Upcoming BFI Blu-ray Releases
HomeUpcoming BFI Blu-ray Releases
Posted February 8, 2018 06:21 PM by Webmaster
The British Film institute will add a number of new titles to its Blu-ray catalog between March and June. Amongst them are Kon Ichikawa's Am Actor's Revenge, Ingmar Bergman's The Touch, and William Wyler's The Children's Hour.
The Touch
Synopsis: Unavailable for decades, the BFI are proud to present Ingmar Bergman's The Touch for the first time on Blu-ray worldwide.
Karin (Bibi Andersson), a happily married mother of two, surprises herself by responding in-kind to an unforeseen profession of love from David (Elliott Gould), an archaeologist visiting Sweden, whom her doctor husband (Max von Sydow) has befriended. But love, however toxically exhilarating, is seldom simple, and deceit and David's volatile temperament take their toll. The Touch marked the first time Bergman worked with an established Hollywood star (Gould).
Originally released in a fully English language version, this presentation of The Touch is a new 2K restoration by the Swedish Film Institute from the original negatives of Bergman's preferred Swedish/English cut.
STREET DATE: APRIL 23.
The Magic Flute
Synopsis: Ingmar Bergman puts his indelible stamp on Mozart's exquisite opera in this sublime rendering of one of the composer's best-loved works: a celebration of love, forgiveness, and the brotherhood of man. The Magic Flute (Trollflöjten) stars Josef Köstlinger as Tamino, the young man determined to rescue a beautiful princess from the clutches of parental evil. Available for the first time on Blu-ray the BFI are proud to present this film from one of the world's most acclaimed directors.
Special Features:
The Children's Hour
Synopsis: Based on Lillian Hellman's ground-breaking 1934 play and nominated for 5 Academy Awards. The Children's Hour is set at an exclusive girl's school managed by best friends Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine. When a badly behaved student starts rumors that her teachers are in a lesbian relationship, there are serious and tragic repercussions for everyone involved.
Directed by William Wyler (Ben Hur, Roman Holiday) and co-starring James Garner as Hepburn's boyfriend, The Children's Hour still stands as a powerful indictment of the malice of lies and rumors in society. This is the first time the film is available on Blu-ray in the UK.
STREET DATE: JUNE 18.
Jubilee 40th Anniversary Edition
Synopsis: The mythological past and bleak future converge on the sparse, grey streets of London in this cult classic of the punk era.
Queen Elizabeth 1 and her occult aide Dr John Dee (brilliantly played by Jenny Runacre and Richard O'Brien, respectively) travel into the future, encountering the megalomania of big business as well as gangs of violent, marauding killers.
Director Derek Jarman doesn't spare the shocks while electrifying punk rock numbers are delivered by Jayne County and Adam Ant.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
They Came to a City
Synopsis: A fantastical allegory from the pen of J B Priestley, this most unusual of Ealing's features has long been hard to see.
Nine disparate Britons are transported to a mysterious city where, according to their class and disposition, they find themselves either in an earthly paradise of peace and equality or a hell starved of ambition and riches.
A striking expression of post-war utopian impulses, this underrated British classic is presented here in a new 2K transfer from the best surviving 35mm element, and available for home entertainment viewing for the very first time. Directed by Basil Dearden (The Captive Heart, Victim) and starring John Clements, Googie Withers, and Raymond Huntley.
Special features and Technical Specs:
Woodfall: A Revolution in British Cinema 1959-1965
Synopsis: A new 8-disc set celebrating the 60th anniversary of Woodfall Films. Includes eight iconic films (many newly restored and available on Blu-ray for the first time) that revolutionised British cinema and launched the careers of the likes of Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay and Rita Tushingham.
BOX SET CONTENT:
An Actor's Revenge
Synopsis: This wildy melodramatic tale of a Kabuki female impersonator who exacts a long-delayed revenge on the men who drove his parents to suicide is played out against a backdrop of comic rivalries between thieves in the Tokyo underworld. Kazuo Hasegawa (Gate of Hell) plays the dual role of the actor and the thief in a film which celebrates his 300th screen appearance.
A heady mixture of swooning romanticism and stylised action, with a soundtrack that ranges from traditional Japanese music to lush Hollywood strings and cocktail jazz, An Actor's Revenge is a cinematic tour de force.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Derek Jarman - Volume One: 1976-1986
Synopsis: 24 years have gone by since his death at just 52, but the legacy of the iconoclastic filmmaker Derek Jarman (1942-1994) lives on, and his ground-breaking and highly influential work has lost none of its relevance or impact.
The first of two deluxe Limited Edition box sets brings together a selection of his feature films on Blu-ray for the first time. Jarman Volume One: 1972-1986 contains In the Shadow of the Sun, Sebastiane, Jubilee, The Tempest, The Angelic Conversation and Caravaggio and is packed with an incredible 30 extras and accompanied by an 80-page book.
Jarman's multi-faceted work is inspirational in its fearlessness, yet remains touchingly personal. The dynamism of these features evokes comparison with the bold romanticism of directors like Ken Russell (an early champion) and Michael Powell, as well as artists Paul Nash and John Piper. But Jarman was also a subversive force in film. Beginning with his psychedelic debut feature, In the Shadow of the Sun (1972-1974), then came the provocative Jubilee (1978), the evocative Shakespeare adaptation The Tempest (1979) and The Angelic Conversation (1985), in which he invoked Elizabethan occultist Dr John Dee and explored alchemical imagery, a subject in which he was well versed. In Sebastiane (1976) and Caravaggio (1986) he revived key gay and homo-erotic figures from the past – with edgy and unmistakable style.
Derek Jarman's first six feature films have all been newly scanned at 2K from original film elements and are presented in this lavish box set alongside an exciting array of new and archival extras drawn from Jarman's archive of workbooks and papers held in BFI Special Collections. Newly interviewed exclusively for this box set are some of the people who worked on these films; punk legend Jordan, producer and filmmaker Don Boyd, production designer Christopher Hobbs and artist filmmaker John Scarlett-Davis.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
The Touch
Synopsis: Unavailable for decades, the BFI are proud to present Ingmar Bergman's The Touch for the first time on Blu-ray worldwide.
Karin (Bibi Andersson), a happily married mother of two, surprises herself by responding in-kind to an unforeseen profession of love from David (Elliott Gould), an archaeologist visiting Sweden, whom her doctor husband (Max von Sydow) has befriended. But love, however toxically exhilarating, is seldom simple, and deceit and David's volatile temperament take their toll. The Touch marked the first time Bergman worked with an established Hollywood star (Gould).
Originally released in a fully English language version, this presentation of The Touch is a new 2K restoration by the Swedish Film Institute from the original negatives of Bergman's preferred Swedish/English cut.
STREET DATE: APRIL 23.
The Magic Flute
Synopsis: Ingmar Bergman puts his indelible stamp on Mozart's exquisite opera in this sublime rendering of one of the composer's best-loved works: a celebration of love, forgiveness, and the brotherhood of man. The Magic Flute (Trollflöjten) stars Josef Köstlinger as Tamino, the young man determined to rescue a beautiful princess from the clutches of parental evil. Available for the first time on Blu-ray the BFI are proud to present this film from one of the world's most acclaimed directors.
Special Features:
- Papageno (1935, 12 mins): short film from acclaimed director Lotte Reiniger (The Adventures of Prince Achmed)
- La Flute Magique (1946, 10 mins): short film by the award-winning director Paul Grimault
- In Mozart's Foorsteps (1938, 11 mins): a post-Anschluss travelogue of Mozart s Austria by Lady Dunn
- Fully illustrated booklet with new writing on the film, and full film credits
The Children's Hour
Synopsis: Based on Lillian Hellman's ground-breaking 1934 play and nominated for 5 Academy Awards. The Children's Hour is set at an exclusive girl's school managed by best friends Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine. When a badly behaved student starts rumors that her teachers are in a lesbian relationship, there are serious and tragic repercussions for everyone involved.
Directed by William Wyler (Ben Hur, Roman Holiday) and co-starring James Garner as Hepburn's boyfriend, The Children's Hour still stands as a powerful indictment of the malice of lies and rumors in society. This is the first time the film is available on Blu-ray in the UK.
STREET DATE: JUNE 18.
Jubilee 40th Anniversary Edition
Synopsis: The mythological past and bleak future converge on the sparse, grey streets of London in this cult classic of the punk era.
Queen Elizabeth 1 and her occult aide Dr John Dee (brilliantly played by Jenny Runacre and Richard O'Brien, respectively) travel into the future, encountering the megalomania of big business as well as gangs of violent, marauding killers.
Director Derek Jarman doesn't spare the shocks while electrifying punk rock numbers are delivered by Jayne County and Adam Ant.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- BRAND NEW 2K REMASTER of the film from the original camera negative
- A Message from the Temple (1981, 5 mins)
- Toyah Wilcox: Being Mad (2014, 8 mins): The singer and actress looks back on her role in Jubilee
- Jordan remembers Jubilee (2018): Punk icon Jordan looks back on her friendship with Derek Jarman and the making if Jubilee
- Lee Drysdale remembers Jubilee (2018): Derek Jarman's friend and, later collaborator Lee Drysdale recalls his unconventional involvement in the making of Jubilee
- Jubilee image gallery
- Fully illustrated booklet with writing on the film by Will Fowler, an original review and full film credits
They Came to a City
Synopsis: A fantastical allegory from the pen of J B Priestley, this most unusual of Ealing's features has long been hard to see.
Nine disparate Britons are transported to a mysterious city where, according to their class and disposition, they find themselves either in an earthly paradise of peace and equality or a hell starved of ambition and riches.
A striking expression of post-war utopian impulses, this underrated British classic is presented here in a new 2K transfer from the best surviving 35mm element, and available for home entertainment viewing for the very first time. Directed by Basil Dearden (The Captive Heart, Victim) and starring John Clements, Googie Withers, and Raymond Huntley.
Special features and Technical Specs:
- NEW 2K REMASTER of the film
- Fully illustrated booklet with new writing on the film and full film credits
- And More...
Woodfall: A Revolution in British Cinema 1959-1965
Synopsis: A new 8-disc set celebrating the 60th anniversary of Woodfall Films. Includes eight iconic films (many newly restored and available on Blu-ray for the first time) that revolutionised British cinema and launched the careers of the likes of Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay and Rita Tushingham.
BOX SET CONTENT:
- Look Back in Anger (Tony Richardson, 1959)
- The Entertainer (Tony Richardson, 1960)
- Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Karel Reisz, 1960)
- A Taste of Honey (Tony Richardson, 1961)
- The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Tony Richardson, 1962)
- Tom Jones (Tony Richardson, 1963) (New 4K digital restorations of the original theatrical version of the film and the 1989 director's cut)
- Girl with Green Eyes (Desmond Davis, 1964)
- The Knack...and how to get it (Richard Lester, 1965)
- All films newly remastered for this release, excluding Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
- Special features to be announced as the street date approaches
An Actor's Revenge
Synopsis: This wildy melodramatic tale of a Kabuki female impersonator who exacts a long-delayed revenge on the men who drove his parents to suicide is played out against a backdrop of comic rivalries between thieves in the Tokyo underworld. Kazuo Hasegawa (Gate of Hell) plays the dual role of the actor and the thief in a film which celebrates his 300th screen appearance.
A heady mixture of swooning romanticism and stylised action, with a soundtrack that ranges from traditional Japanese music to lush Hollywood strings and cocktail jazz, An Actor's Revenge is a cinematic tour de force.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- BRAND NEW 4K RESTORATION of the film
- New audio commentary by critic, programmer, and Japanese film expert Tony Rayns
- 100 Years of Japanese Film (Nagisa Oshima, 1995, 52 mins): the award winning director of In the Realm of the Senses (1976), explores the first century of Japanese cinema
- Oriental Splendour, Japan Pays Homage, To Rid Their Souls of Evil, and In Old Japan (1927-1930, 4 mins): four films about Japan made for the Topical Budget newsreel
- Fully illustrated booklet with new writing by James Bell, Espen Bale, and Vic Pratt, plus original review and full film credits
Derek Jarman - Volume One: 1976-1986
Synopsis: 24 years have gone by since his death at just 52, but the legacy of the iconoclastic filmmaker Derek Jarman (1942-1994) lives on, and his ground-breaking and highly influential work has lost none of its relevance or impact.
The first of two deluxe Limited Edition box sets brings together a selection of his feature films on Blu-ray for the first time. Jarman Volume One: 1972-1986 contains In the Shadow of the Sun, Sebastiane, Jubilee, The Tempest, The Angelic Conversation and Caravaggio and is packed with an incredible 30 extras and accompanied by an 80-page book.
Jarman's multi-faceted work is inspirational in its fearlessness, yet remains touchingly personal. The dynamism of these features evokes comparison with the bold romanticism of directors like Ken Russell (an early champion) and Michael Powell, as well as artists Paul Nash and John Piper. But Jarman was also a subversive force in film. Beginning with his psychedelic debut feature, In the Shadow of the Sun (1972-1974), then came the provocative Jubilee (1978), the evocative Shakespeare adaptation The Tempest (1979) and The Angelic Conversation (1985), in which he invoked Elizabethan occultist Dr John Dee and explored alchemical imagery, a subject in which he was well versed. In Sebastiane (1976) and Caravaggio (1986) he revived key gay and homo-erotic figures from the past – with edgy and unmistakable style.
Derek Jarman's first six feature films have all been newly scanned at 2K from original film elements and are presented in this lavish box set alongside an exciting array of new and archival extras drawn from Jarman's archive of workbooks and papers held in BFI Special Collections. Newly interviewed exclusively for this box set are some of the people who worked on these films; punk legend Jordan, producer and filmmaker Don Boyd, production designer Christopher Hobbs and artist filmmaker John Scarlett-Davis.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- NEW 2K RESTORATIONS
- Sebastiane: A Work in Progress (c.1975): newly remastered from 16mm film elements held by the BFI National Archive, this sadly incomplete early black and white work-print of Sebastiane differs significantly from the finished film. This previously unseen alternate edit – assembled in a different order, featuring a different soundtrack – was never subtitled or released
- The Making of Sebastiane (Derek Jarman & Hugh Smith, 1975): previously unseen Super 8 footage shot on location in Sardinia
- Jazz Calendar (1968): a rarely screened documentary record of the 1968 ballet by Frederick Ashton, performed by The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, for which Jarman designed sets and costumes
- Sloane Square: A Room of One's Own (1974-76)
- John Scarlett-Davis remembers Sebastiane (2018): the artist filmmaker talks about his experiences on the set of Sebastiane
- Message from the Temple (1981)
- TG: Psychic Rally in Heaven (1981)
- Pirate Tape (WS Burroughs Film) (1982)
- Toyah Willcox: Being Mad (2014); the singer and actress looks back on her role in Jubilee Jordan remembers Jubilee (2018): punk icon Jordan looks back on her friendship with Derek Jarman and the making of Jubilee
- Stormy Weather: the Magic Behind The Tempest (2016): Toyah Willcox and Stuart Hopps share their memories of working on Derek Jarman's 1979 production of The Tempest
- John Scarlett-Davis remembers The Tempest (2018): the artist filmmaker looks back on his time as Derek Jarman's assistant on the set of The Tempest
- Don Boyd remembers The Tempest (2018): Producer and filmmaker Don Boyd remembers the production, release and critical reception of The Tempest
- A Meeting of Minds: Christopher Hobbs on collaborating with Derek Jarman (2018): production designer Christopher Hobbs looks back on his long and fruitfully creative friendship with Derek Jarman
- Fragments of Memory: Christopher Hobbs on working with Derek Jarman (2007): archive interview with the production designer
- To the Cliffs: James Mackay on working with Derek Jarman (2007): archive interview with producer James Mackay on his numerous collaborations with Jarman
- Derek Jarman:The Films that Never Were (2018): Christopher Hobbs, John Scarlett-Davis and Lee Drysdale look back on unrealised Derek Jarman features, including Egyptian period drama Akhenaten and science fiction horror Neutron
- Akhenaten Image Gallery: a selection of beautiful illustrations, images and production designs for the unmade feature by production designer Christopher Hobbs
- Neutron storyboards: revealed here in their entirety for the first time, the complete set of brilliant comic-strip style storyboards for this provocative science fiction project, drawn by Christopher Hobbs
- Caravaggio in Docklands (1985)
- Kind Blasphemy: Nigel Terry on Derek Jarman and Caravaggio (2007)
- Tilda Swinton on Derek Jarman and Caravaggio (2007): archive interview with the Academy Award-winning actress
- Italy of the Memory: Christopher Hobbs on Caravaggio (2007)
- Dexter Fletcher on Caravaggio (2014)
- Lee Drysdale remembers Jubilee (2018): Derek Jarman's friend and, later script collaborator recalls his unconventional involvement in the making of Jubilee
- Christopher Hobbs remembers Caravaggio (2018): further reminiscences of the making of Caravaggio from its production designer
- Derek Jarman interviewed by Derek Malcolm (1986, audio only)
- In the Studio: Caravaggio soundtrack recording sessions (1986, audio only)
- Derek Jarman's Caravaggio notebook (Gallery)
- Five galleries featuring storyboards, production designs and Jarman's notes on Caravaggio
- Image galleries for Sebastiane, Jubilee, The Tempest, The Angelic Conversation and Caravaggio
- Original theatrical trailers for The Angelic Conversation and Caravaggio
- Fully illustrated 80-page book with new writing on the film, contemporary reviews and full film credits
