alan clarke

http://www.dvdoutsider.co.uk/dvd/reviews/a/alanclarke.html

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/05/clarke.html

where did you get contact?!? imo it's his best film, which is saying a hell of a lot.

there are threads on two of his films, 'rita and sue' and 'penda's fen', i think, but he's still relatively obscure.

the kelly book is excellent. it's an oral history.

i *think* the commentaries on the box set version have been put on the most recent uk dvds. they get reissued quite often, but only, like, three of them: the firm, made in britain, scum (+ the original bbc scum too). i think 'elephant' is on one of the dvds now. micturates on GVS's version.

the firm and made in britain are two of the best british films ever made. out of the others i've seen (which is most of them... but not baal) 'psy-ops' and, without question, 'penda's fen' are most in need of transfer. 'christine' is an acquired taste, possibly his most avant-garde film. 'road' is much more direct than his other stuff, the anger is right there: a great film about the postindustrial north. fuck it, he deserves the full-on box-set treatment.

where did you get contact?!?

hey, i offered.

lol

i would really like to see road again.

rita sue bob must be the most frequently shown film on uktv.

that and -- i think this is true -- 'cottage to let' (1941).

it is criminal that he is not up there with hitchcock as one of britain's best directors (at least on ilx). plus roth and oldman are the two best performances i have ever ever seen.

have also got psy-ops, but where did YOU see penda's fen and christine?

the bbc badly need to repeat his play for todays and all his other early work. crazy that they didn't do all this when the 2003 elephant came out. badly want to hunt out those docs and commentaries.

(above mentioned films and plenty more alan clarke can be found on www dot thebox dot bz)

the bbc badly need to repeat his play for todays and all his other early work. crazy that they didn't do all this when the 2003 elephant came out. badly want to hunt out those docs and commentaries.

trudat. i saw them at an nft season in 2002, which was basically everything he did. i swear to god, other than 'rita and sue' and 'scum', none of the others has been shown on tv here since then. despite the advent of bbc4, more4, etc. the wednesday plays/play for todays that i've seen (also at the nft) have been outstanding. ('abigail's party' got shown the other week: filmed theatre. a lot of them weren't. the mediateque at the new-look nft has some of them available to view.)

i started a thread here 1ce about 'british cinema of the seventies' -- subtext was, i guess, there wasn't one, british cinema is now an offshoot of tv. so clarke hasn't been fit into any kind of a 'grand narrative', despite having all these really high-profile admirers.

road is just incredible. well it is up to that very last 10 seconds where they're all chanting and then look at the ceiling and scream, a touch too sixth form am dram but other than that, wow. reminded me so much of growing up in and around northern satellite towns, specifically leigh/wigan.

road, made in britain, the firm: 3 of his (and the uk's) best films, ever.

christine now uploaded to thebox!

elephant is astounding.

No question.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyRL73HIvqg&feature=youtu.be

Pendas Fen, Contact, Road and Elephant are all up on Youtube btw. Got a copy of "Baal" on the torrents as well.

cross-referencing the Wyrd Brytain thread: I want this v. badly:

http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/announcements/alan-clarke-s-work-be-presented-its-entirety-bfi

I remember talking abt this somewhere on ILX recently - it's currently at £109 pre-order on Amazon, which is more than I want to pay, but I'm hoping that (as with a lot of BFI sets) it comes down in price after a while. Or it could be a limited edition that sells out almost instantly and then starts to go for silly money secondhand. Hmmm....

yeah I mean the reality is almost certainly that I won't have that amount of disposable income in the next few months but I'd be gutted to miss out on it altogether

Pendas Fen is definitely getting a stand alone release, maybe some of the others, too (and I'm hoping it will be possible to at least rent the whole set from Amazon/Love Film)

Danton's Death: Play of the Month, dir. Alan Clarke

nice one

NYC retro (most of them free!). I think i've seen only Road, The Firm, and the Tim Roth skinhead one (not in the series).

http://anthologyfilmarchives.org/film_screenings/series/47810

Made in Britain?

Watch Elephant

That's the one about The Troubles, no?

he made a few such

"Penda's Fen" is a must-see

"Elephant" is the bleak, minimalist short that Gus van Sant referenced by borrowing it's title. Yeah it's about The Troubles but not in the way of most film treatments

Elephant is fantastic

Elephant is one of the late 'walking' films where Clarke really took to the steadicam. I see in that season it's showing w/ Christine, which imho is Clarke's masterpiece - heroin addiction rendered as matter-of-factly (and as bleakly) as Jeanne Dielman doing the dishes.

I have a problem with the politicization of Elephant these days tbh

DEpoliticisation that is

i think that's happening across Clarke's work in a similar way to a certain kind of attitude to the Troubles - they become treated as historical moments and therefore the political content can be safely ignored. the irony of that with Elephant is it was aimed at that bubble of English wilful ignornce in the first place

Like when the internet got broke, a few months back, by people in England googling DUP en masse.

Saw 3 of the early '70s films this weekend, more later. Maybe listen to this later:

http://illusionpodcast.blogspot.com/2014/12/episode-40-bbc-films-of-alan-clarke.html

saw Scum for the first time last month, loved it. I can't think of another movie off the top of my head that features absolutely no music at all, diegetic or not.

Anyone seen his version of Danton's Death? or Baal with Bowie?

Yeah "Danton's Death" is quite good. "Baal" is the Brechtian thing with some split screen in it. Bowie is great (and looks wonderfully scummy and dirty) in it although it is a bit of a slog.

Ohmygod my brother and sister-in-law got me the Clarke at the BBC box for Christmas, so happy

Until I start watching the films, obv.

Stars of the Roller State Disco is secretly a highlight, I think.

Might spend a week just watching the Saint-Just speech from Danton's Death on a loop, feels like good prep for 2020

xp
Don't forget Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmOlvoqJ2S4

inexplicably missing from the box set

Made for cinema release originally I think

Sovereigns Company & The Hallelujah Handshake on the first set are great too

Beloved Enemy doesn't get enough love.