ordered but not available!

[LigandFields]

I tell you one thing, viewers: if you want to see a *bad* encode of The Stone Tape, watch the 'Children of the Stone Tape' documentary on this disc, where loads of clips have been converted to 1080/24p instead of 50i, creating a hideous jerky mess!

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by LigandFields

I tell you one thing, viewers: if you want to see a *bad* encode of The Stone Tape, watch the 'Children of the Stone Tape' documentary on this disc, where loads of clips have been converted to 1080/24p instead of 50i, creating a hideous jerky mess!

I don't know why they did that, since the other new extra on the disc is interlaced.

Only reason I can think of is that they shot all the interviews at 24p, and didn't want to "fix" those. Problem is, the clips look like shit now.

Personally, the best thing to do, if this was the case, was to speed the interviews to 25p in a 50i container with pitch correction then no one would even notice them sped up, but the clips would look as they should.

[LigandFields]

The ratio of clip to interview is rather too high for my taste anyways - these things seem to be edited for people with ADHD.