BFI (British Film Institute)

[What A Disgrace]

Play.com has the Svankmajer shorts listed for a May 28 release date.

[Gropius]

Also on the schedule (end of April) is Kenneth Macpherson's Borderline (1930), possibly the only experimental feature made in pre-war Britain, featuring Paul Robeson and the poet H.D. It is also included in the recent Criterion Robeson set, but this will be useful for those who don't want to buy that. There's a soundtrack commissioned by the mainstream jazz artist Courtney Pine, which might be quite bad (I've been largely unimpressed by all the re-soundtracking of silents recently: the musicians in question never seem to have watched the film in any detail).

[MichaelB]

Play.com has the Svankmajer shorts listed for a May 28 release date.

We're very much hoping to make that date, but I can't make any guarantees at present - there are too many variables out of my hands (not least the BBFC).

Has there ever been any sort of update on this set? February has come and gone -- and soon March will be gone too.

As for the Naruses, I've been asked to make this statement:

Three Naruse titles are planned for DVD release: Floating Clouds, Late Chrysanthemums and When a Woman Ascends the Stairs. The reason for the delay in release is both matters of scheduling (there will be a Naruse season at BFI Southbank) as well as materials - suitable master material for Late Chrysanthemums in particular is proving difficult to access.

Painlevé is imminent, though.

(Incidentally, once I click 'Send' I'll be offline for another week, so please don't take my silence too personally!)

[Tommaso]

New releases in May, according to their 'Dates for your Diary' section:

* British Artists' Films: Ian Breakwell
* Jan Svankmajer: The Short Films, 1964 - 92
* Mitchell & Kenyon: Edwardian Sports (Mitchell & Kenyon, 1901 - 02)
* Mitchell & Kenyon in Ireland (Mitchell & Kenyon, 1901 - 02)
* Science is Fiction: The Films of Jean Painlevé / The Sounds of Science: Yo La Tengo

Great! I'm really looking forward to more M&K! I only hope they again got In The Nursery in the boat for the soundtracks.

[MichaelB]

New releases in May, according to their 'Dates for your Diary' section:

* British Artists' Films: Ian Breakwell
* Jan Svankmajer: The Short Films, 1964 - 92
* Mitchell & Kenyon: Edwardian Sports (Mitchell & Kenyon, 1901 - 02)
* Mitchell & Kenyon in Ireland (Mitchell & Kenyon, 1901 - 02)
* Science is Fiction: The Films of Jean Painlevé / The Sounds of Science: Yo La Tengo.

As mentioned above, the title of the Švankmajer package is actually JAN ŠVANKMAJER: THE COMPLETE SHORT FILMS. I'll try to get the temporary title flushed out of the system, but these things have a horrible habit of popping up again and again...

[htdm]

MichaelB,

Is there any word on the status of the silent Borzage titles that were once on BFI's release slate?

[MichaelB]

Is there any word on the status of the silent Borzage titles that were once on BFI's release slate?

No idea, I'm afraid - I don't work for BFI DVD Publishing except on an occasional freelance basis, so I can't comment on anything I'm not directly involved with. And in this case I genuinely don't know!

There's a soundtrack commissioned by the mainstream jazz artist Courtney Pine, which might be quite bad.

Or, on the other hand, it might be very good indeed - in fact, I'm sorry I didn't have the space to go into more detail in the Sight & Sound review I've just submitted, but I had to cover the film, the new BFI release and the Criterion Robeson edition in just 700 words.

But there's a good analysis of the score's many merits here, which I'm very happy to endorse. Here's an extract:

The lack of any dialogue clarification is a boon for Pine, because the cues aren't tied to whole scenes or a formal story: the music draws from ephemeral character moments – walks, hugs, arguments, reveling, murder – and whatever meaning Pine gleans from some of the eccentric montages.

Pine's music, however, is also dramatically functional, and it's a great example of how jazz can fulfill a movie's needs without the use of dialogue or sound effects. In a ‘straight' film, musicians' improvisations and rhythmic ideas have to be subjugated by these elements unless it's a love scene, a doom-and-gloom montage on a rainy street, or a club scene – clichés that don't really allow musicians like Pine room to really give voice to a film.

What's equally important is that Pine's score doesn't impose a traditional narrative on the film, and while it may contemporize it in terms of a modern jazz style, long chunks of improv, and a few formal melodies, the idiomatic use of jazz for a vintage film proves jazz is just as appropriate as a classic orchestral score.

In fact, with this film it's arguably even more appropriate, as it was made at a time when the Close-Up editorial team was obsessed with all things Black/African. A more conventionally "classical" silent-film score would arguably have done Borderline a major disservice.

[devlinnn]

Is there any word on the status of the silent Borzage titles that were once on BFI's release slate?

No idea, I'm afraid - I don't work for BFI DVD Publishing except on an occasional freelance basis, so I can't comment on anything I'm not directly involved with. And in this case I genuinely don't know!

I presume this would also go for any news on the upcoming Terence Davies titles, Michael?

[MichaelB]

I presume this would also go for any news on the upcoming Terence Davies titles, Michael?

Yes. Sorry, but there's really no point asking me - even if I did know, I'm contractually bound not to reveal anything before it's been officially announced, and in any case I wouldn't want to tread on anyone's toes.

I even kept schtum about the Švankmajer specs until the BFI Southbank programme let the cat out of the bag a few weeks ago.

[stepps]

One of the highlights of my life was seeing a restored version of Marcel L'herbier's L'inhumaine at the BFI. Unfortunately I wasn't able to see L'argent because of scheduling difficulties. Has the BFI any plans to release these movies on DVD. Or Duelle and Noroit, key Rivette movies that were playing at about the same time?

[Gropius]

Or Duelle and Noroit, key Rivette movies that were playing at about the same time?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong (and I hope I am), but I have a feeling that Paris nous appartient and Céline et Julie will be it in terms of BFI Rivette releases. Apart from Melville, they don't have a track record of serially releasing the works of French directors. And I expect the momentum for more Rivette is lacking. The two films you mention fall in that DVD netherworld period of late 70s-to-early 90s, which is apparently too late for the BFI or MoC but too early for Artificial Eye.

[justeleblanc]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I have a feeling that Paris nous appartient and Céline et Julie will be it in terms of BFI Rivette releases. Apart from Melville, they don't have a track record of serially releasing the works of French directors. And I expect the momentum for more Rivette is lacking.

I'm not so sure. I would say there is a bit of momentum from the recent retrospectives, which premiered some terrific prints.

[Gregory]

I was just browsing around for Pink Narcissus and couldn't find it at CD-Wow, Blah, Benson's, HMV, or sendit.com -- only at Amazon UK. I couldn't even get it to come up at www.find-dvd.co.uk. Am I making some error? Why is this so hard to find?
Of course there may be other UK sites that ship to the United States that I didn't check.

[Toxicologist]

The Å vankmajer box is now confirmed for 25 June - and unless anything completely unexpected happens, this won't be changing.

Am i to assume something unexpected has happened in a good way in that this is showing in stock at Amazon and i've just received despatch confirmation from Play.com?

[MichaelB]

Well, if they're sending it out early, I wouldn't complain!

(Actually, copies are already on sale in the BFI Filmstore on London's South Bank - and have apparently been flying off the shelves)

[Arn777]

I bought the Painlevé set today, and was intrigued as to why the standard BBFC classification logo does not appear anywhere on the cover as his customary, and it looks like the Å vankmajer set doesn't have it either. I remember Nick saying in one of the MOC thread that there was no way around. i'm just curious.

[MichaelB]

I bought the Painlevé set today, and was intrigued as to why the standard BBFC classification logo does not appear anywhere on the cover as his customary, and it looks like the Å vankmajer set doesn't have it either. I remember Nick saying in one of the MOC thread that there was no way around. i'm just curious.

The Painlevé set qualifies as a documentary collection, so it's formally exempt from classification (for similar reasons, the MoC Maysles titles and Shoah don't sport a BBFC certificate).

The Å vankmajer set is certificate 15, and the final artwork features the relevant roundel - but for various reasons (late delivery of some of the masters) the BBFC submission was made at the last minute, by which time the artwork was already in circulation in places like Amazon.

[Arn777]

Thanks for clarifying this. I only had a quick look at the Å vankmajer while at the new BFI filmshop, will probably go back tomorrow to buy it.

[What A Disgrace]

Would anyone be able to comment on the quality of BFI's disc of Cocteau's Orphee?

[Forgotten Goldfish]

Would anyone be able to comment on the quality of BFI's disc of Cocteau's Orphee?

The print appears to be taken from the same ultimate source as that in the Criterion Orphic Trilogy box -- same (very insignificant) damage marks etc. Criterion's transfer is, as you'd expect, markedly brighter & crisper, although I wouldn't claim that it contains any information that isn't also visible in the BFI. Criterion has optional English subtitles; BFI has burnt-in non-removable English subs (white text on a dark gray bar). Both soundtracks are clear and audible throughout (Criterion's has been subjected to more noise reduction; it's cleaner, but has less body).

So far, everything would be in favor of Criterion. HOWEVER Criterion's English subtitles contain many enormous translational mistakes, whereas BFI's are, as far as I can remember, accurate throughout.

The very first example: in Cocteau's opening narration, Criterion's subtitles say that Orpheus "was torn away from her" [Eurydice] "by the Bacchantes." Nonsense. The French is "déchiré par les bacchantes", and the BFI gets it right: "was torn to pieces by the Bacchantes." As you can see, mistakes of this kind make a real difference to the sense of the film... and in a Cocteau film, every word, every syllable is there for a reason.

I've cited a typical, not an extreme example. Similar translational errors occur throughout the Criterion disc. Amusingly, the box advertises "new and improved English subtitles". What must the subtitles have been like before they were improved?

I probably shouldn't admit it on this forum of all places, but when I personally revisit Orphée (which I do often), it's the BFI disc, not the Criterion, that tends to come down from my shelves. I'm willing to trade some loss of picture quality, and even non-removable dark bars across the screen, for the pleasure of watching so beautifully scripted a film in accurate English. This, however, is just a matter of taste, and I'm sure many forum members would make the opposite choice.

[What A Disgrace]

The accurate translation does sound tempting...even if the subs are a slightly distracting nature.

Are the extras on the disc worth investing in?

[Forgotten Goldfish]

Are the extras on the disc worth investing in?

Can't say anything about the audio commentary, which I haven't heard, but the 60-minute documentary on Cocteau, Lies and Truth (1996), is well worth having. Lots of archival footage of Cocteau himself (he was extensively filmed and recorded -- he must have been an interviewer's delight: put a microphone in front of him, get him to open his mouth, and you'd be almost sure to catch something interesting or extraordinary), plus comments from people who worked with him and/or were influenced by him.

Still, the Criterion set also has a first-rate documentary, Autoportrait d'un inconnu (1985), which ingeniously tells Cocteau's career entirely in his own words, using an intricate mosaic of archival footage pieced together from all kinds of sources -- it must have taken the makers forever to prepare. But here again there's a fly in the ointment. The Criterion subtitles were clearly done by the person who did their Orphée, and alas, again they contain enormous numbers of errors -- sometimes actually reversing the sense of the original! At one point Cégeste (the name of the character) is translated "this gesture" -- even though (a) Cégeste is actually on screen at the time, (b) "this gesture" makes no sense in the context, and (c) in Cocteau's crystalline diction I wouldn't have thought it possible to mistake é for e.

But mistakes of that kind aren't dangerous, because they're so obvious. The really dangerous ones are those of the "déchiré" type. They make perfectly plausible sense; they sound more or less like the original French; yet they're absolutely wrong, and they start your mind on a wrong train of thought. Many times, I'm sure, such errors must slip right past my guard, and mislead me without my even knowing that it's happened.

The only thing to do in such cases is what David Hare says: turn off the subtitles entirely and listen to the French with your own ears (if possible).

I ought to stress that my criticisms don't apply to all the translations in the Criterion Orphic Trilogy set. Orphée, Autoportrait d'un inconnu, and Villa Sospir are full of serious but plausible blunders; Sang d'un poète was probably done by the same hand, but it's a much easier job of translation and although the result is inept and clumsy, I don't recall any major errors of sense in it. And the Criterion Testament d'Orphée was clearly translated by someone else. It's not only accurate, but elegant and ingenious; I have nothing but praise for it. O that the whole set had been assigned to that person!

[reaky]

I've been waiting for Bigger Than Life almost as long as for Artificial Eye's A Man Escaped and The Devil, Probably. The Borzages they promised, too.

[domino harvey]

I just received the BFI 2-Disc Painleve set with Yo La Tengo doing a new version of their score for the Sounds of Science, this is one of the best DVD releases of the year.

[patrick]

That Panleve set sounds interesting, especially with the Yo La Tengo score (is it just a CD, or synced up with the film?). I still need to get the Celine et Julie DVD, I can't decide if I should go ahead and order from the UK or wait for the Panleve to show up on US shores.