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Dissent and Disruption: Alan Clarke at the BBC (1969-1989) - Limited Edition
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - British Film Institute Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (11th June 2016). |
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The Film
 BFI is releasing the highly ambitious and anticipated Dissent and Disruption: Alan Clarke at the BBC. There is a choice of the following: - Dissent and Disruption: Alan Clarke at the BBC (1969-1989) - a 13 disc set of 11 Blu-rays and 2 DVDs. - Alan Clarke at the BBC Volume 1: Dissent (1969-1977) - a 6 DVD set. - Alan Clarke at the BBC Volume 2: Disruption (1978-1989) - a 6 DVD set. Due to the massive amount of the content, the set will be covered in 13 separate reviews, which later will be combined into a singular review after the completion of all 13 reviews. This review covers DISC TWO of the “Dissent and Disruption” set. “The Hallelujah Handshake” (1970) (75:18) At an evening church gathering, Minister Geoff Evans (played by Jeremy Wilkin) is approached by a man who is new to the area interested in joining the church. Introducing himself as Henry Tobias Jones (played by Tony Calvin), he says he has helped church youth groups in the past at other places including abroad, and is interested in continuing with church youth activities. The church welcomes him with open arms, but some patrons and Evans start to find him slightly odd. Henry constantly talks about wanting to help young churchgoers to Evans, he follows Evans all the way home with a walking conversation, and he doesn’t seem to listen very well to people that talk to him. When he gives his first lecture to the church teens, he gives a lecture about the beautiful resort islands of the Bahamas, confusing the adult patrons. When he speaks to young children of the church during Sunday school, he gives a slightly disturbing speech - albeit they are words from the Bible. Evans is concerned about Henry Jones and his behavior but what are his real intentions? “The Hallelujah Handshake” was first broadcast on the 17th of December 1970 for the series “Play for Today”. Clarke directed the production on film with handheld cameras rather than the stilted video productions, taking place in various locations both inside and outside. The town and the townspeople are interesting characters especially through the opening scenes in the church - where we can hear their thoughts during the sermon - with almost all of them thinking of something other than the sermon. Starting off slightly comically with the patrons and the slightly strange character of Henry, things start to feel creepy and unsettling as we are to think the man is a possible pedophile. He constantly talks about working with youth in the past and wanting to continue his work, which does sound quite disturbing. Written by Colin Welland, the production comes as a slight disappointment due to expectations. This is not “Spotlight” or “Sleepers”, but the real intentions of Henry (though we learn that is not his real name) is not as disturbing which makes the audience a bit confused and disappointed. It may be because of the disturbing true incidents of churches and child abuse that have plagued the news that we have preconceived notions that anything dealing with a man wanting to help church youth would lead to sex abuse. It is sad to think that religion - which the intentions were to create a moral compass and stories to help guide people - have also been used to destroy, control, and cause hatred. But because of the overwhelming negatives, this also causes people to question churches, churchgoers, and religion itself. Initially I felt the payoff of “The Hallelujah Handshake” was weak. It could have been more disturbing, more critical of religious organizations, and more punishing, but that is not what the story was about - it was about the lack of trust, the dangers of trust, and the gullibility of people and that is something that doesn’t need disturbing content to show. In an additional note, one of Henry’s aliases was “John Rys-Davies”. I wonder if actor John Rhys-Davies has seen this? ”To Encourage the Others” (1972) (103:45) November 2nd, 1952 - 16 year old Christopher Craig and 19 year old Derek Bentley’s attempted robbery of a confectionary warehouse is thwarted by the police. On the rooftop of the warehouse, Derek is arrested and captured by the police while Christopher who has a gun is still on the loose. Christopher fires his weapon multiple times to scare off the officers, but one bullet fatally strikes Constable Sidney Miles. Soonafter, Christopher jumps off the rooftop in an attempted suicide though survives the fall. The trial of the murder of the officer turns to national news, especially with the final verdict - the underage Christopher Craig who shot the officer was sentenced to prison while Derek Bentley who did not fire a single bullet was sentenced to death. Broadcast on March 28th 1972, Alan Clarke’s television production of “To Encourage the Others” was based on the true crime of Christopher Craig and Derek Bentley which was also turned into a book by the same name by David Yallop in 1971, with Yallop also writing the teleplay. Opening with the intense rooftop scene of the night of November 2nd, the first hour of the production is a straight courtroom drama, with the testimonials of the police officers and the boys and the lawyers questioning both sides. The latter hour of the production is far more critical of what was just seen. Not exactly “Rashomon” but closer to that of “The Thin Blue Line” (though this production predated the Errol Morris film by a decade), the narrator of the piece critiques some of the important details that were overlooked in the courtroom scene - evidence that could have been better presented, content that was questionably brushed aside by the judge, and how justice was wrongfully served. “Let him have it!” - the words that will forever be connected to the case. When Derek (played by Charles Bolton) yelled this out to Christopher (played by Billy Hamon), did he mean that he should give up the gun? Or did he mean that he should keep firing the gun. Derek’s mental deficiency was never mentioned in court and he seemed quite unsure of the events himself, seeming confused in trial. Clarke’s direction is quite conventional in the sense that the facts are presented straightforward for the first hour, but the second hour it is all about reexamining what the audience had just seen and also what the audience possibly hadn’t seen or noticed. The latter portion also has the more disturbing content such as non-supporters of the young boys on trial sending hanging nooses to the families as “presents”, and the death by hanging scene at the end. By pacing standards it is not the most effective, but it certainly is one that makes for a second viewing. Shot on standard PAL videotape, the production is mostly indoors, whether in the courtroom or in the homes of the boys’ families, while there are some minor outdoor shots such as the shooting at the beginning. It wasn’t until 1993 that a royal pardon was granted to Derek Bentley - a full 40 years after his death. It also was given three years after the death of director Alan Clarke. Note this is a region B Blu-ray which can only be played on region B or region free Blu-ray players
Video
BFI presents the productions in 1080i 50hz in the original televised aspect ratio of 1.33:1 in the AVC MPEG-4 codec. As these were UK TV productions broadcast in the 25fps PAL format, the films are transferred in the 50hz signal to preserve the PAL runtime. “The Hallelujah Handshake” was transferred from the original 16mm transmission print to high definition and looks fair for the most part. There are no problematic elements such as dust and scratches, but the colors are very pale with skintones and backgrounds. Clarity is always clear and there is no trouble with stability. ”To Encourage the Others” was transferred from a digibeta tape from the original 2” PAL videotape transmission master. The opening scene was shot on 16mm film but unfortunately seems lost, so the opening scenes are lacking in clarity compared to a direct film transfer. The video master looks good but not great - as there are minor videotape errors and color bleeding, minor as they are. When on text screen is shown, videotape shimmering can be seen toward the center of the frame, though it is mostly unnoticeable in standard scenes.
Audio
English LPCM 2.0 mono The original mono tracks are presented in lossless mono sound. Both productions have a lack in audio fidelity but are reasonably fine, with no particular instances of unclear dialogue. The videotape sourced “To Encourage the Others” does have some electronic hiss in portions which to certain ears can be very distracting - like having an old tube television on. There are optional English HoH subtitles in a white font for both productions.
Extras
Optional David Leland Introduction on “To Encourage the Others” (2:33) Introductions by Clarke collaborator David Leland were broadcast on BBC2 in 1991, a year after Clarke’s passing. Leland introduces the production and the true story behind it, as well as a few notes about Clarke himself. The audio like the main feature is a bit on the electronically hissy side. in 1080i 50hz AVC MPEG-4, in 1.33:1, in English LPCM 2.0 with no subtitles “Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light” documentary (Part 2) (13:33) The newly created 270-minute documentary on Alan Clarke has been divided into 12 parts with each part covering the productions reflected on the first 12 discs of the “Dissent and Disruption” boxset. Part 2 covers collaborators’ memories of Clarke as well as the production of “To Encourage the Others”. Strangely, “The Hallelujah Handshake” is not covered at all! What happened here? Did no one have anything to say about it? The entire 270 minute documentary is comprised of interviews with 50 people who worked with Clarke, knew Clarke, and looked up to Clarke. The interviews come from wildly differing sources. Some are slighty old 1.33:1 standard def video, some are hi-def 1.78:1 video. Some are lit too brightly, some are a bit dark. Some have clear dialogue, some sound echoey. It’s very inconsistent in how it looks and sounds edited together, but presentation wise, it is top notch. in 1080i 50hz AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, in English LPCM 2.0 with no subtitles Note the extras score of C represents this disc only and not for the entire set.
Packaging
The ”Dissent and Disruption” 13 disc set includes a 200 page booklet with essays, photos, credits, and film information. For “The Hallelujah Handshake” there is an essay by The Masters of Cinema Series creator Nick Wrigley and ”To Encourage the Others” has an essay by film writer and producer Kaleem Aftab. Note that the essays in the book are in chronological order while the productions on the discs are not, so the order of the essays and the order of the productions on each disc are not identical. Also listed are full film credits, extras credits, and restoration information.
Overall
“The Hallelujah Handshake” and “To Encourage the Others” are slightly weaker efforts in comparison to the rest of the Dissent and Disruption boxset, though both are still fascinating in their own rights, especially looking at the true and horrific story of the real case of Derek Bentley. BFI’s work on the thirteen disc ”Dissent and Disruption” (1969-1989) set is nothing less than an amazing collection of works by one of the most controversial and influential directors who pushed the boundaries of broadcast television. Absolutely recommended.
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