Radiance Films General Discussion & Wishlist

[rrenault]

It could be. I can't really picture Radiance releasing a Dardenne film for some reason so...

[Calvin]

The Belgian is presumably Kumel for the presumed/speculated Daughters of Darkness UHD.

I'm wondering if the 'double-bill from an overlooked French master' might be a sign that (the oft-requested around these parts) Michel Deville is joining the collection...

[JSC]

They're up.

Life is Cheap... but Toilet Paper is Expensive
Essential Polish Animation
The Beast to Die
Rose la Rose, fille publique

Interesting. Just finished watching two Paul Vecchialli films.

[ryannichols7]

Fingers crossed it's something from Delvaux, maybe Rendez-vous à Bray or The Man Who Had His Hair Cut Short (which has a recent 2K restoration)?

One Night, a Train too. Yves Montand and Anouk Aimee bring the star power

but Calvin is probably right

[rrenault]

I might preorder the Vecchiali film, but I'm not sure about the others.

[MichaelB]

Turns out you were all right about the Polish animation! Was looking more likely when I realised Fran maybe wanted to revisit what he started with Borowcyzk back at Arrow. I love Polish poster design from that period, so I’m sure there will be some crossover there. Exciting!

Polish posters will certainly be mentioned in my video essay, as there's a fair bit of crossover - not least because some key animators (notably Jan Lenica) were also distinguished poster designers.

[swo17]

The Wang is not a Radiance title, Arbelos is a new partner label

[domino harvey]

I'm wondering if the 'double-bill from an overlooked French master' might be a sign that (the oft-requested around these parts) Michel Deville is joining the collection...

I'd obviously love that, but there are a LOT of "overlooked French masters" who could sustain a double feature, so there are no shortage of possibilities

[rrenault]

Some “overlooked French master” possibilities could include Luc Moullet, Claude Sautet, Jacques Rozier, or perhaps more Vecchiali.

I wonder if Radiance would release anything by Claude Lelouch, considering he doesn’t have much English-friendly Blu-ray coverage.

Maybe Lelouch is a tad “mid” for the Radiance brand.

[rapta]

The Greek film will probably be an Angelopoulos title? What would the Belgian title be? Is there a lone Akerman film lying around that didn't make it into one of the BFI boxes?

Could be Angelopoulos, as I think Fran already had looked into some of those early doors (dunno if Curzon still hold the rights to them or not). He was also considering a Greek Weird Wave set at one point, but said the rights were a bit tricky. Lots of interesting possibilities, either way.

As for Akerman, I think between Criterion and BFI they have most of the key ones covered, and dunno if Radiance are up for filling any minor gaps in that case (better left to labels with bigger budgets, unless Radiance are sitting on some juicy extras).

It could be. I can't really picture Radiance releasing a Dardenne film for some reason so...

A few of us figured the 'ROS' clue could've been for Rosetta, but turns out it was Rosa la rose, fille publique. Radiance often try to avoid repeating Criterion to be honest, unless there's good reason for it (and so far only one of those titles has been outside a box set collection; Häxan).

The Belgian is presumably Kumel for the presumed/speculated Daughters of Darkness UHD.

I'm wondering if the 'double-bill from an overlooked French master' might be a sign that (the oft-requested around these parts) Michel Deville is joining the collection...

Yes, 'DAU' later in the year is no doubt going to be Daughters of Darkness 4K (probably also the clue for 'A 1970s horror masterpiece UHD').

As for the 'overlooked French master', could be several options there so a bit of a vague clue for that one. I suppose you could consider the licensors they've been using recently (StudioCanal, Pathé, Losange etc), which might help narrow it down. I assume it's not going to be an obvious name they've already done (Resnais, Rivette, Truffaut etc) but closer to the lesser-known names in the Anglosphere they've been championing of late (Berri, Cavalier, Corneau, Decoin, Deray, Faraldo, Mocky, Vecchiali).

Saying that, I would kill to see them do at least one Bresson, Pialat or Franju title eventually (maybe even a Melville, Clouzot or Renoir too, if they could acquire any), and there are probably at least a few 'classic' directors they could cover (Becker, Carné, Clément, Duvivier, Feyder, Grémillon, L'Herbier etc).

Turns out you were all right about the Polish animation! Was looking more likely when I realised Fran maybe wanted to revisit what he started with Borowcyzk back at Arrow. I love Polish poster design from that period, so I’m sure there will be some crossover there. Exciting!

Polish posters will certainly be mentioned in my video essay, as there's a fair bit of crossover - not least because some key animators (notably Jan Lenica) were also distinguished poster designers.

Happy to hear it! Glad they roped you in for this one (as well as Daniel Bird) and look forward to seeing your essay. Hopefully this isn't just a one-off collection and we see similar sets for other Central European countries later on (e.g. Czechoslovakia, Hungary etc).

[TechnicolorAcid]

Hopefully this isn't just a one-off collection and we see similar sets for other Central European countries later on (e.g. Czechoslovakia, Hungary etc).

Deaf Crocodile seems to be doing the honors in those areas but I hope that Radiance (or literally anyone else who can) releases the work of Jiri Trnka if this set does well because lord knows Trnka needs a rediscovery sooner than later.

[rrenault]

The Greek film will probably be an Angelopoulos title? What would the Belgian title be? Is there a lone Akerman film lying around that didn't make it into one of the BFI boxes?

Could be Angelopoulos, as I think Fran already had looked into some of those early doors (dunno if Curzon still hold the rights to them or not). He was also considering a Greek Weird Wave set at one point, but said the rights were a bit tricky. Lots of interesting possibilities, either way.

As for Akerman, I think between Criterion and BFI they have most of the key ones covered, and dunno if Radiance are up for filling any minor gaps in that case (better left to labels with bigger budgets, unless Radiance are sitting on some juicy extras).

It could be. I can't really picture Radiance releasing a Dardenne film for some reason so...

A few of us figured the 'ROS' clue could've been for Rosetta, but turns out it was Rosa la rose, fille publique. Radiance often try to avoid repeating Criterion to be honest, unless there's good reason for it (and so far only one of those titles has been outside a box set collection; Häxan).

The Belgian is presumably Kumel for the presumed/speculated Daughters of Darkness UHD.

I'm wondering if the 'double-bill from an overlooked French master' might be a sign that (the oft-requested around these parts) Michel Deville is joining the collection...

Yes, 'DAU' later in the year is no doubt going to be Daughters of Darkness 4K (probably also the clue for 'A 1970s horror masterpiece UHD').

As for the 'overlooked French master', could be several options there so a bit of a vague clue for that one. I suppose you could consider the licensors they've been using recently (StudioCanal, Pathé, Losange etc), which might help narrow it down. I assume it's not going to be an obvious name they've already done (Resnais, Rivette, Truffaut etc) but closer to the lesser-known names in the Anglosphere they've been championing of late (Berri, Cavalier, Corneau, Decoin, Deray, Faraldo, Mocky, Vecchiali).

Saying that, I would kill to see them do at least one Bresson, Pialat or Franju title eventually (maybe even a Melville, Clouzot or Renoir too, if they could acquire any), and there are probably at least a few 'classic' directors they could cover (Becker, Carné, Clément, Duvivier, Feyder, Grémillon, L'Herbier etc).

Turns out you were all right about the Polish animation! Was looking more likely when I realised Fran maybe wanted to revisit what he started with Borowcyzk back at Arrow. I love Polish poster design from that period, so I’m sure there will be some crossover there. Exciting!

Polish posters will certainly be mentioned in my video essay, as there's a fair bit of crossover - not least because some key animators (notably Jan Lenica) were also distinguished poster designers.

Happy to hear it! Glad they roped you in for this one (as well as Daniel Bird) and look forward to seeing your essay. Hopefully this isn't just a one-off collection and we see similar sets for other Central European countries later on (e.g. Czechoslovakia, Hungary etc).

I think Melville (although there is Magnet of Doom) and Pialat are already pretty well served on English-friendly home video. I know Radiance tried and failed to license Four Nights of a Dreamer.

[domino harvey]

I hope they mean it when they say "overlooked" and we get some truly unrepresented MIA titles. Jessua's early films have HD masters now, I could see them doing La vie à l'envers and Jeu de massacre (presumably they'd skip his more commercial 70s stuff that's currently out from Severin and KLSC). Or dare we to dream that they'd do a Bluwal twofer with Le monte charge and Carambolages, two completely disparate films but both have Blu-rays without subs in France. I don't know if any of Kast's early films have HD masters but he's so woefully unrepresented for one of the key figures of the nouvelle vague and the first to completely disappear from the conversation (with, perhaps, good reason). Along those lines, I could see a Doniol-Valcroze set, as his earlier films may be harder to justify than some of my other guesses in single releases. Maybe a comedy twofer with L'Eau à la bouche and Le Cœur battant. The list could keep going on though.... Lautner films not starring an aging Bebel probably merit "overlooked" status, maybe they pair two of his Darc collabs.... and of course, maybe the French master is far more recent than any of these guesses

[MichaelB]

Deaf Crocodile seems to be doing the honors in those areas but I hope that Radiance (or literally anyone else who can) releases the work of Jiri Trnka if this set does well because lord knows Trnka needs a rediscovery sooner than later.

Plans to release Trnka in the UK a decade or so ago foundered thanks to the lack of decent high-definition masters, but quite a few have since been restored.

[Finch]

The Belgium clue probably is Daughters of Darkness but perhaps also Man Bites Dog.

[colinr0380]

The Belgian is presumably Kumel for the presumed/speculated Daughters of Darkness

I would love the chance to see Malpertuis some time, as I missed out on the US DVD edition back in the day.

[Finch]

Any thoughts on what the clue for next month is? The tease is "a siege".

[domino harvey]

L'Arme a gauche perhaps? Sautet seems in their wheelhouse

[TechnicolorAcid]

People have been saying it could be the second volume of the Shinobi films since #4 is titled Siege and we know SHIN is already a clue that we’ve been given.

[rapta]

Deaf Crocodile seems to be doing the honors in those areas but I hope that Radiance (or literally anyone else who can) releases the work of Jiri Trnka if this set does well because lord knows Trnka needs a rediscovery sooner than later.

Yes! A Švankmajer set goes without saying but Trnka would be equally as good. I've never actually seen any Trnka but the closest I got was growing up with The Old Man of the Mountains, produced by Jiri Trnka Studios (and narrated by Brian Blessed for British audiences). Anyway, would love to see some of this Czech stuff either way.

I think Melville (although there is Magnet of Doom) and Pialat are already pretty well served on English-friendly home video. I know Radiance tried and failed to license Four Nights of a Dreamer.

Yeah, Melville and Pialat at least have decent options if you import, but some Bresson is surprisingly non-English-friendly - namely Diary of a Country Priest, Lancelot du lac and The Devil, Probably. Une Femme Douce is Paramount so probably only ever going to show up through certain channels (Criterion, Arrow etc), and I assume Criterion have Four Nights of a Dreamer (can't imagine anyone else outbidding Radiance for UK rights).

People have been saying it could be the second volume of the Shinobi films since #4 is titled Siege and we know SHIN is already a clue that we’ve been given.

That's probably a very good guess. Assuming Shinobi Vol. 2 will include Siege, Return of Mist Saizo and The Last Iga Spy, then Vol. 3 will finish things off with Mist Saizo Strikes Back, The Three Enemies, and Mission: Iron Castle. Happy to see Radiance looking to continue series', whereas MoC have yet to prove they will continue with their Toei collections (Abashiri Prison, Red Peony Gambler).

In fact, if we look at the clues, we might be able to guess the next announcements. I've heard the Oshima set has been delayed to later in the year, so going to assume 'IMS' (In My Skin), 'TAT' (The Tattooed Hitman?) and 'SHIN' (Shinobi Vol. 2) are the next titles...unless some things are moved around, or there are other titles that weren't previously teased.

I do wonder if some leftover clues from last year may end up merging into a box set or something. Notice the tease of a Japanese crime set, and one of the clues last year was 'MH' (I assumed Manhunt). Could be related?

[sydn3y]

This is likely a long shot but could the French double-bill be Olivier Assayas's Paris s'éveille and Une Nouvelle Vie? I feel like Radiance are one of the few labels who could release these films (recently remastered as of last year) but I wouldn't exactly call Assayas 'overlooked' since he's had plenty of Arrow/Criterion releases.

[DJBillyMac]

I was looking through Paul Vecchiali’s other films, as I hadn’t heard of him before, and I see he did a film called White Nights On The Pier. I figured (like I think most people did) that the Dostoevsky clue referred to Visconti’s La Notti Bianchi, and I think it almost certainly does, but I wonder if it could also mean that Vecchiali film as well?

[rrenault]

Yeah, Melville and Pialat at least have decent options if you import, but some Bresson is surprisingly non-English-friendly - namely Diary of a Country Priest, Lancelot du lac and The Devil, Probably. Une Femme Douce is Paramount so probably only ever going to show up through certain channels (Criterion, Arrow etc), and I assume Criterion have Four Nights of a Dreamer (can't imagine anyone else outbidding Radiance for UK rights).

The Devil, Probably is on the Criterion Channel so maybe it’s in their pipeline, but I do think the Gaumont Bresson films have English-friendly French blu-rays just like Pialat’s films do.

[Calvin]

Yeah, the Gaumont releases of Lancelot du lac and The Devil Probably are both English-friendly

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[Calvin]

I'm not sure how much I should read into the fact that the 'overlooked French master' appears to be UK-only - i.e. does that mean they're already accounted for in the US. Moullet's films were recently acquired there by Cinema Guild so that's a possibility.

In terms of other available restorations - it looks like most/all of Jean-Daniel Pollet's work has received 4K restorations from the same distributor as the Moullet's (La traverse).

Michel Drach's Les violons du bal (with Radiance favourite Trintignant) has also been restored and is out on Blu-Ray sans subtitles in France. I've not seen any news of further restorations, but I believe they're all owned and sold by his son.

It could also be a signal for more Vecchiali (Femmes Femmes is still unaccounted for). I think Deville is decently likely though; Fran said back in 2022 that they "found some Deville. But not restored...when we have enough of a following perhaps we will undertake it."

That was in the same message as when he said The Eel was 'something to return to perhaps' (tick) and that they'd got no response from the Angelopoulos estate.

Don't want to get our hopes up unnecessarily, but there have been Deville restorations done in the intervening years which would get rid of one obstacle.

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