Studio Canal / Kinowelt / Optimum

[Jonathan S]

Gaslight and The Queen of Spades are the best two Dickinsons I've seen but I also recommend The Arsenal Stadium Mystery (1939) and The Next of Kin (1942), both on DVD in the UK and displaying his wonderfully smooth narrative control. The former is a film I like more every time I see it - I was initially put off as I dislike both football and mysteries - but its incidental pleasures are enormous. The opening sequence strongly suggests Welles may have seen it when planning Citizen Kane (unless they both got the idea from someone else) and it has a hilarious line in camp humour, with at least one surprising moment of homoeroticism in the changing rooms if you look very carefully. I don't have the DVD but it shows a lot on Channel 4 and its offshoots, most recently Film Four. I have the DVD of The Next of Kin, transferred from a rather battered print, but it's acceptable and you get three fascinating WW2 army training shorts with it.

[Jonathan S]

Has anyone seen Dickinson's The High Command (1936), also being released by Optimum in January? "Rather interestingly performed and directed," according to Halliwell's Film Guide. The cast (including a young James Mason) is headed by Lionel Atwill and apparently it was filmed partly on location in Africa, like Dickinson's later Men of Two Worlds.

I like this quote (on imdb) from Dickinson: "It's terribly difficult to direct a film you don't want to make ... That's why I've made so few."

[ellipsis7]

See SENSO Blu coming to Studio Canal France on Feb 16, presumably to Optimum UK soon after - I assume also the French Blu will also have French, English etc. titles on Studio Canal's apparently territory generic editions...

[Ben Cheshire]

See SENSO Blu coming to Studio Canal France on Feb 16, presumably to Optimum UK soon after - I assume also the French Blu will also have French, English etc. titles on Studio Canal's apparently territory generic editions...

Germany also receiving Senso, so my guess is it will be international, with language options for most countries. Most territories have only three slated. Only Germany so far has all five announced. The Go-Getter and Senso are the two not announced for UK. Optimum have only announced Pierrot, Breathless and the Ladykillers so far.

[MichaelB]

I've just watched a checkdisc of Secret People and was very pleasantly surprised - a top-notch transfer from a damn near flawless print, plus a reasonably meaty extra in the form of an illustrated history of the film presented by critic Philip Horne. I was also rather fond of the trailer, since it makes it clear that Ealing Studios really didn't have a clue how to sell it.

[MichaelB]

Has anyone seen Dickinson's The High Command (1936), also being released by Optimum in January? "Rather interestingly performed and directed," according to Halliwell's Film Guide. The cast (including a young James Mason) is headed by Lionel Atwill and apparently it was filmed partly on location in Africa, like Dickinson's later Men of Two Worlds.

I've seen it, though not via the Optimum disc. It's a mixed bag - there's quite a bit of historical interest for those familiar with the colonial preoccupations of late 1930s British cinema, but the whodunit elements are pretty creaky, almost as though Dickinson was simply going through the motions (that said, he leads us down several satisfying blind alleys en route to the climactic revelation). James Mason is OK but largely wasted, though Lionel Atwill is very good as the officer with a deadly secret.

I'd certainly rank it a distant third in Optimum's Dickinson line-up (Queen of Spades being first by miles), but it's worth a look.

[Jonathan S]

Thanks for both Dickinson reports, Michael. Secret People certainly deserves a "making-of" extra in view of the groundwork done by Lindsay Anderson in his contemporary book about it. Maybe Lionel Atwill's later real-life morals charge and perjury ("he lied like a gentleman") will add a retrospective sub-textual frisson to The High Command!

[MichaelB]

Incidentally, I should probably stress that Lionel Atwill's (fictional) deadly secret isn't a spoiler - or at least not once you get beyond the opening scene.

[Ben Cheshire]

These will likely be sourced from the same materials Criterion worked with.

Same film materials, probably, but they will surely just be ports of the underwhelming Optimum discs: Ran / Contempt. I don't think anyone around here is going to be selling off their Criterion DVD versions.

I hope they'll at least own both, then; because the images of Ran and Contempt are easily superior to DVD versions.

[NilbogSavant]

Breathless was in the last wave and it has yet to go OOP. Maybe Discreet Charm will be the same. Either way, I'm very excited about some of these releases.

[ellipsis7]

GRANDE ILLUSION on Blu - way to go!... (Catch also Julian Jackson's excellent monograph on the same, recently published in series BFI Film Classics)...

[tojoed]

Lionsgate are releasing three Studio Canal BluRays in February. Ran, Contempt and The Ladykillers.

[TheGodfather]

I`d love to finally see a good release of Senso

[eerik]

I`d love to finally see a good release of Senso

http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B002YEQRPM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[perkizitore]

I think Ben is ALREADY aware of the upcoming release, he just hopes it will be good!

[Jeff]

That DVDTimes link in tojoed's post above now has the art for the three releases. The art itself isn't terrible, but they appear to be printed on recycled egg cartons.

[tajmahal]

That DVDTimes link in tojoed's post above now has the art for the three releases. The art itself isn't terrible, but they appear to be printed on recycled egg cartons.

Looks like the same as the Australian/UK editions. Though they do look quite nice, and the paper covers are distinctive, I'm hoping they ditch the book format for future titles, as there's a strong chance they will warp over time. One thing you should know is that the pages of the booklet, though smooth, are designed to look like the paper covers, so all photos included look like really bad scans. This seems to be their house design. Shouldn't be a deal-breaker, though. Extras, including booklets, are excellent for most of the titles.

[gyorgys]

"Studio Canal will release its third wave of Blu-ray titles in early 2010, which includes some acclaimed movies by major filmmakers: 'Mulholland Drive' (David Lynch, 2001), 'Peeping Tom' (Michael Powell, 1960), 'That Obscure Object of Desire' (Luis Buñuel, 1977), and 'Grand Illusion' (Jean Renoir, 1937)."
Probably most if not all issued in the UK by Optimum, Kinowelt in Germany and Lionsgate in the US.

Source: Blu-ray.com

[Cash Flagg]

From Blu-ray.com --

According to the French media publication Ecran total, Studio Canal will release its third wave of Blu-ray titles in early 2010, which includes some acclaimed movies by major filmmakers: 'Mulholland Drive' (David Lynch, 2001), 'Peeping Tom' (Michael Powell, 1960), 'That Obscure Object of Desire' (Luis Buñuel, 1977), and 'Grand Illusion' (Jean Renoir, 1937).

Going from recent history with previous Studio Canal titles, most of these will be released in the UK by Optimum Home Entertainment around the same time, and possibly even in the US by Lionsgate a few months later.

[eerik]

Optimum restoration for British classics
Optimum Releasing and StudioCanal have joined hands with Pinewood Studios to restore and preserve StudioCanal’s 1400 strong British Library Archive. First up will be restorations of Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom, Robert Hamer’s Kind Hearts and Coronets and Lionel Jeffries’ The Railway Children, each of which will be subsequently re-released theatrically and made available in Bluray/DVD.

Optimum Releasing has now taken over management of the Archive, which has been housed in Pinewood for 20 years, including direct responsibility for clip sales and merchandising of the titles. Pinewood Post Production will provide temperature and humidity controlled storage for the titles, including the construction of two new state of the art cold storage facilities on the Pinewood lot, expected to be completed by early 2010. Pinewood will also provide most of the film and audio restoration services for the film archive, and complete the planned digitisation of the Canal+ Image UK Ltd stills archive.

John Rodden, General Manager of Optimum Home Entertainment, said, “At Optimum we have a passion for great cinema and it’s a privilege to be able to ensure the preservation of these films for future generations to enjoy. In so doing we draw huge inspiration for our own production plans as in the upcoming Brighton Rock which directly echoes this great cinematic heritage.”

Pinewood’s CEO Ivan Dunleavy said, “Pinewood is delighted to be supporting Optimum Releasing & StudioCanal in the preservation and restoration of some of the most iconic and historical film titles. The importance of these titles to the nation and worldwide heritage cannot be under estimated.”

Source: http://cineuropa.org/newsdetail.aspx?la ... tID=116270" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ellipsis7]

Er, old news, see my Nov 16 post....

[eerik]

Er, old news, see my Nov 16 post....

Sorry, didn't know that it was that old. Cineuropa published it today. ](*,)

[ellipsis7]

Senso (from the most recent Cristaldi Restoration)

David, this new restoration screened @ Cannes 2009 - is it the same as the Cristaldi? - obviously it is the one coming to Studio Canal Blu in Feb...

SENSO, Luchino Visconti, 1954. Print restored by Studio Canal and Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia/Cineteca Nazionale at Cineteca di Bologna/L’Immagine Ritrovata, with funding provided by Gucci, The Film Foundation and Comitato Italia 150

[perkizitore]

Is it worth waiting for a Criterion blu-ray release of 'Breathless'? It may take a while, but the extras are interesting on both releases.

[Flike]

Sorry to bump a relatively "dead" topic, but is there a consensus on the Contempt disc? I've come very close a few times now to pre-ordering on Amazon, but was really displeased with the Ran and Deer Hunter discs.