New Classics reviews the best films and DVDs, including movies, television series and music on DVD.  You could also win a new CD or DVD.

KATALIN VARGA             ARTIFICIAL EYE ART472DVD

Katalin Varga (a remarkable performance by Hilda Péter) has been married for nearly eleven years when her husband angr throws her out of the house after learning that he is not the father of their son Orbán (Norbert Tanko). Katalin is left with no other choice than to set out by horse-and-cart on a quest to find her son’s biological father. Taking Orbán with her under the pretence of visiting a sick relative, she travels through pine trees and hay meadows of the  Carpathian countryside which was once her home,  reopening a sinister chapter from the past to take her revenge. The hunt leads her to a place, she prayed eleven years prior, she would never set foot in again. Beautifully photographed and acted, Katalin Varga also stars Tibor Pálffy, Roberto Giacomello and Melinda Kantor. It was the first feature film by Budapest-based British writer and director Peter Strickland, who used the money from a bequest from his uncle to fund the project. Made over several years in a Hungarian-speaking part of the Romanian region of Transylvania, his award-winning film was completed for an astonishing £25,000. The result is a gripping, Dostoyevskian tale of vengeance and menace, based on a traditional Transylvanian ballad, leading to a memorably brutal climax. DVD extras include commentary by Peter Strickland and Ian Hayden Smith, The Making of Katalin Varga, an interview with the director, and a stills gallery. ‘Haunting, eerily beautiful’ - The Guardian.

MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS             SECOND SIGHT  2NDVD3173

Mary Queen Of Scots is a long lost classic costume drama on an epic scale. Mystifyingly unavailable since its original theatrical release almost forty years ago, when it was nominated for five Oscars, the film finally makes its DVD premiere. Vanessa Redgrave is superb in the title role opposite Glenda Jackson as Queen Elizabeth I, with a fine supporting cast that includes Ian Holm as a doomed minstrel, the handsome Nigel Davenport, Daniel Massey, Trevor Howard, the awesomely cool Patrick McGoohan and Timothy Dalton, excellent as the foppish Lord Darnley. Originally released in 1971, this lavish Tudor power play tells the story of Queen Mary, the last Catholic ruler of Scotland, who faces religious prejudice from the Protestant community and, in particular, her half-brother James Stuart (McGoohan) leader of the Protestant faction. Throughout her reign she is faced with a fierce adversary, her cousin the Queen of England Elizabeth I. Mary Queen Of Scots is a passionate and energetic costume drama that makes for powerful viewing. Bonus features include: Isolated John Barry music track with commentary by film historians Nick Redman and Jon Burlingame, overture and intermission music, and a promotional featurette. John Hale’s screenplay takes a few liberties with history but this is an atmospheric and beautifully acted version of a compelling story.

PHANTOM & THE GRAND DUKE’S FINANCES       EUREKA EKA40263

Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, better known as F. W. Murnau, was one of the greatest film directors of the silent film era and part of the influential German expressionist movement of the 1920s. Unfortunately, much of Murnau’s output has been lost but those films that survive are widely regarded as masterpieces. Born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe, Murnau took his directorial name from a town in Germany. After making Nosferatu, Der Letze Mann (also known as The Last Laugh and Faust (his last German film), Murnau emigrated to Hollywood in 1926 to direct the wonderful Sunrise. He was one of the great innovators in film with a dazzling mastery of style that influenced both Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock. Two of Murnau’s greatest silent films feature in this special two-disc edtion in Eureka’s terrific Masters of Cinema series. Phantom (1922) tells the story of Lorenz (played by Alfred Abel), a town clerk and would-be poet who is almost driven to insanity when he sees an apparition of a girl driving a team of white horses. With debts piling up and his promised literary career failing to materialise, Lorenz descends into obsession, deception, and, ultimately, a criminal act in this delirious film that stands as an early precursor of Hitchcock’s Vertigo. The powerful final scenes of atonement and redemption are particularly moving. Die Finanzen des Großherzogs (in English, The Grand Duke’s Finances) was made in 1924 and tells the story of a rakish duke whose lifestyle has emptied his noble coffers. When word arrives about the existence of valuable sulphur deposits on his tiny duchy of Abacco, it inspires a comic adventure of high-seas intrigue, ‘animal impersonators’ and the Crown Princess of Russia. The Grand Duke is played by Harry Liedtke and Max Schreck (the mysterious actor who was Nosferatu’s Count Orlok two years earlier) appears in a minor role as one of the Duke’s arch-fiends. The best and funniest performance is by Alfred Abel as a wealthy eccentric friend of the Duke. These excellent film restorations, directed by the F.W. Murnau Foundation in Germany, have original tinting and German-language intertitles with newly translated optional English-language subtitles. Extras include audio commentary by Murnau expert David Kalat on Die Finanzen des Großherzogs, and a lengthy booklet containing an essay on both films by professor and UCLA film-scholar Janet Bergstrom.

PASSCHENDAELE           HIGH FLIERS  HFR 0070 (DVD) AND HFR 0070B (BLU-RAY)

The Battle of Passchendaele was one of the major battles of the First World War. It consisted of a series of operations starting in June 1917 in which troops under British command attacked the Imperial German Army for control of the village of Passchendaele near the town of Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium. During the battle, fought in atrociously muddy conditions, British troops launched several massive attacks but never succeeded in breaking through the well-entrenched German lines until the Canadian Corps ended the battle by taking Passchendaele on 6 November 1917. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides were killed or injured and Passchendaele came to symbolise the horrific nature of the war Adolf Hitler was a Gefreiter in the battle and its last surviving veteran, Private Harry Patch, died on 25th July 2009. Directed, written and starring Paul Gross, the multi-award winning ‘Passchendaele’ was Canada’s highest-grossing film of 2008. Gross plays the shell-shocked and badly wounded Sergeant Michael Dunne who is shipped back home and falls for Sarah, the nurse who helps him recuperate. Declared medically unfit for the front line, he joins a local recruiting office and encounters Sarah’s asthmatic brother David who is unable to sign-up because of his condition. Desperate to prove his worth, he uses a fraudulent medical certificate to enlist and is posted to Passchendaele. Michael has no choice but to follow David and try as best he can to ensure that he survives. The pair are re-united but during a heavy German artillery attack Michael is astonished to find Sarah has enlisted as a nurse again. When David goes missing, Michael searches desperately for him and a hush descends as all eyes are trained across the hell of No-Man’s Land... Beautifully shot, with many memorable images, this intensely emotional film explores profound relationships and gives an authentic glimpse into the hellish nature of war. The acting is superb, especially by Paul Gross, Caroline Dhavernas as Sarah and Joe Dinicol as David. Now available on DVD and Blu-ray, bonus features include a Making Of Passchendaele documentary.

THE COMPLETE FRITZ LANG MABUSE BOX SET         EUREKA EKA50040

From the early stages of his career across five decades to his final film, Fritz Lang directed a trilogy of paranoiac thrillers focused on an entity who began as a criminal mastermind, and progressed into something more amorphous: fear itself, embodied only by a name - Dr. Mabuse. This box set in Eureka’s Masters of Cinema Series brings together for the first time on DVD all three Mabuse films in their complete and restored forms. Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler (Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler) was made in 1922 and is a two-part, nearly 5-hour silent epic detailing the rise and fall of Dr. Mabuse in Weimar-era Berlin. Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (The Testament of Dr. Mabuse) is a 1933 tour-de-force thriller rife with supernatural elements, all converging around an attempt by the now-institutionalised Mabuse (or someone acting under his name) to organise an ‘Empire of Crime’. Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse (The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse) was Lang’s final film, made in 1960, in which hypnosis, clairvoyance, surveillance, and machine-guns come together for a whiplash climax that answers the question: Who is channelling Mabuse’s methods in the Cold War era? A great array of extras includes the original German-language intertitles for Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler, along with newly translated English-language subtitles for each film; Audio commentaries on all the films by Fritz Lang expert David Kalat; Three featurettes (on Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler, the creation of Norbert Jacques’ ‘Mabuse’ character, and the motifs running throughout the works); An interview with Wolfgang Preiss, the star of Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse; An alternate ending to Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse taken from the French print of the film. Three lengthy booklets contain a new translation of Lang’s 1924 lecture on ‘Sensation Culture’, an essay by critic and scholar Michel Chion on the use of sound in Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse, new writing on Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse by critic David Cairns, extracts from period interviews with Fritz Lang, as well as production stills, illustrations and marketing material. This sumptuous collection is a timely reminder of the work of one of cinema’s greatest and most influential filmmakers.

A CLOSED BOOK         CENTURION CENTD0003

Chilean born director Raoul Ruiz rose to international prominence in the early 1980s and has proved to be one of the most exciting and innovative filmmakers of recent years. His uncompromising intellectual style and artistic experimentation have seen him compared to Jean-Luc Godard and Orson Welles. He was an avant-garde playwright before moving into filmmaking with the release of his first feature, Tres tristes tigres, in 1968. A committed supporter the Marxist government of Salvador Allende, Ruiz was forced to flee his country during the coup of 1973 and went to live in exile in Paris, where his first European success came with L’hypothèse du tableau volé (1979). A Closed Book is a chilling psychological thriller in which Sir Paul (Tom Conti), a distinguished author and critic, blinded in a horrific accident, who lives reclusively in part a huge inherited house. He advertises for an amanuensis, an assistant to help him write his autobiography, and employs the amiable Jane Ryder (Daryl Hannah) to be his eyes as he revisits scenes from his past and works on what he intends to be his final work. She appears to be ideal: attractive, intelligent, and unruffled by her employer’s abrupt eccentricities. But gradually we become aware that Jane has another agenda. Sir Paul’s familiar surroundings are altered, his housekeeper is diverted away and strange things happen around the house as he becomes increasingly dependent on his new assistant. Tension builds in a genuinely disturbing way in this dark, twisted tale, scripted by Gilbert Adair from his own novel. Conti and Hannah are brilliant together in what is essentially a two-hander, though they receive fine support from Miriam Margoyles and Elaine Paige as they explore dark secrets and play psychological mind games.

COMPANY LIMITED & THE STRANGER       MR BONGO FILMS

The Indian film director Satyajit Ray was born in Calcutta into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and letters. He began his career as a commercial artist before being drawn into independent filmmaking after meeting the French director Jean Renoir and seeing Vittorio De Sica’s poignant Italian neorealist film Bicycle Thieves. Ray’s first film, Pather Panchali (1955), won eleven international prizes, and together with Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959) it became part of ‘The Apu Trilogy’. Ray was one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema, directing thirty-seven films in all, including features, documentaries and shorts. He was also a writer, poet, publisher, illustrator, composer, graphic designer and film critic. Company Limited (Seemabaddha), is the second film in his Calcutta trilogy and tells the story of Shyamal, an ambitious marketing manager in the fan division of a British firm in Calcutta. Living in a smart company flat above the heat and dust of the city with his young wife, he has become increasingly westernised and aspires to be a director of the company, aware that he will have to compete with a colleague who has a relative on the board. His attractive sister-in-law Tutal arrives from Patna and quickly becomes Shyamal’s confidant, at the expense of his wife. As his chances for promotion are jeopardised, he realises that he must make difficult choices that will save either his job or his relationships. Beautifully written and superbly acted, Company Limited is a profoundl and thought-provoking experience. In this new release it has been lovingly restored by The Academy in LA. The Stranger (Agantuk) sees the charming Anila receive a letter from a man claiming to be her uncle, a man who suddenly disappeared 35 years earlier. He turns up at her family home professing to be an anthropologist, a globally seasoned traveller en route from the United States to Australia. The family are suspicious of the stranger, believing he may be an impostor intending to make a financial gain at their expense. After a grilling from the family’s lawyer, the mysterious and temperamental uncle leaves as unexpectedly as he arrived, leaving behind a stunned family and some very insightful observations. This late masterpiece from 1991 was Satyajit Ray’s final film and the only one he made in colour. ‘A gentle exquisitely realised comedy, beautifully observed, sweet, enriching!’ - New York Times. See also Satyajit Ray’s Goddess and Two Daughters.

CINEMA PARADISO           ARROW FILMS FCD378 (BLU-RAY)

This multi award-winning homage to the love of cinema tells the story of Salvatore, now a successful film director, returning home for the funeral of Alfredo, his old friend who was the projectionist at the local cinema throughout his childhood. The sad circumstances jolt Salvatore (played as a child by Salvatore Cascio, as a teen by Marco Leonardi, and as an adult by Jacques Perrin), into contemplating his childhood and the hours he spent in the projection booth of his adored Cinema Paradiso. Alfredo (Philippe Noiret), owner of the cinema, befriended and encouraged young Salvatore, known as ‘Toto’ as he grew up in his small Sicilian home town, ravaged by the horrors of the war. The cinema offered escape and fantasy to the townspeople, including Toto’s mother, a grieving war widow. In one breathtaking scene a popular comedy is projected onto the walls of the town square and the entire town glows in the dreamy light of projected celluloid, washing away the harsh realities of poverty and grief. As Toto grows to manhood, his friendship with his mentor deepens. With the love and guidance of the aging man, Toto navigates the trials of first first love affair with the beautiful Elena and builds on his ever-growing passion for the cinema. Ultimately, it is Alfredo who convinces Toto to leave his village to pursue his dreams of becoming a director. But as Salvatore thinks back on his youthful romances and his innocent love of movies, he comes to realise that perhaps his success has come at a high price. A beautifully filmed tribute to the power of movies that captivated an entire generation of filmgoers, Director Giuseppe Tornatore’s bittersweet 1988 film is a celebration of youth, friendship, and the everlasting magic of the movies. Extras with this Blu-ray release include a documentary, the original trailer, a photo gallery and Ennio Morricone’s memorable score in uncompressed stereo.

GODDESS & TWO DAUGHTERS     MR BONGO FIMS

Two of Indian film director Satyajit Ray’s finest and most moving films have been released on DVD - Goddess (Devi) and Two Daughters (Teen Kanya). In Goddess, a seventeen year old bride Doyamoyee (played by Sharmila Tagore) is left alone with her husband’s ageing father-in-law, a devout worshipper of the goddess Kali. One evening, the widower she cares for has a dream that she is an avatar of Kali, and must be worshipped. Word spreads, and others come to believe that she is an incarnation of the deity. Hearing this alarming news, her atheist husband, Umprasad, returns only to find Doyamoyee herself beginning to believe that she is an avatar; a belief which soon turns to tragedy. This intricate film, beautifully shot in black and white, explores the differences between religious superstition and true spirituality. Ray’s 1962 film, Two Daughters (Teen Kanya), tells two tales. The first is about Nandal (Anil Chatterjee), a young man who leaves Calcutta to work as a postmaster in an isolated, malaria-infested village. His only solace in the village is in teaching his host, Ratan (Chandana Banerjee), how to read and write. The second story, starring Soumitra Chatterjee and the beautiful Aparna Sen, is about a student, Amulya, who returns to his village after finishing his exams. His widowed mother is very anxious for him to marry, and has already picked out a girl. Yet he rejects his mother’s choice and, being forced to choose some girl, marries a lively tomboy who is not ready to give up her freedom. Originally called Three Daughters when it was made with three unrelated short stories by Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore, this restored version has only two stories of the original three. ‘Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon’ - Akira Kurosawa.

THE ANTONY I. GINNANE HORROR BOX SET           BRITFILMS

The prolific Australian filmmaker Antony I. Ginnane has been involved in the film industry for more than 30 years, producing 54 features and mini series. The three films included in this ‘Ozploitation’ box set are particular favourites of horror and B-movie fans. In Thirst, a global network of vampires who call themselves the HymaCult are running out of the precious blood they need to survive. To ensure that they can feed the cult creates farms, where they keep kidnapped teenagers alive for the purpose of feasting on their blood. Harlequin is a modern twist of the Rasputin story. A mysterious stranger, Gregory Wolfe (Robert Powell) miraculously cures the ill son of politician Nick Rast (David Hemmings). He gradually installs himself in to the family circle and gains their trust in order to manipulate the politician, though other more deadly forces have their eyes on the career of Nick Rast. Actor David Hemmings directed the third film in this set, an underrated version of James Herbert’s best-selling novel, The Survivor, shot on location in Adelaide with a strong cast that includes Robert Powell, Jenny Agutter and Joseph Cotten in his last film. Moments after take off, an airliner crashes killing all 300 people on board except its pilot ‘Keller’ (Robert Powell) who miraculously walks out alive. After the investigation declares that no one should have survived the crash, Keller is tortured with guilt and sets out to discover who was responsible and how he managed to live. This intriguing paranormal drama has echoes of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable as well as the Lockerbie disaster that took place a few years later. Ginnane’s entertaining and sometimes shocking trio of films shows why his work has influenced a generation of filmmakers, including Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino.

MID-AUGUST LUNCH             ARTIFICIAL EYE ART466DVD

Gianni is a middle-aged unmarried man, the only son of his widowed mother, with whom he lives in an old house in the picturesque central Roman district of Trastevere. Living under the tyranny of this impoverished aristocrat, his life drags on between housework and going to the local bar. The day before the 15 August celebration of the bank holiday of Ferragosto the condominium manager asks him to take his mother into his home for the two days of the holiday. In exchange, he will write off some of the condominium debts Gianni has run up over the years. Gianni is forced to accept but the manager treacherously turns up with two women as he doesn’t know where to take his aunt and brings her along too. Gianni is overwhelmed by the clash between these three dominant characters. He does his best to make them happy and at a certain point he feels faint. He calls a friend of his who is a doctor, who reassures Gianni but foists his own elderly mother on him while he is on shift at the hospital. Gianni goes through 24 hours of stress and when at last it’s time to say goodbye, the women have other ideas… Gianni di Gregorio’s captivating low-budget comedy won its director the Luigi De Laurentiis prize for Best First Film at Venice as well as the Satyajit Ray Award at the London Film Festival in 2008. Mid-August Lunch (aka Pranzo di Ferragosto) tells its charming, bittersweet story with perceptive wit while raising serious social questions about personal fulfillment, the burdens of old age and how we treat the elderly. The film stars Gianni Di Gregorio, also making his directorial debut at the age of 59, and Valeria De Franciscis as his demanding mother.

FLICK         HIGH FLIERS HFR 0066

One-armed Memphis cop Lieutenant McKenzie, played in true Hollywood style by Faye Dunaway, is called in to investigate a series of strange deaths and weird sightings following the alleged resurrection of a murder victim from the 1950s. Back in 1960, bullied Teddy-boy Johnny ‘Flick’ Taylor (Hugh O’Connor) goes to the local Palace Dance Hall in the hope of securing a dance with Sally (Hayley Angel Wardle), the beautiful girl he longs for. Things soon turn ugly as Johnny is beaten up by local thugs and in a vengeful rage stabs several of his tormentors before speeding away in his Hillman Minx then crashing it into a river. Forty years later, Johnny reawakens and sets about taking bloody revenge on those who once mocked him. This is a fantastical, gory fairytale told in great comic-book style, stylishly written and directed by David Howard with wonderfully lurid photography. Despite its modest budget, this offbeat British film has an impressive cast. As well as Hugh O’Connor and the starry Dunaway it features Liz Smith, Michelle Ryan, Mark Benton (cleverly underplaying as a local detective), Terence Rigby, the excellent John Woodvine, and Julia Foster as the grown up Sally. Flick is an unusual and imaginative zombie horror-comedy that highlights the lethal possibilities of rockabilly music.

TO HELL AND BACK     SECOND SIGHT 2NDVD3170

Audie Murphy, born the son of poor Texas sharecroppers, became the most highly-decorated American soldier of the Second World War. He saw 27 months of combat action and received the Medal of Honour - the U.S. military’s highest award for valour - for jumping onto a burning, abandoned tank and single-handedly saving his company by successfully repelling the Germans with the tank’s machine gun. He also won 32 other U.S. and foreign medals and citations, including five from France and one from Belgium. After seeing the young hero’s photograph on the cover of Life Magazine, the great James Cagney invited Murphy to Hollywood in 1945. Murphy suffered from severe combat fatigue resulting from is wartime experiences and his early career as an actor was difficult. He became disillusioned by lack of work and it wasn’t until his part in the 1951 adaptation of Stephen Crane’s novel, The Red Badge of Courage, that he earned critical success. To Hell And Back, made in 1955, is based on his autobiography and tells the story of his incredible courage displayed in action. Always modest and self-effacing, Murphy was reluctant to play himself - he recommended Tony Curtis instead - but was eventually persuaded to star in the picture and, due to this extra level of intimacy and personal insight into the reality and horrors of war, the film was an enormous commercial and critical success. In addition to an acting career in which he made a total of 44 films, many of them westerns, Murphy was a successful businessman and rancher, breeding thoroughbred horses, as well as a songwriter who penned hits for Dean Martin, Eddy Arnold and Charley Pride among others. He died aboard a private plane in 1971 when it ran into thick fog near Roanoke, VA, and crashed into the side of a mountain. He was buried with full military honours in Arlington National Cemetery, where the only grave site visited by more people is that of President John F. Kennedy. ‘The stuff of heroism…the explosive fury of combat and, occasionally, the terror and loneliness of men exposed to sudden death’ - The New York Times.

SEVEN SINNERS         NETWORK

This 1936 Hitchcock-like comedy thriller was written by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat, who also wrote Hitchcock’s classic The Lady Vanishes, made two years later. The action of both films involves much skulduggery and takes place on trains. In Seven Sinners, American actors Edmund Lowe and Constance Cummings play a wisecracking private eye and his female assistant as they investigate a European crime wave, following a trail of corpses as they confront a sinister criminal network which will stop at nothing, even causing huge train crashes to cover their crimes. Seven Sinners was a remake of an earlier (1928) film called The Wrecker, also based on a story by Arnold Ridley, who wrote the original Ghost Train play and would later star in Dad’s Army. Trivia fans may like to note that the brilliantly staged crash took place on the Basingstoke and Alton railway at Lasham, the same line used to film the wonderful Oh Mr Porter. Launder and Gilliat’s sophisticated dialogue sparkles wittily and the two leads develop a fine rapport. Constance Cummings acted in more than twenty films but was dissatisfied with the parts she was getting, so in 1934 she moved to England to continue her illustrious stage and film career. Edmund Lowe is less well known but played many parts in a long movie career that began in 1915. Seven Sinners is an entertaining and amusing thriller that successfully blends classic elements of farce with suspense and action.

GAMBIT           SECOND SIGHT 2NDVD3168

Ronald Neame’s frothy, glamorous confection stars Michael Caine in his first Hollywood role (Gambit was released the same year as Alfie) and Shirley MacLaine at the kooky height of her fame and power. Caine insouciantly plays Harry Dean, a charming cockney conman with the perfect plan to steal a priceless statue owned by one of the world’s wealthiest men, the debonair recluse Ahmad Shahbandar (a shrewd and sophisticated performance by Herbert Lom). MacLaine plays Nicole Chang, a Eurasian showgirl lured into the plot as an essential accomplice to pose as Dean’s wife. Of course events do not unfold as planned and nothing is quite what it seems in a gripping crime caper/romantic comedy that recalls other 1960s Hollywood classics such as Charade and How to Steal a Million. The ingeniously structured plot twists in unexpected ways, taking both Dean and the audience by surprise as Nicole turns out to be smarter than she seems for the first 29 minutes, during which MacLaine never speaks. Special features with this thoroughly entertaining film include and audio commentary by director Ronald Neame. ‘First rate suspense comedy, cleverly scripted, expertly directed and handsomely mounted’ - Variety.

BOOM!         SECOND SIGHT 2NDVD3169

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton sizzle in Joseph Losey’s cult classic based on Tennessee Williams’ play The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here, which flopped on Broadway in 1963. Taylor plays the ageing, self-obsessed beauty Sissy Gosforth, a terminally ill widow who has taken up residence on a secluded Mediterranean island to see out her final summer. She spends her days dictating her sensational memoirs to her put upon secretary (the excellent Joanna Shimkus), flying into rages and screaming insults at all around her. In constant pain she numbs herself with drink, pills and drugs administered by a doctor. Her reclusive existence comes to an end when a handsome poet named Chris Flanders (Burton, in a role turned down by Sean Connery and originally intended for James Fox) unexpectedly arrives by boat and survives a guard dog attack to make her acquaintance. But a dinner with her only close friend (Noel Coward) reveals that the mysterious stranger is known as the Angel of Death due to his uncanny ability to arrive at the home of wealthy women just as they are about to die and relieve them of their valuable possessions. Boom! was the eighth of eleven films starring on-off husband and wife Burton and Taylor after the pair met and fell in love on the set of Cleopatra. Losey also has a strong pedigree, having directed a trio of classic British films scripted by playwright Harold Pinter after he fled McCarthy’s communist witch hunt in the US. Stunningly photographed by Douglas Slocombe in Sardinia, the film has built a cult following since its original release in 1968 and is master of camp director John Walters’ favourite film. Tennessee Williams stated that it was the best film version of any of his plays that was ever produced, though the public seemed not to agree and this expensive production bombed spectacularly at the box office. ‘Supremely offbeat’ - Channel4.com.

CHRISTIANE F     ARROW FILMS FCD385

This powerful and shocking film is based on a bestselling book telling the true story of Christiane F, a fourteen-year-old girl who lives with her mother and younger sister in a high-rise concrete apartment building on the outskirts of West Berlin. Bored and alienated, Christiane turns to drugs and prostitution to escape the banality of life on her grey council estate. Although underage, she dresses in high heels and make-up and goes with her friend to Sound, a sleazily glamorous disco in the city centre, where she meets Detlef and his clique. She begins experimenting with drugs, soon becoming drawn deeper into a squalid world of heroin addiction and prostitution. Superbly acted by a cast of unknowns, including fourteen-year-old Natja Brunckhorst in the title role and Thomas Haustein as Detlev, this gritty and disturbingly accurate film also features David Bowie (appearing as himself), who also wrote much of the music. Christiane F, the first film made by the award winning German director Uli Edel, is dark and disturbing and pulls no punches in its depiction of Berlin’s sordid drug scene. Far more realistic than Trainspotting or more sensationalist attempts to portray this devastating world, Christiane F is a film that will stay in your mind long after the credits have rolled.

THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE       SECOND SIGHT (BLU-RAY)

In this controversial cult horror movie, partly based on the true story of Ed Gein, five college students are heading through the back roads of Texas in a camper van en route to their grandfather’s grave. Among them are Sally Hardesty (the excellent Marilyn Burns) and her wheelchair-bound brother Franklin (Paul A Partain). They pick up an alarming hitchhiker (Edwin Neal) who slashes both himself and Franklin with a knife. They manage to eject him from the van but soon afterwards are forced to stop at a sinister clapboard house, not realising that this is the home of the ghoulish Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) and his demented family of cannibalistic psychopaths. One by one, the students are murdered for food until only Sally remains alive, held as a captive guest until she somehow escapes into the night pursued by Leatherface and his fiendish chainsaw. Her terror and screams are perhaps unequalled in cinema, even by the illustrious Fay Wray. First released in 1974, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre fully justifies its reputation as one of the scariest of American horror films. Brilliantly atmospheric and occasionally darkly funny, this classic horror film was the godfather of the ‘Slasher’ movie genre, influencing countless subsequent movies such as Halloween and Friday 13th. Its appeal lies in a gritty cinema veritè style rather than graphic depictions of blood. Despite its grisly subject matter, the film features a minimum of explicit gore (unlike its sequels and imitations) but generates mounting terror through suspense. Directed by Tobe Hooper on a meagre eighty-two thousand dollar budget, the production team saw only a small fraction of the profits even though the film was a huge success in America (it was banned in the UK until 1999). Gunnar Hansen and Marilyn Burns are particularly impressive and the final ten minutes are some of the most exciting ever filmed. This Seriously Ultimate Edition Blu-ray release features commentary by Tobe Hooper, cinematographer Daniel Pearl and Gunnar Hansen, with an additional commentary with actors Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Allen Danziger and art director Robert A. Burns. Also included are two excellent documentaries: ‘The Shocking Truth’ and ‘Flesh Wounds’, further interviews with the cast and crew, deleted scenes and outtakes.

MICHAEL SHEEN PRESENTS YOU’RE THE BOSS       WARNER HOME VIDEO

Football just wouldn’t be the same without the brains and tactics of the football manager. Constantly under scrutiny, at the mercy of fickle fans and interfering chairmen, and oftrn vilified, everyone thinks they can do the job better and isn’t afraid to say so. It’s lonely and insecure, but someone has to do it and the pay is good while it lasts. If you’re lucky you could even end up as a footballing legend. Bob Paisley won an astonishing 19 major titles in nine seasons. Alex Ferguson has won seven championships in nine years and was the first to record three in row. Jock Stein was the first man to manage a British side to the European Cup final, and his Celtic team won a staggering 25 Domestic and European titles. The incorrigible Brian Clough took modestly sized clubs Derby and Nottingham Forest to the League title. Matt Busby presided over two of the all-time great teams at Manchester United and Bill Shankly created one of the most revered footballing dynasties at Liverpool. Stan Cullis, the ‘Iron man ‘ of football, ruled the superb Wolverhampton side of the 1950s, taking them to ‘floodlit’ friendly victories over Real Madrid and Honved. Alf Ramsey guided England to the 1966 World Cup and people have been talking about it ever since. But even the best managers have their off days and strange moments, often brought on by the constant stresses of doing a tricky job in public. Fresh from his critically acclaimed portrayal of the Brian Clough in The Damned United, actor Michael Sheen here presents a highly entertaining look at some of the most memorable football bosses - the highs, the lows and just the plain bizarre moments. You’re The Boss follows the hilarious, shocking and often mad side of some of football’s most lauded bosses: the famous gum chewing of Alex Ferguson and Mourinho’s dark frown, Arsene Wenger’s goal celebrations and the famous Busby Babes. We also see the emotions and reactions from Shankly, Revie, Benitez, Clough, Paisley, Stein, Ramsey, Robson and many others. The DVD features football action including some classic games and managerial reactions - the good times, the goals, the celebrations and the achievements, as well as the rants, the feuds and the scandals. An ideal Christmas present for any fan of ‘the beautiful game’.

BRITISH HEROES         ARROW FILMS FCD413

This boxset brings together five stirring action movies featuring the bravest and most daring British heroes. From subterfuge to kidnap, sacrifice and near death, our heroes show what it means to be British and brave. The collection features a host of film icons including Oscar winners Sir Michael Caine, Sir Rex Harrison, Peter O’Toole and Burt Lancaster, as well as superstars Richard Burton, Peter O’Toole. Richard Harris, Sir Roger Moore and Hammer Horror legend Sir Christopher Lee. In The Wild Geese, a team of crack paratroopers and aging mercenaries is on a mission to overthrow a vicious dictator and free the man who can alter Africa’s destiny. Zulu Dawn is the epic true story of British battles with the Zulu army in 1879 Africa. Richard Fleischer’s Ashanti, starring Michael Caine, Peter Ustinov and Omar Sharif, follows one man’s quest to free his enslaved wife in wild Africa. In Jaguar Lives!, the world’s deadliest secret agents track their enemies, and in Game for Vultures two men from opposite worlds collide in conflict of ideals and government. Special features include commentary on The Wild Geese with Roger Moore, Euan Lloyd and John Glen; The Last of the Gentlemen Producers: The Life and Works of Euan Lloyd; Star-studded Wild Geese World Premier newsreel footage; The Wild Geese Photogallery; Trailers for all five films.

OBSESSED       SONY

Obsessed tells a steamy, suspenseful story about a man whose world unravels when he becomes the target of an alluring female. Successful businessman Derek Charles (Idris Elba) is employed as a financial adviser and is very happy as he settles into a new Los Angeles neighbourhood with his beautiful wife, Sharon (Beyoncé Knowles) and young son Kyle, but when attractive and smart temporary worker Lisa (Ali Larter) arrives on the scene Derek finds himself physically drawn to her. After a misunderstood encounter at the company Holiday party, Lisa begins to spiral out of control - putting Derek’s career in jeopardy and Sharon’s marriage and life on the line. Obsessed marks the feature directorial debut of acclaimed television director Steve Shill and its solid supporting cast includes the excellent Christine Lahti, Jerry O’Connell  and Scout Taylor-Compton. Now available in both DVD and Blu-ray formats, the extras include three behind-the-scenes featurettes: ‘Girl Fight!’ (Steve Shill and stunt coordinator Lance Gilbert take us through the film’s climactic fight sequence between Beyoncé Knowles and Ali Larter), ‘Playing Together Nicely’ (Shill, producer Will Packer and screenwriter David Loughrey discuss assembling the perfect cast) and ‘Obsessed: Dressed to Kill’ (costume designer Maya Lieberman discusses the look of the characters). This is an sexy, entertaining film reminiscent of Basic Instinct and The Hand that Rocks the Cradle.

THE 39 STEPS           ITV DVD

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 British spy mystery, adapted from the novel by John Buchan, is one of the director’s best and most memorable films. It tells the story of Richard Hannay, an innocent man struggling to prove his innocence. While sitting in a London theatre watching a dazzling performance from Mr. Memory, Hannay (played by Robert Donat) and the rest of the audience flee after hearing a gun shot. Hannay then gets caught up in a web of intrigue when he encounters a British agent on the trail of a dangerous spy ring. Fascinated by her terror he agrees that she can accompany him to his apartment but later that night she is murdered.  Fearing he could be accused of the girl’s murder Hannay goes on the run to prove his innocence and find the real killer with the assistance of a beautiful woman called Pamela played by the coolly sexy Madeleine Carroll. This Blu-ray disc is also packed with special features including The Thirty Nine Steps feature commentary, the Lux Radio Show audio feature, an art of film/video feature, on Location material and two photo galleries. This is one of four cinematic greats released by ITV DVD for the first time on Blu-ray, following on from the critically acclaimed restoration of Powell and Pressburger’s The Red Shoes. Based on one of the most popular historical plays by Shakespeare and made to boost moral of British troops during World War II, HENRY V tells the story of the King of England and the epic Battle of Agincourt. Devised, directed by and starring Laurence Olivier, the film includes impressive technicolour battle sequences and this release marks the 65th Anniversary of this historically important and stirring film. Extras include a feature commentary, the trailer and three photo galleries which include black and white, original colour and HD comparison images, actor’s portraits and promotional material. HAMLET is one of Laurence Olivier’s masterpieces and captures a great performance that became a defining moment of his career. The film, which also stars Jean Simmons as Ophelia, Patrick Troughton and Peter Cushing, won eleven awards including four Oscars and was the first British film to pick up the coveted Best Picture honour. ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT features Ernest Borgnine, Ian Holm, Donald Pleasance and Richard Thomas in the devastating story of a generation destroyed, following the lives of Germany schoolboys encouraged by their schoolmaster to join the ‘glorious’ war. Their disenchantment begins with brutal basic training and when they see the crippled casualties being rushed to hospital as they board a train to the front-line they have their first glimpse of the grim-visaged reality of war. Based on a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, this acclaimed film won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture made for TV.

AMOS AND ANDREW       ARROW FILMS FCD394

Pulitzer Prize winning writer Andrew Sterling, a successful black writer and academic, buys a vacation home on an up-tight all-white New England resort island and is mistaken as a burglar by his new neighbours Phil (Michael Lerner) and Judy (Margaret Colin). After surrounding his home with armed men, the incompetent Chief of Police Cecil Tolliver (Dabney Coleman) and his band of bungling deputies realise that they have made a mistake. As he is also running for election as Police Commissioner, Tolliver tries to cover up his error by offering a deal to Amos Odell, a small-time crook being held in custody. Amos has to pretend to take Sterling prisoner, hold him for ransom, then let him go and escape. The various twists and turns as the two of them attempt to get away include a gun battle, rapacious reporters, busloads of civil rights protesters and a sexy pizza delivery girl. This entertaining social satire, written and directed by E. Max Frye, features relaxed performances by Samuel L. Jackson as Andrew and Nicolas Cage as Amos, finding a growing rapport as the mis-matched couple. ‘A very funny little film with big pleasures, and a most promising debut’ - Washington Post.

IN THIS WORLD                 ICA FILMS

Michael Winterbottom is one of Britain’s most prolific and eclectic filmmakers, having directed sixteen films in the past thirteen years. In 2002, in contrast with his previous film, the upbeat 24 Hour Party People, he made this provocative, moving and visually stunning response to the asylum debate. In This World is an epic docu-drama that takes a pointedly different look at the immigration issue, following the hazardous journey that Afghan refugees Jamal and his older cousin Enayat make from a camp in Peshawar, north-west Pakistan, in an attempt to escape to an idealised Great Britain. Fraught with danger and full of back-channel bribes, their journey leads them along the ‘silk road’ from Pakistan towards London. On the Iranian border, they are stopped by police and returned to Pakistan. Their second attempt is successful, seeing them travel to Tehran and then to Maku, where they then cross a freezing, Kurdish-controlled mountain range on foot into Turkey. From there they cross Europe with a group of other refugees,  travelling in shipping containers and the back of lorries, risky modes of transportation that ultimately result in tragedy. This harrowing, passionate and exhilarating film was made using non-professional actors playing fictionalised versions of themselves to tell a story similar to that of nearly one million refugees every year. Motivated by the tragic deaths of 58 Chinese immigrants in a shipping container in Dover, Winterbottom’s story gives a name, a face and a humanity to the many thousands who risk all they have in search of a better life. In This World won the coveted Golden Bear Award at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival.

SUNRISE         EUREKA (MASTERS OF CINEMA) DVD & BLU-RAY EKA70007

Sunrise, released in 1927 with the subtitle ‘A Song of Two Humans’, is perhaps the finest and most visually expressive of all silent films. Best known for his horror classic, Nosferatu, Murnau was invited by William Fox to America to direct his first Hollywood film, with the promise of complete artistic freedom and a blank cheque. Conceived by Murnau and written by Carl Mayer while they were both still in Germany, Sunrise takes describes the marriage of a peasant couple (George O’Brien and Janet Gaynor) from a country hamlet, invaded by a seductress from the city (Margaret Livingston), and elevates it to the realm of fable, stripped of melodrama yet brimming with poetic impulses. Murnau captivated audiences with his ‘invisible’ tracking shots, breathtaking double exposures, expressive lighting, and distorted sets, so that the viewer is immersed in the fate of these simple characters. Sunrise won three Oscars at the first Academy Awards ceremony. Janet Gaynor won for Best Actress; Charles Rosher and Karl Struss for Best Cinematography; and the film won a special Oscar for ‘Unique and Artistic Picture’ - the only time this award has ever been given. This new reissue of Sunrise contains two versions: the previously released Movietone version and an alternate silent version of the film recently discovered in the Czech Republic. Sunrise is here available for the first time in 1080p HD on Blu-ray, in addition to a newly mastered 2 x DVD set (the Blu-ray edition includes both versions in HD). The generous extras include the oiginal English intertitles on the Movietone version, and optional English subtitles on the silent Czech version; the original Movietone score (mono) and alternate Olympic Chamber Orchestra score (stereo); full-length audio commentary by cinematographer John Bailey on the Movietone version; miraculously surviving out-takes (with John Bailey commentary or intertitles); Murnau’s 4 Devils (a documentary about the lost film the director made after Sunrise); the original theatrical trailer; Carl Mayer's original ‘photoplay’ script with Murnau’s handwritten annotations (150 pages in pdf format); and a 68-page illustrated booklet with numerous essays including a new reprint of a piece by Dudley Andrew. Described by Cahiers du Cinéma as ‘the single greatest masterwork in the history of the cinema’, Sunrise continues to thrill Murnau admirers and Eureka’s superb Blu-ray edition of his masterpiece will amaze a whole new audience.

THE RED SHOES         ITV DVD

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger wrote, directed and produced The Red Shoes, one of their greatest works as well as a classic of British cinema. The film tells the story of Victoria Page, who joins an famous ballet company and becomes the lead dancer in a new work called The Red Shoes, about a woman who cannot stop dancing. Under the authoritarian rule of charismatic impressario Boris Lermontov, the young ballerina is poised for superstardom but earns his scorn when she falls in love with Julian Craster, composer of the music for the new ballet. She leaves the company and marries Craster, then finds herself torn between Lermontov’s demands and those of her heart. Although based on a Hans Christian Andersen story about a pair of enchanted crimson ballet slippers, the film is also thought to have been inspired by the real-life meeting of Sergei Diaghilev with the British ballerina Diana Gould, who later became the second wife of Yehudi Menuhin. Pressburger originally wrote the screenplay for Alexander Korda as a vehicle for Korda’s future wife Merle Oberon but later rewrote the screenplay, placing more emphasis on dancing. The Red Shoes stars Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook and Marius Goring and features renowned dancers such as Robert Helpmann (who also choreographed the main ballet), Léonide Massine and Ludmilla Tchérina. The original music is by Brian Easdale and the magnificent photography by Jack Cardiff. The film received two Academy Awards when originally released in 1948 and has now been lovingly restored to its lush glory. Available in DVD and Blu-ray formats, the re-mastered film is accompanied by many extras - A Profile of The Red Shoes, The Ballet of The Red Shoes, a behind the scenes gallery, the theatrical trailer, and biographies and photo gallery of cast and crew. ‘Truly the most beautiful Technicolor film ever made.’ - Martin Scorsese.

SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING - REISZ       BFI  BFIVD784

Albert Finney gives an unforgettable performance as the rebellious Arthur Seaton in this classic British New Wave film. Based on the Alan Sillitoe’s autobiographical novel of the same name, the film is set in the industrial streets and factories of Nottingham, where the incorrigible Arthur spends his days at the factory bench, his evenings in the local pubs and his nights in the arms of Brenda, the wife of a fellow factory worker. Irresistibly handsome and brimming with animal vitality, Arthur is anti-authority and unashamedly amoral - ‘What I’m out for is a good time. All the rest is propaganda.’. This ground-breaking film was a phenomenal success when it opened in 1960, as audiences thrilled to its anti-establishment energy, gritty realism and fresh, outspoken working-class hero. Brilliantly directed by Karel Reisz, the film is photographed in atmospheric black and white by Freddie Francis and has a fine jazz score by Johnny Dankworth. Finney is mesmerising as Arthur and there are outstanding performances too by Shirley Anne Field as the sparky girl who partly tames him, Norman Rossington as his best friend and Rachel Roberts as the unhappy Brenda. Now available in a High-Definition transfer on DVD and Blue-ray from BFI, the special features include commentary by film historian Robert Murphy, writer Alan Sillitoe and cinematographer Freddie Francis, a filmed interview with Shirley Anne Field, an audio interview with Albert Finney, ‘We Are the Lambeth Boys’ (1959) - Karel Reisz’s classic Free Cinema documentary, and an illustrated booklet containing essays and biographies. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning was one of the first films made during a golden era for British cinema that also saw the release of This Sporting Life and Tony Richardson’s THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER, which has also just been re-issued by BFI on DVD and Blu-ray. Colin, played by newcomer Tom Courtenay, is a defiant teenager who rebels against the system, refusing to follow his dying father into a factory job, railing against the capitalist bosses and preferring to make a living from petty thieving. Sent to borstal, he discovers his talent for cross-country running. The governor (Michael Redgrave) offers him the chance to redeem himself in a race against a local public school, and tensions build as the day approaches. As with Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Alan Sillitoe adapted another of his own works for the screen. Extras include commentary by Robert Murphy, Tom Courtenay and Alan Sillitoe, a video essay by cinematographer Walter Lassally, ‘Momma Don’t Allow (1956) - Tony Richardson’s Free Cinema documentary shot by Walter Lassally, and an illustrated booklet with essays and biographies.

WALTZ WITH BASHIR       ARTIFICIAL EYE

This critically acclaimed Israeli film, written and directed by Ari Folman, combines animation with documentary to devastating effect. Folman was a 19-year-old infantry soldier in the Israel Defense Forces. In 2006, he meets with a friend from his army service period, who tells him of the nightmares connected to his experiences from the 1982 Lebanon War. Folman is surprised to find that he does not remember a thing from that period, though later that night he has a vision from the night of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, when Israeli forces looked on as hundreds of innocent Palestinians were killed. In his memory, Folman and his soldier friends are bathing at night by the seaside in Beirut under the light of flares descending over the city. Folman meets another friend from his army service, who advises him to discuss it with other people who were in Beirut at the same time in order to understand what happened there and to relive his own memory. Folman talks to friends, a psychologist and the reporter Ron Ben-Yishai who was in Beirut at the time. Having filmed a number of these interviews, Folman then transformed the live-action footage into striking animation with the help of a team of talented artists. The film ends with actual footage of the masscre taken by a television crew at the time, showing many dead bodies including children. The result is a surreal, disturbing exploration of a horrific event that understandably haunts the lives of all those involved. This is a sad, introspective film about a war in which there were no winners.

CLUBBED         ROUTE ONE RELEASING

Based on the best-selling autobiography of award-winning writer Geoff Thompson,  Clubbed is the brutal, bloody and gruesome tale of the violent world of 80s club-land. Danny, a lonely factory worker bleak existence, is beaten and humiliated in front of his children in a random act of violence. On the verge of total breakdown, he decides to fight back. A group of nightclub doormen take him in and give him the confidence to stand his ground but as he is drawn deeper into their world he becomes embroiled with the local gangland boss, setting in motion a chain of events with shocking consequences. Uncompromising in its use of language and graphic depiction of violence, this is a convincing and honest exploration of a shady world in which honour and loyalty are essential for survival. Director Neil Thompson makes an outstanding feature film debut and the acting is superb throughout. The cast that includes Mel Raido as the troubled Danny, Maxine Peake as his estranged wife, Colin Salmon as his enigmatic mentor Louis, the brilliant Shaun Parkes as Rob, Scot Williams as the wired Sparky and Ronnie Fox as the horribly ruthless villain, Hennessy. Released on DVD and Blue-ray, extras include a ‘making of’ feature, Behind Closed Doors, as well as an audio commentary and deleted scenes.

THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST         ICA FILMS ICA032DVD

Mika and Aki Kaurismäki are a phenomenon of modern Finnish film-making. Aki Kaurismäki worked as a postman, dish-washer and film critic, before forming a production and distribution company, Villealfa (a play on Jean-Luc Godard’s Alphaville), with his older brother Mika Kaurismäki. After high school, Mika worked as a painter of houses in the small town of Kuusankoski. In the autumn of 1976, when the annual high season for house-painting was coming to an end, he bought a book on the history of cinema and decided to become a film director. He has lived in Brazil since 1992 and made several Brazilian-themed films, including his latest film, Brasileirinho, a 2005 musical documentary about traditional Brazilian choro music. Only about a dozen films are produced in Finland each year and the Kaurismäkis have been responsible for a fifth of them since the early 1980s. These have gradually grown in popularity, both at home and abroad, and several have acquired a cult following in the West. The Man Without A Past (Mies vailla menneisyyttä) is the second installment of Aki Kaurismäki’s ‘Finland Trilogy’ (the others are Drifting Clouds and Lights In The Dark). This touching and amusing film tells the story of a man who must start his life anew when he is brutally mugged and loses his memory. On arrival in Helsinki ‘M’ is set upon by thugs and is pronounced dead by doctors at the hospital. By some miracle, he wakes up and walks out under his own power. Unable to remember his past, he is forced to rebuild his life from scratch. After a rocky start with a new family, he finds a job and a girlfriend, but the past inevitably catches up with him. Beautifully photographed and full of deadpan humour, The Man Without A Past is an honest and direct piece of cinema. Beneath the quirky absurdity lies a genuine tenderness and understanding of the human desire for independence and true love, set against the bleak poverty of a broken Helsinki. A unique and touching film, with charming performances by Markuu Peltola as ‘M’ and Kati Outinen as his girlfriend, Irma.

BEYOND THE CLOUDS                 SECOND SIGHT 2NDVD3164

Near the end of his professional career, one of the most mesmeric and sublime directors in the history of cinema, Michelangelo Antonioni, produced one his finest works, Beyond The Clouds. The first feature length film from the master almost a decade after a stroke derailed his career,  this is a film of great beauty, gorgeous cinematography and moving performances. Antonioni was assisted by Wim Wenders in making Beyond The Clouds, which was adapted from four of Antonioni’s own short stories - tales of love and desire set in Ferrara, Portofino, Aix en Provence and Paris. They are linked by scenes filmed by Wenders of a director (John Malkovich) in pursuit of his next project. Infatuations, infidelities, encounters unresolved and unrequited are presented with stunning imagery and feature an outstanding cast that also includes Fanny Ardant, Irène Jacob, Sophie Marceau and Jean Reno, as well as brief appearances by Marcello Mastroianni (as ‘The Man of All Vices’) and Jeanne Moreau, effortlessly stealing the film. Elegantly structured and photographed, this is a thoughtful and enigmatic final work of genius by one of cinema’s most revered and respected figures. The many extras include a documentary, ‘To Make A Film Is To Be Alive’, an audio essay by Seymour Chatman with production stills, and a trailer. Second Sight Films has also released another classic of European cinema - Alain Robbe-Grillet’s entertaining and baffling 1983 film, LA BELLE CAPTIVE (2NDVD3166). A writer, director and member of the Academie Francaise, Robbe-Grillet was the founder of the nouveau roman and made the lateral move to screenwriting with Alain Resnais’ Last Year in Marienbad in 1961. For the first time a new restored version of his surreal cult classic, La Belle Captive, is now available on DVD, remastered from the original 35mm negative. On the way to deliver a letter for his boss, Walter finds a beautiful woman that he had met in a nightclub, lying tied up in the road. He takes her to a villa to get a doctor, only to find himself being locked in a bedroom with her. They end up in the throes of passion, though the next morning the girl has vanished, the villa looks derelict and his neck is bleeding. Was it all just a dream? La Belle Captive is one of Robbe-Grille’s most controversial films - a precursor to David Lynch’s world of enigmatic and dreamlike encounters and Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut. Special features include an audio commentary by Roch C. Smith and Anthony N. Fragola. ‘Steeped in surreal eroticism’ - Independent Film Quarterly.

CHERRY BLOSSOMS         DOGWOOF

The great Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu’s masterpiece, Tokyo Story, invariably features in lists of the ten best films ever made and has inspired many filmmakers since its release in 1953. The acclaimed German director Doris Dörrie’s tribute, Cherry Blossoms (Kirschblüten – Hanami), is a tender examination of life, death, love and the realities of family life. Trudi (Hannelore Elsner) and Rudi (Elmar Wepper) are an affectionate, long-married couple whose children have grown up and moved away. When Trudi learns that her husband is dangerously ill, she keeps it from him and urges him to see more of life. They take a trip to Berlin to visit their estranged grown-up children but find their self-absorbed offspring cold and unwelcoming. When Trudi dies unexpectedly guilt, shame and sorrow grip the family. Rudi realises how little he knew his wife and how many of her dreams she had given up for her family. He takes Trudi’s long-wished for trip to Japan to visit her favourite son and to take in the Cherry Blossom festival. Lost, alone and unaware of his illness, Rudi finds solace in friendship with homeless Butoh dancer Yu (a charming performance by the waif-like Aya Irizuki) who helps him grieve. The story culminates in a pilgrimage to Mount Fuji in the midst of the cherry blossom season, a celebration of beauty, impermanence and new beginnings. Like the immortal Tokyo Story, Dörrie’s emotionally intense, poignant and sweet-natured film is as uplifting as it is heartbreaking. Available on DVD from October 12. ‘Unpredictable and compelling’ - Total Film.

ARMCHAIR CINEMA: THE COLLECTION           NETWORK

The groundbreaking television series Armchair Theatre ran on ITV from 1956 to 1968 and was resurrected intermittently during the 1970s. Produced initially by ABC and then by ABC’s successor, Thames Television, the often challenging dramas were mostly overseen by Canadian producer Sydney Newman. They included Alun Owen’s No Trams to Lime Street and Harold Pinter’s A Night Out. Thames dropped the programme in 1968 before reviving it in 1974 under the title Armchair Cinema - effectively a series of short television films. One of them was a one-off detective drama called Regan, starring John Thaw and Dennis Waterman, which was later developed into The Sweeney. The standard of Armchair Cinema was consistently high as its flexibility and scope attracted some of the best contemporary writers and every film feautured first-class performers. This five-disc set includes The Prison (starring James Laurenson, Philip Madoc and Diane Keen), Regan (Thaw, Waterman), The Sea Song (Tom Bell, Kika Markham), When Day is Done (Edward Woodward, Rosemary Leach), In Sickness and in Health (Patrick Mower, Prunella Ransome) and Tully (Anthony Valentine). The set also includes Rumour and Suspect - two Thames Television filmed plays by Mike Hodges which were a dry run for the Euston Films style - alongside The Sailor’s Return (Tom Bell, Clive Swift) and Charlie Muffin (David Hemmings, Ian Richardson, Ralph Richardson), two individual television movies made by Euston Films.

T R A I T O R       MOMENTUM MP830D

This excellent spy thriller tells the story of Samir Horn, an Arabic-speaking Sudanese-American and devout Muslim. His Sudanese Arab father was killed by a car bomb when he was a child and as an adult we find Samir (superbly played by Don Cheadle) operating as an arms dealer. While negotiating a deal with Omar (Saïd Taghmaoui) in Yemen he is arrested and thrown into jail. Samir and Omar become friends and escape together. Samir uses the skills he learned with the US Army Special Forces to bomb the American consulate in Nice, France. The Islamic Brotherhood group he has joined then plots to place suicide bombers on 50 buses in the USA during Thanksgiving. When FBI agent Roy Claydon (Guy Pearce) heads up the investigation into this international conspiracy, all clues seem to head back to Samir, who has a knack for emerging on the scene just as a major operation goes down. The inter-agency task force looking into the case meets with Carter (Jeff Daniels), a veteran CIA contractor who seemingly has his own agenda and Max Archer (Neal McDonough), a fellow FBI agent. A tangle of contradictory evidence emerges, forcing Clayton to question whether his quarry is a disaffected former military operative - or something far more complicated. Obsessed with discovering the truth, he tracks Horn across the globe as the ex-soldier burrows deeper and deeper into a world of shadows and intrigue. Directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff and co-written by Hollywood comedy legend Steve Martin, Traitor is an intelligent and thought-provoking film as well as an action movie that grips from the start. DVD extras include a trailer, commentary with Jeffrey Nachmanoff and Don Cheadle, and two featurettes.

NOUS NE VIEILLIRONS PAS ENSEMBLE         EUREKA EKA40289

French film director, screenwriter and actor Maurice Pialat originally intended to become a painter, but having acquired a camera at age 16 he tried his hand at documentary films before making his first notable short, L’Amour existe, in 1960. His first feature-length film, L’Enfance Nue (The Naked Childhood), was made in 1969, when he was 44. Co-produced by French New Wave director Francois Truffaut, this won the Prix Jean Vigo. Many of Pialat’s films are autobiographical, including his second feature, Nous ne vieillirons pas ensemble (We Won’t Grow Old Together). Jean (Jean Yanne) and Catherine (Marlène Jobert) are a couple whose every move charts an advancement deeper into an emotional warzone. Theirs is the classic and the tragic case of an emotional abuse centred around a perplexing, but powerful, interdependency. The film was a big hit at the time of its release and Eureka has now released this powerful drama for the first time on DVD in the UK in a special edition that includes many extras - La Camargue (an essay-documentary by Maurice Pialat on the region in which much of the action of Nous ne vieillirons pas ensemble unfolds), an interview with Marlène Jobert, François Truffaut in conversation, Pialat in conversation about the film, a booklet with an essay by former Cahiers du cinéma editor-in-chief Emmanual Burdeau, and interviews with Maurice Pialat. Eureka is simultaneously releasing Pialat’s PASSE TON BAC D’ABORD (EKA40291), an unsparing portrait of teenage life in the suburbs of France. A group of young actors, including Sabine Haudepin (once the little girl of Truffaut’s Jules et Jim), play a group of friends listlessly adrift beneath the twilight of their school years. There’s drama, violence, and pot-induced laughs - group holidays, indiscriminate sex, advances from teachers, attempted moves to Paris, and few prospects of passing their bac exams. Passe ton bac d’abord is the director’s brilliant spiritual sequel to his debut film, made ten years earlier. It is rereleased here in a beautiful new transfer with extras that include an interview with Pialat collaborators Arlette Langmann and Patrick Grandperret, Après le bac (a documentary that catches up with the cast and setting of the film in the present era), the original trailer, a booklet with an essay by filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin, and interviews with Maurice Pialat. These are fascinating, sometimes disturbing films by one of cinema’s most individual and challenging directors.

RUNNING ON EMPTY         BRITFILMS BFDVD1010

Fox (Richard Moir) is a young man who likes to live dangerously and is one of the fastest street racers on the back streets of Sydney, Australia, in the early 1980s. His world is turned upside down by his latest challenge from factory worker Mike (appealingly played by Terry Serio), which could not only lose him his girl Julie (Deborah Conway) but also his life. The illegal street racers of down town Sydney don’t turn back, they don’t give in and they can never ask for help. The film features an impressive array of muscle cars such as the Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III, Dodge Charger and an awesome ’57 Chevy, plus a multitude of other rare classics going at break neck speeds. The action scenes are staged with panache and there is a memorable performance by Max Cullen as a blind, 1950s obsessed driver/mechanic. Laconically scripted by Barry Tomblim, Running on Empty has a moody synthesizer score by Peter Crosbie and fine cinematography by David Gribble. This key film from the ‘Oz-ploitation’ era featured in the documentary ‘Not Quite Hollywood’ and Quentin Tarantino is said to be a fan. With others from this generation the film provided him with inspiration for his own work. Twenty years before The Fast and The Furious, director John Clark’s film truly encapsulates what it means to be a teenager on the streets of Sydney with a hot car and an even hotter girl. Perfect entertainment for anyone who loves the rev of the engines and the smell of burning rubber on a hot summer’s night. This Australian cult classic, released on DVD for the first time in the UK, was voted runner-up in Street Machines best hundred films, narrowly missing out to Mad Max 2, which had over ten times the budget. ‘Rebel Without a Cause meets Mad Max’ - Cinephilia.

MR SATURDAY NIGHT           ARROW FILMS FCD401

Directed, co-written and starring six time American Comedy Award winner Billy Crystal and nominated for an Academy award for best supporting actor (David Paymer), Mr Saturday Night is the hilarious and touching story of an ambitious, wise-cracking comedian who never quite makes the big time. A homage to the stand-up era of the 1950s and 60s and its dominant comedy scene featuring the likes of  Jack Benny and Jerry Lewis (who makes a cameo appearance), this tale of a bygone comic effortlessly mixes laugh-out loud comedy, humanity and real-life family drama. Buddy Young Jr was the comic’s comic, loved by everyone but prone to upset people and sometimes ruin his own best chances. Now, playing to miniscule crowds in nursing homes, it seems that everybody but Buddy realizes that he should retire. Studded with witty one-liners and rapid-fire routines, Mr. Saturday Night follows the rise, fall and partial comeback of the fictional Buddy Young, Jr. (Billy Crystal), who, though achieving some degree of fame, never quite reaches the top rung of the business. After alienating his new agent, his brother/manager and the rest of the family it’s time to decide what’s more important comedy or family. The film also stars Julie Warner as Buddy’s long suffering wife, Mary Mara as his troubled daughter, the excellent Helen Hunt as his new agent and David Paymer as the put upon brother. Billy Crystal’s first movie as a director is a sentimental, affectionately funny and often moving film in which he gives a tour de force performance as the aging, insecure comic. ‘Sharp one-liners, hilarious routines and clever mimicry’ - Time Out.

DAISIES       SECOND RUN DVD 039

Věra Chytilová’s playful and irreverent story of rebellion is a classic of surrealist cinema and perhaps the most adventurous Czech movie of the 1960s. Two young women, both named Marie, revolt against what they see as a degenerate, decayed and oppressive society. They embark on a series of pranks, attacking symbols of wealth and bourgeois culture as they consume and destroy the world about them. Defiant feminist statement or nihilistic, avant-garde comedy, this remarkable film - influenced by the French New Wave and slapstick - remains a cinematic enigma. Banned by the Czech government on its release in 1966, the film’s influence is still felt today, from the extreme Baise-Moi to the mainstream Thelma & Louise and in the films of (amongst others) Jacques Rivette, Bertrand Blier, Catherine Breillat and Gregg Araki. Daisies (Sedmikrásky) is a clever, funny, psychedelic riot that continues to provoke, stimulate and entertain. Now released on DVD in a new digital transfer with restored image and sound, this gleefully anarchic yet ultimately serious film comes with special features that include Journey, Jasmina Blaževič’s frank documentary film portrait of director Věra Chytilová, and an essay by author and film programmer Peter Hames. ‘A surrealist comedy way ahead of its time’ - All Movie Guide.

THE FIREMAN’S BALL       ARROW FCD403

Miloš Forman’s much-loved 1967 film, The Fireman’s Ball (Czech: Hoří, má panenko), is a hilarious, satirical comedy centering around the retirement party for the chairman of the local volunteer fire brigade. Thanks to poor planning and lack of leadership, the evening quickly devolves into a catastrophe. Nobody can prevent the lottery prizes from being stolen out from under the very noses of those guarding them and an ill-advised beauty contest turns into an embarrassing farce. The brigade can’t even respond properly to a real fire next door. The film uses no actors - the firemen are portrayed by real-life firemen - and the action was inspired by a visit Forman made to a shambolic fireman’s ball in the north Bohemian town of Vrchlabí. The director always denied that his film had any hidden symbols or double meanings but the Czechoslovak head of state and censors of the time viewed it as a political allegory. The film ran for three weeks during the Dubcek era, but was ‘banned forever’ after the Prague Spring crackdown. Miloš Forman moved to USA, where he had great success with films such as Amadeus and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.  Intelligent, touching and thoroughly human, The Fireman’s Ball is a deadpan masterpiece.

CALIGULA           ARROW FCD369

This controversial film tells the epic story of the rise and fall of the mad Roman Emperor Gaius Caesar Germanicus, otherwise known as ‘Caligula’, showing the violent methods he uses to gain the throne and the perverse insanity of his corrupt reign. He gives his horse political office, humiliates and fiendishly disposes of anyone who gets in his way, sleeps with his doomed sister Drusilla,  arranges elaborate orgies, marries Rome’s most infamous prostitute and embarks on a hopeless ‘invasion’ of England. Directed by Tinto Brass, Caligula was written by Gore Vidal and co-financed by Bob Guccione’s Penthouse magazine. Shot on sumptuous sets at Rome’s Dear Studios, the production was troubled from the start and its distinguished cast, including Sir John Gielgud and Peter O’Toole, probably didn’t realise what they were letting themselves in for. Various hardcore sex scenes, filmed by Guccione and his friend Giancarlo Lui, were inserted later and both Brass and Vidal denounced the final version of the film. Subsequent lawsuits delayed Caligula’s release until 1979, three years after production began. This ‘Uncut Edition’ includes the full, explicitly revealing version of this lavish spectacle in a new high-definition transfer from recently uncovered negative elements. Malcolm McDowell gives a wonderfully no holds barred performance as the depraved emperor, with John Gielgud as Nerva, Peter O’Toole as the outrageous Tiberius, Teresa Ann Savoy (replacing Maria Schneider) as Drusilla, and Helen Mirren as the seductive Caesonia. Whether ‘shameful trash’ (Roger Ebert) or a misunderstood masterpiece, Caligula remains one of the most shocking and divisive films ever made.

BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB       NETWORK

The dark excesses of greed are laid bare in this Golden Globe winning drama, based on real events, about life in America’s fast lane set against the background of L.A.’s nightspots. Charismatic Joe Hunt (Judd Nelson) convinces a group of wealthy young friends to contribute their inheritances into an investment and social club with the promise of easy money and instant success. Little do these privileged sons of the Los Angeles elite know that the exclusive Billionaire Boys Club will pull them into a world of deceit, kidnapping and murder - and a nightmare from which they cannot escape. This gripping mini series, made in 1987, earned Judd Nelson a Golden Globe nomination for his chilling performance and Brian Macnamara was nominated for Best Supporting Role as Dean Karny, Hunt’s former best friend who acts as narrator throughout. There were also Emmy nominations for Ron Silver as the flamboyant Beverly Hills con artist, Ron Levin, whom Hunt courts with disastrous consequences, as well as for director Marvin J. Chomsky and writer Gy Waldron. Billionaire Boys Club explores the American dream gone wrong and shows how corporate greed went spectacularly out of control in the 1980s. It’s an intriguing story that would be incredible if it wasn’t true.

HOT ENOUGH FOR JUNE       NETWORK

Dirk Bogarde stars as struggling young writer, Nicholas Whistler, sent on a seemingly innocent commercial assignment behind the Iron Curtain. On his arrival in Prague, everyone - including his chauffeuse, Vlasta, played by Yugoslavian-born screen siren Sylva Koscina - believes the Czech-speaking Nicholas to be a spy. It takes much time and adventure for him to realise it, but when he eventually discovers that he has been plunged unwittingly into the world of international espionage. With his contacts gone, he is on his own, and must escape arrest and flee to England with the secret police close behind him. The beautiful Sylva Koscina is suitably seductive and Bogarde enjoys himself as the reluctant 007 replacement. This witty 1964 Cold War satire, pacily directed by Ralph Thomas, also stars Robert Morley, Leo McKern and a host of British stalwarts, including a terrific performance by Eric Pohlmann as a glass factory owner. DVD features include image galleries with behind the scenes and publicity shots, as well as the original press-book, poster and flyer PDFs. Network has also released MAN IN THE MOON, a quirky 1960 sci-fi comedy directed by Basil Dearden and written by Bryan Forbes. Kenneth More plays William Blood, who has the inability to worry and never becomes ill, a strange physical phenomenon that allows him to make a living as a human guinea pig. Fate comes calling during one particular assignment, when he meets a glamorous stripper running to the railway station. He bumps into her again as he is about to be sent to the moon by a team of N.A.R.S.T.I. scientists who do not wish to risk the lives of experienced and well-trained astronauts. William thought he was immune to the charms of women but realises that a totally new kind of ‘illness’ might be developing within himself.  Shirley Anne Field  is perfect as the luscious  Polly and the cast of this unlikely sci-fi nonsense also includes Michael Hordern, Charles Gray and the excellent John Glyn-Jones.

THE NAKED CITY       ARROW FILMS FCD384

Based on a story by Malvin Wald, The Naked City realistically shows the police investigation that follows the vicious murder of an attractive blonde model in her apartment. Veteran homicide Lieutenant Detective Dan Muldoon (a typically relaxed performance by Barry Fitzgerald) initiates investigations with Detective Jimmy Halloran (Don Taylor) and the prime suspect soon becomes Jean’s friend Frank Niles, who has an alibi but tells many lies in his statement. As the police slowly gather evidence and start to paint a picture of what really happened the solution to the crime centres on identifying jewel thieves who have been robbing the rich. Jules Dassin’s 1948 film noir was shot often using hidden cameras in semi-documentary style on location on the streets of New York City and features Manhattan landmarks such as the Williamsburg Bridge and the Whitehall Building. William H. Daniels won an Academy Award for his atmospheric black-and-white cinematography and producer Mark Hellinger, who died from a heart attack soon after the film’s preview, provides the memorable narration. Howard Duff is excellent as shifty Frank Niles and Dorothy Hart is his trusting fiancée. Inspired by New York photographer Weegee’s gritty photographs of crime scenes, this ground-breaking film has been highly influential and was the inspiration for a 1958-63 television series of the same name. ‘There are eight million stories in the Naked City, and this has been just one of them.’ Arrow Films has also released another Jules Dassin and Mark Hellenberger’s BRUTAL FORCE (FCD383). Set in an overcrowded penitentiary where violence and fear are the norm, this gritty film marked the debut of Burt Lancaster and Howard Duff and also stars Charles Bickford, Yvonne De Carlo, Sam Levene, Sir Lancelot (as ‘Calypso’), Jay C. Flippen and Hume Cronyn in a mesmerising performance as the psychopathic Captain Munsey.

LOLA MONTES - OPHULS         SECOND SIGHT

The Irish-born cabaret dancer and actress Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, Countess of Landsfeld (1821-1861) was better known by her stage name, Lola Montez. As a sixteen-year-old, she eloped with an army lieutenant and later became a professional dancer as well as a courtesan, famous more for her beauty and quick temper than for her dancing. She met and had an affair with Franz Liszt and was a mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, who made her a Countess. In 1955, Max Ophüls made this controversial film based loosely on her life and numerous affairs. It stars Martine Carol as Lola and tells her story by means of flashbacks from her current life as a performer in a New Orleans circus run by a cynical  ringmaster, brilliantly played by Peter Ustinov. There are excellent performances too by Anton Walbrook as King Ludwig and a Oskar Werner as a young student. Lavishly shot in Technicolor and Cinemascope, this final work of one of history’s great directors was hugely expensive to make. Lola Montes divided critics when it was originally released in 1955 and was re-edited by its producers from 140 minutes to 92 minutes. Ophuls’ dazzling epic has now been bought lovingly back to life after two years of painstaking restoration and here makes its world DVD premiere. Cutting edge digital techniques have restored the film’s beauty and vibrant colour and this transformation received critical acclaim when shown at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Special features include an excellent documentary on the making of Lola Montez and a commentary by Susan White, author of ‘The Cinema Of Max Ophuls’. American critic Andrew Sarris, who coined the term ‘auteur theory’, called this subtle and elegant masterpiece ‘the greatest film of all time’.

THE GROCER’S SON         ICA FILMS

Thirty-year-old Antoine Sforza (Nicolas Cazalé) leaves Paris after ten years of deadbeat life, reluctantly returning to a village in the south of France to look after the family mobile grocery van while his father recovers from a heart attack. Accompanied by Claire, the free-spirited young college student who he loves, unsmiling Antoine goes about his job half-heartedly and with little interest. Slowly though, and with the help of Claire (a delightfully natural performance by Clotilde Hesme), he gradually warms to his experience in the hills and his encounters with the villagers, entertainingly played by real-life paysannes (French country people). This warm, bittersweet French comedy is the feature film debut of acclaimed documentary filmmaker Eric Guirado and new acting talent Nicolas Cazalé, who was subsequently nominated for a César (the French Oscar). It’s a charming and beautifully photographed drama that sparkles with quirky humour and joie de vivre, marvelously capturing the bucolic beauty of Provence in summer. Lyrical, witty and compassionate, The Grocer’s Son (Le fils de l’épicier) is a heart-warming treat.

BLIND LOVES       ICA FILMS

Acclaimed Slovakian director Juraj Lehotsky’s low budget debut feature is a touching and inventive portrait of the way people live and love without vision. Often funny, it’s also daringly presents the audience with stories and sequences that straddle fiction and reality, even inserting a remarkable animated fantasy underwater sequence. The film is an ingeniously constructed four-part love story; a tender and sensitive portrait on how four sight-impaired people have created unique pathways to love. Peter is a music teacher at a school for blind children; he lives with his wife and fuels his vivid imagination through television and radio plays, and dreams of submerging himself in a fairytale world. Miro is a Roma Gypsy in love with partially sighted Monika, and though her parents disapprove of their pairing he decides to fight for their love. Elena and her husband Laco are both blind and troubled over the impending arrival of their first child. Zuzanna is a pretty teenager  looking for love on the internet. Real blind people play themselves in this unique blend of fiction and documentary, and we soon warm to them simply as people. Featuring dreamlike fantasy alongside docu-realism and heartbreaking truth that sits side by side with humour, Blind Loves is a magical, compassionate and tender film. ‘The fact that someone is born to ‘darkness’ calls for a number of questions about the ways these people live. One of the most important, in my opinion, is, Where is the source of their happiness? Their world might be lacking sight, but it can be richer in spirituality.… Maybe it’s they who really understand the true essence of happiness.’ - Juraj Lehotsky.

THE SCARLET TUNIC         BLUEBELL FILMS

Based on a Thomas Hardy short story called The Melancholy Hussar, this period drama is set in rural England during the early nineteenth century, when the country is at war with Napoleon’s France. The Scarlet Tunic is a story of a forbidden love between a German Legion Hussar Malthus Singer (Jean-Marc Barr) serving with King George III’s personal cavalry, and the only daughter, Frances Groves (Emma Fielding), of a reclusive West Country landowner (Jack Shepherd). Both Malthus and Frances are trapped and frustrated with their lives, he yearns for his homeland while she is unhappily betrothed to her father’s business partner; illicit meetings between the two spark a passionate and untamed love affair. Their romance is fraught with danger: if discovered Frances will be branded a soldier’s whore and lose her social standing and Malthus will be held up as a disgrace to his regiment. With the overbearing Captain Fairfax (Simon Callow) ever watchful for his soldier’s indiscretions, will their love, so beset with obstacles, survive? Directed by Stuart St. Paul, The Scarlet Tunic is a timeless and touching romance filmed along the spectacularly beautiful Dorset countryside and coast, with stunning photography and heartfelt performances. Bluebell has also released on DVD another recent British independent film, THE INNOCENT SLEEP, directed by Scott Michell. Rupert Graves stars in this gritty thriller as Alan Terry, a down and out in London who finds himself caught up in a murder plot and conspiracy that could take his life. Having left more than enough evidence at the scene to lead the murderers to him and with the police in league with the mob, he turns to the only person who can help, an American journalist working in London. This compelling, atmospherically photographed drama also stars Annabella Sciorra as the chain-smoking journalist and the great Michael Gambon as a crooked policeman who will stop at nothing. ‘Enough to freeze the blood.’ - New York Times.

MAN OF IRON - WAJDA     MR BONGO FILMS MRBDVD017

The great Polish film director Andrzej Wajda is one of the most important figures in world cinema after the Second World War. Born in 1926 in Suwalki, Poland, his mother was a teacher and his father a captain in the Polish infantry who died at Katyn massacre in 1939. Andrzej Wajda survived the Nazi-occupation and moved to Krakow, where he studied painting, and Lodz,  where he studied film directing. His first three full-length films, made when he was in his early thirties, turned out to be among the greatest war films of all time. A Generation, Kanal and Ashes and Diamonds were groundbreaking films that helped usher in the Polish School movement. Man of Iron (Polish: Człowiek z żelaza) was made in 1981 and shows the Solidarity labour movement and its first success in persuading the Polish government to recognize the workers’ right to an independent union. The film is a continuation of the story of Maciej Tomczyk, the protagonist of Wajda’s earlier film, Man of Marble. In Warsaw in 1980, the Regime sends Winkel, a weak, alcoholic TV hack to Gdansk to dig up dirt on the shipyard strikes, particularly on Maciek, who has become an inspirational figure in the Union movement following the killing of his father in the December 1970 protests. Posing as a sympathiser to the cause, Winkel interviews people who know Tomczyk, including his detained wife, in an effort to undermine and destroy the growing support behind the movement. The film uses actual news footage of the 1968 and 1970 protests and of the later birth of free unions and Solidarity which it interweaves throughout the stories of a son coming to terms with his father, a couple falling in love, a reporter searching for courage and a nation undergoing historic, if all too fleeting, change. This moving and poignant film won the Palme d’or and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar. Maciej Tomczyk, a young worker involved in the anti-Communist labour movement. Here, Maciej is a young worker involved in the anti-Communist labour movement, described as ‘the man who started the Gdańsk Shipyard strike’, and a journalist working for the Communist regime’s radio station, who is given a task of slandering Maciej. The young man is clearly intended as a parallel to Lech Wałęsa (who appears as himself in the film). This moving and poignant film was made during the brief thaw in Communist censorship that appeared between the formation of Solidarity in August 1980 and its suppression in December 1981, and as such it is remarkably critical of the Communist regime. Man of Iron won the Palme d’or and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the following year’s Academy Awards.

BIGGA THAN BEN           HIGH FLIERS HFR00371

Based on the best-selling diaries of Pavel Tetersky and Sergei Sakin, two self confessed ‘pieces of Moscow scum’, this dark comedy is the tale of two wayward young Russian immigrants who come to London to make an easy fortune. Finding themselves drawn into a shadowy underworld of backstreet drug deals and seedy nightclubs packed with refugees and nymphomaniacs, life begins to turn sour and the highs begin to fade. While Spiker  (Ben Barnes) misses his girlfriend and seeks consolation in drugs, slipping into serious addiction, Cobakka (Russian heartthrob Andrei Chadov) is forced into making some life changing decisions. Bigga Than Ben also features the debut by the latest of the Fiennes dynasty, Hero Tiffin-Fiennes. This breezy, low-budget black satire on life as an outsider in a harsh, unforgiving, yet fascinating metropolis was written and directed by Suzie Halewood, with a spiky music score by Pete Doherty and Joe Strummer. The film was a hit in Russia, where it premiered to a sell out audience at the Moscow Film Festival Gala, taking $500,000 at the Russian box office. Bigga Than Ben also features the debut performance by the latest of the Fiennes dynasty, Hero Tiffin-Fiennes. This funny, fast-paced film takes an ultimately compassionate look at what it takes to survive as an outsider in a harsh, unforgiving, yet fascinating metropolis. Special features include a documentary on the making of Bigga Than Ben.

BELLE DE JOUR / BELLE TOUJOURS - BUNUEL         ICA FILMS

Spanish director Luis Buñuel’s masterpiece, Belle de Jour, is a revealing and personal exploration of eroticism and deviance. The beautiful Catherine Deneuve plays Severine, a beautiful young woman married to Pierre, a handsome surgeon. She loves her husband but is unable to be physically intimate with him so indulges instead in erotic fantasies to satisfy her sexual desires, eventually becoming a prostitute and working part-time in a brothel, where she is christened Belle de jour, while remaining chaste in her marriage. This surrealistic exercise in ambiguity, fantasy and reality has a famously mysterious ending that has had critics arguing for decades over its meaning. Much admired by Alfred Hitchcock, the film was Buñuel’s first in colour. It was awarded the Golden Lion at the 1967 Venice Film Festival, as well as the award for Best Foreign Film in 1968 from the New York Film Critics Circle, but was not seen for many years due to copyright problems until finally re-released in 1995 through the efforts of director Martin Scorcese. In celebration of its 40th anniversary ICA Films is releasing this original French classic as well as Portuguese centenarian director Manoel de Oliveira’s follow up tribute, Belle Toujours, which revisits the original Belle De Jour characters forty years later. At a concert Séverine is spotted by a man from her past, Henri (Michel Piccoli), who holds the key to long-hidden secrets. He is fuelled by ego and a sadistic desire for revenge; she by fear, uncertainty and desire unrealised. Can their meeting lead to the truth and salvation for both of them? Currently the oldest active film director, Manoel de Oliveira has produced a shrewdly observed, worldly and sometimes wickedly funny film, with excellent performances by Piccoli as roguish Henri and Bulle Ogier as the aging Severine. Luis Buñuel had an epic and groundbreaking career and was devastating in his critique of society, its hypocrisy and morals. The conflict between the most caring love and the implacable demands of desire is exposed and left raw in these two intriguing films.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST         NETWORK

This classic 1952 film is Anthony Asquith’s perfect adaptation of the Oscar Wilde masterpiece - ‘A Trivial Comedy for Serious People’ - that gave the words ‘Bunbury’ and ‘handbag’ unique resonance. The story follows the fortunes of two lovestruck bachelors: the wealthy and eligible Jack Worthing (Michael Redgrave) and Algernon Moncrieff (Michael Denison). Jack is romantically involved with Algernon’s cousin, Gwendolen Fairfax (the delicious Joan Greenwood), while Jack’s ward, Cecily Cardew (Dorothy Tutin), is the object of Algernon’s affections. However, Jack’s unworthy habit of representing himself as his imaginary brother, Ernest, and Algernon’s deceitful adoption of Ernest’s name and reputation to simplify his courtship has led each girl to believe herself to be engaged to the non-existent Ernest. A simple solution occurs to Gwendolen and Cecily - but neither reckons with the forceful Lady Bracknell (the incomparable Dame Edith Evans), Gwendolen’s mother and Algernon’s aunt. It is left to Miss Prism (Margaret Rutherford), whose secret passion for the Reverend Dr. Chasuble (Miles Malleson) causes so much enjoyable confusion, to create a way out that is acceptable to all parties. Special Features include a profile of The Importance of Being Earnest, a photo gallery and the original gala premiere programme. Network is also releasing another classic adaptation of one of Oscar Wilde’s most famous and best loved plays, AN IDEAL HUSBAND. Hugh Williams is Sir Robert Chiltern, a prospective Cabinet minister who discovers that his career may be in jeopardy due to the surprising and unwelcome appearance of adventuress Mrs. Cheveley (Paulette Goddard). She attempts to enlist Sir Robert’s help in a shady Argentinean canal scheme. Her methods turn to blackmailing as Sir Robert indignantly refuses. Now the race is on for Sir Robert to come up with a solution to this dilemma as he cannot allow Mrs. Cheveley to reveal his secret past dealings. Directed by Sir Alexander Korda, the film has a star-studded cast, costumes designed by the legendary Cecil Beaton and glorious Technicolor.

MILK - GUS VAN SANT       MOMENTUM

Sean Penn stars in this inspiring story of California’s first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk, a San Francisco supervisor who who broke barriers by becoming the first openly gay man to win an election for public office in America. Shot on location in San Francisco, this biopic from acclaimed director Gus Van Sant also stars Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna and James Franco. Using flashbacks from a statement recorded late in life and archival footage for atmosphere, this powerful and inspiring film traces Milk’s career from his 40th birthday to his death in 1978. He opens the Castro Camera shop that becomes the salon for San Francisco’s gay community and organises gays’ purchasing power to build political alliances. He runs for office and has a continuing struggle with his fellow supervisor, Dan White, a Vietnam veteran and staunch social conservative. It’s a powerful and moving story about a man who forged coalitions across the political spectrum, from senior citizens to union workers. Harvey Milk changed the nature of what it means to be a fighter for human rights and became, before his untimely death, a hero for all. Sean Penn won an Oscar for his passionate performance and Dustin Lance Black earned another for his excellent screenplay. The film received six other nominations, including best supporting actor for Brolin as the increasingly unstable Dan White.

TRAINSPOTTING - SPECIAL EDITION     4DVD F4BD50007

‘Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family... But why would I want to do a thing like that?’ Trainspotting is a ground-breaking film that captured the minds of a generation. Directed by Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) and based on the of the same name novel by Irvine Welsh, this cult British film charts the drug-fuelled disintegration of a group of friends in economically-depressed Edinburgh during the early 90s. The film focuses on Renton who has chosen to live a blissful, pointless life in a heroin induced daze. We’re introduced to Renton’s friends - Sick Boy, Spud, clean-living Tommy and Begbie, a borderline psychotic who loathes junkies yet drinks like a fish. After a few attempts at getting clean, Renton kicks heroin and moves to London, where he starts to get his life on track, until his old friends turn up. Starring Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, Robert Carlyle and Kelly Macdonald, this critically acclaimed film is here released for the first time on Blu-Ray Collector’s Edition. Two hours of bonus materials include a specially filmed feature, ‘Memories of Trainspotting’, deleted scenes, interviews, trailers and commentaries. The film is also released on DVD, with ‘Memories of Trainspotting’ as the sole special feature. SHALLOW GRAVE (4DVD F4BD50006) is another new Special Edition Blu-ray release, featuring the award-winning 1994 British crime thriller that was Danny Boyle’s directorial debut. This savagely entertaining neo-film noir sees three cocksure twenty-somethings sharing a flat in Edinburgh. The journalist (Ewan McGregor), accountant (Christopher Eccleston), and doctor (Kerry Fox) get more than they bargained for when they rent their spare room to a mysterious lodger named Hugo (Keith Allen). When Hugo dies of a drug overdose, the group discovers he has left a mysterious legacy in the form of a suitcase full of cash, which they decide to keep. The three friends then draw straws to choose who is going to dismember the corpse... On both the Blu-Ray and DVD releases there is a documentary ‘Digging Your Own Grave’, directed by Kevin Macdonald (brother of producer Andrew), and an insightful commentary by Danny Boyle. Brilliantly combining gallows humour and shocking violence, Shallow Grave has been much imitated since its release in 1995. This and Trainspotting are two of the most influential and imaginative British films and they both look terrific in these new releases.

EVERGREEN                     NETWORK

The enchanting Jessie Matthews was an actress, dancer and singer who was a huge star on the stage in films during the 1930s. She was born to a huge, poor family in Soho, London, in 1907, and made her film debut in 1923 in the silent film The Beloved Vagabond. After appearing in a string of hit stage musicals and films in the mid-1930s, she developed a following in the USA, where she was called ‘The Dancing Divinity. She received many offers to work in Hollywood, including the chance a film with Fred Astaire, but her British studio refused to let her go. She took the lead role the 1932 stage production of Ever Green, a musical by Rodgers and Hart that was partly inspired by the life of music hall star Marie Lloyd and was at the time the most expensive musical ever produced in London. This funny 1934 film adaptation featured the newly composed song Over My Shoulder which was to go on to become Matthews’ personal theme song and provide the title to her autobiography. In this enduring classic, Matthews gives her finest performance as the successful, wildly popular Edwardian music hall star Harriet Green. The plot is wonderfully bizarre, involving an illegitimate daughter, a non-existent son, blackmail, and a manic producer (played by Matthews’ husband, Sonny Hale). All of which is essentially an excuse to hear the great Rodgers & Hart songs and enjoy the choreography by black American dancer Buddy Bradley, who also worked with Astaire and Busby Berkeley. Jessie Matthews’ amazing life was blighted by ill-health and fraught relationships, and though she found post-war fame again as Mrs Dale she was buried in an unmarked grave. The talents of this most effervescent of stars has been cruelly neglected so this new release of her best film is long overdue. Network is also releasing Matthews’ first Gainsborough comedy, the delightful THERE GOES THE BRIDE, as well as two more British classics - the BAFTA nominated CARRINGTON VC starring David Niven and Margaret Leighton and directed by Anthony Asquith, and the entrancing MOONLIGHT SONATA featuring concert pianist and Polish prime minister Ignace Jan Paderewski.

A TOUCH OF CLASS               ARROW FILMS FCD392

George Segal plays a brash married insurance executive Steve Blackburn, who can’t seem to avoid bumping into divorced fashion designer Vicki Allessio (Glenda Jackson) wherever he goes in London. Finally bowing to the inevitable, Steve and Vicki have the perfect love affair, until that is they fall in love. He suggests a romantic rendezvous in Spain but of course absolutely nothing goes as planned. A brilliant comedy of errors, A Touch of Class was nominated for four Academy Awards, and earned Glenda Jackson her second one for Best Actress. She remains the only British Member of Parliament ever to win an Oscar. A Touch of Class was written and directed by Hollywood veteran Melvin Frank. He saw Glenda Jackson playing Cleopatra in a comedy sketch on the Morecambe and Wise Show, recognised her comedic potential and offered her the lead role in this sparkling 1970s film. Eric and Ernie later sent her a telegram saying: ‘Stick with us kid, and we’ll get you a third Oscar!’. The classy Glenda Jackson looks beautifully feline and delivers the snappy dialogue with great panache. Beneath all the hilarity, Jackson and Segal also suggest the sadness inherent in their infidelity (they even watch Brief Encounter on television in their love nest). ‘George Segal herein justifies superbly a reputation for comedy while Glenda Jackson’s full-spectrum talent is again confirmed’ - Variety.

DEAR DIARY       ARROW FILMS FCD381

Nani Moretti’s best known films are Caro Diario (Dear Diary, made in 1993) and La stanza del figlio (The Son’s Room), which won the 2001 Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Born in Bruneck but resident for his whole life in Rome, Moretti has been called ‘the Italian Woody Allen’ for directing wryly humorous and eccentric films, usually starring himself. Caro diario is a semi-autobiographical film in the style of a documentary, with Moretti taking a typically droll look at life. In the first of three episodes Moretti rides a Vespa through a half-deserted Rome as shots of beautiful architecture and monuments accompany his thoughts about Hollywood, the banality of Italian cinema, Jennifer Beals, Pier Paolo and much else. The second episode sees him cruising among the remote Aeolian Islands and visiting a friend in search of peace to finish his new film. Together they travel to the island of Stromboli, but have to deal with a megalomaniac mayor who wants to involve them in the most peculiar projects. In the final episode Moretti has to deal with the difficult diagnosis of a baffling illness, which affected him in real life and has symptoms of persistent itching and insomnia. Various medical experts make many bizarre and misguided suggestions, leading Moretti to condemn these ‘deaf’ doctors with a bitter and sarcastic brindisi alla salute. This is a highly original and entertaining film that combines wit, Verdi, football and the film Flashdance to create an enjoyable satire on Italian culture. Highly recommended.

CSI:MIAMI SEASON SIX, PART ONE     MOMENTUM MP870D

This American crime series is a spin-off of the hugely popular CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. CSI: Miami (Crime Scene Investigation: Miami) follows the investigations of a team of Miami-Dade cutting-edge forensic scientists as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious deaths and other crimes, including rape and kidnapping. First broadcast in 2002, this fast-paced crime series places more emphasis on police work than science - sharing its parent show’s penchant for grisly re-enactments - and boasts a flashier cinematographic style that befits its tropical locale. Season Six continues to uphold the CSI tradition of exciting, compelling and topical storytelling. During the first part of Season Six, the splendidly named former homicide detective Horatio ‘H’ Caine (David Caruso) finds out that he has an unknown son - a teenager who is arrested and jailed during the murder investigation of his probation officer. With the boy behind bars, Horatio’s criminal enemies attempt to use the him to bring Caine to his knees. Horatio’s ex-wife and Kyle’s mother (Elizabeth Berkley) resurfaces as a billionaire widow who will stop at nothing to get custody of her son. The action continues with the death of a man who is killed due to a fake 911 call, in which Horatio must face-off against a private investigator who is systematically destroying the team. A rare and illegal machine gun ‘vaporizes’ three weapons’ smugglers and the CSIs must find the killer before the gun causes more deaths; also the team hunt a vigilante who starts killing off internet predators one-by-one, whilst in another episode a wedding murder ends up leading the crew to a strip club. This three-DVD set features the first 12 episodes from the sixth series, with the moody Horatio assisted by Calleigh Duquesne (Emily Procter), a bilingual Southern beauty who specialises in ballistics, and Eric Delko (Adam Rodriguez), an underwater recovery expert and Alexx Woods (Khandi Alexander), the no-nonsense coroner. Extras include several documentaries as well as commentaries. This may not be the most realistic police drama on television but it’s pacey, glamorous and has a great soundtrack by the likes of The Who, Sigur Rós and The Hives. ‘At CSI Miami We Never Close.’

THE PROMISE     MOMENTUM

From the award-winning director of Farewell My Concubine and the creative forces involved in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Matrix comes this spectacular new legend in martial arts lore - an epic tale of a destiny foretold and of battles fought. The Promise, originally called Wú jí, is most expensive film in Chinese cinema history, so director Kaige Chen had free rein to create his stunning visuals, including many amazing gravity defying feats and exciting action sequences. Based on the wuxia romance written by P’ei Hsing at the time of the Tang Dynasty, the film stars South Korean Dong-Kun Jang as Kunlun, Japanese superstar Hiroyuki Sanada as The General of the Crimson Armour, beautiful Cecilia Cheung as Princess Qingcheng, Nicholas Tse as Wuhuan, Hong Chen as the ethereal Goddess Manshen and Ye Liu as the world’s fastest assassin Snow Wolf. Renowned Japanese CGI artist Masago Kimiya worked with Oscar-winning art director Tim Yip to evoke this world of Asian magic and wonders, with stunning cinematography by Peter Pau, Klaus Badelt music and choreography by Tung Wai and Dion Lam. A slave who can outrun stampeding bulls, battling warriors who fly through treetops, a beautiful princess torn between destiny and desire, and awe-inspiring martial arts all intertwine in this magical fairytale about love, death, time, freedom, betrayal, loyalty and the choices we make. This feast for the eyes is available on Blu-ray and DVD, and special features include a behind the scenes documentary, interviews with the director, cast and crew, trailers and a stills gallery.

L O S T AND F O U N D       CONTENDER CTD10650

Inspired by the best-selling picture book by Oliver Jeffers, this animated film tells the story of a young boy and his unlikely friendship with a penguin. Beautiful animation, an excellent score by Max Richter and narration by the great Jim Broadbent brings the enchanting story to life. When the boy finds a sad-looking penguin on his door step one day, an adventure begins. Believing the penguin must be lost, the boy tries to return him to the local lost and found office. As the search begins the boy is out of luck, no one seems to be missing a penguin. So he decides to take matters into his own hands and they set out in his row boat on a journey to the South Pole. But when they get there, the boy discovers that maybe home wasn’t what the penguin was looking for after all. First shown on Channel 4 last Christmas and now available for the first time on DVD, Lost and Found is likely to prove an enduring classic in the mould of The Snowman, though one that can be enjoyed all year round. Director Philip Hunt delivers a captivating family entertainment, with marvelously well-observed animation from the BAFTA-winning Studio AKA. The DVD also includes a half hour behind the scenes documentary charting the making of the film. This a funny, heart warming story about friendship which reminds us that what’s in front of you is sometimes all that you need.

COLUMBUS DAY         DNC ENTERTAINMENT

In this gripping thriller by first time writer/director, Charles Burmeister, Val Kilmer plays a man involved in a frantic chase as he tries to fix the damage done by his latest crime. Simultaneously, he also attempts to repair his relationship with his ex wife (Marg Helgenberger) and save his own life, all in the course of a single morning. John Cologne (Kilmer) is a thief who has pulled off the biggest heist of his life and is racing to get rid of the merchandise before he heads off to Miami to retire. Before he can leave he has to offload the mysterious briefcase to the same gangster he stole it from without being killed in the process. He’s in a race against the clock to make all the money he would ever need in his life, and at the same time stay alive. As leader of the critically acclaimed cast of Columbus Day, Kilmer takes the viewer on a tense and urgently brutal ride. Look out for Bobb’e J. Thompson’s memorable performance as a precocious African American boy who befriends John as they hide out in Echo Park, Los Angeles.

ESCAPE FROM HUANG SHI     MOMENTUM MP952D

This dramatic, war-torn epic tells a brutal and compelling story inspired by true events that took place during the Second World War. In 1937 George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a young British journalist travels to war ravaged China in search of the frontline and a big story. When the Japanese invade and massacre hundreds of innocent men, women and children in front of him, Hogg, barely escapes with his life. This courageous young journalist then risks everything to lead sixty children, orphaned and traumatised by the war, on an extraordinary 700 miles journey across the snow-bound Liu Pan Shan mountains and treacherous terrain of the Silk Road, fending off air and ground attacks by the Japanese invaders and Chinese Nationalist Movement. Hogg is thrown together with American nurse Lee Pearson (Radha Mitchell) and Chen Hansheng, the leader of a Chinese partisan group (Chow Yun Fat) who meet in desperate and unexpected circumstances. The film is a passion project of director Roger Spottiswoode and the film’s creative team was assembled from around the world, including the Chinese director of photography Zhao Xiaoding, production designer Steven Jones, art director Huang Xinming  and Australian costume designer Kym Barrett. Roger Spottiswoode began his career as an editor in the early 1970s, working with legendary director Sam Peckinpah on Straw Dogs and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Escape From Huang Shi was filmed in Australia and China, including some of the most famous national monuments and hauntingly beautiful locations around Dunhuang, not far from the Western end of The Great Wall. Dunhuang is close to the historic junction of the Northern and Southern Silk Roads and to where the actual orphanage was built that inspired the film’s story. Often referred to as an ‘oasis’, this most spectacular part of the Gobi desert is famous for its majestic sand dunes and unique rock formations known as the ‘Yadan’. This is a powerful, emotional story made even more touching by first hand memories from some of the surviving children at the end. credits are , now advanced in age but remarkably lucid. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is excellent as the real life hero, searching fro truth and gamely speaking in heavily-accented Mandarin for half the film. Good support comes from Yun-Fat Chow and the beautiful Michelle Yeoh, who plays a wealthy noblewoman-turned-merchant, Mrs Wang.

BRITISH RAILWAYS: THE EARLY YEARS 1948-1961     NETWORK

The British railway system developed during the 19th century and by 1923 four large railway companies dominated: the Great Western Railway (GWR), the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) and the Southern Railway (SR). On 1 January 1948, as part of its policy to nationalise public services, Clement Attlee’s Labour Government established British Railways to take over the assets of the Big Four. This double DVD set from Network and Strike Force Entertainment provides fascinating and detailed insights into those early years, starting in the late 1940s when as a result of the Second World War the rail companies struggled to repair of tracks and engines. By the mid-fifties, steam engines were being replaced with diesel and electric power in a rail revolution. Colin Divall, Head of the Institute of Railway Studies at the National Railway Museum, takes us on a journey through these tumultuous years, supplemented with period newsreels and interviews with railway men, enthusiasts and historians. The DVD also covers topics such as the formation of the British Transport Commission and the first generation diesel electric locomotives. There are many evocative sights and sounds of engines in glorious action, including the A4 Pacific Class, the standard Britannia class, the Deltic prototype and the Blue Pullman. In spite of all the investment, railway finances continued to worsen, until operating losses were widespread. Industrialist Dr Richard Beeching became Chairman of the British Railways Board in 1961 and used the results of a traffic census - lasting only one week - to drastically reshape of the network. The infamous ‘Beeching Axe’ cut a third of all passenger services and closed more than 4000 stations. BRITISH RAILWAYS: BEECHING AND BEYOND 1962-1984 tells the story of ‘the grim reaper of the railway’ and shows how his controversial policies led to Britain’s rail network today. The documentary guides is a definitive history of the network’s modernisation and the impact Beeching had. He not only reinvented the structure of rail transport in the UK, he was also the creator of the Inter-City network and the freight transport structure still in use today. This invaluable double DVD again features Colin Divall as well as period newsreels, interviews and archive film footage, bringing these revolutionary moments in British transport history back to life. Locomotives featured include 4472 Flying Scotsman, the HS4000 Kestrel experimental loco, the Advanced Passenger Train and the High Speed Train. These detailed documentaries tell a fascinating story that will appeal not just to rail buffs but also to anyone interested in British social history.

KALEIDOSCOPE                   DIGITAL HOME ENTERTAINMENT

This charming romantic comedy, directed by Jack Smight, stars Warren Beatty and Susannah York as a pair of amorous adventurers in the casinos of London and the Riviera. Beatty is Barney Lincoln, an American playboy and gambler who carries out the perfect ‘get rich quick’ plan by breaking into the Kaleidoscope playing card factory to mark the printing plates. When the doctored cards turn up later at Europe’s top casinos, he is able to break the banks and amass a considerable fortune. Along the way he meets the beautiful Angel McGinnis (Susannah York) and his unlawful activities are brought to the attention of her steam engine-loving father, who also happens to be a New Scotland Yard policeman. Superbly underplayed by Clive Revill, Inspector McGinnis persuades the reluctant playboy to bankrupt the sinister head of a narcotics ring called Harry Dominion in a tense game of poker. Much of the story is blatantly stolen from Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale and Beatty even drives an Aston Martin. Eric Porter enjoys hamming it up as Dominion, a villain with Napoleonic complex, Beatty makes a suitably dashing hero, and Susannah York is perfectly cast as the love interest. There are fine performances too by British stalwarts such as Murray Melvin as a sharp shooting policeman, George Sewell, Yootha Joyce, John Junkin and (briefly) Jane Birkin. With its bright colours, preposterous plot and general air of wackiness, Kaleidoscope represents quintessentially 1960s glamour. Austin powers would love it.

PETULIA                   DIGITAL HOME ENTERTAINMENT

Digital Home Entertainment is also releasing Petulia, another delicious film from the 1960s. Set in San Francisco, Richard Lester’s underrated drama Petulia tells the story of a charmingly kooky socialite (Julie Christie), who has recently married to David (Richard Chamberlain). Unhappy with her marriage, she embarks on a love affair with a melancholy recently-divorced doctor (George C. Scott) as they try to make sense of their dispassionate lives. Dick Lester’s genius for editing combines with Lawrence B. Marcus’ literate screenplay and Nicolas Roeg’s superb cinematography to create a non-linear, fragmented love story that loops back and forth, revealing a darker reality behind the idyllic façade of sixties opulence. As the story of Petulia’s abuse at the hands of her husband unfolds, the lovers try to find the courage to change the course of their lives in the face of their respective demons. George C. Scott is excellent as the troubled doctor and Julie Christie gives real psychological depth to the eccentric, vulnerable Petulia. Richard Lester’s finest achievement.

TROUBLE THE WATER         ICA FILMS

Trouble The Water takes you inside Hurricane Katrina in a way never before seen on screen. This is a redemptive tale of two self-described street hustlers who become heroes - people who survive the storm and then seize their chance for a new  beginning. Aspiring rapper Kimberly Rivers Roberts and her husband, Scott, were among those trapped in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana, as the hurricane raged towards them in late August 2005. Before the storm hit and the floodwaters took over,  Kimberly took out her newly acquired video camera and the couple began to compile amateur footage that vividly captures the horrors and bravery experienced in their community. Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, New York, documentary filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal (producers of Farenheit 9/11) watched the disaster on television and felt they had to become involved. They set out to make a film about New Orleans National Guardsmen, until they met Kim and Scott ten days after the storm broke. Their remarkable home video material, coupled with archival news footage and film verite capturing the couple’s journey, resulted in this moving documentary. Trouble the Water won the Grand Jury Prize and a standing ovation at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and is up for an Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards. The story of the government’s response to Katrina remains shocking - no public transport was organised for people to leave the city and troops had orders to fire on those seeking shelter - but this film is an ultimately inspiring call for things to be different in future. ‘You gotta have heart,’ says the formidable Kim. ‘But don’t be blind.’

SALAAM BOMBAY!       ARROW FILMS

Mira Nair’s first feature, made in 1988, is a highly acclaimed Hindi drama with a screenplay by her longtime collaborator, Sooni Taraporevala. The film chronicles the day-to-day life of children living on the filthy urban streets of one of India’s poorest cities, Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay). Krishna (Shafiq Syed) is an 11-year-old country boy forced to live there while he hopes to earn 500 rupees for his mother and return home, though the all-consuming job of staying alive quickly makes that dream an unlikely reality. He develops the skills needed to survive in a seedy world of prostitutes, drug addicts, thieves, and other homeless children scrambling to survive the pitiless streets, but the harrowing experience takes a heavy emotional toll on him. Krishna, however, remains determined to raise the money he needs to return home. Mira Nair adds her angry voice to the cinema of forgotten children in a moving drama that contrasts with the fantasy of Bollywood dreams that hovers just out of reach in posters, movies, and radio tunes, momentary respites from the hard reality of a world ruled by brutal pimps and drug dealers. Salaam Bombay! is a gritty journey into the life of the city’s poorest people, filled with human spirit as well as the sights and sounds of an urban nightmare. Shafiq Syed and most of the remarkable young actors who appear in the film were themselves real-life street children. With superb cinematography (Sandi Sissel) and haunting music (L. Subramaniam), this impressive film received an Oscar nomination as well as a BAFTA and many other awards. DVD extras include a commentary by Mira Nair as well as five featurettes.

W. - STONE       LIONS GATE HOME ENTERTAINMENT LGD94119 / LGB94119

Director Oliver Stone’s acclaimed, true life tragicomedy tells the story of the most ‘misunderestimated’ man in the world, George W. Bush. The film is a serious drama with a strong comic streak as we see George W. struggle with his personal demons, always wrestling with them in his father’s long shadow. A Yale graduate, a transplanted son of Texas, a one-time drunk and a recent convert; how did this improbable character transform himself from reprobate and well-known black sheep of his esteemed family into Leader of the Free World? W. follows Bush Jr.’s journey from Yale frat house initiation to Texas oilfield to The White House and, in the process, reveals the struggles, achievements and consequences for the man who would become the 43rd President of the United States of America. Starring Josh Brolin as ‘Dubya’, with James Cromwell as George Bush Snr, Ellen Burstyn as Barbara Bush, Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice, Richard Dreyfuss (wonderfully unnerving Dick Cheney) and Ioan Grufudd as ‘Tone’ Blair, this is a mostly sympathetic portrait of a man who is well meaning though flawed and none too bright. Brolin delivers the Bushisms with aplomb and seems to grow uncannily more like the original as the film progresses. Stone exercises uncharacteristic restraint to damning effect in this fascinating story of one of the most controversial, secretive, cynical and ruthless presidential regimes in US history. W. is available in both DVD and Blu-ray formats and the many extras include an audio commentary with the director as well as two documentaries - ‘Dangerous Dynasty: The Bush Presidency’ and ‘No Stranger to Controversy: Oliver Stone’s George W. Bush’.

WAR, INC - SEFTEL         LIONS GATE HOME ENTERTAINMENT LGD94019

This anarchic and surreal satirical political comedy features magnificent performances from John Cusack (who also wrote and produced the film), Ben Kingsley, Dan Ackroyd and Joan Cusack, as well as a first adult role for Hilary Duff. The film is an absurdist political satire set in Turaqistan, an imaginary country occupied by an American private corporation run by a former US Vice-President. A lone-wolf mercenary, played by John Cusack, is hired to help the American government ‘get their message across’ to Turaqistan’s leaders. As the twisted plot unfolds, he meets a reporter (Marisa Tomei) and somehow becomes mixed up with an outrageous Middle Eastern pop star named Yonica Babyyeah, precociously played by Hilary Duff. ‘Sir’ Ben Kingsley does another of his mad villains and Joan Cusack is marvelously funny as the hero’s fraught assistant, Marsha Dillon. Director Joshua Seftel keeps the frantic action together in this entertaining film - a glimpse into the (not too distant?) future when war and international Governments are ruled by corporate big business and PR spin. With many explosive special effects, War, Inc boldly confronts the insanity and violence of modern warfare, so if you don’t like war this is probably the film for you.

THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER       EUREKA EKA40287

Stephen Vincent Benét’s Gothic folk story, The Devil and Daniel Webster, is a retelling of the German Faust legend. First published in 1937, this is a timeless morality tale and a study in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, in which patriotism is cast in dramatic conflict with servitude to greed and materialism. The story inspired a Halloween episode of The Simpsons as well as two film adaptations, the most memorable being this 1941 version by émigré Hollywood director William Dieterle, combining European expressionism with quintessential Americana. In 1840s New Hampshire, a down-on-his-luck farmer, Jabez Stone, makes an existential pact with the devil - seven years of prosperity in return for his soul. When the devil incarnate Mr. Scratch comes calling, Stone begins to have second thoughts, enlisting the famous 19th-century advocate and folk hero Daniel Webster to fight what becomes, for each of them, a case of life and death. The incomparable Walter Huston is brilliant as gleefully mischievous Mr. Scratch and there are fine performances by James Craig as Stone, Ann Shirley as his righteous wife, Jane Darwell as Ma Stone, Simone Simon (best known for Cat People) as the seductive Belle, and Edward Arnold (a replacement for the injured Thomas Mitchell) as the eponymous Daniel Webster. Bernard Hermann’s excellent score won an Oscar for Best Music and Huston was nominated for Best Actor. Eureka’s Masters of Cinema Series special edition features the director’s cut in a digital transfer with restored image and sound. A lavish 60-page booklet includes archival publicity stills, an essay by professor Tony Williams, an article by director William Dieterle and a celebration of the film by Stephen Vincent Benét, whose supernatural short story is reprinted in its entirety. Elegantly directed by Dieterle and beautifully photographed by Joseph August, The Devil and Daniel Webster is an entertaining and enduring classic.

THREE CLASSIC BOND FILMS         MGM AND FOX (BLU-RAY)

The films inspired by Ian Fleming’s novels about fictional British MI6 agent James Bond, codename 007, make up one of the longest running series in cinema history. The franchise has been ongoing from 1962 to the present day - with a six-year gap between 1989 and 1995 - and in that time there have been 22 productions at an average of about one every two years. Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman co-produced the films until 1975, when Broccoli became the sole producer. Since 1995, his daughter Barbara and stepson Michael G. Wilson have co-produced the films. Six actors have played 007 so far: Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. Three of these action-packed Bond Classics have now been made available here for the first time as High Definition Blu-ray discs: Moonraker (Moore’s fourth film and the last Bond to use the title of a Fleming novel until 2006’s Casino Royale.), The World is Not Enough (with Pierce Brosnan) and the unforgettable Goldfinger (with Connery as Bond, Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore and Shirley Eaton as the original golden girl). All have been restored and re-mastered to provide the highest quality picture and sound via state-of-the-art Lowry process digital frame-by-frame restoration. A host of bonus material is also included. James Bond: ‘Do you expect me to talk?’ Auric Goldfinger: ‘No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die.’

RAGING BULL - SCORSESE         TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX (BLU-RAY)    

Given the implicit drama, it’s almost impossible to make a bad film about boxing so it’s saying a great lot when Raging Bull is called the greatest boxing film of all time. .Shot in a crisp black and white, Martin Scorsese’s personal approach to film-making is taken to a whole new level as he tells the bloody and brutal story of middleweight boxer Jake La Motta, superbly played by Robert De Niro who trained with LaMotta for the boxing sequences and put on over fifty pounds in weight to produce an Oscar-winning performance. As La Motta rises through the ranks to earn his first shot at the middleweight crown, he falls in love with Vickie (Cathy Moriarty) and his feelings take over his life in his dealings with his brother and friend, Joey (the excellent Joe Pesci). Jealousy as well as an insatiable appetite send him into a downward spiral that costs him his title, his wife and his relationship with Joey. As the out-of-control fighter, De Niro delivers one of the screen’s most unforgettable performances. Pesci is just as intense as Joey, who finally realises that he is unable to tame his animalistic brother. Scorsese and cinematographer Michael Chapman shoot the film with a stylish flair that fills the boxing scenes with boundless energy and adds immediacy to the endless arguments that erupt whenever Jake is outside the ring. Coupled with Thelma Schoonmaker’s breakneck editing and the film’s audacious sound design, said scenes are the most brutally realistic depiction of the sport the cinema has ever seen. One of American cinema’s masterworks is now available on this Blue-ray disc with a host of special features, including commentaries by Scorsese, his brilliant editor Thelma Schoonmaker, writer Paul Schrader and members of the cast and crew; five documentaries (including interviews with De Niro, Scorsese and LaMotta himself); newsreel footage of La Motta in action; and the original theatrical trailer.

ADDO - THE AFRICAN KING       UNIVERSAL

The Dutch wildlife filmmaker and photographer Hugo van Lawick, otherwise known as Hugo Arndt Rodolf, Baron van Lawick, was born in Surabaya, Indonesia, and developed an early love of animals. In 1959, he went to Africa to pursue his passion of photographing and taking footage of wild animals, finding employment as a cameraman for Armand and Michaela Dennis. By 1962, he was covering East Africa for the National Geographic Society and went to The Gombe Reservation in Tanzania to record some of the amazing discoveries that primate researcher Jane Goodall had made during her study of chimpanzees, beginning a long creative relationship that sustained his art and detailed research into the predators of the plain. Over a period of twenty years he filmed the lives of three generations of chimpanzees and it took him five years to edit the hundreds of hours of material into the feature film, People of the Forest. Shot over a period of two years, Hugo Van Lawick’s Addo The African King is a dramatised wildlife film that tells the story of Addo, a young and fierce lion, who is rejected by his original pride and then forced to wander alone across the bare and ruthless Savannah. Through astoundingly beautiful images, The African King reveals the real and unpolished story of the harsh power struggle in the world of beasts. This DVD also includes a documentary about the making of the film, which sadly was the last to be made by Hugo van Lawick, who died shortly afterwards. Also now available is van Lawick’s PLAYING IN SAVAGE PARADISE, which journeys through Africa’s most famous park, the Serengeti. From the unusual to the common, life on the great plain is portrayed with spectacular footage of birth, play, pursuit and defeat - all creating an intimate view of the animals living in the Serengeti. With breathtaking scenery accompanied by stirring music, this is an intimate view of different lives and life forms of the Serengeti. Covering wildlife ranging from the African hawk eagle to the zebra, Playing In Savage Paradise documents the idiosyncrasies of individuals to the behaviour of masses, as together, they make up life on the Serengeti. Special features include My Backyard, The Serengeti, which follows Hugo van Lawick on the trail of a wildebeest herd migrating through the Serengeti National Park.

FIGHTERS & REAL MONEY - PECK     SECOND RUN DVD036

Boxing is the the toughest and most dramatic of all sports so it’s no surprise that it has long attracted film-makers and inspired many classics, including Fat City, The Harder They Fall and Raging Bull. It seems almost impossible to make a bad film about boxing but British director Ron Peck has probably come closest to the reality of the fight game with these two remarkable films that have generated a cult following since their first release in the mid-nineties. Fighters is a powerful documentary and personal essay that follows a group of aspiring British boxers through training to fight night as they take the first steps up the professional ladder. Peck spent nine months getting to know the fighters and clearly gained their confidence as they talk frankly and revealingly about this demanding sport and the sacrifices they have to make in order to succeed. The film features Jimmy Tibbs, Mark Tibbs, Jimmy Flint, Dean Holington, Steve Roberts, Terry Dixon, Bradley Stone and especially Mark Kaylor, the former British and Commonwealth Middleweight champion making his comeback. Real Money is an improvised fictional drama starring many of the boxers from Fighters, with excellent performances also by Rita Lawrence and trainer Jimmy Tibbs, in a tale of violence and rivalries surrounding a local East End gym. This two-disc release features new digital transfers of both films on dual layer discs with restored picture and sound. The generous array of extras includes ‘Night of the Fight’, with extended backstage footage of Mark Kaylor’s fight; rehearsal footage from Real Money and the un-filmed third part of the ‘trilogy’ – Gangster; an interview with Ron Peck; an extensive stills gallery; a booklet with essays by Ron Peck and boxing writer Harry Mullan. These films are revealing documents that explore the enduring appeal and potency of the image of the professional fighter - in cinema and as part of our own fantasies and aspirations.

COUNTY KILBURN - HEGARTY         BLUE DOLPHIN  

Set in the square mile of London that is home to 63 Irish pubs, County Kilburn charts the last week in London of Mickey (Ciaran McMenamin), a young bartender at the Waggon & Horses who feels his life is going nowhere and decides to return to Ireland to work for his brother. Unfortunately, because his boss has just had a heart attack, he’s stuck minding the pub on his own for the week. The subsequent turmoil and chaos conspire to turn those seven days into a near disaster as Mickey learns some important lessons about himself and his regulars, including foul-mouthed sexual marauder Black Jack and time-locked 80s Billy. Things become complicated when one of Billy’s teenage lust objects, Unattainable Sue, turns up and a priest starts picketing the pub after overhearing Mickey’s sexual fantasies about the Virgin Mary. The film was the low budget feature debut of Elliot Hegarty, who was inspired by his own experiences and wrote a screenplay that would be easy to organise and manageable to shoot. ‘A Cheers for the UK with the wit of Clerks,’ according to producer Nick Heyworth. Set in a northwest London district that has long been heavily populated by Irish immigrants, County Kilburn features soundtrack music from Ultravox, Killing Joke, Shane MacGowan, Merle Haggard, Andy Williams and Toots and the Maytals. With well-observed characters, sharp-witted dialogue and a droll disposition, this rambunctious, warm-hearted comedy will appeal especially to fans of Roddy Doyle and Father Ted.

THE CITY - COPLAND       NAXOS 2.110231

This classic example of Depression-era documentary was made for the New York World’s Fair in 1939 with funding from the Carnegie Corporation. The film involved some of the era’s major talents, including city planner Lewis Mumford, and advocated the building modern highways and new garden cities to replace America’s gritty urban slums. This film contrasts an idyllic old town lifestyle, where everyone gets a chance to speak their mind and kids play in the yard, with contemporary industrial city life where the air is dirty and the water poisoned. Directed and photographed by Ralph Steiner and Willard Van Dyke, The City has a music by Aaron Copland that brilliantly reflects the edgy bustle of the big city as well as the more languid atmosphere of country life. The recreated soundtrack for this excellent DVD release has been freshly recorded in Dolby Digital and DTS Surround by the Post-Classical Ensemble, conducted by Angel Gil-Ordóñez, with a new narration by Francis Guinan. Extras include The City with its original monaural 1939 soundtrack, featuring Morris Carnovsky (narrator) and an orchestra conducted by Max Goberman; Which Playground for your Child: Greenbelt or Gutter? - a documentary from the Greenbelt Museum featuring interviews with three Greenbelt pioneers; George Stoney in conversation with Joseph Horowitz as a legendary documentary film-maker revisits The City.

OSS-117: CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES       ICA ICA018DVD

Hubert Bonnisseur de la Bath - code-name OSS-117 - is France’s first line of defence in the Cold War. He’s a master of disguise, deadly with a weapon, invincible in hand-to-hand combat, irresistible to women and big on charm, though small on brains. In 1955 he is sent to the Egyptian capital Cairo to execute a whole shopping list of items for the French Secret Service, including investigating the death of his friend and erstwhile Cairo-based spy, controlling the Suez Canal and establishing peace in the Middle East. OSS 177 is just the man for these missions: he does not have a clue but is very lucky in getting what he wants. Created by Jean Bruce in 1949, four years before the publication of the first James Bond novel, OSS-117 has been the hero of 265 novels, selling 75 million books worldwide. Eight feature films saw him played by a variety of actors, and now this latest incarnation was a box office hit in France last year. Beautifully photographed in Morocco, this is a clever, politically incorrect parody that will delight fans of Get Smart, Airplane or the early Bond films. Directed with a light touch by Michel Hazanavicius and starring Jean Dujardin as the chauvinistic, willfully stupid hero, Argentina-born Bérénice Béjo and Aure Atika as a sexy femme fatale, this sparkling comic satire sends up every conceivable cliche of the espionage genre on film. ‘Punches out cheeky gags and incorrect humour with the gusto of Zucker/Abrahams or Mike Myers in his Austin Powers heyday’ - The Guardian.

HUNGER           PATHE DISTRIBUTION

Written and directed by British visual artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen, Hunger is a powerful and thought-provoking real-life portrayal of the 1981 Hunger Strike led by Bobby Sands in Northern Ireland’s Maze Prison. Hailed as an artistic masterpiece, this BAFTA nominated film has received many prestigious awards, including the Caméra d’Or for best first feature at the Cannes Film Festival. Hunger begins with prison officer Raymond Logan (Stuart Graham) preparing for another gruelling day at work in H-Block. The Provisional IRA prisoners are staging a ‘dirty’ protest in a bid to gain political prisoner status, and are refusing to wash or wear the prison uniform. A new IRA prisoner, Davey (Brian Milligan) arrives at The Maze, and gets placed in a cell smeared with the excrement of fellow IRA member and cell mate Gerry (Liam McMahon). Michael Fassbender lost an astonishing 21Kg to give a powerful and captivating performance as Bobby Sands, who, following several brutal attempts by the prison officers to quell the ‘dirty’ protest, uses his own body as a last resort as he leads Davey and the other IRA prisoners in a hunger strike. In one extraordinary, long unbroken sequence Liam Cunningham, who plays Father Dominic Moran, questions Sands’ underlying motives and the morality of the strike. Extras include an excellent ‘Making of’ documentary. Hunger is a profound and shocking exploration of pain and the limits of human endurance.

RAGING BULL - SCORSESE         TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX (BLUE-RAY)     

Given the implicit drama, it’s almost impossible to make a bad film about boxing so it’s saying a great lot when Raging Bull is called the greatest boxing film of all time. .Shot in a crisp black and white, Martin Scorsese’s personal approach to film-making is taken to a whole new level as he tells the bloody and brutal story of middleweight boxer Jake La Motta, superbly played by Robert De Niro who trained with LaMotta for the boxing sequences and put on over fifty pounds in weight to produce an Oscar-winning performance. As La Motta rises through the ranks to earn his first shot at the middleweight crown, he falls in love with Vickie (Cathy Moriarty) and his feelings take over his life in his dealings with his brother and friend, Joey (the excellent Joe Pesci). Jealousy as well as an insatiable appetite send him into a downward spiral that costs him his title, his wife and his relationship with Joey. As the out-of-control fighter, De Niro delivers one of the screen’s most unforgettable performances. Pesci is just as intense as Joey, who finally realises that he is unable to tame his animalistic brother. Scorsese and cinematographer Michael Chapman shoot the film with a stylish flair that fills the boxing scenes with boundless energy and adds immediacy to the endless arguments that erupt whenever Jake is outside the ring. Coupled with Thelma Schoonmaker’s breakneck editing and the film’s audacious sound design, said scenes are the most brutally realistic depiction of the sport the cinema has ever seen. One of American cinema’s masterworks is now available on this Blue-ray disc with a host of special features, including commentaries by Scorsese, his brilliant editor Thelma Schoonmaker, writer Paul Schrader and members of the cast and crew; five documentaries (including interviews with De Niro, Scorsese and LaMotta himself); newsreel footage of La Motta in action; and the original theatrical trailer.

THE BLACK BALLOON - DOWN       ICON HOME ENTERTAINMENT ICON10160

When Thomas (Rhys Wakefield) and his family move to a new home and he has to start at a new school, all he wants is to fit in. When his pregnant mother (Toni Collette) has to take things easy, his father Simon (Erik Thomson), who serves in the armed forces and has to relocate regularly, puts him in charge of his autistic older brother Charlie (Luke Ford). Thomas, with the help of his new girlfriend Jackie (Gemma Ward), faces his biggest challenge yet as Charlie’s unusual antics take Thomas on an emotional journey that causes his pent-up frustrations about his brother to pour out. This is a poignant, honest and moving film by first-time Australian director Elissa Down, who grew up with two autistic brothers. The film won six awards including Best Film, Best Direction, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor at the 50th Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards as well as Best Feature Film at The Berlin International Film Festival and Best Original Feature Film at The Australian Writer’s Guild. DVD extras include an audio commentary with Elissa Down, cast and crew interviews, photographic slideshow and trailers.

JOHN ADAMS - HOOPER               HBO HOME ENTERTAINMENT

John Adams was the second president of the United States after being the country’s first vice president for two terms under George Washington. Adams was a man whose fiercely independent sprit, reference for the rule of law and commitment to personal liberty profoundly influenced the values on which the United States was founded. He played a leading role in persuading Congress to adopt the Declaration of Independence and his revolutionary credentials helped him secure the presidency in 1797. After being defeated for re-election by Thomas Jefferson, Adams retired to Massachusetts, where he and his wife of fifty-four years Abigail founded an accomplished family line of politicians, diplomats and historians. His achievements have received greater recognition in modern times and this epic miniseries, adapted from David McCullough’s Pulitzer Prize winning book, tells his remarkable story as well as that of the first fifty years of the United States. Starring Paul Giamatti and the superb Laura Linney, the screenplay is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book John Adams by David McCullough. British director Tom Hooper elicits fine performances from his cast, which also includes English actors Tom Wilkinson, Stephen Dillane, Rufus Sewell and Tom Hollander. Partly produced by Tom Hanks, this outstanding series won the highest ever number of Emmys, for a programme in one year. As well as all seven episodes, this box set has documentaries about David McCullough and the making of the series, with cast and crew talking about bringing the book to screen as well as an on-set and location tour. A historical guide allows you to learn relevant information about John Adams and his time by means of ‘pop-ups’ during each of the episodes.

BRITISH PHANTOM PILOT   NETWORK

The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom is a two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber. Proving highly adaptable, it was used extensively by the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force during the Vietnam War, serving as the principal air superiority fighter as well as being important in ground-attack and reconnaissance roles. Production ran from 1958 to 1981, with a total of 5,195 being built, and the Phantom remained in use by the U.S. until finally leaving service in 1996. The fighter was also operated by the armed forces of eleven other countries, including Great Britain, where it provided a much needed replacement for the Royal Navy’s ageing sea vixens. British Phantom Pilot is a comprehensive film history of this sensational aircraft, featuring a historical overview of the Phantom alongside three complete and previously unseen Phantom films. Examining the role of the aircraft in ‘Low Level Training’, British Phantom pilot takes an exciting look at how navigators were trained to fly under the radar and pin point their targets, sometimes with near disastrous results. ‘Oversight’, a training film made by the RAF and based on a true story shows how misunderstanding and bad practice by RAF ground engineers made a fatal error and lost a Phantom. An additional film ‘Phantom Pilot’ follows a pilot being trained on the Chipmonk basic trainer, exploring the stages; Jet Provost, Folland Gnat Hawker Hunter to finally becoming a phantom pilot. Bonus features include an impressionistic overview of the F-4 in American service including its famed role as a Vietnam ‘War Horse’.

WEST END JUNGLE       NETWORK SN6580

This detailed and explicit documentary explores the business of prostitution just before the dawn of ‘swinging London’ in 1961. The film saw its certification rejected by the censor due to its scandalous and delicate subject matter but this DVD makes the uncut and original banned version. West End Jungle offers an intriguing insight into the history and seedy reality of the Soho sex industry of the early sixties, examining the consequences of the introduction of the Street Offences Act in 1959. Until then, an estimated 10,000 prostitutes lined the streets and alleys of Soho with no more deterrent than a £2 fine. The film shows what happened after those streets were cleaned up and the different ways in which one of Britain’s oldest professions continued to operate and thrive. From the new breed of members clubs, which sprung up everywhere, to strip clubs, clip joints, call girls, models and hostesses, West End Jungle examines the world of prostitution and its many facets, from the techniques used to picking up customers to the recruitment of rural women lured by the glamour and hopes of fame and fortune. Filmed in private members clubs and talking to various ‘experts’ in the field from massage therapists to the overt hooker walking the streets, this notorious curio provides a glimpse into the tawdrier side of Soho life at a time when everyone smoked for England. The crisp black and white photography is by Stanley Long, who went on to make 1970s exploitation flics as well as such horror ‘classics’ as The Blood Best Terror. Extras include contemporary newsreel footage (featuring Paul Raymond in an extraordinary hairdo), an interview with Lord Wolfenden, director Arnold L. Miller in conversation, and a viewing notes booklet.

YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW - DE SICA       EUREKA EKA40300

The great Italian neo-realist director Vittorio de Sica’s delightful 1963 comedy anthology Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (Italian: Ieri, oggi, domani) stars Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni in three short stories about couples in different parts of Italy. In the first story, based on a true event, Loren plays Adelina, a woman who avoids going to prison for selling black-market cigarettes in Naples by purposely staying pregnant, with the help of her willing though exhausted husband Carmine (Mastroianni). The second story features a pair of clandestine lovers who are forced to work out their problems in a car. In the final story Loren plays Mara, a Roman call girl who recruits one of her clients from Bologna (Mastroianni) to help a naive young neighbour return to his life in the seminary. The stories are mostly lightweight compared to such de Sica classics as Shoeshine or Bicycle Thieves but they are funny and heart-warming tales. Sophia Loren is in her sumptuously beautiful prime, and as Mara performs a famous strip tease that drives Mastroianni’s character understandably wild. This much-lovedl Italian film looks great in this high-definition restoration and is available for the first time on DVD in the UK, uncut and in its original aspect ratio.

ROOM AT THE TOP - CLAYTON           NETWORK

Jack Clayton’s Oscar winning Room at the Top was one of the first kitchen sink dramas and became a huge hit on its original release, marking a bold step in British movie-making with its examination of class and sexual relationships. Laurence Harvey stars as Joe Lampton, an ambitious young working-class man who moves into the Yorkshire town Warnley. There he pursues the innocent Susan (Heather Sears), against the wishes of her father, a powerful local industrialist, and falls in love with Alice (a stunning performance by Simone Signoret as an older, unhappily married French woman). Inevitably, their intense affair does not remain a secret and Joe is forced to choose between the two women – and the opposing worlds they represent. Based on a novel by John Braine set in the late 1940s, the film boldly explores sexual attitudes and the boundaries of class and wealth within small-town Sixties England. This Special Edition DVD release features a brand new transfer from the original 35mm film elements and many extras, including an audio commentary with and commemorative booklet by film historian Neil Sinyard, and image gallery and Jack Clayton’s press cuttings scrapbook.

THIS HAPPY BREED             NETWORK

This was David Lean’s first official credit as a director, and the most successful film of 1944. This happy Breed was adapted from Noel Cowards hit stage play and tells the heart-warming story of the Gibbons family, showing the spirit of a nation in a time of adversity. Robert Newton and Celia Johnson preside over their family and all its ups as we follow their trials and tribulations from the end of the Great War onwards. John Mills and Stanley Holloway provide strong support in this atmospheric slice of nostalgia, digitally re-mastered and restored in this splendid two-disc set. Extras include the original theatrical trailer, a restoration comparison featurette, an extensive South Bank Show feature on David Lean, a commemorative booklet by British film historian David Rolinson, and a stills gallery with behind the scenes images.

ESCAPE FROM SOBIBOR – GOLD         NETWORK

The acclaimed Escape From Sobibor is an accurate portrayal of the uprising on 14th October 1943, when inmates of death camp Sobibor, in Eastern Poland, carried out a terrifyingly audacious plan to escape. Those organising the revolt knew that the plan must include every prisoner - leaving no one behind to face reprisals from the SS. This film, on which survivors of the escape worked as consultants, recounts those events with sharp authenticity and won two Golden Globes in 1987 (Best Motion Picture Made For TV and Best Actor In A Supporting Role for Rutger Hauer). Also starring Alan Arkin and Joanna Pacula and directed by BAFTA-winning Jack Gold, Escape From Sobibor tells a true and moving story of overwhelming courage.

WHO KILLED TEDDY BEAR - CATES           NETWORK

This taboo-breaking crime thriller was refused certification on its original theatrical release in 1965 (and never subsequently seen anywhere in the UK) due to its sleazy subject matter. Comedian Jan Murray is cast against type as a messed up police lieutenant who embarks on a one-man crusade to track down a depraved sex maniac when a female nightclub DJ receives a disturbing series of obscene phone calls. Will the hard-boiled cop track down the relentless pervert before he carries out his sick threats..? This psychological crime thriller features exceptionally strong performances from Sal Mineo as a bodybuilding, pornography addicted bus-boy. Elaine Stritch and Juliet Prowse (showing some fine dance moves) also excel respectively as an acerbic Lesbian nightclub owner and the victimised DJ. Directed by Joseph Cates and showcasing Oscar-nominated cinematographer Joseph Brun’s breathtaking New York landscape, including a seedy Times Square and 42nd Street, this is a forgotten neo-noir masterpiece that retains the power to shock and crackles with energy due to its machine-gun dialogue, electrifying performances and magnetic soundtrack. Extras include a trailer, an episode of the 1960s legal drama Court Martial featuring Sal Mineo and ‘LSD: Insight or Insanity’, a fascinating documentary designed to warn teenagers away from drugs.

BEN X             MOMENTUM MP820D

Ben is not your average teenage boy. With everyday life an epic struggle to overcome ignorance and bullying, Ben (a remarkable and subtle acting debut by Greg Timmermans) spends most of his time living in a virtual world, using the role playing online fantasy adventure video game Archlord to escape from the harsh realities of his life. He learns to create the real-world avatar that will allow him to survive and meets Scarlite (the beautiful Laura Verlinden), a girl destined to shape his future and help him take revenge on the people making his real life such a living hell. Based on a true story, Ben X is a compelling and moving account of a young man and his relationship with a girl, and a mother and father who would do anything to protect him. Excerpts and scenes from the original online game merge into the real world to spectacular effect. Winner of three awards at the Montreal World Film Festival, this cool, enigmatic yet moving film was written and directed in Belgium by Nic Balthazar. Essential viewing for all gaming fans, the DVD also includes a copy of the Archlord along with instructions on how to download additional content. ‘Bold and intriguing’ - Empire.

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: THE COLLECTOR’S EDITION - CAPRA   UNIVERSAL 8253432

The setting for Frank Capra’s much-loved film It’s a Wonderful Life is the fictional town of Bedford Falls shortly after the Second World War. James Stewart stars as George Bailey, a man whose imminent suicide on Christmas Eve gains the attention of his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers) who is sent to help him in his hour of need. Much of the film is told through flashbacks spanning George’s life and narrated by Franklin and Joseph, unseen Angels who are preparing Clarence for his mission to save George. Through these flashbacks we see the many people whose lives have been touched by George and the difference he has made to the community in which he lives. It’s a Wonderful Life was nominated for five Oscars without winning any of them but has since become a staple of Christmas television around the world. Due to its high production costs and stiff competition at the box office it was considered a flop when first released in 1946, but the film’s universal appeal and themes of love, family and friendship have ensured its enduring popularity. The American Film Institute ranked it as eleventh of the hundred best American films ever made, and number one on their list of the most inspirational films of all time. Extras with this Special Edition DVD include a ‘Making Of’ documentary narrated by Tom Bosley, as well as an introduction and interview by Frank Capra Jr. James Stewart is perfect as the film’s folk hero (though the part was originally intended for Cary Grant) and receives great support from the charming Donna Reed as his wife, Lionel Barrymore as a greedy skinflint trying to take over the town, Gloria Grahame, Ward Bond, and Thomas Mitchell as bumbling Uncle Billy. This unmissable classic is available to buy now.

L’ARGENT - L’HERBIER   EUREKA MASTERS OF CINEMA EKA40298

Marcel L’Herbier was one of the most important figures of 1920s French cinema but even after establishing his reputation he experienced many problems with the financial constraints under which he had to work. He became obsessed by the idea of filming - at however great a cost - a fierce denunciation of money. His 1928 film, L’Argent (Money), is a modernised adaptation of Emile Zola’s celebrated novel about the corrupting power of money throughout society. Influenced by the grandeur of Abel Gance’s Napoléon, the director envisaged a film on a huge scale that required thousands of extras and a budget of 5 million francs. Nicolas Saccard and Alphonse Gunderman are rival bankers who become locked in a bitter feud. Having nearly been ruined by his rival, the ruthless Saccard attempts to raise new capital for his company by sending a celebrated aviator, Hamelin, to Guyana to drill for oil. When Hamelin is out of the way, Saccard tries to seduce his wife but only succeeds in making another dangerous enemy and his fraudulent schemes lead to his downfall. Pierre Alcover is superb as the Melmotte-like Saccard and Brigitte Helm is sinuously sexy as wicked Baroness Sandorf. This 80th Anniversary Special Edition release makes Marcel L’Herbier’s late-silent era masterpiece available for the first time on DVD in the UK. The film has been beautifully restored in a transfer from the original negative, cut in the way that the director intended and with the film speed as projected in the late 1920s, each frame being displayed in its original aspect ratio. This restoration won the prestigious Best Silent Film DVD award at the 2008 Il Cinema Ritrovato festival in Bologna, Italy. Many special features include an introduction by French composer and pianist Jean-François Zygel (who provides a new score for the film); Jean Dréville’s 1928 film About L’Argent, arguably the first ‘making-of’ documentary; a new documentary about L’Herbier; archival footage of Brigitte Helm (who also appeared in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis a year before L’Argent) arriving in Paris for the shoot of the film; screen-tests of the L’Argent actors; a demonstration of L’Herbier’s innovative sound techniques; and an 80-page booklet with publicity stills, an essay by professor of French film Richard Abel, interviews with L’Herbier, and extracts from the director’s biography. This is a brilliantly constructed and grippingly told story that has a fresh resonance given the current financial crises. A marvelous film from one of the silent cinema’s greatest directors.

RAY WINSTONE’S FOOTBALL BLINDERS AND BLUNDERS         4DVD

Association football - better known as football or soccer - is widely regarded as the most popular sport in the world, evoking great passions and playing an important role in the life of fans, local communities and whole nations. The laws of the game are determined by the International Football Association Board, formed in 1886, and football is today played at a professional level all over the world. Millions of people go to football stadiums to follow their favourite teams and billions more watch the on television. According to a survey conducted by FIFA in 2001, more than 240 million people from more than 200 countries regularly play the game at some level. On this new DVD the Emmy award-winning actor, geezer and football nut Ray Winstone takes us on a journey through the funniest gaffes, craziest cock-ups and most brilliant bits of this marvelous - and occasionally ridiculous - game. Presented in Winstone’s usual no-nonsense style, the DVD features spellblinding goals, unbelievable blunders, brilliant free-kicks, nightmare misses, players going bonkers and moments of mind-blowing football magic. Ray Winstone talks about all aspects of the game and explains why it means so much to him. A treat for all fans of the beautiful game.

STORM BOY       BRITFILMS BFDVD1001

Based on Colin Thiele novel of the same name, Henri Safran's enduring 1976 film is an engaging story about a lonely boy and his pelican. Storm Boy (the excellent Greg Rowe) likes to wander alone along the bleak and beautiful coast of South Australia’s Coorong. He and his father, known to some as ‘Hideaway Tom’, live a reclusive life among the dunes that face out into the Southern Ocean. Storm Boy’s real name in the film is Mike - ‘Storm Boy’ is what he is called by Fingerbone Bill (charismatically played by the great David Gulpilil), a local Indigenous man who becomes his friend. After a pelican mother is shot, Storm Boy rescues three chicks, which he calls Mr Proud, Mr Ponder and Mr Percival, and nurses them back to health. His father eventually forces Storm Boy to release the birds, but Mr Percival returns. The story then concentrates on the conflict between the boy’s lifestyle and the externally imposed requirement for him to attend school, and the fate of the pelican. Sensitive and heartfelt, this marvelous film was made for $260,000 on location on the windswept, desolate beaches of South Australia. It won a medal at the Moscow Film Festival in 1977 for best children’s film as well as the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film in the same year. Touching sensitively on questions of race relations, ecology, family breakdown and ownership, this is a timeless, much cherished film that appeals to both children and adults alike.

MY WINNIPEG - MADDIN       SODA PICTURES SODA079

Guy Maddin’s acclaimed film featuring 86-year-old B-movie star Ann Savage is a surrealist quasi-documentary about the director’s Canadian home city, Winnipeg. This poetic, moving and often funny film explores the birthplace of personal mythologies, attempting to understand the nature of memory. Equal parts mystical rumination and personal history, city chronicle and deranged post-Freudian proletarian fantasy, My Winnipeg blends local myth with childhood trauma, all narrated with Guy Maddin’s usual entertaining and inspired energy. The film, which won the Best Canadian Feature award at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival, apes silent-era techniques; shots fall in and out of focus; and Maddin uses Super-8, 16mm, and even a cell phone camera to help drive his vision. Ann Savage gives an amazing performance as Maddin’s mother, and the director’s heartfelt commentary demonstrates both his fondness for and his frustration with Winnipeg. Mixing animation, archive and re-enactments in truly individual style, My Winnipeg is a fine example of Maddin’s extraordinary talents, providing ample proof that he is one of the most resourceful and innovative filmmakers in the independent film scene. Special features include an interview with the director at the BFI, Southbank.

THE CLOUDED YELLOW - THOMAS         EUREKA EKA40285

This entertaining 1951 UK crime thriller stars Trevor Howard as David Somers, a fired British Secret Service who finds unlikely work cataloguing the butterfly collection at a country house occupied by an upper class couple and their beautiful but troubled niece, Sophie, played by Jean Simmons. When an obnoxious local handyman (Maxwell Reed) is murdered, suspicion falls on Sophie, who David has by then grown fond of. He helps her to escape arrest as they go on the run together to London, Newcastle, the Lake District and Liverpool, with the intention of leaving the country by ship. All ends satisfactorily following an exciting rooftop chase when the true identity of the murderer is revealed. With elements of Gaslight and Hitchcock’s 39 Steps, this neat psychological thriller benefits from having unusual and interesting characters. Jean Simmons is excellent as the fey Sophie and Trevor Howard brings a convincing edginess to the hero. The supporting cast of British actors includes such stalwarts as Kenneth More, Barry Jones, Richard Wattis, André Morell, Sonia Dresdel, platinum blonde Sandra Dorne and the inevitable Sam Kydd. Director Ralph Thomas went on to remake The 39 Steps in 1959, as well as many Doctor in the House and Carry On comedies.

BARAKA: REMASTERED     SECOND SIGHT 2NDVD 3147

Baraka takes its title from an ancient Middle Eastern word meaning ‘a blessing’, or ‘breath of life’. This visually stunning and inspirational film was shot over 13 months in 24 countries and is an overwhelming experience that spans the geographical, cultural and social diversity of our changing planet. A journey of rediscovery, Baraka is the power, the beauty and the rage of life itself. Often compared to Koyaanisqatsi - to which Ron Fricke’s pioneering time-lapse photography techniques contributed hugely - Baraka uses footage of landscapes, churches, ruins, religious ceremonies and cities, filmed with time-lapse photography to capture the pulse of humanity as it flocks and swarms in daily activity. Set to an atmospheric soundtrack inspired by various rituals and nature itself; the film captures the very essence of man’s relationship with the earth, both harmonious and catastrophic In addition to making comparisons between natural and technological phenomena, the film searches for a universal cultural perspective. Ron Fricke’s breathtaking masterpiece has been restored and re-mastered using the latest technology, with the original negative scanned frame by frame at maximum resolution so that this incredible film can be seen as never before. This stunning two disc special edition DVD release also includes a new documentary ‘Baraka – A Closer Look’, a feature on the restoration, and a soundtrack digitally restored and remixed. An unforgettable experience.

WHAT? - POLANSKI     SEVERIN

Widely regarded as one of the most influential and prolific directors of the past forty years, Roman Polanski’s work includes such memorable films as Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown, Tess and The Pianist. He described his 1972 psychedelic fairy tale What? (also known as Diary of Forbidden Dreams, Che?, Quoi?, and Was? in different countries) as ‘the ribald adventures of an innocent girl’. Critics called it ‘an amoral, depraved disaster’. The film stars the charming Sydne Rome as a young American woman travelling through Italy who finds herself in a remote Mediterranean villa inhabited by priests, pianists, perverts and a syphilitic pimp (a deliciously bizarre performance by Marcello Mastroianni, speaking English) while indulging in madcap acts of gang rape, sodomy and ping-pong. Hugh Griffith gives a typically ripe performance and other actors involved include Guido Alberti, Gianfranco Piacentini, Mario Bussolino, Carlo Delle Piane, Henning Schlüter and Polanski himself. More than three decades after its controversial release, What? remains the most butchered, debated and least seen film of the Oscar-winning director’s career. This strange, surreal and sexy comedy has now been restored to its original running time from a vault print reportedly stolen from the wine cellar of producer Carlo Ponti and is available for the first time on DVD. A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma, this is an example of a genius losing himself inside his own cinematic mind to create a world where nothing seems right. Based loosely on Alice in Wonderland, Polanski’s dark comedy is bona fide cult classic.

THIS SPORTING LIFE - ANDERSON          NETWORK

Director Lindsay Anderson’s gritty and powerful northern drama was one of the most notable films from British cinema’s ‘New Wave’ of the 1960s. With a screenplay by David Storey based on his own novel, the film takes an unflinching look at the lives of the working class set in the bleak landscape of northern England. Frank Machin is a miner who lodges with Mrs. Hammond, a widow. His competitive nature and powerful physique lead him to join the local rugby team. With a progressing sports career comes success - and perhaps a new sense of insecurity - which seems to make Frank harsher and cruder than he already is. But his inability to articulate his sensitive side only serves to alienate people further. The film features a career-making performance by Richard Harris with strong support from Rachel Roberts, both of whom are on tremendous form. This version has been taken from an HD print in the correct aspect ratio, so that for the first time it can be viewed on DVD as it was meant for a cinema audience. Special features include the original theatrical trailer, an extensive image gallery, promotional and script PDFs. and a commemorative booklet by film historian David Rolinson. Stylishly photographed in black and white by Denys Coop, This Sporting Life is a powerful and passionate masterpiece. Highly recommended.

BATTLE OF THE SOMME        NETWORK

Battle of the Somme Battle is a pioneering battlefield documentary that was seen by huge audiences in the UK when first released in August 1916, while the battle was still being fought. Audiences hailed it as an opportunity to see the reality of the Western Front for the first time, and to share the experiences of the soldiers who were fighting there. The film inaugurated a debate about the on-screen depiction of combat that continues to this day, and is the origin of some of the most widely used and iconic moving images of the First World War. This digitally restored print by the Imperial War Museum’s Film and Video Archive and Dragon Digital Intermediate is a startling improvement on previously released video versions. Extras include an 36-page booklet, full orchestral score by Laura Rossi, a recreation of the medley of light classics, folk tunes, popular songs and military music recommended as an accompaniment for the film in 1916, interviews with composer Laura Rossi, Stephen Horne and the curators who worked on the project, and missing footage. Essential viewing.

ADDRESSING THE NATION         BFI  BFIVD75S / E

Established in 1933, the GPO Film Unit produced one of the finest and most impressive British collections of documentary, public information, animation and industrial film ever to come from a single UK source. A hotbed of creative energy and talent, it provided a springboard to many of the best-known and critically acclaimed figures in the British Documentary Movement. John Grierson, Alberto Cavalcanti, Humphrey Jennings, Basil Wright, Harry Watt, Edgar Anstey and Arthur Elton, alongside innovators and experimentalists such as Len Lye and Norman McLaren are some of the directors whose work embraced public information films, drama-documentary, social reportage, animation and advertising. Celebrating the 75th anniversaries in September 2008 of both the BFI and the GPO Film Unit itself, the BFI National Archive, in partnership with The British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA), Royal Mail and BT Heritage, has curated and restored this legendary output of short films. Addressing the Nation contains 15 films from the period 1933-1935 and explores the unit’s early experimentation with sound. It features Basil Wright’s mystical Song of Ceylon and Len Lye’s A Colour Box; the critically acclaimed Weather Forecast; Coal Face - directed by Alberto Cavalcanti and Auden and Britten’s precursor to Night Mail. Other highlights include John Grierson’s poetic masterpiece, Granton Trawler, The King’s Stamp (William Coldstream), Cable Ship (Alexander Shaw and Start Legg), the 58-minute BBC - The Voice of Britain (Stuart Legg), Cavalcanti’s satirical Pett and Pott, and John Atkins Saves Up (Arthur Elton), a funny and surprisingly erotic exploration of the Post Office savings book. There are many other neglected works here, some available for the first time since their original release. They provide fascinating glimpses back to a time of steam trains, smoke and bowler hats, when the telephone was a novelty and clipped accents ruled. This invaluable double-disc box set also has an 80-page book and special features that include John Grierson’s recently-discovered On the Fishing Banks of Skye.

VERTIGO - HITCHCOCK       UNIVERSAL

Alfred Hitchcock’s psychological thriller Vertigo, made in 1958, is arguably his masterpiece, and it began a great period in which he also directed North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963). Vertigo stars James Stewart as John ‘Scottie’ Ferguson, a retired San Francisco police detective who suffers from acrophobia (fear of high places). A wealthy acquaintance asks Scottie to follow his wife, Madeleine, who he fears may be going insane because she thinks she is possessed by a dead ancestor. Scottie is reluctant but agrees after seeing the beautiful Madeleine, played by one of Hitchcock’s famous cool blondes, Kim Novak, who here gives her finest film performance. Although Vertigo was modestly received when first released it remained one of Hitchcock’s favourites and has gained in reputation ever since. This 50th Anniversary Edition double DVD set features a meticulously restored print plus a host of extras, such as a commentary with associate producer Herbert Coleman and several documentaries and features that examine the making of the film. ‘One of the most painful depictions of romantic fatalism in all of cinema’ - Radio Times.

MEMORIES OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT - ALEA   MR BONGO FILMS  MRBDVD011

Memories of Underdevelopment (Spanish: Memorias del Subdesarrollo) is a 1968 film directed in Cuba by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea. Based on a novel by Edmundo Desnoes, who makes a cameo appearance (as does the director), the film’s style shows the influence of France’s Nouvelle Vague cinema at the time. Sergio (brilliantly played by the ultra cool Sergio Corrieri) is a wealthy bourgeois aspiring writer who decides to stay in Cuba even though his wife, parents and friends flee to Miami following the Bay of Pigs incident. Alone in a brave new world, under the constant threat of foreign invasion, Sergio looks back over the changes in Cuba, from the Cuban Revolution to the missile crisis, the problems of living in an underdeveloped country, and his relations with his girlfriends. These include the troublesome sixteen year old virgin Elena (Daisy Granados), who he attempts to mould into the image of his ex-wife. Alea was a staunch supporter of the revolution but his film is not afraid to provide an honest, raw and uncompromising analysis of the newly formed system of government. Through a moving blend of narrative fiction, still photography and rare documentary footage, the director catalogues the intricacies of the early days of the Castro regime, producing a stirring and enigmatic work that feeds from the culture of the very subject it is studying - Cuba. Hailed as perhaps the most sophisticated film ever to come out of that country, Memories Of Underdevelopment is a poetic and visionary tour de force that now makes its DVD debut in the UK. ‘A fascinating achievement’ - New York Times.

TAKESHI KITANO: COLLECTION           SECOND SIGHT

Filmmaker, comedian, TV host, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, singer, painter, university professor and one-time video game designer, Takeshi Kitano has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly distinctive films. When not working as a film director he is usually known as Beat Takeshi, the nickname ‘Beat’ coming from his days as part of a comedy duo called ‘The Two Beats’. His films are mostly exciting, violent, gritty yakuza gangster movies laced with dark humour and expressing a bleak or nihilistic philosophy, though beneath the graphic violence and melancholy introspection Kitano reveals a genuine affection for his characters. In 1989, after several comedy roles, he was cast in Violent Cop as a rebellious, sociopathic detective who responds to every situation with violence. When the original director (Kinji Fukasaku) became ill, Kitano took over and extensively rewrote the script. The film was a great financial and critical success and marked the beginning of Kitano’s career as a filmmaker. His second film as director - and his first as screenwriter - was Boiling Point (1990), in which Masahiko Ono plays a young man whose baseball coach is threatened by a local yakuza. He is befriended by a psychotic gangster played by Kitano, who further develops his idiosyncratic style involving shocking violence, bizarre humour and stoically shot ‘still’ scenes. His third film, A Scene at the Sea (1991) features a deaf garbage collector who, with the help of his deaf girlfriend, becomes determined to learn how to surf after discovering a broken surfboard while working. The film reveals a more romantic side Kitano, along with his trademark deadpan approach. Foreign audiences first began to take notice of him after the 1993 release of Sonatine, in which he plays a Tokyo yakuza, tired of gangster life, who is sent to Okinawa to help end a gang war. In 1995, Kitano returned to his comedic roots with Getting Any?, which mercilessly satirised popular Japanese culture. Following a serious motorcycle accident, he came back to make Kids Return (1996), a wistful tale about a pair of high school bullies confronted by a more skilled street punk. It became Takeshi Kitano’s most successful film in Japan. Second Sight’s brilliant collection features all six of these remarkable, entertaining films, with A Scene At The Sea and Kids Return making their UK DVD debut. Extra features include a 68 minute documentary, ‘Takeshi Kitano – The Unpredictable’, and commentaries for Violent Cop and Sonatine by Chris D, author of Outlaw Master Of Japanese Film. ‘An exceptional filmmaker’ - The Guardian..