Radiance Films General Discussion & Wishlist

[rrenault]

"Radiance favorite Trintignant" could potentially mean Un Homme et Une Femme, which doesn't actually have an English-friendly blu-ray.

[beamish14]

I’m guessing Life is Cheap… is the same re-edited version found on Arbelos’ release.

I’ve kept my two-disc DVD of Lionsgate’s release of Chinese Box because it includes the original cut AND a commentary from Wang

[tenia]

Yes, it's the same release, down to the slipcover, so it's the re-edited version of the movie.

[ryannichols7]

I'm of the opinion the "overlooked French master" is surely Deville, Jacques Rozier, or Luc Moullet. all three don't really have the way of hardly any releases in the anglosphere, and are all requested frequently on this forum and Discord, which we've proven to see has actually worked. I can't imagine it being Pialat (though we do need more!), Assayas, or any of the other much larger names I read on the previous page. even Claude Chabrol probably couldn't even classify under that at this point, though I know many of his more regarded titles from the 70s or 80s haven't seen releases yet

anyway - it's worth pointing out that while we fairly confidently know two of the three 4K titles coming, there's a third that doesn't have a hint for it at all. given that Palindromes also had no hint, I'm hoping we get a nice surprise for that fourth title. the potential Angelopoulos would be lovely, but so would either of the probable Visconti titles (Le Notti Bianche and Senso). we could get something totally out of the blue though. Trintignant is mentioned above - Z would be a cracking surprise too. but anyway, lots of hypotheticals and it'll be exciting to see what we get

[swo17]

The situation could have changed but Rozier was just on Radiance's 2024 list of failed licenses ("sadly the rightsowner could not reach a deal with us")

[ryannichols7]

The situation could have changed but Rozier was just on Radiance's 2024 list of failed licenses ("sadly the rightsowner could not reach a deal with us")

that's right. may be too quick a turnaround. Deville seems right to me, especially since it's been indicated there's new restorations

also worth nothing that the "slow cinema masterpiece" clue has been removed on the bundle page, but "a Greek classic" is there now. we're moving closer to calling this for Angelopoulos

[rrenault]

If they didn’t go 4K on Viridiana I doubt they would on Notti Bianche. Senso would probably make more sense.

Z (or Un Homme et Une Femme) could be a possibility for 4K though given the Trintignant factor.

[rapta]

Good spot that 'slow cinema masterpiece' has disappeared, but could equally have been pushed into 2026 (or cancelled altogether). Angelopoulos would be incredible though, been curious to see his work for years. There can't be that many 'Greek [classics]' outside of Angelopoulos

Trintignant hasn't been mentioned that recently but IIRC, last time Fran gave an interview he did imply there were at least a couple more of his films to come. Un homme et une femme would be nice, and could be possible through their StudioCanal deal (I keep seeing the soundtrack LP for sale in my local Oxfam, but haven't seen the film). Z would be another obvious one of course, but there must be a reason for the lack of Costa-Gavras in the UK (perhaps Criterion are sitting on the rights). The Sleeping Car Murder might be a slightly lesser-known but nevertheless Costa-Gavras title.

'South Korean classic' seems interesting, and as I said on the other forum, could be something from Kim Ki-young (maybe not The Housemaid though, since Criterion have released it in their WCP set). Ieoh Island or Goryeojang seem most interesting, as do A Woman After a Killer Butterfly, Promises and Woman of Fire. Other suggestions include The Devil's Stairway, A Bloodthirsty Killer, Mist, A Day Off, and I know they tried and failed to get Aimless Bullet before.

[What A Disgrace]

There's quite a few classic Greek films I've wanted to see for years, and naturally would like to see still. Besides Angelopoulos, there's films by Michael Cacoyannis, Kostas Manoussakis, Alekos Sakellarios and Vasilis Georgiadis, not to mention Nikos Koundouros's The Ogre of Athens, which seems up their alley from what I gather.

[JSC]

I really loathe the term 'slow cinema.' Any film that doesn't use rapid fire editing (i.e. twenty-six cuts during Liam Neeson's single
jump over a fence in Taken) is considered slow these days.

[Stefan Andersson]

ISenso would probably make more sense.

Z (or Un Homme et Une Femme) could be a possibility for 4K though given the Trintignant factor.

+1 vote for Senso and Z.

A subject for a Senso booklet could be the censorship the film was subjected to:
https://cinecensura.com/wp-content/uplo ... izione.pdf
https://cinecensura.com/wp-content/uplo ... izione.pdf
https://cinecensura.com/sesso/senso/
https://cinecensura.com/senza-categoria ... ilm-senso/ - click Testimonianze for video
https://alla-ricerca-di-luchino-viscont ... la-storia/

The essay "Buon costume e pubblica morale", written by Franco Vigni, for the ninth volume of the History of Italian Cinema seems like a good source. See here (+ notes 2, 39-42):
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senso_(film)

[Calvin]

Good spot that 'slow cinema masterpiece' has disappeared, but could equally have been pushed into 2026 (or cancelled altogether). Angelopoulos would be incredible though, been curious to see his work for years. There can't be that many 'Greek [classics]' outside of Angelopoulos

The results of the Greek Film Critics Association's poll for the top 10 Greek films (albeit in 2006):
1. The Ogre of Athens (Koundouros, 1956)
2. Evdokia (Damianos, 1971)
3. The Travelling Players (Angelopoulos, 1975)
4. The Photograph (Papatakis, 1986)
5. Stella (Cacoyannis, 1955)
6. The Counterfeit Coin (Tzavellas, 1955)
7. Rembetiko (Ferris, 1983)
8. The Reconstruction (Angelopoulos, 1970)
=9. Sweet Bunch (Nikolaidis, 1983)
=9. The Four Seasons of the Law (Avdeliodis, 1999)
10. Karkalou (Tornes, 1984)

I'd also mention Mondo Macabro's release of Kostas Manoussakis' The Fear - a really excellent film.

Trintignant hasn't been mentioned that recently but IIRC, last time Fran gave an interview he did imply there were at least a couple more of his films to come. Un homme et une femme would be nice, and could be possible through their StudioCanal deal (I keep seeing the soundtrack LP for sale in my local Oxfam, but haven't seen the film). Z would be another obvious one of course, but there must be a reason for the lack of Costa-Gavras in the UK (perhaps Criterion are sitting on the rights). The Sleeping Car Murder might be a slightly lesser-known but nevertheless Costa-Gavras title.

Presumably someone will get it out eventually, but I think there have been rights issues with Costa-Gavras' films. Criterion's DVD release of Z has been OOP for some time, even though it got a restoration in 2016. Their Blu-Ray release of The Confession is also OOP.

'South Korean classic' seems interesting, and as I said on the other forum, could be something from Kim Ki-young (maybe not The Housemaid though, since Criterion have released it in their WCP set). Ieoh Island or Goryeojang seem most interesting, as do A Woman After a Killer Butterfly, Promises and Woman of Fire. Other suggestions include The Devil's Stairway, A Bloodthirsty Killer, Mist, A Day Off, and I know they tried and failed to get Aimless Bullet before.

The implication was that they couldn't reach a deal with the Korean Film Archive on any licence, not just Aimless Bullet - "there was a really nicely planned set [Fran] and Pierce Conran came up with but sadly they just said no basically. I need to figure out how to go around them." Maybe there has been some workaround reached - or it's a more contemporary title that wouldn't require their involvement like Hong Sang-soo or Lee Chang-dong.

[rrenault]

I'm guessing the Greek film wouldn't be Never on Sunday, which has never been released on blu-ray anywhere in the world. It is technically a "Greek film".

[sabbath]

'South Korean classic' seems interesting, and as I said on the other forum, could be something from Kim Ki-young (maybe not The Housemaid though, since Criterion have released it in their WCP set). Ieoh Island or Goryeojang seem most interesting, as do A Woman After a Killer Butterfly, Promises and Woman of Fire. Other suggestions include The Devil's Stairway, A Bloodthirsty Killer, Mist, A Day Off, and I know they tried and failed to get Aimless Bullet before.

For what it's worth, Korean Film Archive will (re-)release Aimless Bullet (1961), The Daughters of Kim’s Pharmacy (1963), and An Empty Dream (1965) on Blu-ray this year, commemorating the 100th anniversary of director Yoo Hyeon-mok (or Yu Hyun-mok)'s birth. Of the three, I think An Empty Dream, a 71-minute surrealist erotic horror fantasy heavily influenced by German expressionism, fits Radiance the best.

You can watch all three on KOFA's official YouTube channel, in HD with English subtitles:

Aimless Bullet
An Empty Dream
The Daughters of Kim’s Pharmacy

[Calvin]

Fran on the Discord: "Sadly the slow cinema masterpiece we had planned had to be junked as the new director approved 4K restoration we had been promised turned out to be less than desirable and had revisionist changes"

Obviously, whatever this was, it was never referring to Angelopoulos and, therefore, it seems unlikely that 'Greek classic' does either.

We've known that there were also attempts in the past for The Ogre of Athens (no response at the time, but there has subsequently been a 4K restoration that they'd presumably want to recoup some costs for) and a Nikos Nikolaidis (13/9/22: "All the Nikolaidis films are off, they have music rights issues. I tried offering to clear the rights but it's a bit complicated.")

The former seems most likely now, but it could be something else entirely.

[domino harvey]

Fran on the Discord: "Sadly the slow cinema masterpiece we had planned had to be junked as the new director approved 4K restoration we had been promised turned out to be less than desirable and had revisionist changes"

Can we get our Clue Boys on this one? Intrigued by what this could possibly have been

[Never Cursed]

Fran on the Discord: "Sadly the slow cinema masterpiece we had planned had to be junked as the new director approved 4K restoration we had been promised turned out to be less than desirable and had revisionist changes"

Can we get our Clue Boys on this one? Intrigued by what this could possibly have been

Off the dome: a 4K restoration of Lav Diaz's fourth feature and first mega-sized film Batang West Side was undertaken by the Austrian Film Museum and purchased for theatrical (but presumably not home video) distribution by Kani. It will debut in a few days at TIFF Lightbox and and the Beacon in Seattle. The runtimes listed on the websites appear accurate, but that doesn't mean it isn't revisionist in other ways.

Alternative theory: Tsai Ming-liang's The Wayward Cloud was restored in 4K a couple years ago. That restoration premiered at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival, but it hasn't been picked up by anyone since then. None of the reviews on Letterboxd from that festival pointed out anything wrong with the restoration, but they did indicate that the film has some intense content that might make a distributor think twice before putting the film out.

EDIT: Kani (which releases movies on blu-ray in partnership with Vinegar Syndrome) will probably be putting Batang West Side out on blu-ray.

[senseabove]

Apichatpong Weerasthekul's been working on 4k restorations of several of his films over the past few years, too.

[beamish14]

Fran on the Discord: "Sadly the slow cinema masterpiece we had planned had to be junked as the new director approved 4K restoration we had been promised turned out to be less than desirable and had revisionist changes"

Can we get our Clue Boys on this one? Intrigued by what this could possibly have been

Off the dome: a 4K restoration of Lav Diaz's fourth feature and first mega-sized film Batang West Side was undertaken by the Austrian Film Museum and purchased for theatrical (but presumably not home video) distribution by Kani. It will debut in a few days at TIFF Lightbox and and the Beacon in Seattle. The runtimes listed on the websites appear accurate, but that doesn't mean it isn't revisionist in other ways.

Alternative theory: Tsai Ming-liang's The Wayward Cloud was restored in 4K a couple years ago. That restoration premiered at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival, but it hasn't been picked up by anyone since then. None of the reviews on Letterboxd from that festival pointed out anything wrong with the restoration, but they did indicate that the film has some intense content that might make a distributor think twice before putting the film out.

I don’t think Wayward Cloud really constitutes “slow cinema” (although most of Tsai Ming-liang’s work is associated with that descriptor) as this one even has musical numbers.


Rob Tregenza’s Inside/Out? Maybe something from Jon Jost?

[brundlefly]

I know Janus has it in the U.S., but did Reygadas do something to Battle in Heaven when it got restored? Would Silent Light be on Radiance's radar? I don't think that ever got a blu-ray release.

[rapta]

FWIW, I asked just the other day whether Second Run had plans to upgrade any Apichatpong titles and they 'liked' my post. I also think they're the best bet when it comes to Tsai, as they work directly with him on previous releases. I feel like they hinted at more Tsai in future but can't remember where I saw this...

As for Diaz, I'd love for Radiance to consider picking Kani as a hosted label. Not just for that Diaz title but other Filipino titles by De Leon, Brocka and Diaz-Abaya too (unfortunately seems they're actually starting to region lock more of their titles).

Reygadas would be a good start for Mexican titles for Radiance, and definitely fits within their 'Dirty Arthouse' theme.

[Calvin]

There's no reason to think that Kani don't have home video rights to Batang West Side in the US. I don't think we'll find out what this was before the next failed licences list, but it would be good to know if there are any abbrevations that we should chalk off the 2025 list.

Maybe something from Jon Jost?

Man, I'd love Radiance to release some Jost. It was depressing to read his Facebook post that no label was interested.

On another note, Mal probably = Malpertuis but, alternatively, Nils Malmros?

[Never Cursed]

There's no reason to think that Kani don't have home video rights to Batang West Side in the US. I don't think we'll find out what this was before the next failed licences list, but it would be good to know if there are any abbrevations that we should chalk off the 2025 list.

Okay, got confused - I thought this Kani was somehow a separate label from the Kani that is a sub-label of Vinegar Syndrome. I got muddled up because I went to Kani's website from their Instagram page, and nothing on it indicated that they were really VS. So Batang West Side is coming from VS soon! But they didn't do the restoration, and it's possible that Radiance passed on it but VS didn't care about whatever purported issues were found

[andyli]

Kani is a stand-alone label currently having a partner relationship with VS, therefore selling through their website. So saying it's coming from VS is slightly inaccurate.

[hearthesilence]

Maybe something from Jon Jost?

Man, I'd love Radiance to release some Jost. It was depressing to read his Facebook post that no label was interested.

I think his stuff is ready to go too. At least for his best films, he definitely has excellent-looking HD masters - during the height of the pandemic, the Munchen Film Museum held a partial retrospective that was available for home viewing, and everything I saw looked great. Last Chants for a Slow Dance and All the Vermeers in New York would be the two I'd reissue first. (If I had to pick three, The Bed You Sleep In would be another one.)

Not sure if this is the post in question, but here's an excerpt:

A while back - 12 days ago - I sent, to both Criterion and Kino-Lorber, letters, shot-gun style to whichever emails/persons I could find. In both cases I'd had contacts with them before, spanning now more than a few decades in Criterion's case. Essentially I pointed to the chronic, for me, query "why isn't there a boxed set of your films?", to which I have no sensible reply except that it appears I am blacklisted. I frankly didn't expect to get a reply, and indeed I haven't.

So perhaps, finally after a long hiatus, I feel prompted to do the third in a sequence of blog posts, under the title "On Becoming a Non-Person", which discusses this phenomenon historically, and then as applies to me. These days I guess the term is being "cancelled", or "ghosted", and a few other such words. Along with the outfits mentioned above, one that would seem surely appropriate, IndieCollect, which is restoring the work of my erstwhile peers - I spoke with them, not just once, and was assured I was up their alley and they would... And then, poof, ghosted again.

I am not much into conspiracy theories (except in the case of JFK's assassination, 9/11 and a few other obvious cases in which the official line is such obvious BS that it lays the groundwork for more realistic assessments), and certainly the workings of a blacklist in a nebulous arena like "culture" is hard to nail down.

He's posted stories like this before, and the one I remember most was about the Harvard Film Archive's curator - Jost was trying to get his films shown there, and eventually he sent a nasty letter out of frustration, admittedly against the advice of everyone he knew. I can't claim to be an expert on the world of film distribution and exhibition, but given how he seems to handle everything himself and what's possibly a long history of unpleasant interactions that have likely come back to hurt him, I wonder if his chances would improve if someone he trusts (a close friend, another filmmaker) handled communications for him, at least on these matters. If a distributor only has to deal with someone who isn't going to turn on them, it could make a difference. Remember when Merchant Ivory flipped out at Criterion after the Howard's End reissue (which was immediately pulled)? Even if the catalog became available again, I really doubt they'd want to deal with them again unless there was a complete change in personnel.