153 90˚ in the Shade

[domino harvey]

90˚ IN THE SHADE
(Jiří Weiss, 1965)
Release date: 23 September 2019
Limited Edition Blu-ray (World Blu-ray premiere)

A rare Anglo-Czech co-production, 90° in the Shade is a fascinating, little-seen drama directed by Jiří Weiss (Romeo, Juliet and Darkness) and co-written by David Mercer (Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment).

Set at the height of summer, the film concerns shop assistant Anne Heywood (The Fox), and two men who will affect her life: James Booth (The Man Who Had Power Over Women), the married man with whom she is having affair, and Rudolf Hrušínský (The Cremator), an auditor who has family problems of his own.

Filmed simultaneously in English and Czech versions, Indicator is proud to present both cuts on Blu-ray for the first time ever.


INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Two presentations of the film: 90° in the Shade, the English-language version; and Třicet jedna ve stínu, the Czech-language version
• High Definition remasters
• Original mono audio
• Audio commentary with film historian Michael Brooke (2019)
• Degrees of Separation (2019): a demonstration of the differences between the two versions of the film
• The Rape of Czechoslovakia (1936): documentary film by director Jiří Weiss on the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia
• The Other RAF (1942): documentary by Weiss on the Russian Air Force
• 100,000,000 Women (1942): documentary edited by Weiss on the role of Soviet women in the Second World War
• Before the Raid (1943): dramatised account of Norwegian fishermen outwitting occupational forces during World War II, directed by Weiss and written by acclaimed author Laurie Lee
• The IWM Interview with Jiří Weiss (1990): archival audio recording, made by the Imperial War Museums, featuring the director discussing his WWII filmmaking experiences
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing for 90° in the Shade
• Newly translated English subtitles for Třicet jedna ve stínu
• Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Jonathan Owen, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
• World premiere on Blu-ray
• Limited edition of 3,000 copies
• All extras subject to change
#PHILTD153
BBFC cert: 12
REGION FREE
EAN: 5037899084014

[domino harvey]

Wow, what a package! I was just reading up on this film a few days ago, looks like I'll wait to experience it via this release

[rapta]

And it's probably the closest we'll get to seeing Indicator release a foreign-language film (unless they were to start an offshoot of course). I read up on this ages ago so am keen to see it, especially the two differing versions!

[What A Disgrace]

By far the most interesting release of an interesting month.

[TMDaines]

Wow. Looks like a release of the year contender!

[MichaelB]

Full specs announced, along with the confirmation that the English version is a brand new restoration from the original negative:

[rapta]

Thanks, Michael et al. Just went from being a 'must-have' to 'absolutely essential'. Can't wait to get stuck into this and hoping it encourages more Weiss films to reach Blu-ray soon.

[MichaelB]

CineSavant.

[MichaelB]

Beaver.

[therewillbeblus]

I just watched the English language version and was absolutely blown away by this film. A nice mix of English kitchen sink drama and Czech New Wave, with the latter’s style perfectly woven through the narrative, deliberately uneven in amplification based on our heroine’s emotional state. There is a depth to the relationship between the camera and Anne Heywood that can feel frighteningly claustrophobic one moment and beautifully intimate the next, depending on the mood of the scene, and made me feel more uncomfortable and yet cathartically close to, even blended with, her for most of the runtime. When this wasn’t happening, the curious character of the inspector was treated with a tender lens that while ambiguous somehow humanized him just as much as her. The strangeness here is that the camera is often clearly objective and yet the subjective involvement is piercing as the restraint serves an equally emotional purpose. There is a tragic disconnect present throughout this film, between people, within oneself, exemplified by struggles at communication and often literal objects blocking the camera’s ability to capture the action and achieve subjective alignment.

I found myself having a (possibly abnormal) reaction here more similar to what I get from the French New Wave films than from Czech or any other movement, though perhaps that’s a testament to how powerful the experience was rather than any stylistic denominators in the film itself (since I strongly prefer the films of the nouvelle vague to most others, though I do enjoy the Czech New Wave). I can’t wait to watch the Czech version and dig into the extras on this disc. This is one of the best discoveries of the year, and yet another reason to add to the pile for why Indicator is the most exciting label currently active.

[MichaelB]

CineOutsider.