Underground (1928)

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antnield
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Underground (1928)

#1 Post by antnield » Thu Oct 27, 2011 5:44 am

Anthony Asquith's 1928 silent confirmed as forthcoming in this interview with BFI Publishing's Sam Dunn. (No further information beyond that, however.)

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Ann Harding
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Re: Underground

#2 Post by Ann Harding » Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:07 am

Hurrah! Can't wait to see it. :)

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HJackson
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Re: Underground

#3 Post by HJackson » Sun Jul 29, 2012 12:12 pm

Glad to see this is in the works. A COTTAGE ON DARTMOOR is a fantastic film - a much better British example of the potential of silent film than any of the Hitchcock silents I've seen thus far - and UNDERGROUND sounds like a really charming piece of work. I'm just starting to dig into Asquith a bit (saw PYGMALION yesterday - BROWNING VERSION and FANNY BY GASLIGHT up next), so this is exciting. Any news on it since October?

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MichaelB
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Re: Underground

#4 Post by MichaelB » Thu Sep 20, 2012 6:23 am

Composer Neil Brand has just hinted via Facebook that an announcement about this is imminent. But that's literally all he'll divulge for now.

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perkizitore
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Re: Underground

#5 Post by perkizitore » Thu Sep 20, 2012 7:24 am

Finally, this has been on the pipeline for ages!

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antnield
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Re: Underground

#6 Post by antnield » Sat Dec 01, 2012 12:31 pm

DVD and Blu-ray to be released June 17th 2013, according to a press release for the upcoming theatrical tour.

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MichaelB
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Re: Underground

#7 Post by MichaelB » Thu Jan 03, 2013 6:55 am

...and here are details of the upcoming theatrical tour.

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TMDaines
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Re: Underground

#8 Post by TMDaines » Thu Jan 03, 2013 5:41 pm

Wow, three venues in London out of a total of five... gutted. :( It does feel like the LFI and not the BFI at times.

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MichaelB
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Re: Underground

#9 Post by MichaelB » Thu Jan 03, 2013 5:54 pm

TMDaines wrote:Wow, three venues in London out of a total of five... gutted. :( It does feel like the LFI and not the BFI at times.
I can pretty much guarantee that my former colleagues in BFI Distribution would be only too happy to book out the print (more likely DCP) to any cinema that wants it - it's not as though they're deliberately restricting it to Londoners as a matter of policy! So you're warmly encouraged to lobby your local arthouse or even multiplex.

I'm also reasonably sure that it wasn't the BFI's decision to only play it for two days in Exeter and one day in Leeds, and that it isn't a coincidence that the film's longest run is at the only cinema owned outright by the BFI themselves...

Mind you, in this case a London bias (or greater London interest) is understandable, both for its location, its subject and the fact that it's being revived to mark the Tube's 150th anniversary.

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TMDaines
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Re: Underground

#10 Post by TMDaines » Thu Jan 03, 2013 6:04 pm

I know. It's just sour grapes from me. I split my time between Cheshire and Coventry so I've got the Midlands and the North West covered, but so little stuff seems to come up our way. I'm stewarding the showing of It Always Rains on Sunday at Wednesday at Warwick Arts Centre and we're doing some of the Polanski stuff, no Knife in the Water though, but I'd love to see more of the BFI's stuff get more widely shown around these parts.

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colinr0380
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Re: Underground

#11 Post by colinr0380 » Fri Jan 04, 2013 10:16 am

Yes, it is almost an undergound film here as well (Ba-dum tish!)

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filmyfan
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Re: Underground

#12 Post by filmyfan » Mon Jan 07, 2013 2:26 pm

Anyone know who owns the rights to this ?

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MichaelB
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Re: Underground

#13 Post by MichaelB » Mon Jan 07, 2013 3:05 pm

If I remember rightly, the BFI owns the British Instructional Films catalogue outright.

They certainly own the restoration, but I think they own the underlying rights too.

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filmyfan
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Re: Underground

#14 Post by filmyfan » Tue Jan 08, 2013 4:48 am

Excellent..Thank you :D

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antnield
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Re: Underground

#15 Post by antnield » Tue Jan 22, 2013 2:15 pm


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filmyfan
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Re: Underground

#16 Post by filmyfan » Wed Jan 23, 2013 8:11 am

I saw this the other day at the BFI...and it was excellent.

Surprised it's not that well known...and a great restoration too.

That pressbook cover would make a good Blu Ray cover !

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MichaelB
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Re: Underground

#17 Post by MichaelB » Wed Jan 23, 2013 9:16 am

I think prints were in pretty lousy condition prior to the restoration, so it really hasn't been very easy to see.

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TMDaines
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Re: Underground

#18 Post by TMDaines » Wed Jan 23, 2013 3:40 pm

The rip floating around online is of really low quality so, considering this is coming out on Blu-ray, it will be one of the biggest upgrades this year - if not for years.

Edit: Case in point...

Image

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antnield
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Re: Underground

#19 Post by antnield » Mon Jan 28, 2013 10:33 am

Image

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MichaelB
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Re: Underground

#20 Post by MichaelB » Thu Jan 31, 2013 7:34 am

Since the BFI owns this film outright, you won't be too surprised to hear that this release is definitely region-free.

Miguel M Santos
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Re: Underground

#21 Post by Miguel M Santos » Sun Feb 10, 2013 4:46 pm

MichaelB wrote:Since the BFI owns this film outright, you won't be too surprised to hear that this release is definitely region-free.
Michael, do you know if the BFI is restoring any of the other Asquith silents, hopefully for release?

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TMDaines
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Re: Underground

#22 Post by TMDaines » Wed Feb 13, 2013 7:18 pm

Special Features

New score by celebrated silent film composer Neil Brand
Alternative audio track by the UK s leading sound recordist Chris Watson
A selection of early transport films from the Archive
As per Amazon.

Some film or director related extras would have been welcome but having this on Blu-ray with a choice of scores is more than welcome, to say the least.

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John Edmond
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Re: Underground

#23 Post by John Edmond » Wed Feb 13, 2013 8:12 pm

Yes, and anybody who's heard Chris Watson's El Tren Fantasma knows precisely what he can do with the squeal of train metal.

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zedz
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Re: Underground

#24 Post by zedz » Wed Feb 13, 2013 9:09 pm

That's Cabaret Voltaire / Hafler Trio Chris Watson, for those so inclined.

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antnield
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Re: Underground

#25 Post by antnield » Tue May 14, 2013 1:57 pm

More info on those extras...
- Feature presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition
- Newly commissioned score by Neil Brand presented in 5.1 and 2.0
- Alternative score by Chris Watson
- The Premier and His Little Son (1909-12, 1 min): previously unseen footage of Anthony Asquith as a child
- A Trip on the Metropolitan Railway (1910, 13 mins, DVD only)
- Scenes at Piccadilly Circus and Hyde Park Corner (1930-32, 6 mins, DVD only)
- Seven More Stations (1948, 12 mins, DVD only): a film about the expansion of the Central Line beyond Stratford
- Under Night Streets (1958, 20 mins): a documentary about the tube's nightshift workers
- Illustrated booklet featuring film notes and new essays by Christian Wolmar and Neil Brand

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