Optimum March Releases

INCENDIARY
"powerhouse performance from Michelle Williams"
SUNDAY EXPRESS

Starring Michelle Williams, Ewan McGregor, Matthew Macfadyen
Directed by Sharon Maguire

Based on the novel by Chris Cleave

This tense, explosive thriller is OUT TO OWN ON DVD 2nd MARCH 2009

A feisty young mother (Academy Award nominated Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain) lives with her husband and young son in a concrete tower overlooking the beautiful Georgian home of journalist Jasper Black (Ewan McGregor). One May day, overcome with anxiety about her husband's job as a bomb disposal expert and after a few drinks in the local pub, she seeks solace in the arms of Jasper. Suddenly a series of massive explosions tear through a London football stadium, and straight through the heart of her family. In her grief and guilt, she realises her own fate and that of everyone touched by the tragedy hinges on the real story behind the events of that day. Incendiary is a powerfully intimate and ultimately life-affirming emotional drama set against a stark vision of terror-stricken London.

Extras: Interviews with Sharon Maguire / Anand Tucker / Andy Paterson / Chris Cleave / Michelle Williams / Ewan McGregor / Matthew Macfadyen

Tech specs:
Cert: 15
Feature Running Time: 95 mins approx
Region 2
Feature Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Colour PAL
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
English Language
Cat No: OPTD1478
RRP: £15.99

THE FEDERICO FELLINI
COLLECTION

Featuring

WHITE SHEIK
LA STRADA
NIGHTS OF CABIRIA - UK DVD Premiere

BOX-SET OUT TO OWN ON DVD 2nd March 2009

Born in Rimini, Italy in 1920, Federico Fellini almost drifted into film-making by mistake. Aged 19 he went to study at the University of Rome, where he met and later married Giulietta Masina. Intrigued by the portrayal of journalism in film, he decided to try out the role in real life, submitting articles and amusing editors with his cartoons and caricatures. When Roberto Rossellini wanted leading vaudeville comedian Aldo Fabrizi to play the lead in Rome, Open City (1945), he made the contact through Fellini, who was a friend of the actor. Thus Fellini ended up working on the script a little and observing the processes in the editing room. Italian films at the time placed much emphasis on image as dialogue was often dubbed later. This was to later inform Fellini's work with a vivid, visual style. He became a director of uniquely personal films that celebrate the ceaseless carnival of life. Winner of four Oscars, Federico Fellini has had an immense impact on contemporary film. His groundbreaking work has influenced and inspired such celebrated directors as Woody Allan, Terry Gilliam and David Lynch. Included in this collection is Fellini's debut: comedy The White Sheik (also his first collaboration with composer Nino Rota), the Oscar-winning La Strada, the film that propelled him to the world stage and neo-realist Oscar-winning masterpiece Nights Of Cabiria - available here for the first time on UK DVD and also released individually.

Extras: see individual titles


Box-set Tech specs:

Cert: PG
Total Feature Running Time: 300 mins approx
Region 2
Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Black and White
Audio: Mono 2.0
Italian with English Subtitles
Cat no: OPTD1491
RRP: £34.99


THE WHITE SHEIK (1952)

An early film from Italian legend Federico Fellini, The White Sheik tells the story of a newlywed couple's honeymoon that turns into disaster when the virginal bride runs away in search of the eponymous hero, a soap-opera actor who fulfils her naïve romantic ideals. Her distraught husband proves not to be immune from temptation himself when he encounters a prostitute during the search for his wife. Co-written by Michelangelo Antonioni and Tullio Pinelli, with a score by Nino Rota.

Extras: Fellini's White Sheik and other stories / Fellini's collection at Lilly Library / Guilietta's Secret Spaghetti Sauce Recipe / Photo gallery / Filmographies

Tech specs:
Cert: U
Feature Running Time: 84 mins approx
Region 2
Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Anamorphic
Mono
Black and White
Italian with English subtitles

LA STRADA (1954)

Looking for an assistant, brutish circus strong man Zampano (Anthony Quinn), buys the innocent and slow-witted Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina) from her impoverished mother and the pair take to the road with a travelling circus. Life with Zampano is violent and unpredictable and when Gelsomina falls in love with a high-wire artist (Richard Basehart), Zampano's volcanic temper erupts with tragic consequences. Characteristically mingling elements of biography with metaphor and symbolism, La Strada combines an easygoing charm with a hard-edged realism, a formula that made the film the first winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film.


Extras (as per previous individual release): Re-mastered print / Giulietta Masina: La Forza di un Sorriso (The Power of a Smile) Documentary about Fellini's wife and the star of La Strada (52 mins approx) / Audio commentary on selected scenes by Christopher Wiegand author of the Taschen book Federico Fellini

Tech specs:
Cert: PG
Feature Running Time: 103 mins approx
Region 2
Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Mono
B&W / PAL
Italian with English subtitles

NIGHTS OF CABIRIA (1957)

Welcome to the world of Cabiria (Guilietta Masina), a feisty, loud, outspoken and somewhat naïve prostitute waiting for a miracle, and one of the most unforgettable and endearing characters of European cinema. We share Cabiria's dreams and disillusions as she drifts around the streets of a harsh and unforgiving Rome, always finding herself back amongst the same seedy cohorts. What follows is a series of humiliating episodes with men where Cabiria's spirit is hurt but never broken. Fellini keeps us guessing as to his true intentions right until the last moment. Winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actress for Masina at the Cannes Film Festival.

Extras: Trailer / Interview with Italian Cinema expert Phil Kemp

Tech specs:
Cert: PG
Feature Running Time: 113 mins approx
Region 2
Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
B&W PAL
Audio: Mono 2.0
Italian language with English subtitles



JEAN-PIERRE MELVILLE BOX-SET
Featuring
ARMY OF SHADOWS
LE DOULOS
LEON MORIN PRETRE
LE CERCLE ROUGE
BOB LE FLAMBEUR
UN FLIC


OUT TO OWN ON DVD 2 MARCH 2009

Jean-Pierre Melville (1917 - 1974) is one of the most revered French film directors of all time. Born in Paris, his first movies were shot on 16mm with a camera given to him by his father. Conscripted in to military service just before the outbreak of the Second World War, Melville then escaped Nazi-occupied France and became a member of the French Resistance. Throughout his career as a film director he constantly drew on this experience, creating underworlds of secrecy and deception. The reluctant godfather of the French New Wave, Melville's highly individual style was influenced by the ideas of existentialism and surrealism, but arguably his greatest debt was to the American film noirs of 1930s and '40s Hollywood, the traditions of which he wove with inimitable style into his quintessentially French films, seeing him hailed by many as the father of the French gangster movie.

This set contains six of his finest films, including amongst others his early bittersweet masterpiece, Bob Le Flambeur, the soon-to-be-remade Un Cercle Rouge, and his final film, the underrated Un Flic.

Tech Specs
Cert: 12
Total Feature Running Time: 696 mins approx
Colour/PAL / B&W PAL
Region 2
Stereo / Mono
French with English subtitles
Cat no: OPTF1485
RRP: £44.99


ARMY OF SHADOWS (1969)

Tense, brutal and superbly realised, Army of the Shadows is a gritty drama following members of the French resistance fighting for freedom during the occupation. Based on Joseph Kessel's wartime novel, and Melville's own memories of the Underground, the film introduces us to Phillipe Gerbier (Lino Ventura) a resistance leader who daringly escapes Nazi imprisonment by killing a guard. Vengeance on his betrayer is swift and, in a scene possessing an almost unimaginable level of icy brutality, execution meted out by hand. Gerbier escapes to London but soon events conspire to return him to occupied France and another daring escape attempt involving fellow Resistance fighters Félix (Paul Crauchet) and Mathilde (Simone Signoret).

Extras: Commentary for selected scenes by Ginette Vincendeau / Jean Pierre Melville: filmmaker (4 mins) / Le Journal de la Resistance - footage of the liberation of Paris (HOH subtitles, 32 mins) / Melville Army of Shadows (27 mins)

Cert: 12
Feature Running Time: 138 mins approx
Region 2
Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Anamorphic
Stereo 2.0
Colour PAL
French with English subtitles

For individual release (2nd March 2009) Cat no: OPTD1487 / RRP: £17.99


LE DOULOS (1962)

Following his release from prison, Maurice (Serge Reggiani) robs and kills the fence responsible for the death of his wife and steals the jewels he has been hiding, products of a recent heist. He then plans a heist of his own, sharing his plan with Silien (Jean-Paul Belmondo), Underworld criminal and supposed police informer. As the story unfolds Melville keeps us guessing with plot twists and murky motives revealed through his traditional hard-boiled dialogue and picturesque visuals. More than a simple gangster film, Le Doulos intricately weaves elements of classic film noir and emerging New Wave filmmaking to explore just how deeply the qualities of friendship and loyalty run. Adapted from the novel by Pierre Lesou.

Extras: Commentary for selected scenes by Ginette Vincendeau / Trailer/ Interview with Assistant Director Volker Scholondorff (BFI)/ Introduction by Ginette Vincendeau

Cert: 12
Feature Running Time: 104 mins approx
Region 2
Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Mono 2.0
B&W PAL
French with English subtitles

For individual release (2nd March 2009) Cat no: OPTD1487 / RRP: £17.99

LEON MORIN PRETRE (1961)

A poetic, spiritual film, Leon Morin Pretre opens in a small French town during the occupation. Barny (Emmanuelle Riva) is a young, restless, sexually frustrated widow, living with her young daughter, who long ago decided to take the easiest route in life. An agnostic and communist, she one day encounters a handsome, young priest Leon Morin (Jean-Paul Belmondo) and challenges him to defend his faith, but his response both surprises and intrigues her. As Leon attempts to set Barny on the right path a platonic relationship cautiously develops between them, but is threatened by Barny's burgeoning romantic obsession with this unattainable man of the cloth. A powerful erotic charge fuels the narrative of this adaptation of Beatrix Beck's novel.

Extras: Commentary for selected scenes by Ginette Vincendeau / Trailer/ Interview with Assistant Director Volker Scholondorff (BFI)/ Introduction by Ginette Vincendeau

Cert: PG
Feature Running Time: 112 mins approx
Region 2
Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Mono 2.0
BW/PAL
French with English subtitles

For individual release (same date) Cat no: OPTD1488 / RRP: £17.99

LE CERCLE ROUGE (1970)


Le Cercle Rouge is a powerful, in-depth study of the French Underworld and a uniquely stylish Gallic film noir. Regular Melville collaborator and quintessential anti-hero Alain Delon plays Corey, a cool and aristocratic master-thief, released from prison on the same day that a murderer named Vogel (Gian-Maria Volonte) escapes from the custody of police superintendent Mattei. The two pair up with Jansen (Yves Montand), an embittered ex-police sharpshooter to plan and spectacularly execute a daring robbery of an upmarket Parisian jewellery store. They face impossible odds but are compelled to carry the heist out, with tragic consequences. A perfect combination of the Hollywood gangster film and Melville's trademark existentialism, Le Cercle Rouge is a masterful, pessimistic, and achingly melancholic work soon to be remade by Melville aficionado John Woo.


Extras: Commentary for selected scenes by Ginette Vincendeau / Trailer/ Interview with Assistant Director Bernard Stora (BFI)/ Introduction by Ginette Vincendeau (BFI) /
Rui Nogueira on Melville


Cert: PG
Feature Running Time: 134 mins approx
Region 2
Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Mono 2.0
Colour/PAL
French with English subtitles

For individual release (same date) Cat no: OPTD1489 / RRP: £17.99


BOB LE FLAMBEUR (1955)

Made the year before his death, Jean-Pierre Melville's final film and his third with Alain Delon after Le Samouraï and Le Cercle Rouge, Un Flic is the director's most extreme and underrated gangster movie. Parisian police commissioner Coleman (Delon) is not a happy man, but he does what he can to get through each day. Coleman finds solace in his affair with Cathy (Catherine Deneuve), who also happens to be the girlfriend of Coleman's friend, Simon (Richard Crenna), the head of a gang of daring criminals. As the commissioner's pursuit of the gang intensifies, so does the rivalry between the two men. A wonderfully fatalistic study of loss and deception and a distillation of Melville's interest in the codes of loyalty and honour, Un Flic marks a fitting epitaph to one of the finest careers in contemporary cinema.

Extras: Intro by Ginette Vincendeau

Tech Specs
Cert: PG
Feature Running Time: 98 mins approx
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Full Frame
B&W
Region 2 / French Language with subtitles / Mono


UN FLIC (1972)

Made the year before his death, Jean-Pierre Melville's final film and his third with Alain Delon after Le Samouraï and Le Cercle Rouge is the director's most extreme and underrated gangster movie. Parisian police commissioner Coleman (Delon) is not a happy man, but he does what he can to get through each day. Coleman finds solace in his affair with Cathy (Catherine Deneuve), who also happens to be the girlfriend of Coleman's friend, Simon (Richard Crenna), the head of a gang of daring criminals. As the commissioner's pursuit of the gang intensifies, so does the rivalry between the two men.

Beginning with a remarkable bank robbery on a deserted beach front and also featuring a helicopter heist shot in real time, Un Flic is perhaps the director's most perfect synthesis of style and suspense. A wonderfully fatalistic study of loss and deception and a distillation of Melville's interest in the codes of loyalty and honour, the film marks a fitting epitaph to one of the finest careers in contemporary cinema.

Extras : None

Cert: 12
Feature Running Time: 96 mins approx
Region 2
Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Mono
Colour/PAL
French with English subtitles