BFI "Underground" DVD & Blu Ray

[JumpingFrog]

The BFI have confirmed they will be releasing Anthony Asquith’s 1928 "Underground" on DVD and Blu Ray in the UK in June 2013.

In June the BFI will release its acclaimed restoration of Anthony Asquith’s 1928 silent film Underground – a subterranean tale of love, jealousy and murder – on DVD/Blu-ray for the first time. This classic tale features Neil Brand’s celebrated orchestral score as well as an alternative audio track by the UK’s leading sound recordist, Chris Watson.

http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/bfi- ... -announced

A bit more info from Amazon:

UNDERGROUND (DVD + Blu-ray)

A film by Anthony Asquith

The BFI Archive's acclaimed restoration of Anthony Asquith's subterranean tale of love, jealousy and murder is finally made available in this stunning Dual Format Edition. This classic British film from the silent era features Neil Brand's new orchestral score, recorded live in 2012, which perfectly compliments the film's richly detailed evocation of 1920s London.

From his own screenplay Anthony Asquith balances the light and dark sides of London life, aided by a superb cast of Brian Aherne and Elissa Landi as the nice young lovers and Norah Baring and Cyril McLaglen as their unhappy counterparts.

More than any other film from Britain's silent canon, Underground evokes the life of the ordinary Londoner with its scenes of the bustling underground and the capital's parks, double-decker buses, pubs and shabby bedsits.

Special Features

New score by celebrated silent film composer Neil Brand
Alternative audio track by the UK s leading sound recordist Chris Watson
A selection of early transport films from the Archive

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00B6RBT0G

[Arndt]

Woo-hoo! This is such a wonderful film!
Now wouldn't it be grand if they also released the other Asquith masterpiece SHOOTING STARS?

[didi-5]

At last! I would also love to see a release of Shooting Stars, but Underground will do for now. It's a fantastic film and didn't go in the direction I was expected at all, plot-wise.

[Brooksie]

There's an article and some clips at http://silentlondon.co.uk/2013/06/06/un ... ay-review/. Can't wait for this one!

[missdupont]

I agree, can't wait for SHOOTING STAR. While this is good, doesn't have the same impact as COTTAGE ON DARTMOOR or SHOOTING STAR.

[Battra92]

Can't wait for this one. I have it, and Murnau's Tabu, preordered from Amazon UK and it's holding up my order of other silent films.

Having a region free BD/DVD player is a great investment every self respecting silent film fan should have.

[Penfold]

"Silent London" reviews the Bluray..... http://silentlondon.co.uk/

[Arndt]

I got my copy yesterday and watched it straight away. What a fantastic film! The booklet quotes film critic Raymond Durgnat with the quip that in A COTTAGE ON DARTMOOR Asquith "out-Hitchcocks Hitchcock, before Hitchcock became Hitchcock". I think this is just as true for UNDERGROUND. The opening sequence on the train and the inclusion of the blind man in the lift at the end smell so strongly of the portly master's hand that I was half-looking for the cameo.
And what's more, I think Asquith also out-Germans the Germans here. The camera work and lighting are meticulous and always go for effect. The composition of the individual shots is deliberately expressive (if not expressionistic), which is especially apparent in the stairway scenes in the boarding house and in the use of shadows in the underground station.
What is interesting about UNDERGROUND is the obvious influence of METROPOLIS. The sequences in the power station are definitely reminiscent of that German juggernaut from the previous year. Just look at the shadow of the flywheel behind Bill in the foreman's office. And Norah Baring's Kate sometimes bears an uncanny resemblance to that Maria.
And yet it is a very British film in its peculiar mixture of comedy and drama, in the way the camera caresses the London cityscape and picks out the individuality of the characters in the crowds, like the old battle-axe that is the conductor in the opening sequence.
The screenplay is sharp, the acting is good, there are few intertitles and the editing is fast and effective. This film is a definite classic and extremely enjoyable.
Three cheers for British silent cinema!