1 The Working Class Goes to Heaven

Discuss releases by Radiance and the films on them.
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swo17
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Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
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1 The Working Class Goes to Heaven

#1 Post by swo17 » Wed Sep 14, 2022 10:57 pm

The Working Class Goes to Heaven

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Gian Maria Volonté (A Fistful of Dollars), stars in one of provocative filmmaker Elio (Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion) Petri's most politically charged films as factory worker Lulu: a man on the verge of a nervous breakdown, following an accident at work. Too tired to sleep with his girlfriend, cut out of his son's life by his ex, humiliated and disrespected. The Working Class Goes to Heaven is an oftentimes surreal and darkly comic look at the life of an everyday Italian trying to find a sense of purpose in a world where he is only allowed to be a tool for industry. A savage takedown of capitalism and industrial corruption, the film was recipient of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or and features a gloriously unhinged, award-winning performance from Volonté, accompanied by an exceptional score by Ennio Morricone and stunning cinematography by Luigi Kuveiller (Deep Red).

Limited Edition Special Features:

• 2K restoration of the film
• Original uncompressed mono PCM audio
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• Archival interview with Elio Petri from the Cannes Film Festival
• Career-encompassing archival interview with Gian Maria Volonté from French TV
• Archival interview with actor Corrado Solari
• Appreciation of Gian Maria Volonté and the film by filmmaker Alex Cox
• A visual essay by scholar Matthew Kowalski on Petri and politics
The Working Class Goes to Heaven - Background to a Film Shot in Novara (2006), by Serena Checcucci and Enrico Omodeo Salé; an unconventional making-of documentary, exploring the real-life factory location where the film was shot and the story behind the film's production there, as told by the staff, film extras and crew
• Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
• Limited edition booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic Eugenio Renzi, Elio Petri Investigation of a Filmmaker author Roberto Curti on Petri and Volonté's collaborations and relationship, archival writing and reviews to be confirmed
• Limited edition of 2000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

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ellipsis7
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 1:56 pm
Location: Dublin

Re: 1 The Working Class Goes to Heaven

#2 Post by ellipsis7 » Thu Sep 15, 2022 10:47 am

Should be a great release and a nice upgrade from the existing respectable Italian DVD... Fully loaded too with lots of interesting extras... Had the alternative English title LULU THE TOOL also previously...

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ryannichols7
Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:26 pm

Re: 1 The Working Class Goes to Heaven

#3 Post by ryannichols7 » Thu Feb 02, 2023 7:06 pm

We are down to our final few copies on our site and the warehouse is now empty. Copies at retailers won’t last long so don’t hesitate if you want a limited edition. We will issue a standard edition soon. Thanks to everyone for your great support on making our 1st title a success!
We are now sold out of stock on this one. We have kept back a small reserve of stock for lost or damaged deliveries. If you have it order but not shipped yet your order is safe, stock is held for orders until dispatch.
will be watching this one and giving my thoughts on the edition very soon. glad it's here in time for our 1971 project

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: 1 The Working Class Goes to Heaven

#4 Post by Finch » Fri Feb 03, 2023 10:50 am

Fran tweeted that it's now OOP. I don't think he's ever confirmed if the low stock on this, Big Time Gambling Boss and Married to the Mob was referring to the UK or both countries, but I'm assuming it's UK stock only..?

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kuzine
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 9:37 am

Re: 1 The Working Class Goes to Heaven

#5 Post by kuzine » Fri Feb 03, 2023 12:51 pm

This is a UK only title, so it would be all of the stock effectively.

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swo17
Bloodthirsty Butcher
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
Location: SLC, UT

Re: 1 The Working Class Goes to Heaven

#6 Post by swo17 » Fri Feb 03, 2023 1:04 pm

Married to the Mob is also UK-only while BTGB is both territories. I assume the published stock figures only relate to UK stock, but presumably the US stock levels would not be far off?

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: 1 The Working Class Goes to Heaven

#7 Post by therewillbeblus » Mon Mar 06, 2023 1:07 am

I thought this was absolutely terrific, and a totally unexpected product where any sociopolitical commentary on class concerns was overwhelmed by a fascinating character study about a man overwhelmed by, well, everything. Gian Maria Volontè's lead is so interesting and complicated, his performance transcends simple characterization to reflect the realities of an idiosyncratic personality attempting to pass for normal but in perpetual conflict, as informed by the internal processes and external systems of workplace, family, and socialized gender expectations. The camera caustically maneuvers between inviting and coercing us into his chaotic world, mirroring the erratic impulsivity erupting inside of him and projected into the pandemonium of his social context's feral riots, but never at the expense of its committed focus in surveying his complex humanity with its tactful yet persistent ultra-sensory stimulation. It's rare to get such a rich portrait of an imperfect person who doesn't quite 'know' himself in many ways and yet unapologetically does in others that don't necessarily warrant validation, especially in a two hour film that would typically be fighting its nature to avoid retreating into a didactic cause to artificially illustrate linear development in response to easy targets. Volontè lays himself bare while appropriately keeping the nebulous depths of his psyche in the elisions of the systems that obfuscate his own clarity of who he wants to be, ubiquitous hostility inhibiting self-actualization. I'm often drawn to films that pit an outcast against a consuming milieu they're forced to engage with, and so I felt this film recalled Taxi Driver more than any other kin in its naked and unflinching portrait of a frustratingly flaccid sense of identity - only it's more formally aggressive, less literally violent, and not quite as provocatively ambiguous in its subversive psychological wake - though in fairness, what film is? The denouement is comparably riveting to the Scorsese too
SpoilerShow
with the antihero's anxiety persisting in that kitchen scene, as the identified 'solution' to the cause fails to restore the impotence Lulu carries in his disintegrating core. If anything, a finite endpoint only heightens his stress rather than alleviating it, because now he has to contend with his fractured 'self' without a tangible excuse to fall back on. The anarchic final scene flares his insanity with antisocial tumult - Demands over "What does it mean?"; savage arguments about who was "there"; and charged jabs about what's truth vs dreamed in a "heavenly fog." We arrive nowhere, and in that absence -ironically full of vapid commotion to defensively fill the void- we find the depressing Sisyphean pattern that will be this man's life.
Really impressive work all around, and that includes Radiance - the presentation looks spectacular

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