Radiance Films Announces June Releases
HomeRadiance Films Announces June Releases
Posted March 8, 2023 05:59 PM by Webmaster
Radiance Films has announced its June batch of Blu-ray releases. They are: Red Sun (1970), Cosa Nostra: Franco Nero in Three Mafia Tales by Damiano Damiani (1968-1975), The Hot Spot (1990), and Buster Keaton Rides Again/Helicopter Canada (1965-1966).
Red Sun
Description: Thomas (Marquard Bohm, Kings of the Road) gets a ride to Munich where he finds his ex-girlfriend Peggy (counter culture activist and model Uschi Obermaier) who takes him in. In her flat he finds Peggy and her roommates have a commune-like lifestyle where they kill the men in their lives after five days, but will Thomas realise in time? A pop fantasy focused on the post-'68 and women's liberation movements, Red Sun was compared to a comic strip by Wim Wenders and is a beautiful art-genre collision that is both brilliantly bizarre and provocative. Director Rudolf Thome was an emerging talent in the New German Cinema alongside Wenders, Fassbinder and Herzog, but received little international distribution and fell into obscurity despite a consistent career covering six decades. Radiance Films is proud to present Red Sun to English-speaking audiences for the first time in a restoration overseen by Thome.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
UK STREET DATE: JUNE 19.
The Hot Spot
Description: Harry, a drifter (Don Johnson, Miami Vice) rolls into town and talks his way into a job at a car dealership where he becomes caught between two beautiful women, the boss's conniving wife Dolly (Virginia Madsen, Candyman) and Gloria (Jennifer Connelly, Requiem for a Dream) a naive young accountant whose life is complicated by blackmail. When Harry plans to rob the local bank, he becomes enmeshed in a lethal web of lust, greed and extortion, whose only escape is murder. Adapted from Hell Hath No Fury by Charles Williams, The Hot Spot is a dusty, sweaty modern noir that updates the pulp formula of twists and turns with an intensity to match director Dennis Hopper's earlier film roles. Directed by Hopper (Easy Rider, Out of the Blue) with verve, the stellar cast are supported by William Sadler (The Shawshank Redemption), Charles Martin Smith (The Untouchables) and Jack Nance (Eraserhead) accompanied by a brilliant soundtrack featuring Miles Davis, John Lee Hooker, Taj Mahal and original music by Jack Nitzsche. Special Features and Technical Specs:
Buster Keaton Rides Again / Helicopter Canada
BUSTER KEATON RIDES AGAIN - In the autumn of 1964, just over a year before his death, Buster Keaton travelled to Canada to make The Railrodder, a silent short that would turn out to be one of his final films. Documenting this mobile production in fascinating and unexpected detail, Buster Keaton Rides Again offers a rare glimpse of the comedy legend's temperament, philosophies, hobbies, marriage (his third), and occasionally combative creative process. Canadian International Pictures fondly presents this intimate look at one of cinema's most enduring legends. In addition, this disc includes The Railrodder and six other shorts by director – and Buster Keaton Rides Again co-star – Gerald Potterton (The Rainbow Boys, Heavy Metal).
HELICOPTER CANADA - Made in celebration of the Canadian centennial, this Oscar-nominated documentary offers a stunning aerial exploration of the country's vast and varied landscape. Featuring impressive widescreen cinematography by director Eugene Boyko, amusingly irreverent commentary, and even a cameo by The Beatles, this enchantingly oddball time capsule brings Canadiana to new heights. In honour of the film's debt to the sprawling Cinerama travelogues of the '50s, this disc also includes a presentation of Helicopter Canada in the Smilebox format, simulating the effect of a curved screen.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Cosa Nostra: Franco Nero in Three Mafia Tales by Damiano Damiani
Description: The most American of directors according to celebrated critic Paolo Mereghetti, Damiano Damiani (A Bullet for the General) nevertheless surveyed his own country's mafia history unlike anyone before him, to critical and box office success. Three such classic films are collected in this Blu-ray box set, presented from new restorations.
The Day of the Owl stars Franco Nero as a police chief who, while investigating the death of a construction worker, goes up against corrupt officials and a ruthless mafia boss (Lee J. Cobb). Adapted from the celebrated novel by Leonardo Sciascia (Illustrious Corpses, Todo Modo), The Day of the Owl was the first book to openly deal with organised crime in Sicily. A prestigious production, it was in the running for best film at the Berlin Film Festival and found wins at home in the David di Donatello Awards for Claudia Cardinale, Nero, Damiani, and Best Production.
Nero portrays a simple man thrown in jail for a misdemeanour in The Case Is Closed: Forget It. Inside, he sees the grim reality of life behind bars, where the mafia controls everything. A powerful production with Nero on top form and supported by a strong cast including Riccardo Cucciolla (Rabid Dogs) and John Steiner (Tenebrae), the intensity of Damiani's film places it among the finest prison dramas. Presented in Italian and for the first time with the original English dub.
In How to Kill a Judge, Nero plays filmmaker Giacomo Solaris, whose latest film features a judge corrupted by the mafia and who is later found murdered. The real judge the character is based on seizes the footage, but is later killed in the same way. Feeling a degree of responsibility, Solaris investigates, but as the assassinations increase around him, will he reach the source of the conspiracy? Full of twists and a fascinating meta-commentary on cinema, Damiani points the camera at himself and the genre as he investigates the social impact of mafia violence, a fitting end to this survey of Damiani's Cosa Nostra.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
UK STREET DATE: JUNE 19.
Red Sun
Description: Thomas (Marquard Bohm, Kings of the Road) gets a ride to Munich where he finds his ex-girlfriend Peggy (counter culture activist and model Uschi Obermaier) who takes him in. In her flat he finds Peggy and her roommates have a commune-like lifestyle where they kill the men in their lives after five days, but will Thomas realise in time? A pop fantasy focused on the post-'68 and women's liberation movements, Red Sun was compared to a comic strip by Wim Wenders and is a beautiful art-genre collision that is both brilliantly bizarre and provocative. Director Rudolf Thome was an emerging talent in the New German Cinema alongside Wenders, Fassbinder and Herzog, but received little international distribution and fell into obscurity despite a consistent career covering six decades. Radiance Films is proud to present Red Sun to English-speaking audiences for the first time in a restoration overseen by Thome.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- High-definition digital transfer overseen by director Rudolf Thome
- Select scene commentary with Thome and Rainer Langhans, Obermaier's boyfriend and Kommune 1 member who served as inspiration for the film and was on set for the shoot
- Rote Sonne between Pop Sensibility and Social Critique - A newly produced visual essay by scholar Johannes von Moltke on Red Sun, which looks at the social and cultural influences on the film and provides context for the era in which it was made (2022, 21 mins)
- From Oberhausen to the Fall of the Wall: A visual essay by academic and programmer Margaret Deriaz tracing the development of the New German Cinema from the Oberhausen Manifesto to the fall of the Berlin wall (2023, 50 mins)
- Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters
- Limited edition 52-page booklet featuring new writing on the film by Samm Deighan, newly translated archival letters by Wim Wenders, critic Enno Patalas and the German Film Evaluation Office on the film's official submission, newly translated archival interview with Rudolf Thome and an overview reviews
- Limited edition of 2000 copies (each for the UK and US), presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
UK STREET DATE: JUNE 19.
The Hot Spot
Description: Harry, a drifter (Don Johnson, Miami Vice) rolls into town and talks his way into a job at a car dealership where he becomes caught between two beautiful women, the boss's conniving wife Dolly (Virginia Madsen, Candyman) and Gloria (Jennifer Connelly, Requiem for a Dream) a naive young accountant whose life is complicated by blackmail. When Harry plans to rob the local bank, he becomes enmeshed in a lethal web of lust, greed and extortion, whose only escape is murder. Adapted from Hell Hath No Fury by Charles Williams, The Hot Spot is a dusty, sweaty modern noir that updates the pulp formula of twists and turns with an intensity to match director Dennis Hopper's earlier film roles. Directed by Hopper (Easy Rider, Out of the Blue) with verve, the stellar cast are supported by William Sadler (The Shawshank Redemption), Charles Martin Smith (The Untouchables) and Jack Nance (Eraserhead) accompanied by a brilliant soundtrack featuring Miles Davis, John Lee Hooker, Taj Mahal and original music by Jack Nitzsche. Special Features and Technical Specs:
- 2K RESTORATION BY KINO LORBER, overseen and approved by cinematographer Ueli Steiger
- Uncompressed mono PCM audio
- Archival interview with Dennis Hopper who discusses The Hot Spot and features footage of John Lee Hooker and images from the set (1991)
- Interviews with stars Virginia Madsen (2021, 7 mins) and William Sadler (2021, 7 mins)
- Nick Dawson on Dennis Hopper and The Hot Spot, an interview with the editor of Dennis Hopper: Interviews (2023)
- Duane Swierczynski on Charles Williams' source novel, the crime writer and expert looks at the adaptation and provides a background of the author (2023)
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and new artwork by Time Tomorrow
- Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by critics Elena Lazic on the film; Leslie Byron Pitt on the erotic thriller genre and the film's place within it; and an archival piece on the film featuring an interview with Hopper by RJ Smith
- Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
Buster Keaton Rides Again / Helicopter Canada
BUSTER KEATON RIDES AGAIN - In the autumn of 1964, just over a year before his death, Buster Keaton travelled to Canada to make The Railrodder, a silent short that would turn out to be one of his final films. Documenting this mobile production in fascinating and unexpected detail, Buster Keaton Rides Again offers a rare glimpse of the comedy legend's temperament, philosophies, hobbies, marriage (his third), and occasionally combative creative process. Canadian International Pictures fondly presents this intimate look at one of cinema's most enduring legends. In addition, this disc includes The Railrodder and six other shorts by director – and Buster Keaton Rides Again co-star – Gerald Potterton (The Rainbow Boys, Heavy Metal).
HELICOPTER CANADA - Made in celebration of the Canadian centennial, this Oscar-nominated documentary offers a stunning aerial exploration of the country's vast and varied landscape. Featuring impressive widescreen cinematography by director Eugene Boyko, amusingly irreverent commentary, and even a cameo by The Beatles, this enchantingly oddball time capsule brings Canadiana to new heights. In honour of the film's debt to the sprawling Cinerama travelogues of the '50s, this disc also includes a presentation of Helicopter Canada in the Smilebox format, simulating the effect of a curved screen.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- NEW 2K RESTORATIONS from the 35mm interpositives
- Alternate 2.76:1 and Smilebox presentations of Helicopter Canada
- Audio commentary with Gerald Potterton and David De Volpi on Buster Keaton Rides Again and The Railrodder
- Hors-d'oeuvre (1960, 7 min.)
- My Financial Career (1962, 7 min.)
- Christmas Tree Decoration (1963, 5 min.)
- The Ride (1963, 7 min.)
- The Railrodder (1965, 25 min.)
- The Quiet Racket (1966, 7 min.)
- The Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones (1983, 8 min.)
- Bonus short: Canada the Land (1970, 8 min.)
- Booklet featuring an interview with Gerald Potterton
- Reversible sleeve
- English SDH subtitles for all 10 films
- REGION-FREE
Cosa Nostra: Franco Nero in Three Mafia Tales by Damiano Damiani
Description: The most American of directors according to celebrated critic Paolo Mereghetti, Damiano Damiani (A Bullet for the General) nevertheless surveyed his own country's mafia history unlike anyone before him, to critical and box office success. Three such classic films are collected in this Blu-ray box set, presented from new restorations.
The Day of the Owl stars Franco Nero as a police chief who, while investigating the death of a construction worker, goes up against corrupt officials and a ruthless mafia boss (Lee J. Cobb). Adapted from the celebrated novel by Leonardo Sciascia (Illustrious Corpses, Todo Modo), The Day of the Owl was the first book to openly deal with organised crime in Sicily. A prestigious production, it was in the running for best film at the Berlin Film Festival and found wins at home in the David di Donatello Awards for Claudia Cardinale, Nero, Damiani, and Best Production.
Nero portrays a simple man thrown in jail for a misdemeanour in The Case Is Closed: Forget It. Inside, he sees the grim reality of life behind bars, where the mafia controls everything. A powerful production with Nero on top form and supported by a strong cast including Riccardo Cucciolla (Rabid Dogs) and John Steiner (Tenebrae), the intensity of Damiani's film places it among the finest prison dramas. Presented in Italian and for the first time with the original English dub.
In How to Kill a Judge, Nero plays filmmaker Giacomo Solaris, whose latest film features a judge corrupted by the mafia and who is later found murdered. The real judge the character is based on seizes the footage, but is later killed in the same way. Feeling a degree of responsibility, Solaris investigates, but as the assassinations increase around him, will he reach the source of the conspiracy? Full of twists and a fascinating meta-commentary on cinema, Damiani points the camera at himself and the genre as he investigates the social impact of mafia violence, a fitting end to this survey of Damiani's Cosa Nostra.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- 2K RESTORATION OF THE DAY OF THE OWL from the original negative presented in the original Italian version (109 mins) and the shorter export cut with English audio (103 mins)
- 2K RESTORATION OF THE CASE IS CLOSED: FORGET IT from the original negative presented with Italian and, for the first time, English audio options
- 2K RESTORATION OF HOW TO KILL A JUDGE from the original negative presented in Italian and English audio options
- Original uncompressed mono PCM audio
- New interview with star Franco Nero, featuring archive footage of Damiano Damiani and Leonardo Sciascia discussing The Day of the Owl (2022, 17 mins)
- Archival interview with Franco Nero, writer Ugo Pirro and production manager Lucio Trentini discussing the making of The Day of the Owl (2006, 27 mins)
- Identity Crime-Sis: filmmaker and Italian crime cinema expert Mike Malloy discusses The Day of the Owl in the context of the formation of the Italian crime film genre (2022, 20 mins)
- Casting Cobb: A Tale of Two Contents: A video essay by filmmaker Howard S. Berger looking at actor Lee J. Cobb's career transition from Hollywood to Italy and the archetypes he tended to play (2023, 33 mins)
- Archival interview with Claudia Cardinale from Belgian TV in which she discusses her long and storied career (2017, 22 mins)
- New interview with star Franco Nero discussing The Case is Closed: Forget It (2022, 14 mins)
- Archival documentary on the making of The Case is Closed: Forget It featuring actor Corrado Solari, assistant director Enrique Bergier and editor Antonio Siciliano (2015, 28 mins)
- Italy's Cinematic Civil Conscience: An Examination of the Life and Works of Damiano Damiani: A visual essay on the career of Damiani Damiani by critic Rachael Nisbet (2023, 35 mins)
- New interview with star Franco Nero discussing How to Kill a Judge (2022, 13 mins)
- New interview with Alberto Pezzotta, author of Regia Damiano Damiani, who discusses Damiani's contribution to the mafia and crime genres and the reception of his films in Italy (2022, 34 mins)
- Lessons in Violence: A new video essay on How to Kill a Judge by filmmaker David Cairns (2023, 22 mins)
- Original trailers for each film
- New and improved optional English subtitles for Italian audio and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for English audio for each film
- Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters for each film
- Limited edition 120-page book featuring new and archival writing on the films by experts on the genre including Andrew Nette on Leonardo Sciascia's The Day of the Owl; Piero Garofalo on The Case is Closed: Forget It; Paul A. J. Lewis on depictions of the mafia in each of the films within this set; Shelley O'Brien on each of the scores; a newly translated archival interview with Damiani; Nathaniel Thompson on Franco Nero; Marco Natoli on Damiani's place within the cinema politico movement in Italian cinema; a critical overview for each the films by Cullen Gallagher and credits for each film
- Limited edition of 3000 copies (each for the UK and US), presented in a rigid box with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
UK STREET DATE: JUNE 19.
