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Although best known for his celebrated work as editor on Lindsay Anderson's If... and O Lucky Man!, as well as on the acclaimed BBC TV series Ways of Seeing, David Gladwell has rarely been recognised as the director of a number of extraordinary and ground-breaking films.

This Dual Format Edition (DVD + Blu-ray) provides the opportunity to experience Gladwell's unique and compelling 1975 film Requiem for a Village, as well as a selection of his rare short film works - Summer Discord (1955), Miss Thompson Goes Shopping (1958), The Great Steam Fair (1964) and An Untitled Film (1964).

All films on this Dual Format Edition (DVD + Blu-ray) are presented in new HD transfers from original film elements held in the BFI National Archive.

REQUIEM FOR A VILLAGE

A Film by David Gladwell

Although best known for his celebrated work as editor on Lindsay Anderson's If.... and O Lucky Man!, as well as on the acclaimed BBC TV series Ways of Seeing, David Gladwell has rarely before been recognised as the director of a collection of extraordinary, ground-breaking films which explore Britain's rural traditions and the undying power of memory. This Dual Format Edition (DVD + Blu-ray) provides the rare opportunity to finally experience Gladwell's lyrical, poetic 1975 film Requiem for a Village, as well as a selection of his rare and striking short film works.

Extra Features:

- Dual Format Edition: includes both the Blu-ray and the DVD of the film and the extras
- A Summer Discord (David Gladwell, 1955, 17 mins)
- Miss Thompson Goes Shopping (David Gladwell, 1958, 23 mins)
- The Great Steam Fair (David Gladwell, 1964, 18 mins)
- An Untitled Film (David Gladwell, 1964, 9 mins)
- Illustrated booklet featuring new sleevenote essay by David Thompson

BFI Flipside presents: Requiem for a Village
A film by David Gladwell

David Gladwell is perhaps best-known for his celebrated work as editor on Lindsay Anderson’s If.… and O Lucky Man! Requiem for a Village, along with the four exquisite and startling short films also included in this BFI Flipside Dual Format Edition, reveal him to be an unfairly overlooked director of ground-breaking work.

The idyllic, rural past of a Suffolk village rises to life in Requiem for a Village (1975) through the memories of an old man who tends a country graveyard. With influences that range from the poet TS Eliot to the artist Stanley Spencer, and using real village residents as amateur actors, the film powerfully suggests that history and memory are ever-present in our lives, regardless of the unrelenting drive towards modernisation.

This extraordinary, little-seen film, an archetypal Flipside discovery, is preserved in the BFI National Archive and newly transferred in High Definition.

Writing in the 1975 London Film Festival programme, Lindsay Anderson commented: ‘David Gladwell’s film is an authentic, lyrical pastoral of absolute and obstinate originality – the work of a unique artist… Requiem for a Village is one of that handful of works which prove that the English poetic genius is fully capable – given the right, rare circumstances – of expressing itself in cinema, as it always has in literature and painting.’

Since his wide and accomplished career as a film editor, writer and director, David Gladwell has returned to painting. He enjoyed a residency at Lambeth College in South London in 2004-2005 and currently lives and works in South London.

Special features
• Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition;
• A Summer Discord (David Gladwell, 1955, 17 mins, silent): a visionary drama centred around a young girl’s argument with her mother;
• Miss Thompson Goes Shopping (David Gladwell, 1958, 23 mins): a sensitive and inventive portrait of an elderly lady’s shopping trip;
• The Great Steam Fair (David Gladwell, Derrick Knight, 1964, 18 mins): a lyrical example of Gladwell’s extensive work as editor and director of documentary shorts;
• An Untitled Film (David Gladwell, 1964, 9 mins): an extraordinary piece of film art, exploring the power, beauty and violence contained in a single moment of time;
• 36-page booklet illustrated with Gladwell’s paintings, with essays by Elizabeth Sussex; Rob Young, author of ‘Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain’s Visionary Music’ (2010), and Patrick Russell and William Fowler from the BFI National Archive. David Gladwell himself also contributes an essay.

Release date: 18 July 2011
RRP: £19.99 / cat. no. BFIB1096 / BFI Flipside no. 018 / Cert 18
UK / 1975 / colour / 68 mins / English (optional hard-of-hearing subtitles) / original aspect ratio 1.33:1 / Disc 1: BD50 / 1080p / 24fps/ PCM mono audio (48k/24-bit)
Disc 2: DVD9 / PAL / PCM mono audio (48k/16-bit) (Extras Dolby Digital 320kbps)

Thornycroft wrote:It turns out that while there was never an official soundtrack release, much (if not all) of Fanshawe's score was released on a KPM Music Library LP the same year the film came out.

lemoncurry wrote:You don't happen to know the title and/or catalogue number for that KPM album? I'd love to get my hands on that fantastic score.

Thornycroft wrote:

lemoncurry wrote:You don't happen to know the title and/or catalogue number for that KPM album? I'd love to get my hands on that fantastic score.

KPM 1152, an album called Sound Odyssey. Here's the discogs page.