The British Film Institute has announced that it will add a number of new titles to its Blu-ray catalog. Amonigst them are Richard Lester's
The Knack... and How to Get It, Tony Richardson's
Tom Jones, and Richard Marquand's
Eye of the Needle.
Eye of the Needle
Synopsis: Acclaimed adaptation of the best-selling espionage thriller by Ken Follet, and directed by Richard Marquand (most famous for Star Wars V1: Return of the Jedi).
Englishmen know him as Faber (Donald Sutherland), but to the Fatherland, he's the loyal and lethal spy known as 'The Needle'. Shipwrecked on a Scottish island en route to Germany, Faber befriends the beautiful Lucy (Kate Nelligan), whose marriage to a crippled, embittered pilot is faltering. Faber sets about seducing her, intending to use her to help carry out his mission and prevent the impending D-Day invasion.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- NEWLY REMASTERED
- Original theatrical trailer
- Fully illustrated booklet with new writing on the films and full film credits
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
- AND More...
STREET DATE: SEPTEMBER 24.
The Man from Mo'Wax
Synopsis: The Man from Mo'Wax tells the exhilarating, no holds-barred story of James Lavelle, one of the most enigmatic yet influential figures in contemporary British culture.
Lavelle played his first DJ set at 14, launched pioneering record label Mo'Wax at 18 and released the genre defining UNKLE album Psyence Fiction at 22. His phenomenally rapid rise seemed limitless, but it's only when you're going so fast that the wheels fall off.
Put together from over 700 hours of archive materials and featuring the likes of DJ Shadow, Thom Yorke, Ian Brown, Joshua Homme as well as Lavelle himself, this is undoubtedly THE music doc of 2018.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Not yet finalized.
STREET DATE: SEPTEMBER 10.
Tom Jones
Synopsis: Winner of four Academy Awards including Best Director (Tony Richardson), Best Adapted Screenplay (John Osbourne) and Best Picture, this raucous and innovative adaptation of Henry Fielding's classic novel is directed with a real sense of adventure. John Osbourne captures the spirit of the novel in his sophisticated screenplay and Albert Finney gives a dashing Oscar® nominated performance as the much sought-after Tom Jones, enjoying marvellous support from Joan Greenwood as Lady Bellaston and Susannah York as the wellborn Sophie Western.
The BFI is proud to showcase the new 4K digital restorations of not just the theatrical cut but of Tony Richardson's preferred 1989 director's cut, both of which were supervised by director of photography Walter Lassally.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- 4K RESTORATIONS of the director's cut (1989) and theatrical versions of the film
- The Guardian Interview: Albert Finney (1982, 35 mins audio only)
- Vanessa Redgrave on Tony Richardson (2017, 10mins): Vanessa Redgrave discusses Tony Richardson's career in this short interview by the Criterion Collection
- USSR Today: Meeting to Mark the 200th Anniversary of Henry Fielding (1954, 1 min)
- George Devine Memorial Play: Luther (Peter Whitehead, 1966, 7 mins)
- Walter Lassally on Tom Jones (2017, 25 mins): the Oscar® winning cinematographer discusses Tom Jones
- Stills galleries
- Original trailers
- Fully illustrated booklet with writing on the film and full film credits
- Optional English SDH subtitles
STREET DATE: AUGUST 20.
Separate Tables
Synopsis: Delbert Mann's 1958 classic MGM drama Separate Tables, based on a Terence Rattigan play and co-scripted by Rattigan himself, is a star-studded character study of a group of residents at a small British seaside town. Lovely but vulnerable Ann Shankland (Rita Hayworth) travels to the hotel in hopes of starting over with her ex-husband, John (Burt Lancaster), but she does not know that he is already engaged to Pat Cooper (Wendy Hiller), the manager of the hotel. Meanwhile, Mrs. Railton-Bell (Gladys Cooper) discovers the hidden truth about war veteran Major Pollack (David Niven).
Considered daring in its day due to its frank discussions of sexual topics, Separate Tables was nominated for seven Academy Awards, and won for Best Actor (David Niven) and Best Supporting Actress (Wendy Hiller).
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Not yet finalized.
STREET DATE: AUGUST 20.
The Comfort of Strangers
Synopsis: Mary (Natasha Richardson) and Colin (Rupert Everett) first fell in love on a romantic holiday in Venice, Italy. Now four years later, they have returned to rekindle their romance and determine where their relationship is headed. What they don't know is why an English-speaking Venetian (Christopher Walken, Pulp Fiction) is following them, watching them, and taking pictures. Soon they learn they are involved in a bizarre tale of sex, voyeurism, deception and passion. Oscar® winner Helen Mirren plays Walken's wife in a film that will take you into a dark world of charming yet dangerous strangers.
Written by the great Harold Pinter from a novel by Ian McEwan, the film was directed by Paul Schrader (Director of American Gigolo and Blue Collar, and writer of Taxi Driver).
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- Archival interview with Paul Schrader
- Original theatrical trailer
- Fully illustrated booklet with new writing on the film and on Harold Pinter, plus full film credits
- AND More...
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
STREET DATE: JULY 23.
It Happened Here
Synopsis: 'The German invasion of England took place in July 1940 after the British retreat from Dunkirk. Strongly resisted at first, the German army took many months to restore order. But the resistance movement, lacking outside support, was finally crushed. Then, in 1944, the resistance movement reappeared'.
That is the story of what happened when history was re-written. The Nazis have won the Second World War and is an army of occupation in England's green and pleasant land. Aged just 18 when, along with Andrew Mollo, Kevin Brownlow embarked on this ambitious documentary-style drama, the film took eight gruelling years to complete. The result is both a frightening and - with fears of fascism reappearing throughout Europe - a timely reminder of what might have happened if the Allies had not defeated the Nazi menace.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- Newly filmed interview with Kevin Brownlow
- Newly filmed interview with Production Assistant Joanna Roeber
- Archive interview with Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo
- Original trailer
- Stills Gallery featuring rare, previously unseen photos
- Fully illustrated booklet with new writing on the film by Dr Josephine Botting (BFI) and full film credits
- AND More...
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
STREET DATE: JULY 23.
The Knack... and How to Get It
Synopsis: From Richard Lester, the director of the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Help! (1965) comes this inventive and hilarious romp through love and sex in 1960s London. Featuring a wildly frenetic filmmaking style that careers from slapstick to serious avant-garde, this genuinely dazzling film is a mod masterpiece.
Cool and sophisticated Tolen (Ray Brooks) has a monopoly on womanising- with a long line of conquests to prove it- while the naïve and awkward Colin (Michael Crawford) desperately wants a piece of it. But when Colin falls for an innocent country girl (Rita Tushingham), it's not long before the self-assured Tolen moves in for the kill. Is all fair in love and war, or can Colin get the knack and beat Tolen at his own game?
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- Presented in High Definition and Standard Definition
- Captain Busby the Even Tenour of Her Ways (1967, 16 mins): Ann Wolff's surreal riff on Philip O'Connor's poem, featuring Quentin Crisp
- Now and Then: Dick Lester (1967, 17 mins): Bernard Braden's wide-ranging interview with the director
- Rita Tushingham Remembers The Knack...and How to Get It (2018, 11 mins): newly shot interview
- Staging The Knack...and How to Get It (2018, 2 mins): interview with the director of the first stage version of The Knack...
- British Cinema in the 1960s: Richard Lester in Conversation (2018, 59 mins): the director discusses his career with Neil Sinyard
- Illustrated booklet with writing by Neil Sinyard and Melanie Williams, plus full film credits
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
STREET DATE: JUNE 25.