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* One of the Missing (1968, 26min) An early, taught psychological drama directed by Tony Scott
* Boy and Bicycle (1965, 27min) Starring Tony Scott and directed by his brother Ridley Scott.
* All content newly transferred to HD from original film elements held in the BFI National Archive.
* Fully illustrated booklet featuring essays, credits and biographical information

Loving Memory
A film by Tony Scott

An extraordinary debut from one of Hollywood’s most bankable UK expats, Loving Memory is the dark tale of a mysterious brother and sister who live in isolation with their memories and a grisly secret…

Tony Scott, director of big-budget blockbusters and feature films such as The Taking of Pelham 123, Enemy of the State, True Romance, Top Gun and The Hunger, made his first feature when he was just 26.

The BFI, via its production fund, played a significant role in the launch of both Tony and his older brother Ridley Scott’s filmmaking careers. BFI funding enabled the post-production of Ridley’s earliest short, Boy and Bicycle (1966) as well as funding Tony’s One of the Missing (1968), both of which are included as extras in this Dual Format Edition release (DVD and Blu-ray discs).

Beautifully photographed by celebrated cinematographer Chris Menges (If…., Kes) Loving Memory features a stunning, sinister performance from Rosamund Greenwood (Village of the Damned, The Witches) as a haunted innocent.

The film was chosen to inaugurate the second NFT auditorium in September 1970 and was selected for the Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival a few months later. It had a successful run in film festivals and received considerable critical praise.

Previously unavailable for home viewing, this is the latest release in a series of early films made by established British directors which are preserved in the BFI National Archive and now brought to BFI DVD and Blu-ray. Past titles have included the work of Terence Davies, Bill Douglas, Derek Jarman, John Maybury, Isaac Julien and Horace Ové, and the BFI will be unearthing more buried treasures in months to come.

Special features
• All films presented in High Definition and Standard Definition (Blu-ray and DVD)
• One of the Missing (Tony Scott, 1968, 27 mins): taut psychological short about the lonely fate of a confederate soldier in the American Civil War
• Boy and Bicycle (Ridley Scott, 1965, 28 mins): follows the adventures of a truant schoolboy – played by the young Tony Scott – as he cycles around Hartlepool
• Illustrated booklet with newly commissioned essays 'The Films of Tony and Ridley Scott' by Kim Newman and 'The Scott Brothers and the BFI' by Christophe Dupin; film notes, original stills and full cast and crew credits

Release date: 23 August 2010
Dual Format Edition (DVD & Blu-ray) / RRP: £19.99 / cat. no. BFIB1077 / cert 15
UK / 1970 / black and white / English, optional subtitles for the hearing-impaired /
52 mins + 55 mins / original aspect ratio 1.66:1
Disc 1: BD25 / 1080p / 24fps / PCM mono audio (48k/16-bit)
Disc 2: DVD5 / PAL / PCM mono audio (48k/16-bit)

perkizitore wrote:Will the shorts be in HD, Michael?

Special features
• All films presented in High Definition and Standard Definition

GaryC wrote:A minor nitpick, but calling Loving Memory a feature is something of a stretch considering it's all of 50 minutes long...

ETA: I always thought an hour was the minimum running time for a feature, but it appears that it varies, and some official definitions (including the BFI's) go as low as 40 minutes. So I'll give the BFI this one!

In competition with star-filled films that cost millions, My Childhood won the Silver Lion at Venice in 1972 . Its success helped the BFI to move into feature production. It represented, I argued, the beginnings of an alternative cinema in Britain. Denis Forman, then chairman of the BFI, pointed out to the government that the BFI was doing what the National Film Finance Corporation, the quango responsible for film funding, was not interested in. Minister for the Arts Lord Eccles was persuaded. The BFI went into features and the budget was increased twentyfold.

The HD transfer here is a pure knockout from start to finish, with exquisite detail visible even in the smallest crevices of the many striking long shots of the countryside. It's really beautiful and once again demonstrates how mesmerising monochromatic photography can be on Blu-Ray.

antnield wrote:there's a 1970 interview with Scott from Time Out in which he mentions his love of Miklos Jansco and how they "represent more the direction he sees his films taking". Funnily enough, I've never once thought of Jansco whilst watching any of his subsequent features; The Red and the White and Top Gun don't exactly make the most obvious bedfellows!