Radiance Films General Discussion & Wishlist

[beamish14]

Fingers crossed for some Manoel de Oliveira. It’s sad how neglected titles like Abraham’s Valley are

[therewillbeblus]

I made sure to highlight that one, as well as commiserate that the available legal way to see it is in truncated form and the wrong AR. But a few of us have mentioned specific MO on discord outside of a bundled list, so it's been visibly pronounced

[Calvin]

"We've got like 5 Trintignant films coming up"

Maybe Drach's Les violons du bal will be one? A restoration played at Cannes a few years ago. I don't think many of Drach's films have been restored, but it would be nice to see some released.

[ianthemovie]

Worth noting that Fran had said that there was nothing restored that was "acceptable" and that he'd rejected Three Crowns of the Sailor.

I thought Three Crowns of the Sailor had literally just been restored within the past year, or maybe had been announced as in-process? Did I imagine that?

In any case, I would be far more excited for City of Pirates or Manoel.

[swo17]

Whenever it was restored, he didn't think it passed muster

[Glowingwabbit]

Manoel.

Manoel is #1 on my list of most wanted titles. I'd be happy just to see a restored version.

[knives]

Fingers crossed for some Manoel de Oliveira. It’s sad how neglected titles like Abraham’s Valley are

This is under the control of Grasshopper

[Calvin]

Fingers crossed for some Manoel de Oliveira. It’s sad how neglected titles like Abraham’s Valley are

This is under the control of Grasshopper

Is this news? I don't remember reading about Grasshopper having Abraham’s Valley before.

[therewillbeblus]

Maybe it's streaming from them? If so, I'd be curious about the length and AR of the version. I know Grasshopper posts here, so it'd be nice to know how Francisca has sold, and if there are any plans to release more 80s/90s MO like this?

[Finch]

Apologies if someone has already mentioned it, but I'd like to put a word in for The Face Of Another (1966) which has only had a DVD in the UK (and I don't think Criterion upgraded to HD, either?).

[rapta]

Apologies if someone has already mentioned it, but I'd like to put a word in for The Face Of Another (1966) which has only had a DVD in the UK (and I don't think Criterion upgraded to HD, either?).

Yes, I think I mentioned it alongside Pitfall and Woman in the Dunes. Only trouble is it'd have to be through Toho, but I'm sure it's the kind of title Fran would be looking into, and like you say they did license it to Eureka before (as well as Pitfall; BFI got Woman in the Dunes). A Teshigahara set would be a dream come true...

[beamish14]

Apologies if someone has already mentioned it, but I'd like to put a word in for The Face Of Another (1966) which has only had a DVD in the UK (and I don't think Criterion upgraded to HD, either?).

Yes, I think I mentioned it alongside Pitfall and Woman in the Dunes. Only trouble is it'd have to be through Toho, but I'm sure it's the kind of title Fran would be looking into, and like you say they did license it to Eureka before (as well as Pitfall; BFI got Woman in the Dunes). A Teshigahara set would be a dream come true...

I’d love to finally have legitimate releases of Summer Soldiers and The Man Without a Map

Nagisa Oshima’s Band of Ninja doesn’t seem to be a title that Janus/Criterion are handling, and that’s another which has languished without any kind of official release

[rapta]

Nagisa Oshima’s Band of Ninja doesn’t seem to be a title that Janus/Criterion are handling, and that’s another which has languished without any kind of official release

I legitimately think Oshima is ripe for a box set at this point. In fact it's kinda crazy to think there have been two Imamura sets and three Suzuki sets (and one Kobayashi set), and zero Oshima sets in the UK to date (nor any Shindo, Teshigahara, Shinoda, Matsumoto etc). Despite that fact, two key Oshima titles have been released twice on Blu-ray (In the Realm of the Senses, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence).

I think Fran might be a fan of The Man Who Left His Will on Film, so if we does go for any Oshima, it'll potentially not be the more 'obvious' ones. Carlotta released Death by Hanging, Boy and The Ceremony on Blu-ray in France, so those are potentially viable if there are HD masters (through Oshima Productions). Gohatto has had a 4K restoration from Shochiku, so that could be another potential acquisition (but would obviously require a deal with that studio). Goes without saying, the better the quality of the master, the more likely they'll be pursued.

[Calvin]

I believe Fran said a few years ago that he'd tried (unsuccessfully) for Oshima but didn't elaborate further. One unknown is how much of Janus/Criterion's known US holdings they've already bought UK rights for and are sitting on.

I doubt Band of Ninja is a title that will be of much interest to labels on its own - it's not top-tier Oshima, labels don't tend to release much animation as it is, and it's not anime enough for the anime labels.

[yoloswegmaster]

Hints for future releases:

[therewillbeblus]

Fran also mentioned that "abbreviations are not consistent as they were just too obvious otherwise! So might be director, licensor…"

[ryannichols7]

well, what jumps out at me are the very likely hints for Shinoda, Suzuki, and Ichikawa on the side. and possibly Bunuel too!

[Peacock]

Wrote this before seeing Ryan’s reply:

Ooh… Am I seeing SHIndo/SHInoda? ICHikawa? SUZuki?


Here’s my wishes for those four:


Captive’s Island by Shinoda

Children of Hiroshima by Shindo

Enjo/Conflagration pretty please (I’ve waited for this Ichikawa for over 15 years!

Kanto Wanderer, Gate of Flesh or Story of a Prostitute by Suzuki


Maybe there’s ALTman there too?

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Would be a pleasant surprise if the Ichikawa turns out to be Jun and the Shin is Sang-ok. (Or even better, ShinCine of Kim Ui-seok's Marriage Story and Jang Sun-woo's Lies... that's even more of a reach, I know.)

[dwk]

Gate of Flesh or Story of a Prostitute by Suzuki

Fran shot these two down as they are already taken.

[Calvin]

MA x 2 = Maren Ade's The Forest for the Trees and Everyone Else? The only other MA I can think of would be Antonioni and I'm not sure there's two of his films available.

[Peacock]

Gate of Flesh or Story of a Prostitute by Suzuki

Fran shot these two down as they are already taken.

Thank you. Hopefully it’s Criterion and not Yume .

[dwk]

Criterion does have the US rights to Gate of Fleah and Story of a Prostitute. Don't know who has them in the UK.

[JakeStewart]

“HAS” I would guess is for a Wojciech Has film, likely The Hourglass Sanitorium or The Saragossa Manuscript if that’s the case.

“FID BOX” is intriguing, but I can’t come up with anything.

[Finch]

I'd like to suggest Melvin and Howard as a future Radiance title. The fine Twilight Time BD which I just picked up has no subtitles for the hard of hearing like me, and could be bested further with an Indicator-style booklet (which I'm assuming is along the lines of what Fran has in mind for his label's booklets anyhow) and interviews with surviving cast and crew members (Le Mat, Steenburgen), perhaps even an audio commentary or video essay by a UK critic or academic who is a Demme supporter. A fresh 2k or 4k scan would be the icing on the cake but this film is deserving of a UK boutique label's attention, and I figure Radiance or Indicator would be the most fitting.

I'd have also thrown Beloved in for good measure as it's widely regarded (going by the retrospective pieces following Demme's passing at least) as the one Demme film most ripe for re-discovery but it's a Buena Vista property so forget about it.