The latest volume in the BFI's ongoing releases of the works of Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu focuses on his crime films. These rare, silent works mix the thrills of western filmmaking with compositions that served as a forerunner to his renowned, mature, post-war style. All films are here presented with newly commissioned scores by Ed Hughes. Episode Comprise: Walk Cheerfully That Night's Wife Dragnet Girl Special Features: The only surviving fragment of A Straightforward Boy
Inspector Kate Longton (Anna Carteret) takes up the mantel from Inspector Jean Darblay (Stephanie Turner) in the fourth series of Juliet Bravo Episodes Comprise: 1.Teamwork 2.Teacher's Pet 3.Retribution 4.Solvent Solution 5.Who's Your Friend 6.Mates 7.Bad Seed 8.Doors 9.Guilt 10.John The Lad 11.Who Says The War Is Over? 12.Off Duty 13.Simple Simon 14.Backtrack
It's A Wonderful Life (Dir. Frank Capra 1946): Starring the unforgettable James Stewart as George Bailey the man who receives the greatest Christmas gift of all. A superb ensemble cast includes Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore this high spirited Christmas tale is Directed by the immortal Frank Capra and ranks as an all-time favourite of fans and critics alike. Harvey (Dir. Henry Koster 1950): James Stewart stars as Elwood P. Dowd a wealthy alcoholic whose sunny disposition and drunken antics are tolerated by most of the citizens of his community. That is until Elwood begins to claim that he has a friend named Harvey who is an invisible six foot rabbit. Elwood's snooty socialite sister Veta determined to marry off her daughter Myrtle to a respectable man begins to plot to keep Elwood's lunacy from interfering. Rear Window (Dir. Alfred Hitchcock 1954): Alfred Hitchcock amply demonstrates why he's been called The Master of Suspense with this both witty and macabre tale of voyeurism and murder starring two of cinema's all-time favourites James Stewart and Grace Kelly. L. B. Jeffries (Stewart) a photographer with a broken leg takes up the fine art of spying on his Greenwich Village neighbours during a summer heat wave. But things really hot up when he suspects one neighbour of murdering his invalid wife and burying the body in a flower garden. Mr Smith Goes to Washington (Dir. Frank Capra 1939): James Stewart Jean Arthur and Claude Rains star in this award-winning 1939 classic about an idealistic small-town politician who heads to Washington and suddenly finds himself single-handedly battling ruthless politicians out to destroy him.
Filmed in the widescreen splendour of "Panavision Super 70" and blessed with the finest production values that Hollywood clout can buy, this tale of spunky Irish immigrants forgot one crucial ingredient: a decent screenplay. The film is entertaining enough, and director Ron Howard brings his technical proficiency to the simple plot, culminating in a dynamic, breathtaking depiction of the Oklahoma land rush of 1893. But the movie is really just a vacuous vehicle for married stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman as (respectively) the poor tenant farmer and rich landlord's daughter who flee Ireland to be American pioneers. The scenery and the stars are never less than stunning, but Howard falls short of the mark in his attempt to match the epic sweep of films by David Lean. On the other hand, this movie is certainly never boring even if it rarely makes sense, and Lean's own Irish epic, Ryan's Daughter, is a snoozer by comparison. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Peter Greenaway (The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, Drowning by Numbers) continues to delight and disturb us with his talent for combining storytelling with optic artistry. The Pillow Book is divided into 10 chapters (consistent with Greenaway's love of numbers and lists) and is shot to be viewed like a book, complete with tantalising illustrations and footnotes (subtitles) and using television's "screen-in-screen" technology. As a child in Japan, Nagiko's father celebrates her birthday retelling the Japanese creation myth and writing on her flesh in beautiful calligraphy, while her aunt reads a list of "beautiful things" from a 10th-century pillow book. As she gets older, Nagiko (Vivian Wu) looks for a lover with calligraphy skills to continue the annual ritual. She is initially thrilled when she encounters Jerome (Ewan McGregor), a bisexual translator who can speak and write several languages, but soon realises that although he is a magnificent lover, his penmanship is less than acceptable. When Nagiko dismisses the enamoured Jerome, he suggests she use his flesh as the pages which to present her own pillow book. The film, complete with a musical score as international as the languages used in the narration, is visually hypnotic and truly an immense "work of art". --Michele Goodson
Sexually adventurous Lelia connects with men through spontaneous fleeting encounters. At a crowded house party she meets the equally impulsive David. Stunned by the effect of this brief but lust-drenched liaison they begin a heated game of seduction that soon explodes into a full-blown rampant affair...
In Dublin, two shop assistants share a room. One, Kate (Rita Tushingham), is a quiet, rather naïve young woman, while the other, Baba (Lynn Redgrave), is vivacious and ebullient with an eye for the boys. But when the two befriend a quiet, middle-aged writer (Peter Finch, Network, he makes a beeline for the shy, and lonely Kate. A bittersweet story of an extraordinary romance. Beautifully scripted by Edna O'Brien from her own best-selling novel, and brilliantly directed by regular Woodfall collaborator Desmond Davies. This film went on to win a Golden Globe whilst both Tushingham, and Redgrave (for only her second credited performance) were nominated for BAFTAs. Special features: Presented in High Definition Rita Tushingham on Girl With Green Eyes (2018, 7 mins): the actor recalls her time on the film Film Poetry: Desmond Davis (2018, 24 mins): director Desmond Davis discusses his career, including his work on Woodfall Food For a Blluuusssshhhhh (1959, 31 mins): surrealist-influenced student film by Free Cinema pioneer Elizabeth Russell The Peaches (1964, 16 mins): coming-of-age fantasy by Walter Lassally Illustrated booklet with new writing by Melanie Williams and Michael Brooke, plus full film credits
A man shows up at Kimberley Prescott's villa claiming to be her brother Ward. But Ward died in a car accident a year ago. Despite Kim's protests that the stranger isn't her brother everyone else accepts him including their uncle. Kim begins to fear for her sanity and her life.
The Road To Guantanamo is the story of four friends who set off from the Midlands in September 2001 for an innocent wedding and holiday in Pakistan. Two and a half years later only three of them returned home. Through their epic journey we hear the story of their misunderstandings ignorance confusions and friendships as step by step they go from the safety of their small-town teenage existence to the heart of the ""war on terror"". Through a series of interviews dramatised
Digitally remastered, the first ever DVD release of this lost gem from Ealing Studios features a brand new Making of featurette. Story by Alexander Mackendrick (Ladykillers, The Man in the White Suit, Whisky Galore!) and from the director of The Lavender Hill Mob and The Titfield Thunderbolt, Dance Hall is a romantic melodrama centred round the life and loves of four working-class women who spend their Saturday nights at the Chiswick Palais dancing to the music of Ted Heath's Big Band. Natasha Parry (Romeo and Juliet, Oh, What a Lovely War!) stars as Eve, whose marriage to Phil (Donald Houston, The Longest Day, Room at the Top) is imperilled when she takes a different partner for an upcoming dance contest. Her reasoning is that Phil is a lousy dancer, but she loves him all the same; Phil, however, is the jealous type, who doesn't quite see things Eve's way. Petula Clark (Goodbye Mr Chips, Finian's Rainbow) plays Georgie, whose ambition is to become a dance champion with her partner, Peter (Douglas Barr, Hue and Cry). Among the other familiar faces floating by in Dance Hall are Bonar Colleano, Diana Dors, Sydney Tafler, Gladys Henson, Dandy Nichols and Jane Hylton. Special Features: Making of Featurette Restoration Comparison Trailer
Jean-Luc Godard's ferocious run of ground breaking 1960s commercial features neared a terminus point as the filmmaker turned his gaze onto the nascent left-wing student organisations coalescing on university campuses across France and environs. The resulting film was his searing masterpiece La Chinoise a mordant satire, pedagogical treatise, political tract, and pop-artwork-plus blood rolled into one. It's early '67 and Radio Peking's in the air for the Aden Arabie Cell, a Maoist collective holed up in a sprawling flat on Paris's rue de Miromesnil the newly purchased actual residence of Godard and then-wife and star Anne Wiazemsky. Véronique (Wiazemsky) and her comrades, including Jean-Pierre Léaud (The 400 Blows, Out 1) and Juliet Berto (Out 1, Céline and Julie Go Boating) lead a series of discussions and performative skits addressing matters of French colonialism, American imperialism, and the broader conflict raging in Vietnam. A meditation on the efficacy of violent protest and militant counteraction played out between Wiazemsky (conducted by Godard via radio-earpiece), and her then-tutor philosopher Francis Jeanson gives way to a plot to assassinate the Soviet minister of culture a red-handed point of no going-back on the path to complete radicalisation. A tour-de-force of the primary-palette images the household images,' perhaps of Godard's early career, La Chinoise serves as both cautionary tale and early sign of fascination with the political currents that would soon lead to the next period of JLG's life and work. The revolution is not a dinner-party. SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS: High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation Original LPCM Mono 2.0 audio Optional English subtitles Audio commentary by film historian James Quandt Interviews with actor Michel Semeniako, assistant director Charles L. Bitsch and second assistant director Jean-Claude Sussfeld Denitza Bantcheva on La Chinoise, the author discusses the film and its politics Behind-the-Scenes TV Report featuring footage with Godard and the cast Venice Film Festival press conference featuring Godard and scenes from the production Theatrical trailer Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet containing vintage writing by and discussions with Jean-Luc Godard and beyond: passing through the landmark Struggling on Two Fronts interview; the Two Hours with Jean-Luc Godard journal; notes on Anne Wiazemsky's 2012 memoir-novel Une année studieuse [A Studious Year]; a tribute to Wiazemsky, Léaud, and Berto; vintage archival imagery; newly translated material; and more.
The struggle for survival amongst Rio's favelas continues, as "City Of Men" arrives on DVD on 23rd February 2009
Famously described by Ingmar Bergman as ""a work of genius"" Peter Watkins' multi-faceted masterwork is more than just a biopic of the iconic Norwegian Expressionist painter it is one of the best films ever made about the artistic process. Focusing initially on Munch's formative years in late 19th Century Kristiana (now Oslo) Watkins uses his trademark style to create a vivid picture of the emotional political and social upheavals that would have such an effect on his art. The young artist (Geir Westby) has an affair with ""Mrs Heiberg"" (Gro Fraas) a devastating experience that will haunt him for the rest of his life. His work is viciously attacked by critics and public alike and he is forced to leave his home country for Berlin where along with the notorious Swedish playwright August Strindberg he becomes part of the cultural storm that is to sweep Europe. There have been countless film biographies of famous artists but only a handful can be considered major works in their own right. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Watkins' original extended 211-minute TV version of what is regarded by many as an extraordinary feat of filmmaking.
A beautiful but amoral model sleeps her way to the top of the London fashion scene at the height of the Swinging Sixties
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Winter Solstice is the entrancing story of shattered lives and broken hearts and a Christmas retreat which brings healing and happy endings.When recently bereaved Elfrida Phipps moves into a tiny cottage she soon makes friends with her new neighbours the Blundells.Elfrida's favourite niece Carrie returns from Austria heartbroken and briefly meets businessman Sam on her flight home.A tragic accident befalls the Blundells and with everyone's lives in ruins
French auteur Catherine Breillat's taxing deconstruction of supposed male attitudes ranging from bafflement to disgust to female anatomy... Wanting to explore the outer limits of her physicality a woman (Amira Cesar) walks into a gay bar and slashing her wrists in the toilet picks up a gay man (Rocco Siffredi) and takes him home. Over four days they explore a sexual relationship which takes on an increasingly extreme urgency. Adapting her own poetic-polemic novel for the screen
Soulboy
Based on Patrick Hamilton's classic trilogy Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Skyhas been brought to the small-screen courtesy of the award-winning playwright Kevin Elyot. Revolving around The Midnight Bell a public house off the Euston Road this trilogy follows the pursuit of love from three different perspectives: barman Bob who yearns for a penniless prostitute Jenny; Ella who harbours a secret passion for Bob and Jenny who is struggling to survive on the stree
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