Camera Obscura: The Walerian Borowczyk Collection

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#326 Post by **swo17** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 5:52 pm

BBFC discussion moved here, other than this wonderment:

zedz wrote:On a lighter note, has anybody posted the intriguing image Amazon is using for cover art?

Cover art is still TBC on Arrow's site, so I have no idea what the status of that image is.

MichaelB · #327 Post by **MichaelB** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 5:53 pm

It's temporary cover art - the final version will be a lot less busy!

MichaelB · #328 Post by **MichaelB** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 7:56 pm

More details about the big Borowczyk retrospectives at BFI Southbank and the ICA in May and June have just been published, including screening dates.

knives · #329 Post by **knives** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 4:02 am

I don't know how much this would be possible, but I'd love an extra or at least a gallery in the book on Borowczyk's art for posters and the like. Just taking a look at his Seventh Seal is breathtaking.

MichaelB · #330 Post by **MichaelB** » Sat Mar 22, 2014 10:41 am

Your wish is our command. I'm delighted to confirm that we have hi-res scans of Borowczyk's posters, and that they will be extensively featured.

knives · #331 Post by **knives** » Sun Mar 23, 2014 7:31 am

Thanks, that truly is a treat.

MichaelB · #332 Post by **MichaelB** » Sun Mar 23, 2014 5:07 pm

MichaelB wrote:My understanding is that it will be a very short but illustrated piece in the opening 'Rushes' section in the next issue (i.e. the one out next week), with a much more substantial Borowczyk feature to appear nearer the release date.

I had a sneak preview of the latter at the Kinoteka press launch last Thursday, and it's surpassed my wildest expectations - seven full pages, copiously illustrated. It's the longest Borowczyk piece that Sight & Sound has run in nearly 45 years - and the intention is that Philip Strick's superb 'The Theatre of Walerian Borowczyk' from 1969 will end up in the box set's accompanying book.

It'll be in the May issue, and I think the official publication date is April 10.

AidanKing · #333 Post by **AidanKing** » Mon Apr 14, 2014 4:54 pm

The Sight and Sound article is excellent, as expected. It would make a great addition to the Camera Obscura book, although I expect it would have to be scaled down a bit because of the size of the pictures. It's probably too recent for permission to be granted, though, I suppose.

MichaelB · #334 Post by **MichaelB** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 9:55 am

A sneak preview of the restoration of Borowczyk's 1963 short Grandmother's Encyclopaedia - this is the whole of the first section, 'A is for Automobile'.

MichaelB · #335 Post by **MichaelB** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 4:37 pm

And here are the full specs <drumroll>:

CAMERA OBSCURA: THE WALERIAN BOROWCZYK COLLECTION

LIMITED EDITION BOX SET SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:

- Brand new 2K restorations of Borowczyk’s films.
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of the films and extras.
- Newly translated English subtitles.

THE SHORT FILMS & THEATRE OF MR AND MRS KABAL

The short films:

- The Astronauts (Les Astronautes, 1959)
- The Concert (Le Concert de M. et Mme Kabal, 1962)
- Grandmother's Encyclopaedia (L'Encyclopédie de grand'maman, 1963)
- Renaissance (1963)
- Angels' Games (Les Jeux des anges, 1964)
- Joachim's Dictionary (Le Dictionnaire de Joachim, 1965)
- Rosalie (1966)
- Gavotte (1967)
- Diptych (Diptyque, 1967)
- The Phonograph (Le Phonographe, 1969)
- The Greatest Love of All Time (L'Amour "monstre" de tous les temps, 1978)
- Scherzo Infernal (1984)

plus:

- Introduction by filmmaker Terry Gilliam.
- Film is not a Sausage: Borowczyk’s Short Films – A new interview programme featuring Borowczyk, producer Dominique Duvergé-Ségrétin, assistant André Heinrich and composer Bernard Parmegiani.
- Blow Ups – A new visual essay by Daniel Bird concerning Borowczyk’s works on paper.
- Borowczyk's commercials.

GOTO, ISLE OF LOVE

- Introduction by artist and Turner Prize nominee Craigie Horsfield.
- The Concentration Universe: Goto, Isle of Love - A new interview programme featuring actor Jean-Pierre Andréani, co-writer Dominique Duvergé-Ségrétin, cameraman Noël Véry and camera assistant Jean-Pierre Platel.
- The Profligate Door - A new documentary about Borowczyk’s sound sculptures featuring curator Maurice Corbet.

BLANCHE

- Introduction by director Leslie Megahey (Schalcken the Painter).
- Ballad of Imprisonment: Blanche - A new interview programme featuring producer Dominique Duvergé-Ségrétin, assistant director André Heinrich, camera operator Noël Véry and assistant Patrice Leconte.
- Obscure Pleasures: A Portrait of Walerian Borowczyk - A newly edited archival interview in which Borowczyk discusses painting, cinema and sex.
- Gun Point - A documentary short by Peter Graham produced and edited by Borowczyk.

IMMORAL TALES

- Introduction by Borowczyk expert Daniel Bird.
- Immoral Tales: L'Age d'Or Cut - featuring a fifth episode, The True Story of the Beast of Gévaudan.
- Love Reveals Itself: Immoral Tales - A new interview programme featuring production manager Dominique Duvergé-Ségrétin and cinematographer Noël Véry.
- Boro Brunch: A reunion meal recorded in February 2014 re-uniting members of Borowczyk's crew, featuring Philippe D’Argila, Florence Dauman, Dominique Duvergé-Ségrétin, Dominique Ruspoli, Noël Véry and Zoe Zurstrassen.
- A Private Collection (1973 short film).
- A Private Collection: Oberhausen Cut (the more explicit cut that scandalised festival audiences).

THE BEAST

- Introduction by critic Peter Bradshaw.
- The Making of The Beast: Camera operator Noël Véry provides a commentary on footage shot during the making of The Beast.
- Frenzy of Ecstasy – A new visual essay on the evolution of Borowczyk’s beast and the sequel that never was, Motherhood.
- Venus on the Half Shell (1975 short film).

CAMERA OBSCURA [LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE]

- A generously illustrated book edited by Daniel Bird and Michael Brooke featuring new essays, landmark articles by Raymond Durgnat, Philip Strick, Patrice Leconte, David Thompson and Chris Newby, Boro's Dictionary, an account of the restoration of Borowczyk films and Anatomy of the Devil, a collection of Borowczyk’s short stories translated from the original French by the filmmaker’s assistant, Michael Levy.

LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES

Drucker · #336 Post by **Drucker** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 4:40 pm

Looks beautiful. Can't wait for that Preston Sturges box set, now.

perkizitore · #337 Post by **perkizitore** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 4:48 pm

Is the limited edition just the first pressing? It seems odd that after all the effort put into this set that it will not be reprinted!

#338 Post by **swo17** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 4:50 pm

Looks classy! So am I correct in assuming that all 14 shorts will be presented in HD, or is it still too soon to say?

EddieLarkin · #339 Post by **EddieLarkin** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 4:50 pm

Sounds amazing, and looks very classy. Cannot wait to have it on my shelf. Do you know how the box will be designed/discs housed? And does the lack of specificity with the shorts mean they'll all be in HD?

MichaelB · #340 Post by **MichaelB** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 4:51 pm

I'm delighted to confirm that every film will be presented in genuine 1080p.

Happily, the Goto restoration proceeded so smoothly that we were able to stretch the budget towards doing 2K scans of not only the five shorts mentioned in the original Kickstarter proposal but also the longer cut of A Private Collection and The True Story of the Beast of Gévaudan, the 1972 short originally made as a separate piece, then planned for inclusion in Immoral Tales, and finally turned into the dream sequence in The Beast. Which is why we can also offer an HD reconstruction of the five-part Immoral Tales - this was also on the three-disc German edition, but in SD only.

And yes, the full box set will be a limited edition of 1,000 copies. After that, at least some of the discs will be released separately - you can guarantee Immoral Tales and The Beast, but hopefully the others too, depending on the reception.

perkizitore · #341 Post by **perkizitore** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 4:55 pm

I think that if you actually provided that information on Kickstarter you could probably have gotten more backers!

MichaelB · #342 Post by **MichaelB** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 4:57 pm

perkizitore wrote:I think that if you actually provided that information on Kickstarter you could probably have gotten more backers!

We raised what we needed to raise, and the Kickstarter closed months ago.

We're all very happy with how it went, and I suspect our backers will be equally happy about getting more than they were anticipating.

htshell · #343 Post by **htshell** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 5:02 pm

A+ job. Very happy all the shorts will be in 1080p!

knives · #344 Post by **knives** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 5:10 pm

Looks beautiful. Is there a ship out date planned?

Calvin · #345 Post by **Calvin** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 5:11 pm

That's an outstanding lineup of extras and a very elegant design. I'm looking forward to receiving my set more than ever now.

Michael, out of curiosity, how will you be presenting A Private Collection: Oberhausen Cut?

#346 Post by **swo17** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 5:27 pm

MichaelB wrote:We're not going to bother submitting the unexpurgated version of the more graphic "Oberhausen cut" of Borowczyk's A Private Collection to the BBFC, since this contains genuine bestiality that goes much further than The Good Old Naughty Days, of a kind which is clearly proscribed by the criminal law. In other words, there's no point paying the BBFC to recommend cuts that we already know we're going to have to make, as we can't get anything stronger than an 18 for the Borowczyk box and that part of the film goes well beyond even R18.

MichaelB · #347 Post by **MichaelB** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 5:30 pm

Yes, that's pretty much the situation. At the moment I'm anticipating that the dog shot will be blurred in some way, for unavoidable legal reasons, but hopefully the rest will be intact. It's pretty graphic at times (whereas in the "soft" cut there are strategically-placed fingers and thumbs hiding forbidden parts of vintage pornographic photos, in the "hard" cut you get to see everything), but it should certainly fall on the right side of the BBFC's "artistic merit"/"serious documentary"/"not primarily a sex work" divide.

knives wrote:Looks beautiful. Is there a ship out date planned?

The official release date is June 30. I very much hope that Kickstarter backers at least will get theirs before then (for obvious reasons, they get first dibs on the first boxes to emerge from the production line), but there's still a ton of work to do before we can sign everything off.

NABOB OF NOWHERE · Wed Apr 16, 2014 5:37 pm

That box looks so good I feel that I have to devote one whole shelf to it alone.

#349 Post by **swo17** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 5:51 pm

MichaelB wrote:LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES

Everyone should bear in mind that 346 copies already pre-sold as part of the Kickstarter campaign.

MichaelB · #350 Post by **MichaelB** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 6:06 pm

The Quietus has just published the official trailer, including glimpses of hitherto unrevealed parts of the restorations.

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