69 Confidence

Discuss releases by Second Run and the films on them.
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MichaelB
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69 Confidence

#1 Post by MichaelB » Sun Mar 11, 2012 6:32 pm

István Szabó's 1980 film confirmed as a late May release.

More details when I get them - but I can probably reveal that it's not just director-approved but director-requested. Szabó personally asked Second Run to release it, as it's one of his proudest achievements but it's never been released on DVD anywhere in the world before. In fact, did it ever come out on VHS?
Last edited by MichaelB on Fri Jun 15, 2012 8:03 am, edited 1 time in total.

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jbeall
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Re: Confidence

#2 Post by jbeall » Sun Mar 11, 2012 7:55 pm

Great news. Looks like Second Run has done a great job of putting themselves on the radars of directors, which can only be good for future releases, especially if/when SR decides to enter the blu-ray market.

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MichaelB
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Re: Confidence

#3 Post by MichaelB » Mon Mar 12, 2012 4:15 am

As far as I understand the situation, Szabó hugely appreciated what Second Run did with Apa (not least framing it in his preferred aspect ratio for the first time) and was very keen to work with them again.

So they asked him which film he thought most needed a decent DVD release, and that was his reply: of all the films that he regards as his major work, Confidence is the only one that's currently pretty much inaccessible. IMDB entry here.

On the subject of Blu-rays, though, I really wouldn't hold your breath. With a huge amount of encouragement (and nagging) from the likes of me and people who work for various other labels, they've crunched the numbers every possible way and just can't work out how to make them fit their current business model.

In Britain, at present, it costs fully six times as much to master a film for Blu-ray as it does for DVD thanks not just to the increased costs of authoring but also additional licensing costs (believe it or not, you have to pay for permission to use the Blu-ray logo!). Obviously, it's not realistic to charge six times as much: they have to charge low prices because their entire ethos relies on people's willingness to blind-buy. With profit margins currently squeezed almost to the point of nonexistence even on DVD, breaking even with a BD becomes an almost insuperable challenge. They'd have to be reasonably sure of selling at least a thousand copies, which might not sound like a lot, but in Second Run's ultra-niche world it's a veritable blockbuster.

The other major problem is that the vast majority of their catalogue simply isn't available in off-the-shelf HD masters (including titles like Szindbád that are crying out for the 1080p treatment) - and that's just as true of upcoming titles as it is of already-released ones. More annoyingly, two of the ones that are, Marketa Lazarová and Knights of the Teutonic Order, ran into unresolvable BBFC problems to do with British animal cruelty laws, and Second Run can't see any point in releasing cut versions when an uncut Marketa is already available elsewhere and Knights will doubtless follow. (They recently abandoned another project for similar reasons - the situation with Knights took them by surprise after money had already been spent, but they're not making that mistake again!)

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jbeall
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Re: Confidence

#4 Post by jbeall » Mon Mar 12, 2012 11:09 pm

I probably shouldn't have made the blu comment, or at least stated more firmly that I was being extremely speculative and looking down the road. I was really thinking more in terms of directors wanting to work with SR; living directors might have elements in better condition than some of the East-Central European film vaults. The market is moving in the direction of blu, to be sure, but the obsolescence of dvds is still quite a ways off.

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MichaelB
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Re: Confidence

#5 Post by MichaelB » Tue Mar 13, 2012 3:51 am

jbeall wrote:I probably shouldn't have made the blu comment, or at least stated more firmly that I was being extremely speculative and looking down the road.
I'm very glad you did, because it needed airing - if only to stress that Second Run really isn't ignoring people's wishes on this. In fact, it's been at least a weekly and sometimes daily topic of conversation whenever I've been speaking to them, and I know they've also been talking to far more knowledgeable people who have been far more directly responsible for the financing and logistics of Blu-ray releases than I've been. They're big Blu-ray fans themselves, but the economics are completely intractable at the moment.
I was really thinking more in terms of directors wanting to work with SR; living directors might have elements in better condition than some of the East-Central European film vaults. The market is moving in the direction of blu, to be sure, but the obsolescence of dvds is still quite a ways off.
It's obviously very handy having directors involved, though they don't always have much sway over the materials being used, and I'd say it's very rare indeed that they're personally sitting on good 35mm materials, unless they happen to own or have a strong connection with the production company. For instance, when I worked on the BFI's Jan Svankmajer collection, it turned out that he only had a direct say on just one of his 26 shorts (Jabberwocky, which not coincidentally has one of the finest transfers in the set, because his company was only too happy to do us a brand new one from the best 35mm elements) - the bulk of the rest was represented by a company that he has no connection with and with whom I don't think he's on the best of terms.

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knives
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Re: Confidence

#6 Post by knives » Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:58 am

I don't know what the rights situation are for this or if you even have time before the release, but as an extra I would like to see Szabo's student film On the Seventh Day as an extra. Here's a youtube copy for evidence it still exists in some form.

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Re: Confidence

#7 Post by charal » Tue Apr 24, 2012 6:27 pm

Up on Amazon for a June 25 release as well as MOTHER JOAN [May 28].

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007 ... 00_s00_i00" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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MichaelB
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Re: Confidence

#8 Post by MichaelB » Tue May 15, 2012 9:07 am

What an absolutely stunning film.

I can readily see why Szabó wanted it back in circulation: it's right up there with his very best work. I suspect it's been comparatively neglected because it's so unshowy compared with the barnstorming Klaus Maria Brandauer vehicles that followed (95% of it consists of quiet conversations in poorly-lit rooms between just two or three people) but it's riveting from first frame to last, especially as we get to know the two central characters Katalin and János better. That said, "better" doesn't mean very much in the wider scheme of things, since they deliberately tell each other very little about themselves in order to protect their cover: they're pretending to be a married couple in order to conceal their links to the anti-Nazi resistance movement, but this in itself causes almost intolerable psychological and emotional strain.

And that's as much as I'm going to reveal, because the less you know going in, the better. But this is easily worth a blind buy.

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Bikey
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Re: Confidence

#9 Post by Bikey » Fri Jun 01, 2012 6:15 am

Final artwork
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MichaelB
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Re: Confidence

#10 Post by MichaelB » Fri Jun 01, 2012 6:30 am

That absolutely nails it. I love the way the shadow acts as a narrow but unignorable barrier between them, and that you can't tell whether she's looking directly at him or slightly over his shoulder.

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Bikey
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Re: 69 Confidence

#11 Post by Bikey » Sat Jun 16, 2012 6:59 am

Michael Brooke's review for MovieMail

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Bikey
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Re: 69 Confidence

#12 Post by Bikey » Tue Jun 19, 2012 2:09 pm

Full details of the release now up at our website

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RossyG
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Re: 69 Confidence

#13 Post by RossyG » Wed Jun 20, 2012 2:59 pm

Looking forward to it.

I love the idea of a director-requested release. That's what I call a vote of confidence.

See what I did there? :D

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Re: 69 Confidence

#14 Post by McCrutchy » Wed Jun 20, 2012 5:36 pm

^I have pre-ordered this, as the reviews and information I have seen on the film inspire confidence in my purchasing it sight unseen.

:lol:

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Bikey
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Re: 69 Confidence

#15 Post by Bikey » Mon Jun 25, 2012 8:13 pm

Anthony Nield's review at The Digital Fix

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Bikey
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Re: 69 Confidence

#16 Post by Bikey » Tue Jun 26, 2012 3:12 pm

"Confidence can easily rank as his masterpiece" - Michael Ewins at E Film Blog

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Bikey
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Re: 69 Confidence

#17 Post by Bikey » Wed Jun 27, 2012 5:02 am

DVD of the Week in the latest Time Out:
Image[/url]

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Bikey
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Re: 69 Confidence

#18 Post by Bikey » Thu Jun 28, 2012 1:29 pm


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MichaelB
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Re: 69 Confidence

#19 Post by MichaelB » Sun Jul 01, 2012 3:12 pm

Mondo Digital:
Sort of a psychological thriller in the most literal sense, Confidence is a constantly shifting, visually chilly, and almost eerie character-driven drama, driven by two extremely committed central performances (including some little erotic grace notes you probably wouldn't expect to see in a film like this). It's a difficult film to discuss rather than experience, but the director keeps it all under firm control and guides everything to a subdued but intensely powerful final two scenes whose power lingers well after the end of the film. Why this has been so ignored is anyone's guess, but it's a gem waiting to be rediscovered now that people can actually see it.

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Bikey
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Re: 69 Confidence

#20 Post by Bikey » Tue Jul 03, 2012 8:41 am


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swo17
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Re: 69 Confidence

#21 Post by swo17 » Wed Jul 04, 2012 10:31 pm

So somehow at some point I got it in my head that this film was directed by Huszárik, whose Szindbád was one of my favorite DVD releases last year, making a blind buy preorder for another offering from the director an easy sell. (Nothing against Szabó, I'm just not as familiar with him.) No regrets though--Confidence is a great film, tense and fascinating throughout. The dialogue often proceeds at a breakneck pace, with thoughts both spoken and unspoken tersely juxtaposed to relay the characters' unease. The film actually reminded me a bit of Certified Copy, only with the dynamics of the faux marriage relationship more grounded in reality, and of course with the stakes set much higher. In both cases though, you get a sense of how difficult it can be to go through the motions of a relationship without conflating real vs. feigned gestures and emotions. And though the plot specifics that force the couple together in the case of this film may not be prevalent today, I was conscious of a potentially comparable emotional toll on the actors playing these parts, or indeed, on any actors who might spend weeks or months together in the intimate roles of husband and wife, only to abandon these roles after filming completes.

Anyway, it was a stellar presentation and an engaging watch. Great work as usual, Second Run!

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MichaelB
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Re: 69 Confidence

#22 Post by MichaelB » Thu Jul 05, 2012 3:12 am

swo17 wrote:So somehow at some point I got it in my head that this film was directed by Huszárik, whose Szindbád was one of my favorite DVD releases last year, making a blind buy preorder for another offering from the director an easy sell.
That's not as mad as it sounds, since Huszárik's second (and last) feature Csontváry also came out in 1980. And the titles aren't that different.

Oh, and I was strangely thrilled to hear that you're more familiar with Huszárik (almost totally unknown outside Hungary until very recently) than Szabó (easily the most globally famous Hungarian director for the past 30 years). Szabó's a superb director too, of course, but the Hungarians themselves rank Szindbád higher than any of his work.

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swo17
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Re: 69 Confidence

#23 Post by swo17 » Thu Jul 05, 2012 11:11 am

Mind you, I've only seen Szindbád and Capriccio (which I believe you found on YouTube) from Huszárik but both left a very lasting impression! From Szabó I'd previously only seen Mephisto, but long enough ago that I only vaguely remember it.

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knives
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Re: 69 Confidence

#24 Post by knives » Thu Jul 05, 2012 5:43 pm

Don't forget Second Run has also released Szabó's Father which while not as good as Confidence, which reminded me of a particularly nasty Hitchcock, is still a very fascinating release akin to Diary for My Children. Here's an other Huszárik for you though.

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Bikey
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Re: 69 Confidence

#25 Post by Bikey » Thu Jul 12, 2012 5:36 am

Reviewed in the latest Sight & Sound:
Image

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