The British Film Institute will add various new Blu-ray titles to their catalog. Amongst them are Diane Kurys'
Peppermint Soda (1977), Abel Gance's
J'accuse (1938), and Christian Marnham's
The Orchard End Murder (1980).
Peppermint Soda
Synopsis: Teenage sisters Anne (Éléonore Klarwein) and Frédérique (Odile Michel) couldn't be more different: introverted Anne is trying to understand the world around her as she's on the threshold of adolescence; while outgoing, politically aware Frédérique is beginning her first love affair.
This coming-of-age tale, the debut feature of underrated French director Diane Kurys (Entre nous, Sagan), is an ode to teenage summers, first kisses and first losses. Offering an intricate view of adolescence in 1960s France, Peppermint Soda recalls Francois Truffaut's Les quatre cents coups and encapsulates the upsurge in liberality during this radical period.
Special Features:
- Theatrical trailer (3 mins)
- Interview with Diane Kurys (2008, 33 mins):An interview with the director
- Scrapbook (2008, 3 mins): Diane Kurys explores her collection of photographs and production materials
- Illustrated booklet with full film credits and a new essay by Sophie Mayer and Michael Brooke
STREET DATE: JULY 24.
J'accuse
Synopsis: Acclaimed as one of cinema's finest anti-war movies, Abel Gance's rousing indictment of warfare is as powerful and relevant today as it was on its original release in 1938.
Having experienced the horror of the First World War, idealistic poet Jean Diaz (Victor Francen, A Farewell to Arms) turns to technology in a bid to prevent further barbarity. But a meddling and unscrupulous bureaucracy allows Jean's plans to be hijacked as Europe slides towards another great conflict.
Using his epic 1919 silent version of the film as a template, Gance pits mankind's romanticism against its capacity for savagery. Originally released on the eve of the Second World War (and the same year as Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion), J'accuse urges us to honour the memory of the fallen by learning the lessons of a catastrophic past.
Special Features:
- New audio commentary by Paul Cuff
- Stills and special collections gallery
- Illustrated booklet with full film credits, reviews and a new essay by Paul Cuff
STREET DATE: JULY 24.
The Orchard End Murder
The latest release from BFI Flipside is this newly remastered rarity – one of a series of British 'mini-features' that shocked UK cinemas audiences during the 1970s and early-80s.
Set in an idyllic-looking Kent village in the 1960s, a young woman has a strange encounter with a stationmaster and his oddball assistant (played by BBC TV Casualty's Clive Mantle). Things turn even more sinister when she is followed back through an apple orchard.
Written and directed by Christian Marnham and shot by Pete Walkers' regular cameraman Peter Jessop, The Orchard End Murder is a tense and shockingly violent portrayal of the English village life.
Also include The Showman, Marnham's 1970 short documentary about the circus showman, Wally Shufflebottom Jr.
Special Features:
- New interview with director Christian Marnham (2017)
- New interview with David Wilkinson (2017): the actor and producer discusses the film and it's release
- Part of the Team (1975): short film directed by Christian Marnham for the Central Office of Information
- Fully illustrated booklet with new writing on the film by Jo Botting, and full film credits.
STREET DATE: JULY 24.
Life Is Sweet
Synopsis: Mike Leigh's acclaimed 1990 social comedy Life is Sweet is one of the director's finest achievements.
Depicting a summer in the life of a modern family at odds with itself, this hilarious yet tragic domestic portrait features a stellar ensemble cast – including Alison Steadman, Jim Broadbent, Jane Horrocks, Claire Skinner, David Thewlis, Stephen Rea and Timothy Spall – and remains a potent and pointed satire.
Leigh returns to the colour and terrain of his 1990 classic with A Running Jump. Commissioned by BBC Films and Film 4 to mark the 2012 Cultural Olympiad, the film portrays Perry Conroy's (Eddie Marsan) frenzied efforts to sell a second hand car with the help of his frenetic family.
STREET DATE: AUGUST 20.
My Beautiful Laundrette
Synopsis: In Stephen Frears' controversial and hugely successful drama, Omar (Gordon Warnecke), a son of a Pakistani immigrant, embarks on a venture to renovate his uncle's laundrette with the help of his childhood friend, ex-National Front member Johnny (Daniel Day Lewis).
Now available for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK, My Beautiful Laundrette remains ground-breaking in its bold exploration of issues of sexuality, race, class and generational difference. Heralded as one of Britain's most commercially and critically successful films of 1986, it earned Hanif Kureishi an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay as well as launching the career of Daniel Day-Lewis.
Special Features:
- Century of Cinema: Typically British (Stephen Frears, 1994, 74 mins): Director Stephen Frears explores the wealth of stylish and familiar images created by the British film industry in the 20th century, aided by fellow directors Alexander Mackendrick, Michael Apted, and Alan Parker and writer Gavin Lambert
- I'm British But… (Gurinder Chadha, 1989, 30 mins): fascinating documentary on what it meant to be a young British Asian in the 1980s from the director of Bend it Like Beckham
- Memsahib Rita (Prathiba Parma, 1994, 20 mins): Using a blend of magic realism and realist drama, Memsahib Rita looks at the physical and emotional violence of racism. Starring Nisha Nayar & Meera Syal.
- Fully illustrated booklet with new writing on the film and full credits
- And MORE...
STREET DATE: AUGUST 20.
Three Films by Ken Loach
This new collection brings together three of Ken Loach's finest films from the 1990s, titles linked by the director's career-long drive to tackle social injustice and contemporary political issues.
In Riff Raff, Glaswegian jailbird Stevie (Robert Carlyle) heads to London to find work but discovers a world of corruption and degradation.
Inner-city poverty is brought to the fore in Raining Stones, as unemployed Bob's (Bruce Jones) desperate attempts to afford a communion dress for his daughter results in a succession of disasters.
Inspired by real events, Ladybird Ladybird is an emotional and harrowing story of a woman's fight to keep her children and relationship intact in the face of bureaucratic interference.
STREET DATE: SEPTEMBER 18.