Flipside 028: Schalcken the Painter

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antnield · #1 Post by **antnield** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 7:48 am

SCHALCKEN THE PAINTER (Dual Format Edition)

A film by Leslie Megahey

World premiere of this highly sought-after ghost story from the BBC, released in the BFI's acclaimed Flipside series.

Based on a short story by Sheridan Le Fanu, Schalcken the Painter was originally shown in the Omnibus strand on BBC 2 during Christmas 1979. The story follows a young seventeenth century Flemish painter Godfried Schalcken, who forsakes love for ambition, but discovers that there is still a terrible price to pay for his choice.

One of the most frequently requested programmes in the BBC archive, Schalcken the Painter is an exquisitely shot, atmospheric horror film which explores the uneasy, dark relationship between art, commerce and erotic desire.

The superb cast includes Jeremy Clyde, Maurice Denman and Cheryl Kennedy.

Newly transferred to High Definition from the film materials preserved in the BFI National Archive, the release includes such as the rare, experimental Edgar Allan Poe adaptation, The Pit (1962), assistant directed by Peter Collinson.

Special Features

- World premiere release on DVD and Blu-ray
- Part of the BFI's celebrated Flipside series
- Interview with Director Leslie Megahey
- The Pit (1962, Edward Abraham, 25 mins): experimental film based on the classic Poe tale The Pit and the Pendulum
- Fully illustrated booklet

Calvin · #2 Post by **Calvin** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 12:07 pm

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this the first BBC-owned title the BFI has released on Blu-Ray? Terrific news

htshell · #3 Post by **htshell** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 12:34 pm

I like that one of the special features of this BFI Flipside disc is that it is "Part of the BFI's celebrated Flipside series".

MichaelB · #4 Post by **MichaelB** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 1:28 pm

Calvin wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this the first BBC-owned title the BFI has released on Blu-Ray? Terrific news

Yes - they haven't put out much BBC material since the Archive Television strand was prematurely halted circa 2004, and of course that was before Blu-ray became a going concern.

Calvin · #5 Post by **Calvin** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 2:25 pm

MichaelB wrote:
Calvin wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this the first BBC-owned title the BFI has released on Blu-Ray? Terrific news
Yes - they haven't put out much BBC material since the Archive Television strand was prematurely halted circa 2004, and of course that was before Blu-ray became a going concern.

Fingers crossed Schalcken's merely the first - rather than the only!

Orlac · #6 Post by **Orlac** » Tue Jul 30, 2013 12:30 am

Does the BFI still have home video rights to The War Game?

MichaelB · #7 Post by **MichaelB** » Tue Aug 06, 2013 8:35 am

Orlac wrote:Does the BFI still have home video rights to The War Game?

The BBC was always the UK rightsholder: the BFI's licensing period only ran for a few years in the early 2000s.

Orlac · #8 Post by **Orlac** » Wed Aug 07, 2013 10:14 am

MichaelB wrote:
Orlac wrote:Does the BFI still have home video rights to The War Game?
The BBC was always the UK rightsholder: the BFI's licensing period only ran for a few years in the early 2000s.

Personally, I'd love the BFI to get the rights to this again for Blu Ray, and to do a deluxe DVD of Threads.

MichaelB · #9 Post by **MichaelB** » Fri Aug 30, 2013 3:27 pm

A further extra has been added - Digby Rumsey's short film The Pledge (1981):

Formerly distributed by Twentieth Century Fox and inspired by Lord Dunsany’s story “The Highwayman”, this film is a macabre drama set in 1790. A highwayman has been gibbeted and his decomposing body hangs rotting on a desolate road. A series of flashbacks show him to be a rapist and murderer. His companions in crime set out to cut his body down and bury it in an Archbishop’s tomb, believing that only this course of action will free their friend’s soul. Terrified by their superstitions, they perform the grisly task, but despite this one act of compassion, they continue in their evil ways.

antnield · #10 Post by **antnield** » Fri Aug 30, 2013 4:01 pm

Apparently, The Pledge supported Porky's in British cinemas. Also worth noting that it was co-edited by Peter Greenaway and has a score by Michael Nyman.

Orlac · #11 Post by **Orlac** » Fri Aug 30, 2013 4:42 pm

November is going to kill me, what with this, Phantom, Gaslight, Nosferatu, the 2 Sinbads AND the Zaotichi collection!

MichaelB · #12 Post by **MichaelB** » Mon Oct 14, 2013 11:51 am

Full specs announced:

BFI Flipside presents
Schalcken the Painter
A film by Leslie Megahey

The 28th Flipside title in the BFI's acclaimed series is one of the most wanted programmes from the BBC archives - Schalcken the Painter (1979). At last it will come to DVD and Blu-ray, released by the BFI on 18 November 2013 in a Dual Format Edition as part of the GOTHIC: The Dark Heart of Film. Extensive extras include two complementary films and a new interview with director Leslie Megahey and director of photography John Hooper.

Originally screened by the BBC during the dying hours of 23 December 1979, this exquisitely shot, atmospheric horror film explores the uneasy relationship between art, commerce and erotic desire.

An aspiring young painter falls for his patron's niece but forsakes love for ambition when a ghoulish stranger demands her for himself. Adapted from the chilling ghost story by J Sheridan Le Fanu, Schalcken the Painter weaves a fictional tale of terror around the work of real life seventeenth-century Dutch Golden Age painter Godfried Schalcken.

The superb cast includes Jeremy Clyde, Maurice Denham and Cheryl Kennedy.

Special Features
• Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition;
• The Pit (Edward Abraham, 1962, 27 mins): experimental gothic short, adapted from Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Pit and the Pendulum';
• Original sketches for The Pit;
• The Pledge (Digby Rumsey, 1982, 21 mins): three criminals pledge to free the soul of their friend from his gibbeted corpse in this short film based on 'The Highwayman' by Lord Dunsany;
• Look Into the Dark (2013, 39 mins): interviews with director/writer/producer Leslie Megahey and director of photography John Hooper on the making of Schalcken the Painter;
• Illustrated booklet with new essays by Ben Hervey, James Bell and Vic Pratt; complete film credits.

Product Details
RRP: £19.99 / cat.no. BFIB1184 / Cert 15 / Flipside cat no: 28
UK / 1979 / colour / English language with optional hard-of-hearing subtitles / 70 mins / Original aspect ratio 1.33:1
Disc 1: BD50 / 24fps / PCM mono audio (48k/16-bit)
Disc 2: DVD9 / PAL / Dolby Digital mono audio (320kbps)

Also:

Schalcken the Painter will screen at the National Gallery on Saturday 4 January 2014 at 2.30pm. Tickets £6/£4 concessions, Sainsbury Wing Theatre, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2. Tickets will be available online from 20 November. After the screening, director Leslie Megahey will be in conversation with the cinematographer John Hooper and Betsy Weisman, the Gallery's curator of Dutch and Flemish paintings.

MichaelB · #13 Post by **MichaelB** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 3:46 pm

I doubt anyone will be surprised to hear this, given its BBC origins, but Schalcken the Painter has just been confirmed as Region B.

MichaelB · #14 Post by **MichaelB** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 9:07 pm

Beaver.

RossyG · #15 Post by **RossyG** » Sat Oct 26, 2013 11:48 am

Beaver: I think we are quite fortunate to be able to see this now as Schalcken the Painter was essentially buried (strict UK censorship didn't help.)

Huh? It was never censored. And surely British network TV has always been a lot freer than its American equivalent.

The BBC not exploiting their own archive is why this hasn't been seen in a while.

MichaelB · #16 Post by **MichaelB** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 10:50 pm

Mondo Digital.

antnield · #17 Post by **antnield** » Tue Dec 24, 2013 9:53 am

John Wyver has republished his 1979 review for Time Out on the Illuminarions blog.

Orlac · #18 Post by **Orlac** » Tue Dec 24, 2013 9:25 pm

RossyG wrote:
Beaver: I think we are quite fortunate to be able to see this now as Schalcken the Painter was essentially buried (strict UK censorship didn't help.)
Huh? It was never censored. And surely British network TV has always been a lot freer than its American equivalent.

The BBC not exploiting their own archive is why this hasn't been seen in a while.

What a weird comment from the Beav.

MichaelB · #19 Post by **MichaelB** » Tue Dec 24, 2013 9:42 pm

I challenged Gary on this at the time, and he said that he couldn't give me a source. I'm not surprised, as it's bollocks - there's never been a censorship problem with this programme, then or now.

Zobalob · #20 Post by **Zobalob** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 2:25 am

MichaelB wrote:I challenged Gary on this at the time, and he said that he couldn't give me a source. I'm not surprised, as it's bollocks - there's never been a censorship problem with this programme, then or now.

In that case, he probably made it up.

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