BFI (British Film Institute)

[Gordon]

Now, I am a BIG John Huston fan, but A Walk With Love and Death (1969) is one of his weakest films. The BFI would have been better off licensing The Kremlin Letter (1970) from Fox and releasing it alongside their upcoming Army in the Shadows DVD, as Melville loved Huston's unorthodox spy thriller. A Walk with Love and Death is a really weird choice for a BFI release.

A progressive transfer of the Library of Congress print of Scarlet Street, on the other hand, would be greatly welcomed. The Kino edition just fell short due to being interlaced.

And it's pretty short-sighted of the BFI to include Toute La Memoire Du Monde when it is already available on the UK edition of Marienbad.

[porcupine2]

review of The River BFI dvd, with response to extras in relation to Criterion disc.

[addz]

Does anyone here own the bfi edition of Woman of the Dunes? What's the print quality like on this and are the extras and booklet similar to the Masters of Cinema releases?
This is my first bfi DVD purchase so I'm hoping it'll be another set I can enjoy collecting title after title for.

Also any opinions on the film itself are appreciated. I ordered this on a whim after seeing Teshigahara's The Face of Another which made such a huge impact on me that it pushed me into blind-buying both Pitfall and Woman of the Dunes.

[Nadsat]

Does anyone here own the bfi edition of Woman of the Dunes? What's the print quality like on this and are the extras and booklet similar to the Masters of Cinema releases?

Check out DVD Beavers comparison

[vogler]

Does anyone here own the bfi edition of Woman of the Dunes? What's the print quality like on this and are the extras and booklet similar to the Masters of Cinema releases?
This is my first bfi DVD purchase so I'm hoping it'll be another set I can enjoy collecting title after title for.

Also any opinions on the film itself are appreciated. I ordered this on a whim after seeing Teshigahara's The Face of Another which made such a huge impact on me that it pushed me into blind-buying both Pitfall and Woman of the Dunes.

In my opinion you have just bought one of the very greatest films ever made. There are a few films I have seen which leave me in a total state of awe at their brilliance and that have a huge impact on me artistically, emotionally, philosophically or otherwise and Woman of the Dunes is at the forefront of these (along with Persona, Hiroshima Mon Amour, La Roue, Dog Star Man and a number of others). The atmosphere of the film is like nothing I have ever experienced and Toru Takemitsu once again proved that he is a genius with his magnificent dissonant score. If you liked Face of Another I can't possibly imagine that you will be disappointed with Woman of the Dunes.

You've probably got all the information you need about the disc from the beaver link and I agree with that review. It is an excellent dvd with a great looking image. The sound can be a little bit distorted but this is probably how it originally sounded anyway and it didn't bother me. No extras on the disc but the film is quite long. The booklet is excellent and I would say it is of a similar quality to the MOC booklets.

The BFI have released a few stinkers in their time but they are generally very good and just recently have released a number of magnificent dvds.

[Tommaso]

The BFI have released a few stinkers in their time but they are generally very good and just recently have released a number of magnificent dvds.

Very true. Like many other distributors they have learned from their early mistakes, I think releases like the first "Man with a movie camera" or their early Kurosawas with burnt-in subs would be unthinkable for them now. And in the last two years or so all their releases that I have seen were absolutely top notch: the Dreyers, the Greenaway features, "Electric Edwardians", "Piccadilly" and quite a few others. Apart from Criterion and MoC, the BFI is currently my favourite label (and their choice of films seems to be much more interesting than Criterion's at the moment), so I would say the Rivettes can be bought blindly.

[vogler]

Apart from Criterion and MoC, the BFI is currently my favourite label (and their choice of films seems to be much more interesting than Criterion's at the moment)

Yeah, I can't imagine Criterion releasing anything like Richter's Dreams That Money Can Buy or any of the other avant-garde stuff like Chris Welsby or William Raban and the upcoming discs of Svankmajer and Quay shorts look like they are going to be great. BFI are definitely my second favourite label after MOC.

On the Svankmajer issue, does anyone know yet if the upcoming dvd will contain ALL of his shorts. I emailed the BFI and asked but I didn't really expect them to tell me and they didn't. I've just bought the Kino Ossuary and other Tales dvd so I'm going to be a bit pissed off if they all turn up on the BFI set. I couldn't wait though.

[Tommaso]

Yeah, I can't imagine Criterion releasing anything like Richter's Dreams That Money Can Buy or any of the other avant-garde stuff like Chris Welsby or William Raban and the upcoming discs of Svankmajer and Quay shorts look like they are going to be great. .

True, and don't forget the upcoming Jarman films. That is what I find strange with Criterion: they release one film by a major director, not necessarily the most important ones (I think of Jarman's "Jubilee" or Pasolini's "Mamma Roma", for example), and everyone expects them to do more, but nothing happens. There are some noteworty exceptions, of course: Kurosawa, Powell, and the occasional Kobayashi and Renoir. But the BFI - although they as well are not always very continuous - seem to release at least some 'batches' of three or four films at once, which give you a good idea/overview of a director's work: Dreyer, Jarman, Greenaway, or think of their ongoing collections of early cinema (an exception here would be Rossellini: nothing happened after their release of "Voyage in Italy", quite regrettably). But still I have a lot of hope that they will do more Rivette in the not so distant future.

[vogler]

True, and don't forget the upcoming Jarman films.

I obviously haven't been doing my homework - I didn't know they were releasing the Jarman films. Excellent.

With Jubilee I found it to be the worst Jarman film I have seen. I am a fan of his work, especially his shorts, and I have seen Jubilee twice - once many years ago when I was a green haired punk and once quite recently as someone who now prefers Coltrane and Stravinsky and both times I found it to be absolutely wretched. I just can't put up with Toyah Willcox.
Can't wait for The Angelic Conversation though. It was Coil that brought me back to Jarman years later with their soundtrack for this and also his shorts with the Psychic T.V., Throbbing Gristle and Burroughs connections. I'll be buying all of the Jarman discs for sure.

[Tommaso]

I obviously haven't been doing my homework - I didn't know they were releasing the Jarman films. Excellent.

It was mentioned in this thread as a sort of newsletter announcement. No date or any other info available on their site, of course, but I guess we will see them this autumn/winter.

With Jubilee I found it to be the worst Jarman film I have seen. I am a fan of his work, especially his shorts, and I have seen Jubilee twice - once many years ago when I was a green haired punk and once quite recently as someone who now prefers Coltrane and Stravinsky and both times I found it to be absolutely wretched. I just can't put up with Toyah Willcox.

I have also seen it twice, first some ten years ago and I really did not like it, but having re-watched it on dvd recently I find it quite amazing: this whole idea of QE I and her alchemist train visiting the bleakness of contemporary England, and the gorgeous performance of that blind actor (whose name escapes me just now) as the music mogul. Totally over the top, but unique in its own weird way. And that punk version of "Rule Brittania" really made me smile... Of course it has its weaknesses, it's unnecessarily violent and does not have a real plot, but then, considering it's a 1977 film, quite astonishing in my view (much better than 'Sebastiane', which may have some historical importance as a 'gay' movie, but is utterly ridiculous in almost every aspect). As to Toyah: well, I guess I have an idea what you mean, but try "The Tempest" instead, where I find her really appealing and acting quite well.

Can't wait for The Angelic Conversation though. It was Coil that brought me back to Jarman years later with their soundtrack for this and also his shorts with the Psychic T.V., Throbbing Gristle and Burroughs connections.

Me as well, this was still at the time when I was exploring the field of music rather than the world of films, but i guess some of my favourite filmmakers I got to know via some sort of musical connection: Tarkovsky because of Artemiev's soundtracks, Cocteau via David Sylvian and Bill Nelson, Bergman via Scott Walker, and Jarman via PTV/Coil.

I'll be buying all of the Jarman discs for sure.

Yep, AC is a must have for me, I'm not sure whether I should rebuy "Caravaggio" and "Wittgenstein", having them already in the Japanese (well, Chinese bootlegged but very good) editions. Hope the BFI does some good extras, that would probably tempt me....

[Gropius]

Yeah, I can't imagine Criterion releasing anything like Richter's Dreams That Money Can Buy or any of the other avant-garde stuff like Chris Welsby or William Raban and the upcoming discs of Svankmajer and Quay shorts look like they are going to be great.

Well, Criterion and the BFI are not directly comparable, since the BFI is theoretically a state-supported institution (despite the New Labour govt's best efforts to downsize it further), the obvious advantage of which is that it can afford to release material that will definitely make a loss. I'm not sure how the finance works, but I doubt Criterion could do this to the same extent. Unfortunately, though, stuff like the William Raban disc seems to have been in a very small print run, since it has gone out of print from most retailers within two years (before I have yet had a chance to get it!).

As a somewhat misty-eyed socialist, I like to think that if every country had a state-subsidised DVD production line of BFI quality or better, the general availability of DVDs would be in a lot better shape (same is true of cinemas, such as those of the Institut Francais and Goethe Institut). The BFI is not what it was though, since the production wing was shut down in 1999; considering that it had previously funded the early work of Mike Leigh, Greenaway, the Quays, Patrick Keiller, et al, this was an obvious shame, and further indication of the decline of support for interesting filmmaking in Britain (the population of which apprarently wants nothing more than a diet of Hugh Grant-starring slush).

[Gordon]

It looks like Ass will be released on November 27.

[HerrSchreck]

Hmm... wondering about Ginnette V commentaries not available on the Disco Espanola, direct port or no. Hopefully the bfi will pull out a nice transfer (not too impressed w their progressive GOJIRA coloring being blown out by a Sony Classics interlaced disc) along the RIVER lines of heavy competition, w some nice extras. Sitting on hold now with this on disc.

[ellipsis7]

News too of a Rossellini retro coming to the NFT in 2007... Hopefully some of these new prints will find their way onto DVD somehow somewhere...

[Gropius]

News too of a Rossellini retro coming to the NFT in 2007... Hopefully some of these new prints will find their way onto DVD somehow somewhere...

They're probably getting that second-hand from the Toronto Cinematheque. I've been underwhelmed by NFT programming lately (not that I get there much, being outside London): too populist, and spread too thinly. Since when does Michael Mann deserve a retrospective? This Mediatheque thing sounds like it might be a dubious waste of resources, especially if it is dedicated to showcasing British mediocrity (archive TV, public information films etc. - why can't it be rare Godard instead?) on small monitors in a room full of noisy kids running around. Ditto a 'studio cinema' if it means that people (with kids again) can walk in or out during a screening, disturbing those who actually want to see the whole thing.

And what's the betting they use this 'relaunch' as an opportunity to hike up prices even further? [/VICTOR MELDREW]

[Guest]

Oh dear, Gropius really has got his knickers in a twist about a project that he clearly doesn't understand. To dismiss the whole of British cinema and TV in such a ridiculous sweeping statement is amusingly risible. I applaud the BFI for prioritising British film and television - it is what its archive comprehensively collects and preserves, after all. To make it available for us tax-payers to see only makes sense. I hope that Gropius's comments about children were tongue-in-cheek. It is that kind of attitude that has ensured that places like the NFT have become perceived as the preserve of the old, the plastic-bag-carrying and the incontinent.

News too of a Rossellini retro coming to the NFT in 2007... Hopefully some of these new prints will find their way onto DVD somehow somewhere...

They're probably getting that second-hand from the Toronto Cinematheque.

I've been underwhelmed by NFT programming lately (not that I get there much, being outside London): too populist, and spread too thinly. Since when does Michael Mann deserve a retrospective? This Mediatheque thing sounds like it might be a dubious waste of resources, especially if it is dedicated to showcasing British mediocrity (archive TV, public information films etc. - why can't it be rare Godard instead?) on small monitors in a room full of noisy kids running around. Ditto a 'studio cinema' if it means that people (with kids again) can walk in or out during a screening, disturbing those who actually want to see the whole thing.

And what's the betting they use this 'relaunch' as an opportunity to hike up prices even further? [/VICTOR MELDREW]

[tryavna]

From Screendaily.com...

The British Film Institute (BFI) has announced the opening program of the refurbished National Film Theatre, which is set to reopen as BFI Southbank on 1 Feb, 2007.

The opening season will include a restored print of Luis Bunuel's Los Olvidados

I wonder if this means we can expect a Los Olvidados DVD release from BFI any time in the near future. Frankly, I'm getting tired of waiting for Koch Lorber, and wonder if the rights situation would be any easier to resolve in Britain.

[Gropius]

Oh dear, Gropius really has got his knickers in a twist about a project that he clearly doesn't understand. To dismiss the whole of British cinema and TV in such a ridiculous sweeping statement is amusingly risible. I applaud the BFI for prioritising British film and television - it is what its archive comprehensively collects and preserves, after all. To make it available for us tax-payers to see only makes sense. I hope that Gropius's comments about children were tongue-in-cheek. It is that kind of attitude that has ensured that places like the NFT have become perceived as the preserve of the old, the plastic-bag-carrying and the incontinent.

Hey hey, no need to get irate, but glad if my post provoked you into registering as a user. Of course I'm not dismissing 'the whole of British cinema and TV'; if the BFI are making available stuff by the likes of John Grierson, Humphrey Jennings, Len Lye, etc, then it will be a good initiative. But the website so far mentions the Carry On series, which is hardly a major artistic achievement.

As for making the NFT/BFI more 'family-friendly', there is a fine line between accessibility and populism. For the very reason that it receives a modicum of state funding (and therefore does not have to adhere to such a profit-driven model as a multiplex), the BFI should not have to apologise for presenting films primarily for their artistic interest rather than popular appeal. If children want to be introduced (or parents want to introduce them) to serious cinema from a young age, that is again to be applauded, but I don't think the BFI should put a load of candy-floss junk on its schedule in order to entice the crowds.

Given its crippling rents, London is already in a bad state for cinema, compared to, say, somewhere like New York. There is nowhere explicitly dedicated to film as art (to compare to the Anthology Archives or the MoMA); Tate Modern has a few screenings, but not many, while the LUX initiative shut down four years ago. The BFI is possibly the last outpost of historical/classic film in the country, so its traditional function (already somewhat eroded) should be defended as far as possible in the face of accusations of elitism.

[MichaelB]

Since when does Michael Mann deserve a retrospective?

Er... since he was recognised as one of the few major auteurs working in contemporary American cinema, and one of its greatest visual stylists - and most obsessive perfectionists - since Kubrick's death? Mann's work would have amply merited a retrospective at any point in the last decade - I wouldn't have thought that this was a remotely contentious decision.

Besides, when was the last time you had a chance to see The Keep on the big screen in Britain? I'm not even sure it's ever been bookable in 35mm - certainly, when I tried to track it down in the early 1990s, I was told it had only ever been made commercially available on 16mm, as its disappointing performance in the US condemned it to one of the first British straight-to-video releases of a big-budget film.

[Michael Kerpan]

Having watched both of the new Rivette releases -- I would conclude that (1) yes, they could have been better, but (2) they are a big advance over what was previously available (with subs) and are quite enjoyably watchable by those (like us) with merely ordinary low-end equipment.

[Gordon]

How does one acquire the sweets consumed by the women in the film? Are the narratives always the same or are the different for each subject? Cheers.

[Michael Kerpan]

I'm not sure just _how_ our heroines come out of the mystery house with bon bons in their mouths. It's never really explained. The only candy I saw in the house was a totally different kind.

They both see the same "performance" -- but gradually fill in the gaps with repeated visits (and remembering of same).

Spoiler (maybe)

Spoiler

Query -- the girl in the story is supposedly (according to what we find out from Julie's old nanny) actually the same age as Julie. Is Celine actually the girl grown up (in some metaphysical fashion)?

[Pinakotheca]

I was just going to comment that about Army of Shadows. Not even a sleeve picture...

Delayed?

[mario gauci]

Anyway, this BFI edition sounds great; I sold my R4 edition last month, so bring it on.

Ditto:

DVD Extras

Filmed introduction and commentary with Professor Christopher Frayling; Original trailer; "The Bespoke Overcoat" (1955, 33 mins) - Jack Clayton's directorial debut; Stills gallery; Booklet with film notes from Jeremy Dyson (The League Of Gentlemen).

[Gordon]

Intro and commentary by Frayling? Fantastic! In looking at Clayton's filmography the other day, I was intrigued by The Bespoke Overcoat as Tony Masters was the AD, Wolfgang Suschitzky was the DP and the music is by Georges Auric - a heckuva combo! A belter of a story, too.

Perfect artwork for L'Armee and glad to see that Vincedeau recorded another commentary.

Thanks, Mario.