Radiance Films General Discussion & Wishlist

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Interesting that they call out both "FilmS from the Taiwanese New Wave", and Tsai-Ming Liang. Any guesses?

Without anything else to go on, I feel you might as well draw guesses out of a hat. There's lots of New Cinema films with HD-or-better masters, and off the top of my head the only one with a UK BD is The Boys from Fengkuei. Hou or Yang are the obvious guesses (though the new 4K of That Day, on the Beach would be with Arrow unless they chose to pass), but it could be something more left field like Ah Fei, Strawman, Osmanthus Alley, The Woman of Wrath (which might pose BBFC issues), This Love of Mine, etc. If it's Hou I would very much like to see A Summer at Grandpa's, which got a Japanese restoration awhile back that Carlotta just put out in France but is still MIA with English subtitles.

[Lowry_Sam]

What Time Is It There? hasn't been released on blu-ray anywhere & is my favorite Tsai. Hopefully that's in the works.

[Calvin]

The CMPC restorations of The Terrorizers, Dust in the Wind, A Time to Live A Time to Die, etc. are nearing 20 years old now - even if they became available to licence now, I do wonder if Radiance would put them out without a newer master.

Perhaps Radiance got UK rights to the new A City of Sadness restoration? I know Film Movement got it for the US. The restoration of Millennium Mambo is also still to get a UK release, though I'd be surprised if that were still labelled New Wave.

I also learned earlier that there's a HD broadcast of Wu Nien-jen's A Borrowed Life on the back channels that looks significantly better than the 15 year old VCD bootleg I own. That's a holy grail for me, I would love to see it on disc.

[artfilmfan]

Dust in the Wind is one of the films that I want most on Blu-ray. I didn’t buy it when it was released on Blu-ray more than 10 years ago because the colors of the film looked so different from the DVD. I wonder whether it was because of the choice made for the restoration or the encoding.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

The CMPC actually did two restorations of Dust in the Wind: one for the original standalone release from 2010 and another that came out in a 2014 box set with The Time to Live and the Time to Die. The colors in the second restoration were much more natural than in the first, which had the pronounced blue cast that the CMPC was apparently in love with at the time. The boxed reissue was also 1080p instead of the 1080i of the standalone edition(s). I don't have it at hand, but based on the DVDBeaver comparison between the original Blu-ray and the DVD, I'm certain the second restoration was far closer to the DVD. (It's possible the re-release was just a regrade of the existing master, but as I recall there were enough differences to suggest it wasn't.)

The CMPC may have also done a second restoration of The Terrorizers around the same time, but every BD edition for which I can find info (including Carlotta's Yang box from last year) uses the same master as the old CMPC Blu-rays. This trailer for a Japanese theatrical re-release in August looks identical as well. So I have no idea if the second restoration has ever actually been released, or if it even exists at all.

[artfilmfan]

I had assumed that Dust in the Wind in the two-film box set was the same version on the standalone Blu-ray. Oh well … I like how the film looks (warm colors) on the DVD from the dark-colored box set. But it is a letter-boxed presentation. There was another DVD box set with the box in blue color. I wonder if the film is also presented in letter-boxed format in that blue box set.

[bad future]

I'm not sure it can be purely coincidence that Carlotta have also confirmed they have both Tsai and Denis planned on their release schedule for 2027. For Tsai they have What Time Is It There?, The Wayward Cloud and I Don't Want to Sleep Alone and, for Claire Denis, 35 Shots of Rum, Friday Night, and I Can't Sleep.

Wow!! I assume these won't be English-friendly, but the Tsai films and Friday Night are all among my favorite films of all time and knowing that restorations are being licensed gives me hope of seeing an English-friendly release from someone. Does anyone know if there are rights issues with The Skywalk is Gone? Because if it's possible to package that on a release with What Time Is It There? and Wayward Cloud, surely someone will seize the opportunity *fingers crossed*

Speaking of all-time favorites, I'm so excited for Miracle Mile! I had passed on Kino's recent release because they botched the audio (it's a mono folddown incorrectly labeled as the original 2.0, and is missing a 5.1 option altogether despite advertising it) but since afaik Kino funded that restoration, I wasn't sure I could count on anyone else releasing it, let alone on UHD which Kino bafflingly passed on. I assume Transmission has better quality control than Kino in general, but would it be worth trying to get in touch with them just to make sure they double check that any audio they receive is what it claims to be?

[ryannichols7]

so, collecting the "consensus" guesses on the hints...in case anyone wants a short version. threw in some of my own where we don't have any:

Peter Watkins - Punishment Park probably, I can't see La Commune or The Journey happening cause $$$
Jacques Rivette - Le Pont du Nord (new 4K restoration)
Valerio Zurlini - Desert of the Tatars
Andrzej Zulawski - The Most Important Thing: Love
Kinji Fukasaku - could be any number of things, Black Lizard or Dissolution Rites seem common guesses
Seijun Suzuki - Pistol Opera was a failed license before. Carlotta are releasing some too, Carmen From Kawachi feels likely, but Capone Cries a Lot (Kani is releasing in the US), and Kanto Wanderer are also possibilities.
A film from Takashi Miike - Gozu.
Ninjas! - Shinobi Volume 3
A Spanish masterpiece - has to finally be Spirit of the Beehive or Dream of Light (wish it was both!)
Films from the Taiwanese New Wave - this is plural and can mean anything. hoping for some that aren't Hou or Yang!
French crime! - paging Domino and Tenia
A Japanese masterpiece - Naruse? The Family Game? Muddy River? surely something that isn't a genre film
A sci-fi satire - no good guesses for this yet EDIT: The 10th Victim, which would make a ton of sense
A European epic - The Travelling Players, The Suspended Step of the Stork (again, Carlotta is releasing), OR Abraham's Valley
A new volume of Radical Japan - Shuji Terayama why not.

later in the year...

classic Polars - again, paging Domino and Tenia
World Noir - I boldly predict we get a set without French or Italian films, since volumes 4 and 5 were dedicated to those countries
even more Radical Japan - no "consensus" guess but I'm picking Kazuo Kuroki because Silence Has No Wings was on Fran's Sight and Sound list
films from Tsai-Ming Liang - this has plural, so I will hope/wish/pray/will that the What Time is it There? / The Wayward Cloud / I Don't Want to Sleep Alone box happens with The Skywalk is Gone, would be a pretty immediate release of the year for me since What Time.. is my favorite Tsai movie
Claire Denis - if this is plural let's do the box that Calvin proposed above with the Carlotta titles, but if there has to only be one, then it should be Friday Night for sure
and many surprises from around the world - please more new countries like Finland, that was a lovely surprise (and quite an obscure film!)

[olmo]

I think Adieu Poulet a distinct possibility as one of the French polars teased. Received a 4k restoration a couple of years back and released on Rimini Editions UHD in France (no English subs).

[rrenault]

It’s interesting they’re releasing Le Pont Du Nord, since Eureka have already released it on bluray in the UK, even if their edition is out of print. Radiance tend to avoid films that have already been released on bluray by other high-profile Anglosphere boutiques.

[nitin]

The Eureka was barebones (albeit a substantial booklet) plus there is a new 4k restoration, we also have precedent with the Imamuras

[Calvin]

As nitin said, Radiance now seem fairly comfortable with this scenario if they think they can provide a substantial upgrade.

Though I am a little surprised it seems like they'll get to it before tackling Rivette's other 80s and 90s films which haven't got UK releases (and I think most agree the US Cohen releases could be improved upon).

[ellipsis7]

The Valerio Zurlini title might also be LA PRIMA NOTTE DI QUIETE in a recent restoration by Titanus...

[rrenault]

Claire Denis’ J’ai Pas Sommeil would be great.

[criterionsnob]

Claire Denis’ J’ai Pas Sommeil would be great.

This feels the most “Radiance” to me for Denis, but happy to get any/everything that needs an upgrade from OOP DVD. I had a bunch of Denis and Tsai titles in my last wish list to Radiance when they did a year-end poll.

[A Tempted Christ]

I wonder if Radiance will give the Desert of the Tartars a new color grade like they did with Senso and Illustrious Corpses. Also, will it be the full 148-minute cut or the shorter 140-minute cut? The aspect ratio has also been different across releases. The French disc is in 1.85:1 while the Italian release is in 1.78:1.

[TMDaines]

It’s interesting they’re releasing Le Pont Du Nord, since Eureka have already released it on bluray in the UK, even if their edition is out of print. Radiance tend to avoid films that have already been released on bluray by other high-profile Anglosphere boutiques.

Yeah, would be massively disappointed if it were to be this.

[spectre]

No chance it could be La belle noiseuse / Divertimento? Or do Curzon still have that one?

[therewillbeblus]

There's a still of Le Pont Du Nord in the coming soon photos, so I think it's safe to assume it's that

[JSC]

Too bad, because I thought Eureka's release was already pretty strong. Still waiting on the blu-ray releases for
Histoire de Marie et Julien, Ne touchez pas la hache, and 36 vues du Pic Saint-Loup.

[therewillbeblus]

I don't know why it's "too bad" when all the other releases are OOP. It's much better than situations where they're releasing films with already in-print releases trying to improve upon them. It can be a bummer if you yourself already own it, but some people don't and don't want to pay high prices for OOP titles so it's good for them.

I just paid an arm and a leg for a few Peter Watkins OOP titles in the last few months, and when one or both inevitably come back in-print via Radiance I'm not going to feel sorry because other people get to enjoy them now

[rrenault]

Claire Denis’ J’ai Pas Sommeil would be great.

This feels the most “Radiance” to me for Denis, but happy to get any/everything that needs an upgrade from OOP DVD. I had a bunch of Denis and Tsai titles in my last wish list to Radiance when they did a year-end poll.

Yeah, either J’ai Pas Sommeil or No Fear, No Die would seem most in their wheelhouse, although the cockfighting in the latter might not get past the BBFC.

Friday Night would be a bit too lowkey for their first Denis film in my opinion.

[rapta]

Too bad, because I thought Eureka's release was already pretty strong. Still waiting on the blu-ray releases for
Histoire de Marie et Julien, Ne touchez pas la hache, and 36 vues du Pic Saint-Loup.

The MoC release was barebones, save for the booklet, so if they intend to bump it to 4K as well as include some video/audio extras, that's already an improvement as well as bringing it back into print.

Admittedly it'd be even better if they bundled it with one or two more films (e.g. Love on the Ground, The Gang of Four, Up Down Fragile, Secret Defense; I imagine La belle noiseuse would be deserving of a standalone release) to make a little box set but you can't ask for the world! It might make sense to try and do that though, as long-time collectors who already have the MoC might be hesitant to upgrade immediately, so adding more value to a release would make it just that bit more enticing.

[JSC]

Since Pont du Nord was shot on 16mm I don't expect a 4k upgrade to be a dramatic upgrade. Now, if they
released La belle noiseuse with new color timing I would get rid of the Cohen release in a flash.

[Calvin]

Divertimento is still unavailable in HD, so that would be reason enough for an upgrade