From the Cheap Seats – The Forgotten Part 2: DVD’s hidden depths
Blog by James Oliver on June 30th, 2011
Cast your mind back to the early days of DVD; no doubt you’ll remember the seductive blandishments of the electronics manufacturers tempting us with their product. They promised this new format would revolutionise film viewing, offering much improved A/V quality and contextualising extras.
True enough, those things are still much appreciated (even if we never quite find the time to listen to all those commentaries or watch every featurette… sorry). But in retrospect, I think the most significant benefit of DVD has been something few predicted: the way it’s broadened our understanding of movies.
Let’s not pretend VHS was a wasteland. There were many fine films available on tape (some of which have yet to show up on disc). But VHS concentrated on the ‘classics’; the economics of DVD allows for many more releases. Coupled with the parallel revolution in retailing – MovieMail offers you many thousands more titles than even the most comprehensive high street shop – this has massively expanded the number of movies that film fans can watch.
This column is preoccupied – unkind souls might even say obsessed – with the deficiencies of orthodox film history. The cinematic canon is, after all, derived from what was available. Now we can easily access so many more films, that canon must be revised, excluding some once-compulsory films and including former obscurities.
But let’s not be complacent. The DVD revolution is far from complete, as a couple of new releases show us. Take Deep End, for example. This is probably the most important title yet released by the BFI’s Flipside imprint (a label dedicated to excavating neglected films).
Although much acclaimed on first release, Deep End has been hard to see since then (which gave bragging rights to those of us who managed to see it). That it’s finally available, restored and lavishly appended with extras, is fantastic news, even if it does mean I can’t swank about having seen it any more.
Deep End, of course, is a British film. The problem becomes even more acute when you consider films made in languages other than English. That’s why we should be grateful to Second Run, the DVD label most committed to expanding our perceptions of cinema.
By happy coincidence, they’re also putting out an essential and much anticipated release this month: Szindbád. Not to be confused with the sailor from the Arabian Nights, this Hungarian classic is eulogised by those who’ve seen it.
A rapturous meditation on life and love (and one of the most ravishing colour films ever made), it’s been hailed as one of the great ‘lost’ masterpieces of world cinema. And because of Second Run, it might now finally penetrate the consciousness of international cineastes in the same way that one of their earlier releases, Marketa Lazarová, did.
So, thanks BFI, thanks Second Run. And thanks DVD. The past ten years or so have been a golden age for those of us who love movies and, as Deep End and Szindbád show, the good times ain’t over yet.
However, these releases should remind us just how incomplete our knowledge of cinema is and how many films are still unavailable. As you enjoy Szindbád and Deep End, consider how such films could go AWOL for so long. How many more masterpieces are there, mouldering in the vaults?
Let us know about your unavailable favourites in the comments below.
BTW There’s a BFI Flipside sale on at the moment.
July 12th, 2011 at 4:11 pm
hi mr. oliver
surely it is about time that michael mann’s “the keep” is made available on dvd. the film is no classic, that’s for sure. it is very much a film of the 80’s with all the highs and lows of films of that period – a case of style over substance. but what style!
‘the keep” IS full of mann’s visual flair and has an excellent original score by tangerine dream. in short, “the keep’ is a very interesting tangent in michael mann’s career. the film was an absolute box office disaster upon release.
mann has never made anything like it since, preferring to stick, mainly, to crime thrillers. films such as ‘manhunter’ and ‘heat’ are undoubtedly bona fide classics in the crime/thriller genre. it would be fascinating to have seen what mann’s cinematic ouevre would have contained if “the keep” had been a success.
July 15th, 2011 at 12:46 pm
Let me start the ball rolling with Ilkka Järvi-Laturi’s Darkness in Tallinn (1993). Tartan released this on VHS but it’s never appeared on DVD as far as I know.
July 19th, 2011 at 11:27 am
I have a small collection of German films like Fritz Langs Metropolis & Leni Riefenstahls Triumph of the Will & Olympiad. The latter film I had to purchase thru a Chinese company & so of course it comes with Mandarin subtitles & no English.
I would like to see other German Documentaries on DVD like :
Berlin : Symphony of a Great City 1927
I would also like an opportunity to see the American film :
The Plow That Broke the Plains 1934
And this Luis Bunuel documentary : Land Without Bread 1933
And finally I wish to present a recommendation to everyone. And this is out on DVD. I purchased this series in Hong Kong :
Up Series (7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49 Up) Director : Mr Michael Apted
A superb & unique idea to film children from different social backgrounds in Great Britain into adults thru their lives every seven years. This is an ongoing project & the next release will be Up56. Watch them all from the start. You will surely be amazed & enchanted. I became saddened by one heart wrenching life as it develops over the years.
Up Series : Maybe the most incredible documentary series ever to be produced.
July 21st, 2011 at 4:28 pm
Ooh, some interesting points there – and some very interesting omissions from DVD. The Keep is probably the most glaring; it’s a film that would really benefit from extras too. I’d love to hear Michael Mann explain what he was trying to do with it. I know he’s a big fan of Weimar-era German cinema and I think the film was an attempt to evoke that.
I’ve wanted to see Darkness in Tallinn for a long time and keep checking to see if it’s available. So far without much success. It was quite well regarded upon first release and had a respectable cult following – so where’s the DVD?
Of course, I’m restricting myself to region two here – other regions have been more fortunate. I believe that Bunuel’s Las Hurdes is available in Australia. But you mention some films which really ought to be released here, especially the UP series. Can’t believe that’s not out…
July 25th, 2011 at 2:01 pm
Three great missing Fifties Britflicks that apart from being good films
have stacks of stunning (often groundbreaking) London location work.
STREET CORNER (Muriel Box 1953)
KNAVE OF HEARTS (Rene Clement 1954)
THE WEAPOHN (Val Guest 1957)
By the way James, BLACK MOON mentioned a couple of blogs back is being
released on Columbias DVD/R series in the US next week.
Love that poster artwork on the DVD insert!
July 26th, 2011 at 2:14 pm
First time of writing.
I’m looking for ‘Ring of Spies’ and ‘Danger Within’ both good solid britflicks. Both starred Bernard Lee ( superb actor) and the latter is one of the few films with an entirely male cast. As its set in a POW camp I suppose that’s not surprising. It also had a very young Michael Caine speaking his first on-screen line i think. The team, and many of the cast later made ‘Laegue of Gentlemen’.
I think seventies films are rarer than stuff from the sixties. e.g.’Powerplay’ (David Hemmings and Peter O’Toole) is somewhere else, as is ‘Night Hare Child’ with Mark Lester. But I don’t think it would get past the censors today.
January 11th, 2012 at 10:41 am
Francesco Rose’s “The Mattei Affair” and “Illustrious Corpses” are 2 of the best films of the 1970s, desperately in need of a Criterion or MoC release (the current DVD of “Lucky Luciano” is also appallingly bad quality)
Akio Jissoji’s “The Watcher in the Attic” (1993)
Elio Petri’s “Todo Modo”
Johnnie To’s “The Mission” could use a decent English-subtitled DVD
Alain Corneau’s “Serie Noire”