Radiance Films General Discussion & Wishlist

[49CHOMPS]

Radiance sent out the recent newsletter a second time, and the only difference I can find is the 'Adult Films' clue is missing.

[Finch]

Radiance confirmed Japanese and French titles for tomorrow.

"tomorrow's announcements will be a particularly Radiance-core day for folks..."

[Finch]

There is a Radiance-core list on letterboxd that includes Vengeance is Mine. Maybe an Imamura set of Vengeance and Pornographers tomorrow?

[domino harvey]

Didn't they say they were avoiding UK releases of films already released on Blu-ray in the UK? (VIM was released by Masters of Cinema)

[ryannichols7]

I think an exception would be made for something with a new transfer and being in a boxset would definitely help alleviate duplicity. if the rights were there with a new restoration and you were trying to do a good survey of the director's work, I don't see how it could be left out

Fran already did this previously for this very same director - The Ballad of Narayama, which MOC released on Bluray and Arrow did in the Survivor Ballads box. I think it's a much easier sell that way

[domino harvey]

The Arrow was US, the MoC UK in that instance

[ryannichols7]

The Arrow was US, the MoC UK in that instance

was it a US only release? I was under the impression it was dual territory

[domino harvey]

You’re right, I thought it wasn’t for some reason

[rapta]

I think with The Ballad of Narayama, the MoC had been OOP for a while and they needed a third film to justify the box set (and differing extras sweetened the deal for those that owned the MoC releases, like myself). Not convinced another Imamura set is on the way, purely because the current teaser clue for 'POR' must be for The Pornographers, and 'WW' or 'WRB' could even be for Warm Water Under a Red Bridge. Surely if there was an set coming they wouldn't have done individual teases (unless contractually obliged, I suppose)? As much as I'd love one, and in fact was championing such an idea, I'm perfectly happy with individual releases if that means more Imamura (especially if it means they're newly restored).

Not sure we should be taking that 'Radiance-core' tease so literally, but we'll find out tomorrow. I took it more that these would be typical Radiance style film picks, maybe directors they've covered before (could even be more Rivette or Truffaut). With the 'adult films' clue, I was thinking it might include Imamura (The Pornographers), Rivette (La belle noiseuse), Truffaut (The Man Who Loved Women) or Zulawski (L'important c'est d'aimer/La femme publique/L'amour braque/Szamanka). Might just be one or two of them...or none!

[domino harvey]

Truffaut seems likely to me as well. We know they need to get the last two out quickly

[zedz]

There is a Radiance-core list on letterboxd that includes Vengeance is Mine. Maybe an Imamura set of Vengeance and Pornographers tomorrow?

If they were planning an Imamura box set, I’d hope they could do a lot better than “two or three random, unrelated titles from across several decades”. That doesn’t seem a very Radiance thing to do.

[Finch]

"Next month, an old hospital!"

[TechnicolorAcid]

"Next month, an old hospital!"

I assume this will be The Hourglass Sanatorium given the Has clue

[What A Disgrace]

I'm glad these masterpieces are perpetually kept in print, but also hopefully labels will stop re-releasing the same two Has films one day.

[MichaelB]

All current BDs of The Hourglass Sanatorium (2 x Polish, Mr Bongo, Yellow Veil) are from the same decade-plus-old 2K master, so if it is that, there's obvious scope for a UHD based on the much more recent 4K restoration from the original camera negative that was doing the Has centenary rounds last year.

[TMDaines]

A UHD would be welcome, but otherwise I'm aligned with What A Disgrace on the prospect of that one.

[nitin]

it could be Has boxsets

[rapta]

"Next month, an old hospital!"

I assume this will be The Hourglass Sanatorium given the Has clue

And presumably 'HAS2' is The Saragossa Manuscript, or vice versa. I'm not upset as the older transfers looked waxy and needed redoing, plus they're the kind of film a label like Radiance would produce decent extras for on top of that (so long, Mr. Bongo).

Given they're separate releases, I wonder if one of them might be for UHD, or have they stopped doing double-bill releases? Haven't been any new ones this year so far (unless you count the bonus film on Hi, Mom! of course).

[beamish14]

"Next month, an old hospital!"

Could it be Tales From the Gimli Hospital? Guy Maddin would be perfect for Radiance

[Calvin]

The same poster also asked Bruno about the upcoming Zulawski a few days ago and got the following answer:

Thanks again for reaching out. As you know I can't share too much about upcoming unannounced releases since they are always subject to schedule changes and unexpected obstacles. But I will just say that Femme Publique has been on our radar...

From the boss:

On the subject of Femme Publique we were bidding on it but then had to drop it as the master did not meet our expectations. But I love the film so doubled back on it to see if we could restore it again but then Film Movement announced US and the licensor didn’t even tell us US had been licensed while we were discussing. This is why it appeared on the failed licenses because at one point it was there but then it got removed because of the restoration idea. As it stands we’ve not heard any further so I think it’s unlikely to go forward but you never know. We try to only put things on the failed licenses list when we know they’re definitely dead and this felt like we could pursue it further. I’d say it’s on life support right now unfortunately.

So the Zulawski seems almost certainly to be That Most Important Thing: Love, given the IMP clue. Though it is always possible that it is not among the clues and is actually Szamanka or Fidelity, but those seem less likely to have new masters available.

[Peacock]

That Most Important… is an amazing film, if Radiance put it out in 4K it’ll be a must buy for me…

But I do find the reasoning shared in Calvin’s post above a little confusing: Radiance don’t want to release A Public Woman because Film Movement have released it so instead they will release That Most Important Thing: Love, even though Film Movement have also released it?

If that is really the case, then logically it would imply FM would be releasing A Public Woman in UHD in the US, which makes it less appealing for Radiance to licence; but FM don’t have any plans to release That Most Important… in UHD so if Radiance put it out they get to publish an exclusive format. At least for now.

Anyway, so long as someone releases A Public Woman I’m happy but I did wish it was Radiance!

And I do hope Fran seriously chases Fidelity, Szamanka and My Nights… as they are the only features still unavailable on disc in HD and are surely right up Radiance’s alley (and Szamanka got a special feature in one of the Dirty Arthouse zines). Hopefully they can licence any Mondo Vision director’s commentaries as well!

[domino harvey]

They didn’t want to release it without restoring it. If half the market is already taken, though, there likely was not enough financial incentive for them to do so

[Peacock]

Interesting, it is available in 4K in France since November, so I assumed it had already been restored.

[mhofmann]

A bit of conjecture but, from what I can read from Fran's reply on their Discord, it seems like that restoration is not up to par.

On the subject of Femme Publique we were bidding on it but then had to drop it as the master did not meet our expectations.

The French 4K looks heavily filtered in parts, that might be what put Radiance off to release without new restoration.

[Peacock]

Ah thank you for the info. That makes sense. Very sad news as I imagine Film Movement will just release it as is.