Riddles of the Sphinx

[MichaelB]

Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen's groundbreaking 1977 experimental film is on the BFI's July-to-September release schedule.

More news when I get it.

[zedz]

Great news! Probably worth it for the BFI for the academic sales alone.

[MichaelB]

...and since the BFI made the film in the first place, they presumably won't have needed to factor a licensing fee into the budget.

[antnield]

RIDDLES OF THE SPHINX (DVD + Blu-ray)

A Film by Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen

Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen's visually accomplished and intellectually rigorous Riddles of the Sphinx is one of the most important avant-garde films to have emerged from Britain during the 1970s.

The second collaboration between Mulvey and Wollen, both of whom are recognised as seminal figures in the field of film theory, Riddles of the Sphinx explores issues of female representation, the place of motherhood within society and the relationship between mother and daughter. Composed of a number of discrete sections, many of which are shot as continuous circular pans, the film takes place in a range of domestic and public spaces, shot in locations which include Malcolm LeGrice's kitchen and Stephen Dwoskin's bedroom.

The film's ground-breaking electronic score, by The Soft Machine's Mike Ratledge, was composed on synthesisers which were developed in collaboration with Denys Irving (the man behind the mysterious and controversial 1970s band Lucifer).

Newly mastered to High Definition, this extraordinary, era-defining work is presented here with a wealth of essential bonus material, including a newly-recorded feature-length commentary by Laura Mulvey, Mulvey and Wollen's film Penthesilea: Queen of the Amazons (1974, 99 mins), and a video interview with Laura Mulvey in conversation with the University of Breman's Winfried Pauleit. Also included is an extensive booklet with new essays and complete film credits.

Special Features

- Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition
- Mastered to High Definition from materials preserved at the BFI National Archive
- Newly recorded Laura Mulvey audio commentary
- Newly filmed interview with Laura Mulvey
- Penthesilea: Queen of the Amazons (Peter Wollen and Laura Mulvey, 1974, 99 mins): trail-blazing avant-garde film exploring the image of the Amazonian woman in myth
- Extensive booklet with new essays and complete film credits

[Gregor Samsa]

Sounds like quite the impressive set.

[MichaelB]

You can read more about the supporting feature here. And the main feature too, come to that.

[Cabiria21]

too bad they couldn't have squeezed their short "Amy!" into the extras...love that one

[htshell]

So happy this will be on blu-ray. 16mm films on blu-ray are kind of a rarity at this point.

[antnield]

The BFI have uploaded an extract to YouTube.

[Roger Ryan]

The BFI have uploaded an extract to YouTube.

I trust that the "visually accomplished" material is not what's being excerpted in the YouTube video, right? The clip is intriguing, and I like the soundtrack, but the footage looks like the home movies shot by my mother.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Your Mum's Laura Mulvey?

[MichaelB]

Full specs announced:

Riddles of the Sphinx
A film by Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen
With music by Mike Ratledge

Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen's visually accomplished and intellectually rigorous Riddles of the Sphinx (1977) is one of the most important avant-garde films to have emerged from Britain during the 1970s. Newly mastered to High Definition from materials preserved at the BFI National Archive, this extraordinary, era-defining work will be released by the BFI in a Dual Format Edition on 23 September 2013, presented with a wealth of essential bonus material.

The second collaboration between Mulvey and Wollen, both of whom are recognised as seminal figures in the field of film theory, Riddles of the Sphinx explores issues of female representation, the place of motherhood within society and the relationship between mother and daughter. Composed of a number of discrete sections, many of which are shot as continuous circular pans, the film takes place in a range of domestic and public spaces, shot in locations which include Malcolm LeGrice's kitchen and Stephen Dwoskin's bedroom.

The film's ground-breaking electronic score, by The Soft Machine's Mike Ratledge, was composed on synthesisers which were developed in collaboration with Denys Irving (the man behind the mysterious and controversial 1970s band Lucifer).

Special features include a newly-recorded feature-length commentary by Laura Mulvey, Mulvey and Wollen's film Penthesilea: Queen of the Amazons and a video interview with Laura Mulvey in conversation with the University of Breman's Winfried Pauleit. Also included is an extensive booklet with new essays and complete film credits.

Special features
• Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition;
• Newly recorded feature-length audio commentary with Laura Mulvey and academic Winfried Pauleit;
• Laura Mulvey in Conversation (2013, 15 mins): the filmmaker and academic discusses Riddles of the Sphinx and her other films;
• Penthesilea: Queen of the Amazons (Peter Wollen and Laura Mulvey, 1974, 98 mins): trail-blazing avant-garde film exploring the image of the Amazonian woman in myth and popular culture;
• Illustrated booklet featuring new essays by Sophie Mayer, Laura Mulvey and Rob Young, and complete film credits.

Product details
RRP: £19.99 / cat. no. BFIB1176 / Cert U
UK / 1977 / colour / English language (optional English hard-of-hearing subtitles) / 91 mins + 98 mins / Original aspect ratio 1.33:1
Disc 1: BD50 / 1080p / 24fps / PCM mono (48k/24-bit)
Disc 2: DVD9 / PAL / Dolby Digital mono audio (192 kbps)

There will also be a special screening and Q&A with Laura Mulvey at BFI Southbank on Friday 4 October, 18:10.

[knives]

Does this new cover mean anything?

[MichaelB]

Assuming you mean the "limited edition" sticker, that refers to the dual-format version - once it's sold out, it'll only be available on DVD.

[knives]

Okay, that makes sense.

[zedz]

In a perfect world, I'd rather important films remained available in the best format, but this kind of 'limited edition' makes a lot of sense for marginal releases: a use-it-or-lose-it first run in HD, then keeping the film in print in an edition that's less expensive to maintain. If this approach allows the BFI to get more experimental / obscure work out on BluRay, I'm all for it.

[RossyG]

If the clip the BFI have put on YouTube is anything to go by, then it doesn't really merit a Blu-ray. In fact, a fuzzy VHS would've done the job.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlBaUd5Y58M

[zedz]

That footage is not at all representative of the overall look of the film, most of which was shot on 16mm and looks like a regular 16mm film.

[MichaelB]

This is absolutely correct - it's on a par with the BFI's other 16mm-sourced transfers (and this applies to both features).

And of course the great virtue of a 1080p transfer here is that (compression issues aside) you're probably seeing pretty much everything preserved on the original films.

[David M.]

If the clip the BFI have put on YouTube is anything to go by, then it doesn't really merit a Blu-ray. In fact, a fuzzy VHS would've done the job.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlBaUd5Y58M

That specific sequence was made by filming a projected film. Most of it is normal 16mm footage.

[MichaelB]

In a perfect world, I'd rather important films remained available in the best format, but this kind of 'limited edition' makes a lot of sense for marginal releases: a use-it-or-lose-it first run in HD, then keeping the film in print in an edition that's less expensive to maintain. If this approach allows the BFI to get more experimental / obscure work out on BluRay, I'm all for it.

Something similar happened with the Jeff Keen box - it was originally released in separate BD and DVD editions, and then when the BD stocks ran out, it became DVD-only.

Of course, the BFI has the advantage that they'll be creating 2K masters for archiving purposes as well - especially important with Riddles of the Sphinx, as it was one of their productions to begin with (and I can confirm from painful personal experience that it was in pretty poor shape a few years back at Wroclaw's Laura Mulvey retrospective: this new BD is night and day by comparison) - so they can justify the expense of mastering to Blu-ray in a way that a more cash-strapped indie label can't.

[MichaelB]

New Empress Magazine.

[antnield]

too bad they couldn't have squeezed their short "Amy!" into the extras...love that one

It's on the German edition (DVD only).

And, whilst I'm posting, here's an interview with Laura Mulvey.

[MichaelB]

too bad they couldn't have squeezed their short "Amy!" into the extras...love that one

It's on the German edition (DVD only).

...although that's missing the more substantial Penthesilea: Queen of the Amazons, so it's swings and roundabouts.

[Wes Moynihan]

I wish the BFI would put up a second trailer for the film - the one on the BFI youtube page reminds me of In the Shadow of the Sun or some other Derek Jarman Super 8 film, and I imagine it's not representative of the film...