Mr. Bongo Films

[Minkin]

Scorcese DVD boxset

Due to reasons beyond our control we will no longer be releasing this title.

Scorsese found out?

[GaryC]

For four years this month, there was only one Mr Bongo title on the BBFC database. Now six more have appeared in the last week - Antonio das Mortes, Devi, Lucia, Memories of Underdevelopment, The Saragossa Manuscript and Two Daughters.

[Duncan Hopper]

I guess they've been reading this forum.

[MichaelB]

More likely, they were spooked by me asking them directly about the obviously ludicrous "18 certificate" for Earth.

They stonewalled me, but must have realised that they'd had a narrow escape when I didn't then ask the BBFC for clarification - as I might well have done if the piece had been longer (and if I wasn't already more or less certain what the real situation was).

[peerpee]

Scorcese DVD boxset

Due to reasons beyond our control we will no longer be releasing this title.

Spelling reasons?

(It's a bitch when the filmmaker is still alive, isn't it!)

[artfilmfan]

Has anyone seen this week's release of "Lola" and can comment on the picture quality? It's strange that Amazon-UK lists the running time of 90 minutes (the same as the R1 as listed at Amazon.com). The French release, out next month, is listed as 86 minutes. Perhaps the running time listed at Amazon-UK is incorrect?

[MichaelB]

I've long had suspicions about the bona fides of Mr Bongo's BBFC certificates - the box for Boccaccio '70 claims that it has an 18 certificate, which in no way it deserves by any stretch of the imagination. I'd say it's a 12 at most by today's standards - even in 1962, its X certificate would only have barred sixteen-year-olds.

Well, it seems that Mr Bongo has finally submitted it to the BBFC (on 23 August this year) - and sure enough, it got a 12!

Which is good news for all those teenage Anita Ekberg fans.

[tojoed]

Has anyone seen this week's release of "Lola" and can comment on the picture quality? It's strange that Amazon-UK lists the running time of 90 minutes (the same as the R1 as listed at Amazon.com). The French release, out next month, is listed as 86 minutes. Perhaps the running time listed at Amazon-UK is incorrect?

I haven't seen it yet, but on the box it says " From a restored 35mm print, licensed from Cine-Tamaris and Mrs Agnes Varda", so the signs are good. Running time 90 mins.

Another Dovzhenko, Arsenal, is on DVD in February.

[MichaelB]

Fingers crossed it'll be as much of an improvement over other releases as their Earth was - because that really was a revelation (both in itself and as a Mr Bongo release!).

[tojoed]

Zvenigora also in February on DVD.

[swo17]

Excellent!

[jsteffe]

Fingers crossed it'll be as much of an improvement over other releases as their Earth was - because that really was a revelation (both in itself and as a Mr Bongo release!).

I think that at the very least Zvenigora should be a new transfer, if only because there really isn't anything out there besides the poor quality Grapevine edition.

Thanks, tojoed, for keeping us all posted on the wonderful news!

[swo17]

There is an improved transfer on the box discussed here, though it is interrupted a few times with annoying watermarks, and the film has no soundtrack.

[perkizitore]

According to HMV, Brute and Susana are delayed one month until mid March.

[starmanof51]

According to HMV, Brute and Susana are delayed one month until mid March.

When they first showed up on Amazon.uk, they were scheduled for September, then got kicked out to Feb after disc art had already showed up at the Bongo site. Wonder what's going on with these? I really like El Bruto and have been holding off on the R1 in the hopes that this release might beat it, and maybe be had cheaper as well.

[MichaelB]

Just watched Susana, which wasn't bad at all - clearly superior to the Facets edition (which I haven't seen, but I see no reason to doubt this Beaver excoriation). Pretty clean print (minor tramlines can be forgiven), decent transfer (though I think it's analogue-sourced), optional subtitles, no extras.

I'm watching El Bruto tonight - and fingers crossed I'll be in a position to do framegrabs for both within the next 24 hours or so.

[starmanof51]

I'm watching El Bruto tonight - and fingers crossed I'll be in a position to do framegrabs for both within the next 24 hours or so.

That would be much appreciated, Michael. If you can't get to the framegrabs, I'd still love hearing what you think of El Bruto.

[perkizitore]

Amazon lists the Bunuel titles with a February release date and HMV with a March one! The weirdest thing is, Mr Bongo sells Susana and Arsenal already, while they have sent screeners for El Brute when is coming out later (or the same date?) than Zvenigora...

[MichaelB]

As promised, framegrabs from El Bruto, and Susana. They're both from checkdiscs, but they're fully authored complete with final menus, so I imagine the final production versions will be identical.

I haven't seen the Facets editions, but it seems pretty clear even from the grabs that the Mr Bongo editions are very noticeably superior, despite evidence of common sources.

[bigP]

Thanks for the grabs Michael. The quality looks better than I expected, and at the very least least, far, far superior to Yume's Bunuel output. Assuming Susana will be of the same ball-park quality, I'm happy pre-ordering these now.

[MichaelB]

The quality looks better than I expected, and at the very least least, far, far superior to Yume's Bunuel output.

I picked up the three Yume Buñuels yesterday (they were going very cheap at Fopp), and can confirm that the Mr Bongo discs are very definitely superior. Yume's discs are interlaced and fuzzy, Mr Bongo's progressive, reasonably sharp (given less than felicitous source materials, especially for Susana) - and much more watchable.

[SpiderBaby]

Sorry for my region coding knowledge (or little of) but if say, Rocha's Antonio Das Mortes says it's "PAL DVD 9 All Regions", would that mean I can play it on any U.S. only dvd/blu player without any trouble? I found that it was on Amazon and it says it's a Region 1 dvd (which I think Amazon messed up because it's the Bongo release), so I wasn't sure. Thanks.

[MichaelB]

You should be able to play it on any player that can handle the PAL video standard, so it should play perfectly in any PC, but there's no guarantee that it'll work in a normal player plus TV setup.

[SpiderBaby]

Thanks. I just did some research and my Sony player doesn't play PAL. I'm not one to watch films on my computer either, so I might just have to go region free very soon. Thanks again. I would love to have these Rocha films finally.

[zedz]

The Rocha films are all derived from the excellent Brazilian discs, which are NTSC, stacked with hours of extras, and English subbed (except for the extras on the first one released, Black God, White Devil). They're generally obtainable through ebay. The Antonio das Mortes disc is worth the extra cost if just for the manic Scorsese interview.