BFI (British Film Institute)

[eerik]

According to Blu-ray.com Les Enfants Du Paradis is coming on Blu from the BFI on 7 May (I did a cursory search - couldn't find this news posted anywhere else on this board).

MichaelB, do you have any further info on this?

Interesting, last year Second Sight Films told me they were going to release it.

[ellipsis7]

The BFI had it on theatrical release last month so they have those distribution rights to the new restoration, which was passed for this purpose by the BBFC on 26/09/2011... Second Sight previously had a 7 minute shorter version (presumably because of PAL speedup) passed for Video/DVD on 15/08/2000... As yet it appears that the BFI have not to date had the new restoration passed by the BBFCfor Video/DVD/BR release, although I would suspect there's still plenty of time to do that if this news is true....

[antnield]

There are pre-orders up for separate Blu-ray and DVD editions on Play.com - no indication of which label is doing the releasing, but the individual formats would suggest someone other than the BFI.

[MichaelB]

The BFI certainly have the theatrical rights, but this is the first I've heard of them picking up the video rights - I can't see why Second Sight would want to give them up, and presumably they'd get first refusal on renewal.

And yes, the seven minute discrepancy is entirely due to PAL speedup - a three-hour film would typically lose that much.

It's also worth noting that Caligula's original link doesn't work, which suggests that Blu-ray.com have realised their mistake and taken it down.

[Calvin]

With The Devils and Revolution confirmed, what other Warner titles could the BFI possibly have an interest in? Blow Up?

[What A Disgrace]

I'm keeping my hands folded together for Petulia, even if it is technically an American film.

[antnield]

I'm keeping my hands folded together for Petulia, even if it is technically an American film.

It's currently in print on DVD in the UK courtesy of Digital Classics. Here's a review of the disc.

[bigP]

With The Devils and Revolution confirmed, what other Warner titles could the BFI possibly have an interest in? Blow Up?

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Peter Weir's Fearless might catch a break and obtain a much deserved lavish treatment from the BFI (or anyone who gives even half a fuck more than Warner). I'm still flabbergasted that this received such a dismal DVD release 12-13 years ago in the US and still has yet to touch UK shores.

[ellipsis7]

With The Devils and Revolution confirmed, what other Warner titles could the BFI possibly have an interest in? Blow Up?

One can only hope, but it certainly richly deserves a dual format upgrade, and must fit the BFI key remit for BR/DVD releases... I actually saw the BFI's archival print on a large screen at the Dublin Film Festival only the other day, a special showing marking the 100th anniversary in 2012 of Antonioni's birth.... Maybe that will be an excuse for a SE BR in September (I wish!)...

[antnield]

World's oldest Charles Dickens film discovered by the BFI. And you can see it in full on their YouTube channel.

[Calvin]

Here's hoping that the BFI go for a river upgrade double-bill because, as well as Renoir's The River, Ghatak's A River Called Titas also recently received a restoration courtesy of the World Cinema Foundation. The DVDs are pretty old now.

[Edward Farley]

Regarding the Adelphi titles released on DVD by the BFI, is there any possibility that Stars in Your Eyes (1956) wiil be released in my lifetime ?

Many fans of Dorothy Squires are now senior citizens and the potential market for this DVD diminishes each year !

As this film is in Colour/Scope it occurred to be that it could be more costly to restore than the B/W Adelphi titles, as so is being held back for this reason...if only it could be placed at the top of the pile ! (and carefully targetted advertising could ensure healthy sales...)

[What A Disgrace]

I hope we see some of this on home video

[MichaelB]

I hope we see some of this on home video

Unlikely, I'm afraid. I know of at least three UK distributors who were sniffing around Trnka, but the quality of the available video masters was pretty lousy and they couldn't justify spending money to create new film-sourced ones given the likely size of the audience for these films.

So this particular ball is very much in the Czechs' court.

(I'd better stress that the Southbank season should look far better - I understand these are Czech National Film Archive 35mm prints).

[Calvin]

That's a shame. What about Yuri Norstein's stuff? It's pretty well regarded in animation circles (Tale of Tales has been voted the greatest animated film ever on a few occasions). Did the Svankmajer releases sell well?

[MichaelB]

That's a shame. What about Yuri Norstein's stuff? It's pretty well regarded in animation circles (Tale of Tales has been voted the greatest animated film ever on a few occasions). Did the Svankmajer releases sell well?

Norstein's films are already in distribution, albeit exclusively as an NTSC import. It's a pretty good disc - my only complaint is that the subtitles are burned in, and insensitively placed in the case of The Fox and the Hare, most of whose action appears in the bottom quarter of the screen.

As far as I'm aware, the Svankmajer releases sold very well indeed, but he's an unusual case in that he has a significant cult following outside the very narrow coterie of serious animation buffs - which isn't true of either Trnka or Norstein. Or, sadly, most other animators.

[Duncan Hopper]

I hope we see some of this on home video

Unlikely, I'm afraid. I know of at least three UK distributors who were sniffing around Trnka, but the quality of the available video masters was pretty lousy and they couldn't justify spending money to create new film-sourced ones given the likely size of the audience for these films.

So this particular ball is very much in the Czechs' court.

(I'd better stress that the Southbank season should look far better - I understand these are Czech National Film Archive 35mm prints).

I just saw 'The Czech Year', the print, or should I say prints - as it is comprised of several shorts - were pretty good, the colour was lovely, some signs of wear, but overall very good, easily good enough for DVD.

It was preceded by the fascinating Czech documentary, 'Jiří Trnka's Puppets' from 1956. A priceless behind the scenes look at Trnka and his staff at work.

[MichaelB]

I just saw 'The Czech Year', the print, or should I say prints - as it is comprised of several shorts - were pretty good, the colour was lovely, some signs of wear, but overall very good, easily good enough for DVD.

But if you have to work from 35mm as opposed to existing video masters, the production budget inescapably shoots up. Which is fine for something like Svankmajer's Alice that has a realistic chance of doing well, but... well, you've seen The Czech Year: what do you think are the chances of it topping the UK sales charts?

So the most likely outcome would be for some Czech organisation, possibly state-funded, to take on the job of restoring the films properly as a major cultural project.

The good, or at least potentially promising, news is that all six of Trnka's features (including The Czech Year, a film of enormous cultural importance back home) are included on the list of 200 titles that were recommended for HD restoration and circulated to the Czech Ministry of Culture a couple of years ago - though how far advanced this project is I'm not sure. (I assume it's related to the Czech National Film Archive's restoration programme, which has completed 4K digital masters of Marketa Lazarová and Lemonade Joe and is working on The Firemen's Ball).

[Duncan Hopper]

Oh, I am by no means suggesting that anyone should be embarking on an intimidate DVD release of this, especially since I've only seen one film so far. I'm just reporting back on the quality of the prints. I'll leave the debates on who should release these and when to others.

I've got 'The Emperor's Nightingale' tonight, lets see what that looks like.

[What A Disgrace]

I wonder if there are any plans to put Terence Davies's films on Blu-ray in the near future?

[Calvin]

I wonder if there are any plans to put Terence Davies's films on Blu-ray in the near future?

Every time I've asked (or seen them be asked), the BFI have said there's "no immediate plans". However, they've all been restored in HD so I presume they'll be released eventually.

[MichaelB]

It certainly wouldn't be very difficult - as you say, HD masters exist of all the BFI DVDs of Davies' films apart from Of Time and the City, which originated on SD video. However, I'm also not aware of any plans.

[kidc85]

For the BFI's screening of Trnka's THE GOOD SOLDIER SVEJK they've specified that they're screening EPS I, II, III, are they listing the episodes because it's incomplete? I can't find any real kind of information on this one at all, is it supposed to be good?

[MichaelB]

It's a three-part film. Or rather, each part consists of a single episode from Jaroslav Hašek's novel, and Trnka only made three - but they're all self-contained.

[Calvin]

The BFI officially launched their summer Hitchcock retrospective - The Genius of Hitchcock - today. It looks like a big-budget affair, the cinematic equivalent of the Da Vinci exhibition at the National Gallery last year!