BFI (British Film Institute)

[colinr0380]

While putting in my order for the DVDs of Dennis Potter's Karaoke and Cold Lazarus I got to wondering about what happened to the only feature film both written, and even directed, by Potter - Secret Friends with Alan Bates and Frances Barber? I remember it had one showing on UK television back in 1994 in Channel 4's yearly season of films it produced, but it doesn't seem to have turned up since, not even on their Film4 channel.

I do remember it getting mostly negative reviews (like this one from the New York Times) which might explain it's obscurity, though I'd like to imagine that it could possibly turn out to have been the Dennis Potter version of something like Inland Empire - unfiltered in a good way!

Maybe if Flipside did a deal with Channel 4 it could be an interesting film to release in their series. And while we are about it, I'd also like to see The Secret Rapture (the Joanne Whalley, Juliet Stevenson and Penelope Wilton starring film from the David Hare play) resurface somewhere!

[What A Disgrace]

With BFI continuing to dip (if conservatively) into their back catalogue, I wonder what the chances are of seeing the other Greenaway films, and those of Terence Davies, in HD...sooner than later.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Having caught some of the bfi Cavalcanti season I'd like to know whether we might eventually expect bona fide post restoration releases from the bfi itself? Also Is the Odeon 'Fugitive" release grey area PD stuff/worth picking up can anyone advise ?

[Dr Amicus]

While putting in my order for the DVDs of Dennis Potter's Karaoke and Cold Lazarus I got to wondering about what happened to the only feature film both written, and even directed, by Potter - Secret Friends with Alan Bates and Frances Barber? I remember it had one showing on UK television back in 1994 in Channel 4's yearly season of films it produced, but it doesn't seem to have turned up since, not even on their Film4 channel.

I do remember it getting mostly negative reviews (like this one from the New York Times) which might explain it's obscurity, though I'd like to imagine that it could possibly turn out to have been the Dennis Potter version of something like Inland Empire - unfiltered in a good way!

If memory serves me from its one screening, it's definitely Potter(ian/ish/esque?). I seem to remember quite liking it, but little more than that.

Oh, and for UK viewers, Film4 is showing Terence Davies's The Neon Bible next week!

[tojoed]

M. Hulot's Holiday and Playtime on Blu-Ray in coming in September.

[antnield]

M. Hulot's Holiday and Playtime on Blu-Ray in coming in September.

Specs have been posted in the BFI subforum's Jacques Tati thread.

[MichaelB]

Already posted in the dedicated Jacques Tati thread - and they're Dual Format editions that are coming out on November 15.

I don't yet know whether the DVD in the package is a repress of the existing one or a downconversion from the HD master.

[tojoed]

Sorry about that, I can't seem to find anything at the moment.

[Finch]

I hope the BFI are considering to put out Terence Davies' films on Blu, especially The Long Day Closes (though I doubt Of Time and The City would really be a candidate due to its source).

[Dr Amicus]

I think we can safely say Of Time And The City won't be out on Blu - it was originally announced but fell through when issues of source film were considered.

But I'd love to see the others - a couple of years ago, Sky Arts showed HD versions of the Trilogy and Distant Voices, Still Lives, and very nice they looked too. 1080i - but that's as good as Sky gets at the moment.

[MichaelB]

It might be possible to assemble an authentic HD version of Of Time and the City, but it would involve going back to the original source materials from the various archives (which were originally supplied to Davies on SD video), telecineing them to HD and then essentially reassembling the entire film from scratch, shot by shot.

But while it might be possible, it won't be happening, because the cost would massively outweigh any likely revenue from Blu-ray sales.

As for the others, I'm not aware of any plans for a Blu-ray reissue, though director-approved HD masters do exist of all five films from Children to The Long Day Closes.

[nolanoe]

Is there a list of intended FLIPSIDE releases that can be unveiled?? I really love this side branch (seriously, it currently amazes my like nothing else), and am curious what's up next.

[antnield]

Private Road and a double-bill of Duffer and Moon Over the Alley have been confirmed for January. The only other titles confirmed as future Flipside releases thus far are Deep End and Mike Sarné's Joanna. All titles should have their own threads.

[MichaelB]

Also Lunch Hour and Requiem for a Village.

Oh, and it's just plain Sarne, not Sarné (Sarnie?).

[MichaelB]

Michael, the Powell is just gorgeous! Photographically I dont think you can get better video repro of early panchromatic stock with razor sharp blacks to whites than this. It's just fabulous!!

Thanks for that - but my colleagues James White and Doug Weir deserve the real plaudits. Granted, they had the massive advantage of access to the original 35mm nitrate negative, so their source materials couldn't have been any better, but I agree that they did a phenomenal job.

[antnield]

Also Lunch Hour and Requiem for a Village.

Oh, and it's just plain Sarne, not Sarné (Sarnie?).

Double oops! Good to see Requiem for a Village amongst those forthcoming; another BFI Production Board feature meaning we're hopefully getting closer to some of those "post-Straubian costume dramas" of the late-seventies/early-eighties that I've longed to see for so long: Phil Mulloy's In the Forest, Ed Bennett's Life Story of Baal, Anna Ambrose's Phoelix, etc.

[nolanoe]

Thanks for the info Michael, consider a big fan pleased!!

Also, are there any news on Sleep is Lovely (1968) and Symptoms (1973)??

Oh, and I don't know if this is debatable here, or if its even in the grasp of the BFI, but since the early Hitchcock film are being restored now...

I discussed KALEIDOSCOPE with somebody recently. For the uninformed, KALEIDOSCOPE was a film Hitchcock intended to shoot in 1969 in New York. It was intended as a "realistic" film from a killers pov, only using normal make-up and natural lightning. Hitchcock shot an hour of test footage (though, the same was said for L'ENFER, with 15 hours emerging in the end, so this remains debatable) but the studio thought the violent and sexual themes too shocking for the audiences of the late 60s (!!!), and so Hitchcock had to ditch it. Quite a shame, since it would have been his "Nouvelle Vague" work in a way.

Well, and now comes the interesting part: this concept later turned into FRENZY (often, KALEIDOSCOPE can be found as KALEIDOSCOPE FRENZY), which was then shot in London. Considering that some negatives take strange journeys, I recently wondered if the footage for KALEIDOSCOPE was in the grasp of the BFI - further possible proof turned up when I saw a BBC documentary on Hitchcock, which showed some of the footage (that doesn't say much, since the footage easily could have been imported, but who knows).

So just in case those are in the BFI archive - with the release of a BFI-archive Hitchcock film, is a release of this material in a documentary or raw, or any other form possible to come from the BFI?

[zedz]

Good to see Requiem for a Village amongst those forthcoming; another BFI Production Board feature meaning we're hopefully getting closer to some of those "post-Straubian costume dramas" of the late-seventies/early-eighties that I've longed to see for so long: Phil Mulloy's In the Forest. . .

My first reaction was - not the Phil Mulloy? IMDB avers, and now I'm intensely curious. I had no idea he had any live action features in his closet, let alone a 'post-Straubian' one. Bring it on!

[antnield]

One and the same - as Mulloy's entry on the BFI's SIFT database (far more reliable than the IMDb) testifies. As far as I'm aware all of his work prior to 1989's Possession was live action (he discussed it a little, I seem to recall, in a documentary, predominantly about his animation, that aired on BBC2 during the early to mid-nineties and was followed by the History of the World shorts), and Tony Rayns is amongst his fans during this period, describing In the Forest in Time Out as an English The Travelling Players, or something thereabouts.

Of course, it's pure speculation on my part that the BFI will ever get around to releasing such features on disc, but the various Production Board titles we've seen of late, or forthcoming, does give me a little hope.

(Incidentally, and off-topic, I once came across a clip of Rolf's Cartoon Club, a British children's show fronted by Rolf Harris on animation, on YouTube which promised clips from Mulloy's Cowboys series amongst the usual Bugs Bunny, Roadrunner, Tom and Jerry and the like. Completely inappropriate! Though I can't see them opting for the horse fucking present in "That's Nothin!"!)

[zedz]

That's very exciting. I think I've seen everything from Possession on, but I didn't even know the live action stuff existed. The late sixties through late eighties period of feature filmmaking that the BFI is currently unearthing has proved tremendously fertile, and I was only previously aware of about 20% of this material.

[tojoed]

I wonder if John MacKenzie's "Made" (1971) is being considered for a Flipside release. It was recently shown at the Barbican, I believe.
I haven't seen it since 1972, although I think it has been on TV, but I became a lifelong Roy Harper fan as a result (me and about five others). I recall liking it better than any of Ken Loach's films.

[MichaelB]

I wonder if John MacKenzie's "Made" (1971) is being considered for a Flipside release. It was recently shown at the Barbican, I believe.
I haven't seen it since 1972, although I think it has been on TV, but I became a lifelong Roy Harper fan as a result (me and about five others). I recall liking it better than any of Ken Loach's films.

I'm not aware of any plans in that direction, but MacKenzie's notorious farm safety film Apaches is included in volume four of the BFI's COI Collection, out in November. (Dedicated thread)

[tojoed]

Thanks for the reply, Michael. I can but hope.

[DanV]

Any news about those Kurosawas on BD?

[perkizitore]

Where are the rest of the Ozu films, BFI?