Dissent & Disruption: Alan Clarke at the BBC

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

I contacted Potamkine and they say the release date is October 7th. They also said they couldn't comment on rumors that Road and Contact would not be on the release which i thought a bit strange, does this come from a reliable source?

Just to rebound on this would you might sharing the reply from Potemkine as they seem to be the architect of their own rumours.

[ricardo]

I contacted Potamkine and they say the release date is October 7th. They also said they couldn't comment on rumors that Road and Contact would not be on the release which i thought a bit strange, does this come from a reliable source?

Just to rebound on this would you might sharing the reply from Potemkine as they seem to be the architect of their own rumours.

Yeah sure

After they confirmed the release date i asked the following question

"Hi *****

Many thanks for your reply. i have heard a rumor that Contact & Road will now not be on this release, is this true?

Kind regards"

This was the reply i received back which is a little strange and may be lost in translation

Hi Richard,

I can't tell more now about Contact & Road, but don't hesitate to ask me again.

Best

******

[peerpee]

Saw STARS OF THE ROLLER STATE DISCO (1984) for the first time, and was gobsmacked. Grade A Alan Clarke. Everything he made is fascinating.

[rapta]

May 23rd

THE FIRM (Blu-ray)
A Film by Alan Clarke

Gary Oldman is Clive 'Bex' Bissell, an intelligent family man with a good job, who also happens to be the leader of the notorious East London hooligan firm, the Inner City Crew. Bex plans to unite rival gangs into a national firm to talk to the European Championships, but that will mean defeating Oboes' Birmingham crew and the South London Buccaneers led by arch rival Yeti (Phil Davis). As Bex's craving for violence becomes an obsession, the violence spirals out of control...

Clarke's violent and unflinching drama courted much controversy when it was first broadcast but is now rightly considered one of the seminal films on the topic of hooliganism, due in no small part to the brilliance of Oldman's central performance which is one of the finest in his career.

Special features

• David Leland introduces The Firm
• Other extras TBC

[Werewolf by Night]

May 23rd

THE FIRM (Blu-ray)
A Film by Alan Clarke

Gary Oldman is Clive 'Bex' Bissell, an intelligent family man with a good job, who also happens to be the leader of the notorious East London hooligan firm, the Inner City Crew. Bex plans to unite rival gangs into a national firm to talk to the European Championships, but that will mean defeating Oboes' Birmingham crew and the South London Buccaneers led by arch rival Yeti (Phil Davis). As Bex's craving for violence becomes an obsession, the violence spirals out of control...

Clarke's violent and unflinching drama courted much controversy when it was first broadcast but is now rightly considered one of the seminal films on the topic of hooliganism, due in no small part to the brilliance of Oldman's central performance which is one of the finest in his career.

Special features

• David Leland introduces The Firm
• Other extras TBC

Did I only dream that there was more Alan Clarke than this to come from the BFI this year?

[RossyG]

If you did, I hope the dream involved a golden angel, sixth formers playing rugby, and a demon sitting on your chest.

[thirtyframesasecond]

I'm really uneasy with films about football hooliganism. OK, things like the Football Factory or Green Street don't seem to really have much to say, but even with films like The Firm, the audiences that watch it aren't really picking up on the message.

The Firm was part of the Screen Two series of films. I'd love it if there were plans to release Contact. And then there's Christine. Clarke's feature films seem to be readily available, but it's his shorter work that needs distribution.

[Dr Amicus]

Well, the BBFC have recently rated both Contact and Christine and several others for the BFI suggesting they're on the way.

[thirtyframesasecond]

Well, the BBFC have recently rated both Contact and Christine and several others for the BFI suggesting they're on the way.

That's great news, look forward to those!

[rapta]

Well, the BBFC have recently rated both Contact and Christine and several others for the BFI suggesting they're on the way.

Under the Age (Thirty-Minute Theatre, 1972)
A Follower for Emily (Play for Today, 1974)
Funny Farm (Play for Today, 1975)
Nina (Play for Today, 1978)
Psy-Warriors (Play for Today, 1981)
Contact (Screen Two, 1985)
Christine (Screenplay, 1987)
Elephant (1989)

Could this be a Clarke box set? I wonder if it'll be DVD-only or Blu-ray as well...

[peerpee]

DISSENT & DISRUPTION: THE COMPLETE ALAN CLARKE
Legendary television drama director’s compelling work presented in its entirety by the BFI.

Includes the newly-discovered Directors’ Cut of The Firm, David Bowie in Baal, three previously-thought-lost episodes from 1967-1968 and footage from an unfinished documentary project.

“As a director you have to try to be like Alan Clarke – anonymous, subversive, compassionate, and moral.” Paul Greengrass (United 93, Captain Phillips)

London, 3 February 2016 – Beginning 28 March, the BFI will present the entire BBC and ITV drama, and film productions of the great director/producer/writer Alan Clarke (1935 –1990) with a season at BFI Southbank, DVD and Blu-ray releases, via VOD on BFI Player and in BFI Mediatheques across the UK.

Although best remembered for three controversial and groundbreaking dramas – the notorious Scum, Made in Britain and The Firm – the breadth of Clarke’s radical, political, innovative, inspirational work, with actors including Gary Oldman (The Firm), Ray Winstone (Scum), Tim Roth (Made in Britain) and even David Bowie (Baal), and his influence on directors like Gus Van Sant, Paul Greengrass, Harmony Korine, Clio Barnard and Shane Meadows should see him rightly regarded as one of Britain’s greatest ever filmmaking talents. While much of his work was documentary-like in its gritty realism, and in the way he focused on society’s marginal groups and underdogs, his versatility saw him turn his hand to comedy (Rita, Sue and Bob Too), minimalism (Elephant, Christine) and adaptations of writers as diverse as Bertolt Brecht and Georg Büchner.

Speaking in 2000 to 400 Blows Productions, Gary Oldman said: “He radiated with energy. The energy coming off him. The enthusiasm. And one got the impression that he liked actors. Actors want to be liked, that’s the game we’re in… You felt very confident around Alan. He made you feel confident. That anything was possible and that you could… you could go the whole nine yards with him. You could try anything with Alan.”

The BFI will offer the most comprehensive collection and widest possible access to Clarke’s enduringly powerful work than ever achieved before, including Made in Britain, The Firm, Baal, Penda’s Fen, Elephant, Diane, Nina, Christine and The Road. After a screening of the recently discovered director’s cut of The Firm, critic and broadcaster Danny Leigh (whose BBC film British Film Mavericks: Alan Clarke was broadcast in 2015), will host an on-stage discussion on Clarke’s uncompromising style, looking at his legacy and the filmmakers he has inspired with producer David M Thompson, writer David Leland, and daughter Molly Clarke.

Clarke discovered incredible British talent. Among the young actors he cast in what became landmark moments early in their careers are Ray Winstone and Phil Daniels in Scum, Tim Roth (Made in Britain), Jane Horrocks (Road), Lesley Sharp (Road; Rita, Sue and Bob Too), Lesley Manville (The Firm) and David Threlfall, best-known for Shameless, who made his acting debut in Scum.

Great female writers and producers played a key part in Clarke’s career and stories focusing on sometimes flawed, sometimes bewildered but always extraordinary women form an important part of his canon. In “Alan Clarke’s Women”, collaborators including producer Margaret Matheson, writer Jehane Markham and actors Lesley Sharp and Eleanor Bron will be on-stage (following a screening of Nina) to discuss his handling of feminine and feminist subjects.

Working in television during a significant period in the evolution of TV drama, Clarke’s peers were the likes of Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, Dennis Potter and Stephen Frears, who said, in Alan Clarke (Faber & Faber): “He was sceptical, cynical of authority, rebellious but not ideological, instinctively principled but also practical and canny, solitary but the best company, authoritative but not in search of power…as serious and as funny as anyone I’ve ever met…He was the best of us.”

After beginning his career at ATV and Associated Rediffusion, Alan Clarke joined the BBC in 1969 and made his mark in the weekly feature-length drama strands The Wednesday Play and Play for Today, with a new and highly distinctive directorial style. He developed a cult following for his hard-hitting work which dissected the darker side of British life. He told stories about neglected or despised groups in contemporary society, like skinheads and football hooligans, and he focused on the troubles in Northern Ireland on three occasions. Clarke worked with a regular team of high-calibre writers that included David Leland, David Rudkin, Roy Minton, Alun Owen and Edna O’Brien. In 1977, Scum, his violent exposé of shockingly brutal conditions in a borstal, was banned by a nervous BBC and not shown for 14 years. Determined to see the story told, Clarke then made the film version released in 1979 to great acclaim.

Dissent & Disruption: The Complete Alan Clarke – BFI Southbank Season 28 March – 30 April 2016

Among Clarke’s best-known work that will be screened during the season is Diane (1975), Baal (1982), Made in Britain (1983), Contact (1985), Road (1987), Christine (1987), Elephant, (1989) and The Firm (1989). Rarely-seen productions will include Under the Age (1972) and To Encourage the Others (1972).

A Missing Believed Wiped Special: Alan Clarke Half Hour Stories, will reveal three once-thought-lost episodes from Associated Rediffusion’s Half Hour Story strand where Clarke cut his directorial teeth in the late 1960s; The Gentleman Caller (with George Cole) (1967), George’s Room (with John Neville and Geraldine Moffat) (1967) and Thief (with Alan Lake and Sian Philips) (1968).

A highlight of the season will be a preview of the forthcoming documentary Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light, directed by Andy Kelleher. Contributors include Ray Winstone, Lesley Sharp and David Leland. Here, in the words of his peers, is a biography, a detailed survey of his work and an affirmation of Alan Clarke as one of the greatest British filmmakers of the 20th century.

BFI Blu-ray and DVD releases in May and June

The BFI will release two DVD box sets and a complete Blu-ray box set with extensive newly created special features:

Alan Clarke at the BBC, Volume 1: Dissent (1969-1977) - 6-DVD box set
Includes newly remastered presentations of all surviving Alan Clarke BBC TV productions up to 1977, as well as filmed introductions by writer David Leland, extracts from BBC discussion shows Tonight and Arena, new multi-part documentary Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light, audio commentaries and a booklet containing new essays and full credits.
Release date: 23 May

Alan Clarke at the BBC, Volume 2: Disruption (1978-1989) - 6-DVD box set
Includes newly remastered presentations of all Alan Clarke BBC TV productions from 1978 to 1989, as well as filmed introductions by writer David Leland, extracts from BBC discussion show Open Air, new multi-part documentary Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light, footage from Alan Clarke’s unbroadcast documentary Bukovsky (1977), two versions of The Firm, audio commentaries and a booklet containing new essays and full credits.
Release date: 20 June

Dissent & Disruption: The Complete Alan Clarke at the BBC - Limited Edition 13-Disc Blu-ray box set
Includes all surviving BBC TV productions directed by Alan Clarke, extensive extra features (as detailed above), a comprehensive book with new essays and full credits, and an exclusive bonus DVD containing the seven surviving Half Hour Story episodes directed by Clarke: Shelter (1967), The Gentleman Caller (1967, previously considered lost), George’s Room (1967, previously considered partially lost); Goodnight Albert (1968), Stella (1968), The Fifty Seventh Saturday (1968) and Thief (1968, previously considered lost).
Release date: 23 May

Also on 23 May, The Firm will be released in a stand-alone Blu-ray edition, presenting the newly-discovered Director’s Cut and the original broadcast version in High Definition for the very first time.

BFI Player and Mediatheques

A further selection of Clarke’s work, including rarities, will be available to view for free from early May at all of the BFI’s nine Mediatheques around the UK and a different selection will be accessible online on BFI Player (http://www.bfi.org.uk/player" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) from April.

NB. BFI experts will be available to talk about all aspects of the Alan Clarke project. We hope to be able to offer for interview some of the cast and crew who worked with him.

-ends-

[MichaelB]

I'm so glad this is finally out in the open - I've known about this project for ages, and it was agony keeping schtum for so long.

But I'll repeat here what I've told the BFI's Sam Dunn on more than one occasion: the rest of us in the business might as well take a long holiday, as the Best Release of 2016 must surely be in the bag.

[peerpee]

Everything has now gone through the BBFC (the last half went up at their website yesterday).

This is one of the best things to happen in the world of DVD and Blu-ray that I can remember.

I'm so glad this is finally out in the open - I've known about this project for ages, and it was agony keeping schtum for so long.

But I'll repeat here what I've told the BFI's Sam Dunn on more than one occasion: the rest of us in the business might as well take a long holiday, as the Best Release of 2016 must surely be in the bag.

Indeed! I know it's taken years and years to get off the ground (I've been nagging him about it since 2008!) But wow wow wow. Can't believe it.

[MichaelB]

Every time I chatted to Sam he'd have another scoop to report.

"We've found the original cut of The Firm!"
"We've found three missing episodes of Half-Hour Story!"
"We've cut a deal that will mean that we can transfer everything to Blu-ray!"

And I'd just go "yeah, yeah, rub it in, why don't you?"

Seriously, I couldn't be more thrilled for him. This is precisely the sort of project that the BFI should be backing (it could hardly be more in tune with their core remit), and it's hard to imagine anyone else taking it on given the massive costs and logistical challenges involved.

The real excitement is that although I've been a passionate Alan Clarke fan for over three decades now, I haven't seen half this stuff yet.

[Calvin]

Who would have thought that BFI would manage to top their own Napoleon announcement within the space of a week!? Truly outstanding news. I'd suspected that an Alan Clarke box set was in the works, but to imagine 'complete' or '13 disc Blu-Ray' was beyond my wildest dreams!

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

What with Rivette Gance and now this christmas has truly come early in 2016

[peerpee]

This is precisely the sort of project that the BFI should be backing (it could hardly be more in tune with their core remit), and it's hard to imagine anyone else taking it on given the massive costs and logistical challenges involved.

Couldn't agree more. I tried at MoC, but it would have been impossible, for many reasons. Considering all the logistics (and politics), the existence of this set represents a series of miracles. I'm so glad Sam and team have been able to do it (instead of the BBC), it's going to be so good.

The real excitement is that although I've been a passionate Alan Clarke fan for over three decades now, I haven't seen half this stuff yet.

I started watching everything in earnest about two years ago when I first heard it was getting off the ground, and finally filled in all the holes over Dec/Jan, (but I haven't seen the newly found stuff). You're in for a treat. Everything's gobsmacking.

[MichaelB]

It's a bit buried in the press release, so I thought I'd flag up that the BFI's release will contain the original cut of The Firm, submitted to the BBC prior to them nervously trimming it pre-broadcast.

This censored version has been the only one publicly available since 1989, but fortunately Clarke's original print still survived.

Who would have thought that BFI would manage to top their own Napoleon announcement within the space of a week!? Truly outstanding news. I'd suspected that an Alan Clarke box set was in the works, but to imagine 'complete' or '13 disc Blu-Ray' was beyond my wildest dreams!

Just to clarify, because you have to plough through the press release for the whole story, the BD and DVD sets aren't complete: they're just the BBC productions plus (in the case of the BD box) the seven surviving Associated-Rediffusion Half Hour Story episodes.

But this isn't a particularly big deal because the non-BBC stuff - the remake of Scum, Made in Britain, Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire. Rita Sue and Bob Too - has always been pretty easy to get hold of, and of that lot only Made in Britain is first-rank Clarke. (I much prefer the BBC version of Scum, not least because the fact that the actors are two years younger makes them far more convincingly vulnerable - these aren't young adults being brutalised, they're barely into their teens.)

And Made in Britain is already available on BD, courtesy of Network's excellent Tales Out of School set.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Now that Penda's Fen is lined up and what with the upcoming David Rudkin retro at BFI this month would it be too much to hope that the Clarke set could be complemented by a Rudkin collection? If they could include some of his radio work like Casement's Bones and the Strange Case of Prufrock-Hitchcock (?) that would be a real treat.

[MichaelB]

Someone's just PMed to ask if the set includes the 1979 version of Scum: it's not a BBC production, so the answer is no.

It does, however, include the original 1977 version.

[Alphonse Tram]

At last! This is the stuff of dreams! I heard a long time ago that the BFI were planning this, completely forgot about it, what a great surprise! Finally I can finally retire all my ropey off air recordings!

Roll on the 23rd of May.

[swo17]

Just to clarify, because you have to plough through the press release for the whole story, the BD and DVD sets aren't complete: they're just the BBC productions plus (in the case of the BD box) the seven surviving Associated-Rediffusion Half Hour Story episodes.

But this isn't a particularly big deal because the non-BBC stuff - the remake of Scum, Made in Britain, Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire. Rita Sue and Bob Too - has always been pretty easy to get hold of, and of that lot only Made in Britain is first-rank Clarke. (I much prefer the BBC version of Scum, not least because the fact that the actors are two years younger makes them far more convincingly vulnerable - these aren't young adults being brutalised, they're barely into their teens.)

And Made in Britain is already available on BD, courtesy of Network's excellent Tales Out of School set.

The BFI will offer the most comprehensive collection and widest possible access to Clarke’s enduringly powerful work than ever achieved before, including Made in Britain, The Firm, Baal, Penda’s Fen, Elephant, Diane, Nina, Christine and The Road.

So just to be clear, this bolded statement only applies to the theatrical revival and not the home video releases?

Also, I would contend that the best version of Scum is whichever one you saw first.

[MichaelB]

So just to be clear, this bolded statement only applies to the theatrical revival and not the home video releases?

Yes - the retrospective is complete (or "complete surviving"), while the BDs and DVDs are "complete BBC".

Also, I would contend that the best version of Scum is whichever one you saw first.

I wouldn't: I saw the 1977 version many years after the 1979 one. Which I imagine is true of most Britons of my generation, since the 1977 version wasn't publicly screened until 1991.

To be fair, both versions have their weaknesses, but I think the remake is more visibly compromised by them. Ray Winstone later says that he was wrong to request that the scene in which he takes on a "missus" (i.e. male sexual partner as a female substitute) not be included in the remake, as he wasn't mature enough back then to realise its psychological significance - he was worried about his mates calling him a poof.

[swo17]

That's interesting to know that most people in the UK would have seen the remake first. I never got the memo about there even being two versions until after seeing the one that was out on BD (the remake). I tried to quickly remedy this by following it with the original version, but found much of its impact blunted by familiarity. That probably wasn't a very fair appraisal though of how each version tackles the same material in subtly different ways.

[peerpee]

I gave SCUM about 20 years between seeing the 1979 film and the 1977 BBC original, and I agree with Michael, the BBC original is far superior. I made some notes a couple of years ago: "The actors were younger, wetter behind the ears, the violence seemed harsher (even though we see less than the remake), and the whole piece just had more momentum/impact." They're fascinating to compare though.