The British Film Institute will add five new titles to its Blu-ray catalog: Alan Clarke's
The Firm (1989), Mark Cousins'
I Am Belfast (2015), Peter Hall's
Akenfield (1974), Edmond T. Greville's
Beat Girl (1960), and Val Guest's
Expresso Bongo (1959).
The Firm
Gary Oldman is Clive 'Bex' Bissell, an intelligent family man with a good job, who also happens to be the leader of the notorious East London hooligan firm, the Inner City Crew. Bex plans to unite rival gangs into a national firm to talk to the European Championships, but that will mean defeating Oboes' Birmingham crew and the South London Buccaneers led by arch rival Yeti (Phil Davis). As Bex's craving for violence becomes an obsession, the violence spirals out of control...
Clarke's violent and unflinching drama courted much controversy when it was first broadcast but is now rightly considered one of the seminal films on the topic of hooliganism, due in no small part to the brilliance of Oldman's central performance which is one of the finest in his career.
Special Features:
- David Leland introduces The Firm
- And More...
STREET DATE: MAY 23.
Akenfield
Loosely based on Ronald Blythe's acclaimed book Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village this unassuming yet powerful film traces three generations of one Suffolk family and their lives in the farming industry.
Described as a work of rural realism, Akenfield features a cast of non-professional actors drawn from the communities of several Suffolk villages. Featuring improvised dialogue and filmed mostly at weekends over the course of a year, the film offers an authentic depiction of country life and the effects of the changing seasons.
Told through the voices of farmhand Tom and his grandfather, all three generations grandfather, father and son are performed by the same actor (local farmer Garrow Shand), with the film painting a compelling picture of a traditional way of life facing a period of great change, brought about by the industrialisation of the 20th Century.
STREET DATE: JUNE 20.
I Am Belfast
I Am Belfast sees celebrated filmmaker, writer and curator Mark Cousins (
6 Desires: DH Lawrence and Sardinia, Here Be Dragons) cast his painterly eye on his home town, the port city Belfast.
Beautifully shot by Christopher Doyle (
In the Mood for Love, Rabbit-Proof Fence) and with a powerful soundtrack by the great Northern Irish DJ and composer David Holmes (
Ocean's Eleven,'71, Hunger), Cousins' film takes viewers on an emotional journey through the complex and sometimes tragic history of the Northern Irish capital, embodied as a 10,000 year-old woman, compellingly portrayed by Helena Bereen (
Hunger, Mo). Interspersing archive material (often detailing the horrors of the Troubles) and newly-filmed footage,
I Am Belfast is an impassioned and politically engaged love letter to Cousins' hometown.
Special Features:
- Interview with director Mark Cousins
- Interview with actress Helena Bereen
- Interview with cinematographer Christopher Doyle
- Making of documentary
STREET DATE: MAY 23.
Beat Girl
A cult classic British film about late-fifties youth-rebellion set to an intoxicating Beatnik backdrop.
The film tells the story of Paul (David Farrar), a divorced architect who marries a Parisian named Nichole (Noëlle Adam), much to the displeasure of his teenage daughter Jennifer (Gillian Hills). In a bid to rebel Jennifer falls in with the London beatnik scene and a music-fuelled life of juvenile delinquency. Taking an immediate dislike to her stepmother Jenny goes out of her way to make life miserable for Nichole. When she discovers that Nichole is a friend of a stripper, she investigates and uses her stepmother's sordid past to embarrass her father.
With an all-star cast including David Farrar (
Black Narcissus, The Small Back Room) Shirley Anne Field (
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Peeping Tom), Christopher Lee (
Dracula) and a young Oliver Reed (
The Brood), the film is notable for its original music by composer John Barry, his first film commission, and the debut appearance of teen idol Adam Faith. Actress Gillian Hills went on to work with Antonioni (
Blow Up) and Stanley Kubrick (
A Clockwork Orange) and was the star of the cult television series
The Owl Service.
Special Features:
- Alternate UK version of Beat Girl
- Newly filmed interview with actress Gillian Hills
- Cross-Roads (John Fitchen, 1955, 22 mins): a short supernatural tale starring Christopher Lee
- Goodnight with Sabrina
- Beauty in Brief
- Screen Test
- Illustrated booklet
STREET DATE: APRIL 18.
Expresso Bongo
Val Guest's 1959 London-shot Brit Beat classic is a sharp satire on the music industry. Expresso Bongo, centers around aspiring musician Bert Rudge (Cliff Richard). Rudge stands little chance in the music business but is propelled to major stardom after being discovered in an expresso coffee shop by sleazy Soho agent Johnny (Laurence Harvey).
In quick succession Rudge changes his name to Bongo Herbert, gets a record deal and strikes up a relationship with an aging American singing sensation. As Johnny starts Herbert on the road to stardom, an unfair deal is cut which exploits the young singer and leads their relationship to turn sour.
Originally a 1958 West End musical, the satirical stage show was such a hit it was adapted for the big screen the following year, designed as a star vehicle for the young Cliff Richard and The Shadows.
STREET DATE: APRIL 18.