Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clock

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Sean Kaye-Smith
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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clock

#26 Post by Sean Kaye-Smith » Wed Jul 22, 2009 7:31 pm

Re- the running time of 'The Other Side of the Underneath' (Jane Arden 1972).

In his Guardian review of 15th February 1973 - entitles 'Women, beware women' - Derek Malcolm clearly states: 'This is an extraordinary melange of imagery and argument which traces, IN OVER TWO HOURS, the course of a woman's breakdown...' (My capital letters).
So where do we get 107 minutes from? Surely if Derek Malcolm saw a print that was over two hours long for reviewing then it wasn't the one on the new BFI DVD.

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clock

#27 Post by peerpee » Thu Jul 23, 2009 12:11 pm

Was I just single malt drunk the other night, or did I see an FBI warning on insertion of one of these Blu-rays?

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clock

#28 Post by cdnchris » Thu Jul 23, 2009 12:42 pm

peerpee wrote:Was I just single malt drunk the other night, or did I see an FBI warning on insertion of one of these Blu-rays?
Indeed you did! Did they expand jurisdiction?

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clock

#29 Post by peerpee » Thu Jul 23, 2009 9:36 pm

Maybe it's just the same organisation? Same letters.

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clock

#30 Post by perkizitore » Thu Jul 23, 2009 10:01 pm

cdnchris wrote:
peerpee wrote:Was I just single malt drunk the other night, or did I see an FBI warning on insertion of one of these Blu-rays?
Indeed you did! Did they expand jurisdiction?
I always felt that the UK needed a federal police force, something between ordinary cops and secret services =D>

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clock

#31 Post by MichaelB » Sun Jul 26, 2009 9:43 am

DVD Times (Separation Blu-ray).
With apologies to the fine folks behind Masters of Cinema, the reality as I see it is that the BFI's release of Separation is the single most interesting development in UK home entertainment this year. It's like the DVD/Blu-ray deities have suddenly dropped an unopened and undisturbed time capsule from the sky, having taken time to first polish it to near-perfection. I'm quick to add that such excitement isn't just to do with the quality of the film, but also its availability. We home viewers sometimes think a new release of an older movie that's already been made available in another country or one that had been put out on VHS or even had television showings is cause for celebration. And while that certainly can be and often is true, having something as fascinating as Separation that can now be watched and purchased for the first time in many people's lifetimes is enormously exciting, like opening a door that no one at all could have entered earlier.

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clock

#32 Post by peerpee » Sun Jul 26, 2009 10:40 am

Wait til Clydefro sees COMRADES! -- It's the best film and disc I've seen all year. An amazing achievement (by Bill Douglas and the BFI) that will now finally be able to get its due. I can't think of many better British films in the last 40 years.

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clock

#33 Post by cdnchris » Thu Jul 30, 2009 12:48 am

Separation Blu-ray review

Great Blu-ray.

And I think I like the film. It's certainly sticking with me. Intrigued by the other Bond/Arden titles and looking forward to going through those.

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clock

#34 Post by MichaelB » Sat Aug 08, 2009 1:42 pm

Blu-ray.com (The Other Side of the Underneath)
The Other Side of the Underneath is a film Dusan Makavejev would have loved to direct. It is controversial, provocative and very, very disturbing.

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clock

#35 Post by RodneyOz » Sun Aug 09, 2009 2:41 am

I've been interested in getting the first two films (you know, whenever, in good time), despite not having heard of the filmmakers before this thread, but after reading that latest review, I HAVE to get all three ASAP. My next order from Amazon UK will be all three Blu-Rays (plus GAZWRX) - consider me sold on these.

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clock

#36 Post by Sean Kaye-Smith » Thu Aug 13, 2009 11:51 am

In response to the enthusiasm above for 'Separation' (Jack Bond 1967), an interesting companion piece would be 'Four In The Morning', made two years earlier by writer/director Anthony Simmons. Like 'Separation' it stars Ann Lynn, alongside Judy Dench and Norman Rodway, and is set in London; there are lots of wonderful black and white shots of the Thames. The film also has very little plot and explores two troubled relationships. It is a surprisingly dark film with some uncomfortable scenes in a morgue. In the booklet for the 2008 DVD release of the film (Odeon: Best of British Collection) Simmons says that he and the cast were aware of the improvised films of John Cassavetes and made much of the dialogue up on the set or on location in rehearsal; some scenes in 'Separation' seem clearly improvised or at least unscripted.

Perhaps Ann Lynn brought a lot to 'Separation' after her experience on 'Four In The Morning'. Both films are timely reminders of a very interesting actor, who appeared on stage alongside Albert Finney in Jane Arden's 'The Party' in 1958 (directed by Charles Laughton in his last appearance on the London stage) and later memorably in 'The Other Side of the Underneath' (Jane Arden 1972).

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clock

#37 Post by cdnchris » Thu Aug 20, 2009 5:46 pm

I feel I should point out that I got The Other Side of the Underneath and had issues playing it on my PS3. I guess there's something on here that's briefly in PAL and the PS3 freaks out and cancels playback. Apparently other players just skip it. I think it's just an intro title before going to the main menu but I haven't been able to figure out how to skip it.

EDIT: This is apparently only if you've updated your firmware to something like 2.7 or higher.

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clock

#38 Post by peerpee » Thu Aug 20, 2009 6:56 pm

That'd be ironic if it were the PAL FBI warning. What a shame.

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clock

#39 Post by cdnchris » Tue Sep 01, 2009 2:22 pm

I got the latest firmware for my PS3 and double checked my Other Side of the Underneath disc and it now plays back.

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clock

#40 Post by Sanjuro » Sat Sep 12, 2009 9:42 pm

Any opinions on which verion of The Other Side of the Underneath to watch first?

I get the impression it's gonna upset me either way, but I'm brave.

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clock

#41 Post by MichaelB » Tue Sep 15, 2009 11:58 am

Mondo Digital on all three discs. Helpfully, he also answers the previous question by saying that:
(As a result, this alternate cut runs well over two hours, which might be too much for most people’s sensibilities.)

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clock

#42 Post by GaryC » Mon Feb 01, 2010 3:45 pm

There's an interesting claim in this article in The Guardian today. When Beeban Kidron was making her first feature (Vroom which I have seen) she was told that she was only the third woman to direct a feature in Britain. So the two previous ones were Sally Potter for The Gold Diggers and before her Jane Arden for The Other Side of the Underneath?

(That should probably have said "solo-direct", otherwise Laura Mulvey would count.)

But is that true? Was The Other Side of the Underneath not just the only British feature solely directed by a woman in the 1970s, but the first ever? I have to admit I can't think of any earlier ones.

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clock

#43 Post by MichaelB » Mon Feb 01, 2010 4:51 pm

Nah, it's bollocks. There certainly weren't many British female feature directors before Kidron came along, but there were more than two - you could double the list simply by adding Jill Craigie and Wendy Toye.

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clock

#44 Post by GaryC » Mon Feb 01, 2010 5:31 pm

Thanks. I'd forgotten about Wendy Toye - and wasn't aware she was still alive (unlike Arden and Craigie).

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clock

#45 Post by trenchant » Sat Mar 27, 2010 12:53 am

I just read a review at DiscDish about the U.S. release http://tinyurl.com/yz2hs8h" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clo

#46 Post by broadwayrock » Wed Sep 15, 2010 7:36 pm

Jamie Reynolds from the British band Klaxons has made a short documentary on Jack Bond for vbs.tv. Part 1 and Part 2

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clo

#47 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Mon Oct 18, 2010 5:07 pm

I loved Separation, but I'm somewhat unsure about Anti-Clock and The Other Side of the Underneath. Should I give them a try anyway?

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clo

#48 Post by ambrose » Sun Dec 19, 2010 5:24 pm


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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clo

#49 Post by knives » Sun Jun 19, 2011 11:33 pm

I wasn't expecting at all what I got out of The Other Side of the Underneath. For some reason I thought it would be similar to Jane Campion not Kenneth Anger (with a dash of Lewis Carroll). At first I think I found it obnoxious, but starting with the scene where she talks to the therapist I believe I began to get it. It's a far sadder film than I could have ever expected being absolutely crushed by the experience. Did Arden suffer from mental problems in real life, because moments felt absolutely documentary to me. The entire film is so great that I'll just have to get the other two on my next UK purchase.

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Re: Separation / The Other Side of the Underneath / Anti-Clo

#50 Post by MichaelB » Mon Jun 20, 2011 4:36 am

knives wrote:Did Arden suffer from mental problems in real life, because moments felt absolutely documentary to me.
She committed suicide, which by definition suggests a "yes".

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