|
|
|
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 (19th June 2016). |
|
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 THREE of the “Dissent and Disruption” set. “Under the Age” (1972) (31:18) Pouring rain outside, a pub tended by Susie (played by Paul Angelis) taking time by putting on make-up while waiting for patrons to arrive. Two men, Mike (played by Paul’s real-life younger brother Mike Angelis) and Jack (played by Stephen Bent) come in from the rain, but are not immediately served as Susie is still putting on eye shadow. The other person behind the counter who is only referred to as “Boy” (played by David Lincoln) helps with the drinks to be served to the customers instead. The two men make some comments about Susie, as Susie is obviously a man and “Susie” is obviously not his real name. Even with a little banter back and forth, Susie keeps ground - head strong and gives witty comebacks with a stern sense of self acknowledgement. “Under the Age” was first broadcast on March 20th, 1972 as part of the TV series “Thirty-Minute Theater” and takes place entirely inside the pub setting, with a multicamera setup for the continuous dialogue in the 30 minute runtime. Essentially a stage play with an entire cast of five people - Susie, the boy, the male patrons Mike and Jake, along with the later appearing two female patrons Alice and Sandra (played by Rosalind Elliot and Sylvia Brayshay respectively), the title comes directly from the two female patrons who Susie calls out for being too young for booze. Susie’s character is a true centerpiece of the production and is interestingly a proud, righteous, and headstrong gay individual - quite different from the stereotypical sissy homosexual characters including the Jackie character in director Alan Clarke’s “The Last Train Through Harecastle Tunnel” made a few years prior. Susie is not afraid to say “sod off!” or “get out, you dirty bitches!” to customers, or scolding and physically abusing the employed boy. Susie is the pub-master and the bar-missus rolled into one, and any patron of either gender would be intimidated. Susie does not fit into the societal terms in gender and sexuality of the time of the early 1970s, and it will take a lot longer for major acceptance of homosexual characters on British television which can be argued is still not completely accepted. The notion that the story had a crossdressing lead but did not make that the biggest issue of the story is one of the strong points of the production. It is not about one character being outside the societal norm - but it is accepting the disorderly behavior of the so-called “straight” people - underage drinking, carefree sexual encounters, and disregard for manners in general. Susie may be the “straightest” of them all! “Horace” (1972) (90:13) Horace (played by Barry Jackson) is an adult male that lives at home with his mother, gets daily injections for his diabetes, and is a little slow compared to the average adult. He cannot read, was once institutionalized, but still is able to find happiness by working at a joke factory - making gag related toys and goods that make him laugh and give him a little bit of income. He can only work part time for three days a week, and when he is at home he tends the chickens on the farm. Then one day he meets Gordon. Gordon (played by Stephen Tantum) is a young boy who is not the best student in school. He frequently daydreams, does not care for the school system, and does not have things well in his home life. His mother is more interested in her next date with a man more than spending time with her son, and he pretty much lives as a loner - no friends or family that cares about him. Rebellious at heart, but imaginative, sporting a cape which he believes or likes to think it can protect him via magic. After meeting Horace, the two spark a very unlikely friendship. First broadcast on March 21st 1972, “Horace” is equally a story about Horace and also about Gordon, and apparently was originally conceived as a piece centering on Gordon and with Horace as a supporting figure. Gordon is a kid but acts like an adult - taking care of himself while his mum is away but at the same time he likes comics and fantasy, and is a kid at heart. Horace is an adult but acts like a child - the way he speaks, the way he acts, his playful attitude, and cautiousness toward what his mother tells him. The two complement each other but it is not a happy smiley mutual friendship. Horace likes to laugh and joke around but Gordon does not laugh, does not smile, and has trust issues. But he sees Horace as someone that is innocent and not the usual adult figure that he has come to dislike, such as his mother (played by Christine Hargreaves, his absent father, his teacher and the headmaster, Dick the crazy balding man (played by Talfryn Thomas). Alan Clarke’s production is quite conventional in terms of storytelling and directing in “Horace”, without fancy editing or techniques that truly show a sense of style and substance, but this is where the performances shine stronger, as with “Under the Age”. While that was shot on a soundstage in a single location, “Horace” was shot on location in Leeds and Halifax with many interior and exterior locations on a bigger scale and a longer 1.5 hour runtime. Barry Jackson plays the part with innocence that is like a precursor to Forrest Gump though obviously without the chocolates, and went on to continue portraying the character in the ”Horace” series which lasted six episodes in 1982, but largely forgotten. For Stephen Tantum, “Horace” was his first and last appearance in an acting production sadly. He certainly had a great actor’s face even at such a young age, but did not continue in the field and stepped away from the limelight. 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. “Under the Age” was transferred from a digibeta copy of the original 2” PAL transmission tape. Colors look fine considering the age with some video tape errors such as color bleeding. On a positive note the transfer is free from blurring or tracking errors. ”Horace” was originally shot on film. The transfer comes from the 16mm transmission print mastered in HD. Colors are especially weak with everything looking rather pink or brown. Greens and blues look especially flat and washed out. The print is quite clean of specs and dust while grain is left intact, and the image is always stable and clear.
Audio
English LPCM 2.0 mono The original mono tracks are presented in lossless mono sound. The jaunty guitar score of “Horace” sounds clean and clear. The audio sounds very good with no troubling instances of hisses or pops. Dialogue is always clean and clear, but considering the low budget sources, there are the usual echoey sounds and limited fidelity. There are optional English HoH subtitles in a white font for the productions.
Extras
“Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light” documentary (Part 3) (9:12) 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 3 covers the sad state of British cinema of the 1970s and how the most exciting time for directors and actors was on television. The documentary does not touch directly on “Under the Age” or “Horace” particularly. 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 The ”Dissent and Disruption” 13 disc set includes a 200 page booklet with essays, photos, credits, and film information. For “Under the Age” there is an essay by BFI web producer Alex Davidson and “Horace” has an essay by The Masters of Cinema founder Nick Wrigley. 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. The extras on DISC THREE is very slim in comparison to the others. No input in the documentary about the productions themselves, but at least the book has more written information pertaining to the productions. Note the extras score of C- represents this disc only and not for the entire set.
Overall
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.
|
|||||
|