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BARTLEBY
(Anthony Friedmann, 1970)
Release date: 21 February 2022
Limited Edition Blu-ray

Pre-order here.

Based on Herman Melville’s celebrated short story ‘Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street’, Anthony Friedmann’s unduly neglected film relocates the action to 1970s London and stars Oscar-winner Paul Scofield (A Man for All Seasons), John McEnery (Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet), and Thorley Walters (Hammer’s The Phantom of the Opera).

When a young office clerk, Bartleby (McEnery), becomes increasingly defeated by the pressures of modern life, he gradually opts out of all forms of social engagement and his frustrated employer (Scofield) does all he can to stop him from withdrawing entirely into his own world.

Superbly acted and exquisitely photographed, Bartleby is a rare gem of 1970s British cinema. Presented in a brand new restoration from a 4K scan of the original negative, this wry and complex drama makes its worldwide debut on Blu-ray accompanied by a range of new and archival extra features.


INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES


• New restoration from a 4K scan of the original negative by Powerhouse Films
• Original mono audio
• Interview with writer-director Anthony Friedmann (2022)
• Beat the Bomber (1975): anti-terrorism documentary short directed by Friedmann
• Bartleby’s London (2022): an exploration of Bartleby’s locations
• Image galleries: promotional and publicity material
• Bartleby (2017): stop-motion animation version of the Melville story, directed by Kristen Kee and Laura Naylor
• Behind-the-scenes footage from the making of Bartleby (2017)
• Trailers for Bartleby (2017)
• Image galleries: promotional and publicity material
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Limited edition exclusive booklet featuring a new essay by Jeff Billington, archival interviews with star Paul Scofield and director Anthony Friedmann, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
• World premiere on Blu-ray
• Limited edition of 2,000 copies for the UK
• Extras subject to change

#PHILTD240
BBFC cert: 12
REGION FREE
EAN: 5060697921922

Final specs:

Beavleby.

Blueprint Review.

CineOutsider.

I took a chance and blind bought this one during the last sale. I've done that with about a dozen or so Indicator titles I still haven't watched, as I appreciate them releasing a ton of stuff that seems to be exactly the sort of non-obvious stuff people clamored for on here for years before the label launched. I took this out tonight when I noticed the short run-time.

As someone that went into the film not familiar at all with the source text (which I've now read up on through Wikipedia), I enjoyed the film quite a bit. I found it to be humorous at times and effective. I really actually don't have much to say about the film, but figured I would see if anyone else watched it. I will say that in the booklet, someone makes a point that the film gives us more perspective on Bartleby than the source text, where he's really only someone who utters "I'd rather not." But I felt like I had lots of unanswered questions around his origin and where he lived throughout the film, and am quite happy the film made no effort to answer those questions.

Were his efforts to apply for a job in the first place an attempt to do the bare minimum to survive in the wage-labor economy? Is the film more a critique or is it a personal tale of hopelessness? Because to me it felt more like the former whereas I got the impression the short story is interpreted as the latter. Bartleby's fight to work by walking in the opposite direction of all traffic, and the brief scene where he's among a bunch of homeless people made it feel more like a social critique. Anyway, this is definitely an enjoyable release and I'm glad I took a chance on it.

Drucker wrote: Sat Dec 24, 2022 3:49 amI will say that in the booklet, someone makes a point that the film gives us more perspective on Bartleby than the source text, where he's really only someone who utters "I'd rather not." But I felt like I had lots of unanswered questions around his origin and where he lived throughout the film, and am quite happy the film made no effort to answer those questions.

Were his efforts to apply for a job in the first place an attempt to do the bare minimum to survive in the wage-labor economy? Is the film more a critique or is it a personal tale of hopelessness? Because to me it felt more like the former whereas I got the impression the short story is interpreted as the latter. Bartleby's fight to work by walking in the opposite direction of all traffic, and the brief scene where he's among a bunch of homeless people made it feel more like a social critique. Anyway, this is definitely an enjoyable release and I'm glad I took a chance on it.

I haven't read the source or any material on the film, but I felt that the subject was not Bartleby so much as his effect on others, and consequently a reflection on the sadness embedded in him and that he represents, which yields a deeper tragedy about social functioning. On the surface, Bartleby is a vehicle that disrupts norms in the workplace. Scofield, his boss, is essentially the subject of the film, who may default to mechanical power dynamics with subordinates who say yes to everything, keep the work flow predictable, and invite rhythms of complacency, reinforcing the tuning out of others' worth beyond a superficial utility. The system functions off of enthusiastic 'yes men' reporting to a boss who gives orders and treats them with a cold, authoritative demeanor. But Bartleby's apathy, 'no' answers, and general monotonous disposition completely rattles his boss, who initially plans to intervene with his typical authoritative style, but cannot bring himself to do so. We know this guy has no trouble firing people, giving negative feedback, or setting rigid expectations on his employees - he's had to build and refine these skills to get to his position. And yet he has to practice in front of an empty chair, and exhibits generalized anxiety around his interactions with Bartleby. Bartleby threatens his power because he does not respond to it - revealing the power as a construct, and making the boss feel impotent, at a loss for how to engage with an employee who doesn't fit the normative mold, or give him the predictable catharses and instinctual cues as reactions to his toolbox of communication styles. The punchline to this absurdist joke is that such a subtle tweak causes the boss to pause from the cycle of complacent behavior patterns, his confusion sobers him to Bartleby's humanity, and he becomes genuinely motivated to engage with this employee and find him help. There's something very sad about this implicit point: That it takes a vehicle so empty and depressed and abnormal to unlock empathy, and drive connection and change. Even more depressingly ironic - the very society that neglects these attentions likely helped shape Bartleby into the irreparable state he is in, so this support offered comes too little too late.

Spoiler

And, even more depressingly ironic, when his boss attempts to engage with him as a human being once institutionalized, Bartleby acknowledges he knows where he is, but refuses to engage with his boss, for his employer has broken the 'rules' of their roles. Bartleby may have damaged norms due to his own distorted mental health, but he's hip enough to know that people don't venture from their respective places to intrude on others' lives, not even as a 'friend'. The employer stepped 'out of line', and if he is no longer coming from his position as a role in Bartleby's life, Bartleby doesn't know how to categorize him - certainly not as a friend or member of a support network, whatever that is! - and so he wants nothing to do with him. Bartleby can't even take care of basic functions like eating without the structure of a society - a structure he cannot fit into either, of course - so he dies from inertia, itself birthed from depriving him of a role; a role he couldn't fill.

What a vicious cycle of dysfunction - where caring is obstructive and causes more harm than good. Yeah, this is a cruel satire.

BFI Flipside's Short Sharp Shocks Vol. 3 has another Bartleby adaptation by John Guillermin from 1953

swo17 wrote: Mon Oct 30, 2023 1:38 am BFI Flipside's Short Sharp Shocks Vol. 3 has another Bartleby adaptation by John Guillermin from 1953

I actually came here to post that of all the releases I have seen, Bartleby seems the most Flipside adjacent in terms of era/style/content (The Man Who Had Power Over Women I think would also fit the line), I had not noticed the short included on Vol 3. Requiem for a Village aside, any other Indicator titles that could be considered a Flipside release incognito?

Conservatively, I'd say: The National Health, Gumshoe, Absolution, The Mind of Mr Soames, The Reckoning, Black Joy, The Virgin Soldiers; Otley; The Triple Echo, The System, The Blockhouse, Voices, The Brute, Girl Stroke Boy, Hoffman, The Pemini Organisation (1972-1974), and of course, the Michael J Murphy collection.

Indicator co-founder (and former head of BFI Video Publishing) Sam Dunn and in-house producer James Blackford were substantially responsible for the first few years of BFI Flipside releases (circa 2009-16, when Sam left to co-found Powerhouse), so this overlap isn't remotely a coincidence.

Sam was also the prime mover behind the BFI's monumental Alan Clarke project – in fact, I think that was one of the last things he did before he left the BFI.

MichaelB wrote: Tue Jan 07, 2025 1:36 pmSam was also the prime mover behind the BFI's monumental Alan Clarke project – in fact, I think that was one of the last things he did before he left the BFI.

If only knighthoods were given to the people who most deserved them...

Tuppence wrote: Tue Jan 07, 2025 9:37 am Conservatively, I'd say: The National Health, Gumshoe, Absolution, The Mind of Mr Soames, The Reckoning, Black Joy, The Virgin Soldiers; Otley; The Triple Echo, The System, The Blockhouse, Voices, The Brute, Girl Stroke Boy, Hoffman, The Pemini Organisation (1972-1974), and of course, the Michael J Murphy collection.

Good stuff, Unman Wittering & Zigo from Arrow led me to Absolution (and on to Big Banana Feet? ) but most of those single disc releases I hadn't known / sought out when they were released. It seems I certainly would benefit from a similar "flipside" branding to clue me in, or perhaps an annotated copy of The Bodies Beneath. Still, you just gave me plenty of standard editions to pad out my next order.

Compared to that inaugural period I think it is a shame Flipside has felt somewhat listless since Dunn left even if it does still receive the (table-scrapped?) odd gem from time to time. It might have been down to Little Malcolm, Deep End (or was it Duffer?!), but it remains the only series I became compelled to collect in full / keep in numbered order on a shelf and return to in "break glass in case of need of Brit infusion" on the precious few I still have remaining to watch.