Recommendations for Second Run

[filmyfan]

Any chance of

Sun in the Net (Upgrade)
Long Live the Republic

?

[swo17]

Long Live the Republic

The film I most wanted to see after watching CzechMate

[borisgodunov]

A while ago I had the chance to see two incredibly great films at the goEast film festival in Wiesbaden, Germany. Unfortunately, both films have since disappeared into oblivion, so that even if you are willing to spend money on them, you won't be able to see them anymore.

The first film is the Albanian melodrama Vitet e pritjes, originally released in 1990 and now available in a brand new restored version from the Albanian National Film Archive – although it remains concealed from the public. The film is about a small Albanian community that more and more men are leaving to escape poverty and send money to their families from abroad. The story is told in a deliberately stylised form that is both empathetic and strongly emotionally appealing; the consequences of migration, its effect on relationships in the village, on the psychological make-up of its inhabitants, on the sense of belonging, are elevated almost to the level of myth and interwoven with dreamlike sequences, without losing sight of the harsh reality. I found the film to be one of the most beautiful I've ever seen (luckily I took some screenshots, see below, to share with you), also because of its stunning soundtrack; and since a restored version and English subtitles already exist, a Blu-Ray release should be possible – besides, Albania is also missing from the Second Run world map.

The second was an Uzbek comedy – you can find the film under the names Voiz and Orator (1998) –, which I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. Despite its running time of only 83 minutes, it turned out to be an astonishingly complex work: On the one hand, it was a satirical study of how the Soviets' control of Central Asia destroyed traditions and culture – in this respect, the film has decidedly taken a postcolonial position –, but on the other hand, the film addresses at the same time the strong discrimination that women had to face under these traditions, and thereby broadens the postcolonial approach to one that looks at the issue of inequality and oppression in larger contexts. But most importantly, the film is incredibly entertaining, combining a delightfully dry humour with romance, revolution and feminism, and touching on all the difficult subjects with a wonderful nonchalance that never feels strained and leaves room for beautiful images, but also for some surprisingly graphic moments. I really loved it. The version I saw was of good, albeit not outstanding quality (the film was probably not restored, but it was an extremely solid scan, significantly better than the versions of the film on YouTube). Overall, a DVD release seems possible to me. Unfortunately I didn't take any screenshots here, I'd really like to share them.

[MV88]

I’m not sure if the answer to this has already been stated elsewhere, but does anyone happen to know if there are plans to upgrade Tropical Malady to Blu-ray? I gather Second Run still has the rights to it since the DVD is currently available on their site, but that release was in 2008 and given how much the film’s stature has grown since then, an upgrade is starting to feel inevitable. But will Second Run be doing it, or are we thinking another label is looking into releasing that at some point? I can’t imagine it’s not a priority for any label right now, unless of course there are issues possibly related to the transfer that I don’t know about.

[Finch]

I believe 2k restorations were done in the last few years for Tropical Malady and one other (or maybe two?) early Weerathesakul films. I don't know how it sold on DVD for Second Run but I would love to see an upgrade.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

If Screen Slate is accurate, the older 35mm features (Blissfully Yours, Tropical Malady, Syndromes and a Century) were shown on DCP at the IFC Center's recent Apichatpong retrospective, but IFC themselves provided no info on screening formats. The only other reference I can find to a DCP for any of these films is an alleged DCP screening of Blissfully Yours at the Tate Modern in 2016, which is a bit odd since the Oklahoma City Museum of Art had to screen it off a DVD two years later for their own Apichatpong retro (as was the case with a screening I attended at almost the exact same time as the Tate series).

[rapta]

I posted about this last month on BR.com as I noticed there was a small season of his films being shown at the ICA in London alongside three films he hand-picked to go alongside them.

Anyway, in short they confirmed that Blissfully Yours, Tropical Malady and Syndromes and a Century are currently 'undergoing restoration'. I'd be surprised if Second Run weren't the ones to bring those to Blu-ray in the UK, since they released the first two of those on DVD (and BFI don't seem to be interested in upgrading the latter).

PS: If anyone's interested, I noticed that Second Run retweeted/liked tweets about Karel Kachyňa's The Little Mermaid, so I assume that means they'll be releasing that soon!

[hmcnaught]

My recommendations:

György Fehér's Twilight and Passion, two hungarian films that the director of Second Run spoke about. I'm just here to say I'd absolutely love to see these films get the proper treatment and home release here. To my knowledge, Twilight had a restoration last year -- exciting stuff!

James Benning's Landscape Suicide and other selected works, perhaps his California Trilogy?

Any Bresson would be wonderful, maybe something we haven't got here yet? Angels of Sin would be a good deep cut, I reckon. I know Ariticial Eye put out a lot of Bresson's films, but hardly anything on blu-ray and many of those titles are hard to come by now.

Chantal Akerman's Les Rendez-vous d'Anna,La Captive and Toute une nuit would be great to see.

Some Lav Diaz?

Wondering if anyone could tell me about the possibility of these coming to fruition are? I gather rights would be a pain for some of them but I can't think of another label that would realistically put something like Fehér out.

[Calvin]

A while ago I had the chance to see two incredibly great films at the goEast film festival in Wiesbaden, Germany. Unfortunately, both films have since disappeared into oblivion, so that even if you are willing to spend money on them, you won't be able to see them anymore.

The first film is the Albanian melodrama Vitet e pritjes, originally released in 1990 and now available in a brand new restored version from the Albanian National Film Archive – although it remains concealed from the public. The film is about a small Albanian community that more and more men are leaving to escape poverty and send money to their families from abroad. The story is told in a deliberately stylised form that is both empathetic and strongly emotionally appealing; the consequences of migration, its effect on relationships in the village, on the psychological make-up of its inhabitants, on the sense of belonging, are elevated almost to the level of myth and interwoven with dreamlike sequences, without losing sight of the harsh reality. I found the film to be one of the most beautiful I've ever seen (luckily I took some screenshots, see below, to share with you), also because of its stunning soundtrack; and since a restored version and English subtitles already exist, a Blu-Ray release should be possible – besides, Albania is also missing from the Second Run world map.

I'd second this - I haven't seen it but it sounds very interesting. Any Albanian cinema would be great; I'm surprised that the restoration of Tomka and His Friends has yet to turn up on home video (as far as I'm aware). It was one of the highlights of the touring programme that accompanied Mark Cousins' A Story of Children and Film a few years ago.

There's a section on Yugoslav cinema at this year's Il Cinema Ritrovato festival and a couple of them have been recently restored - Aleksandar Petrović's Tri and France Štiglic's The Ninth Circle. I'd recommend both to Second Run though I'm not sure BBFC would take kindly to a sequence in the former involving a chained-up travelling circus bear.

[AidanKing]

Mubi is currently streaming 'Mother Joan of the Angels' in HD. I wonder whether that means that the rightsholders of some Polish films have reduced the amount they are asking licensees to pay. If so, I imagine Second Run would be looking into the possibility of some BluRay releases.

[Calvin]

Hopefully we'll see some movement on that front soon, but I wouldn't take this as any sort of sign - Mubi probably have deeper pockets than any other UK distributor at the moment. I also have a vague recollection of them having streamed Polish restorations in previous years but could be wrong on that.

[L.A.]

The Emperor and the Golem (Martin Frič, 1951)

One of the most beautiful color films I have seen starring the excellent Jan Werich. Not sure whether an HD master exists but if there is one then this would be neat.

[ryannichols7]

I'm sure I don't even really need to be "recommending" this but there isn't really another good place to post it besides the general thread - the Karel Zeman Museum has announced that they have restored Zeman's 1967 film Ukradená vzducholoď (The Stolen Airship) and are asking for crowdfunding to create digital masters and subtitle translations so it can play international festivals. the site appears to be only in Czech, as I'm still trying to figure out how to donate, but luckily they appear to almost already be at their goal. I'm sure this is an absolute no brainer for Second Run in 2023, they've made it no secret Zeman's titles do really well for them, but just have to wait for the new restorations to roll in.

I am surprised the museum skipped A Jester's Tale, or did they? last I was told it hadn't been done yet. I really enjoyed that film and would love to see an upgrade of it, but I'll take any Zeman I can get. I'll shoot the museum an email and see if I can get any further information

[MichaelB]

They haven't restored the films in chronological order thus far - they started with Baron Munchausen and then went progressively backwards. So I wouldn't read anything into that.

[stepps]

Mircea Saucan seems to be a forgotten Romanian director, and it's a great pity. Honestly if Second Run were to publish a blu-ray of his Ţărmul nu are sfîrşit / The Endless Shore (1962), I would pinch myself, and then go out and buy some champagne. This is a film of pure joy, a parade along a beautiful symbol-laden beach. There are stills from the film and production stills here on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063453584806. This is the type of film which makes you happy to be alive. I would be dead without films like this. Also, do you ever do kickstarters, or some sort of expression of interest polling? I would be happy to put some cash towards getting this on BluRay.

In 1966 he also released a film called Meandre about a love triangle, which is pretty transcendental as well. This is an incredible film too.

Also, a thank you for Sodrasban, which I watched on your bluray recently, and, well, this is another film that makes living worth it.

[Langland]

I'm new here,have a complete set of SR releases, speak some Czech and Polish and am eternally grateful for SR's magnificent roster of films in these languages. Many films I'd like to see but Pia Marais' IM ALTER VON ELLEN would go down nicely as would a BD edition of THE UNPOLISHED. Lucian Pintilie's THE RE-ENACTMENT would surely be something of a coup. But of course SR know best and whatever they release I will be buying!

[Langland]

From Czechoslovakia as it then was I would like to see Vladimir Sis' 'Ledové Muži' (Men of the Ice) starring Rudiolf Hrušinsky and also 'The Good Soldier Švejk' also starring him. And it's not really a serious suggestion but the children''s comedy TV series 'Návstĕvnici' is hilarious: directed by Oldřich Lipsky (Tomorrow I'll wake up and scald myself, Ikarie XB-1) with visual jokes by Svankmajer. Not currently available with any English subtitling or dubbing. It could be SR's foil to MoC's forthcoming 'On the Silver Globe'!

[MichaelB]

A tiny quibble, but it's directed by Jindřich Polák, not Oldřich Lipský. But Polák did indeed make Tomorrow I'll Wake Up And Scald Myself With Tea and Ikarie XB-1, so it was clearly straightforward misattribution.

Incidentally, since it's extraordinarily unlikely that anyone will put out an English-friendly physical-media edition, I thought I'd flag up that there's a full set of English fansubs out there.

[Langland]

Yes, my mistake;I'm in Poland at the moment so perhaps it was a Freudian slip! One of the stars of 'Návštěvníci' ('The Visitors'), Josef Bláha, was also in 'Tomorrow I'll wake up and Scald Myself with Tea'. A slightly more realistic suggestion might be the Polish time-travel comedy 'Seksmisja' ('Sexmission') which incredibly for such an elegant film does not have an English-friendly version. But with SR's blu-ray of "Morgiana' out any day now, who needs comedy?

[Langland]

Yes, my mistake. I'm in Poland at the moment so perhaps it was a Freudian slip. The star of 'Návštěvníci' ('The Visitors') ,Josef Bláha, was also in 'Tomorrow I'll wake up and Scald myself with Tea'. A slightly more realistic recommendation might be Juliusz Machulski's Polish time-travel comedy 'Seksmisja' ('Sexmission') where two intrepid Polish guys end up on a future Earth where men have been phased out. But with a BD '

[MichaelB]

Since you’re in Poland, you may well be able to buy an English-friendly Blu-ray of Seksmisja! I can certainly confirm that one exists, anyway.

[Langland]

Ah yes- bit pricey though. There's a new film magazine out here with an article on Polish folk horror focusing on two films I don't know, Lokis and Wilczyca. They're in an American boxset called All the Haunts be Ours but it's dear. So I cheated and found a dvd set on eBay from Televizja Polska.I've already got some of theirs eg Zanussi and I'll bet it's just as good.

[MichaelB]

Pricey? Going from Empik's current price, I make it £12/€14/$15 at the current exchange rate.

[Langland]

I've tried two empiks here in Wrocław and neither sell movies. There's a possible third option which I may try tomorrow. I wanted a Wajda film which was recommended here called (I think) Without Anaesthetic. On ebay Seksmisja blu ray is £24. I did at least find Fuga by Agnieszka Smoczynska in the CEX shop.

[Langland]

Well, I'm not sure it would would be quite suitable for Second Run.But a film I would seriously suggest is Ladislav Helge's 'Shame' ('Stud')
https://www.filmovyprehled.cz/en/film/396726/shame
A really impressive character study and a brave depiction of Communist corruption and nepotism. I don't know if there is already an English language edition.