daisies

 

Věra Chytilová’s classic of surrealist cinema is the most adventurous and anarchic Czech movie of the 1960s. Two young women, both named Marie, revolt against a degenerate, decayed and oppressive society, attacking symbols of wealth and bourgeois culture. A riotous, punk-poem of a film that is both hilarious and mind-warpingly innovative, it has influenced generations of filmmakers.

Defiant feminist statement? Nihilistic, avant-garde comedy? Daisies remains a fascinating cinematic rollercoaster. Remarkable and refreshingly uncompromising, it continues to provoke, stimulate and entertain. Presented from a new HD transfer this region-free Blu-ray special edition includes Jasmina Blaževič’s acclaimed documentary film portrait of Věra Chytilová, Journey (Cesta) and audio commentaries by Peter Hames and Daniel Bird, and by Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan

 

• Presented from a new HD re-master and transfer from original materials by the Czech National Film Archive

• New and exclusive audio commentary by the daughters of darkness’ samm deighan and kat ellinger

• Audio commentary by film historians peter hames and daniel bird

• Journey (Cesta, 2004) – jasmina blaževič’s acclaimed documentary film portrait of věra chytilová

• Trailer (2009)

• 20-page booklet featuring peter hames’ substantial essay on the film

• New and improved english subtitle translation

• Region Free (A/B/C) Blu-ray

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pharoah

 

Jerzy Kawalerowicz’s dazzling epic, an adaptation of Bolesław Prus’ renowned novel, revolves around a lethal power struggle in ancient Egypt. As the youthful Ramses XIII ascends the throne, he clashes with powerful priests who seek to undermine his ambition to become the greatest Pharaoh in history. Resplendent with huge battle scenes, towering sets, stunningly choreographed sequences and spectacular design and cinematography, Pharaoh authentically evokes a world characterised by rigid hierarchy, mysterious ritual and often brutal conflict.

This mesmerising film is anchored in ideas as well as spectacle – exposing a society distorted by fear, betrayal and hypocrisy.Second Run present Pharaoh from a 2K restoration by WFDiF, Poland, supervised by the film’s cinematographer Jerzy Wójcik.

 

• Pharaoh (Faraon, 1966) presented from a 2K restoration by WFDiF, Poland, supervised by the film’s cinematographer jerzy wójcik

• Faraon – Afterword: an expansive and in-depth discussion of the film by critic, curator and scholar michał oleszczyk

• Kawalerowicz in the Desert: a 1964 archival newsreel excerpt on the making of Pharaoh, filmed on location in Uzbekistan

• 24-page booklet with new writing by film historian and producer michael brooke

• New and improved english subtitle translation

• Region Free (A/B/C) Blu-ray

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the emperor’s naked army marches on

 

Presented from a new director-approved HD remaster, Second Run present one of the most renowned, ground-breaking and inspirational documentaries of the past half-century.

Conceived by Shôhei Imamura, Kazuo Hara’s infamous and audacious documentary follows Kenzo Okuzaki, an ageing Japanese WW2 veteran, on a mission to uncover the truth about atrocities committed as the war in the Pacific reached its bloody end. Ultimately, Okuzaki blames Japan’s Emperor Hirohito himself for these barbarities, and his obsessive pursuit of those he deems responsible soon escalates. Willing to confront the taboos of Japanese society in his fanatical quest for justice, Okuzaki is driven to unsettling acts of violence. Harrowing and extraordinarily powerful, Hara’s film forces us to face the disturbing realities of war and, crucially, to question the complicity between filmmaker, subject and audience.

 

• Presented from a new HD remaster approved by director kazuo hara

• An exclusive, newly filmed interview with kazuo hara

• kazuo hara masterclass: the director in conversation at the 2018 open city documentary festival

• 20-page booklet featuring writing on the film by tony rayns, jason wood and abé mark nornes

• New and improved english subtitle translation

• World premiere release on blu-ray

• Region free blu-ray (A/B/C) 

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diamonds of the night

 

Presented from new 4K remaster, Second Run present Jan Němec’s masterful and harrowing Diamonds of the Night. Němec’s debut feature is one of the most thrilling and startlingly original works of cinema. Told almost without dialogue, it chronicles the tense and desperate journey of two teenage boys who are trying to stay alive after escaping from a German train bound for a Nazi concentration camp during World War II.

Adaptated from ‘Darkness Casts No Shadow’ by Arnošt Lustig, Diamonds of the Night is one of the earliest key early works of the Czechoslovak New Wave. This stunning new 4K restoration premiered in the at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, and Second Run are delighted to present the film in its new restoration for the first time anywhere on Blu-ray.

 

• Presented from a new 4K restoration of the film from original materials by the czech national film archive

• jan němec’s debut short film a loaf of bread (sousto, 1960)

• audio commentary by film historian michael brooke

• new filmed interview with eva lustigová, daughter of author arnošt lustig

• a filmed appreciation by peter hames

• trailer (2018)

• 20-page booklet featuring michael brooke’s substantial essay on the film

• region free blu-ray (A/B/C)

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interrogation

 

In 1950s Stalinist Poland, a headstrong cabaret singer, Tonia, is imprisoned without explanation. Days become months, punctuated only by the physical and psychological torture of relentless interrogation. Over time, the relationship with her captors grows ever more complex. Krystyna Janda’s award-winning portrayal of a woman’s fight for survival is mesmerising in its intensity.

Based on true events, Ryszard Bugajski’s harrowing film was banned under martial law in Poland, but thrived on underground VHS after a copy was smuggled out by the director at great personal risk. Finally released after the Fall of Communism, the film remains a powerful and ever more relevant indictment of totalitarianism.

 

• Interrogation (Przesłuchanie, 1982) presented complete and uncut from an HD transfer of the new 2K restoration of the film produced by WFDiF, Poland

• Ryszard Bugajski on Interrogation: a 2005 interview with the late director discussing the film’s contextual history, production, and the controversy surrounding its release and banning by the Polish authorities

• 40-page booklet with writing on the film by michael szporer and the complete transcript of the 1982 hearing before the so-called ‘co-laudation’ commission which led to Interrogation’s total suppression

• New and improved english subtitle translation

• Region free blu-ray (A/B/C)

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adoption

 

Márta Mészáros is without doubt one of the most significant female directors from Central Europe. Her outspoken works deal frankly with issues of gender, politics and society.

Adoption is a story of the hushed rebellion of two strong women, fortysomething Kata and orphaned teenager Anna. Kata longs to have a child of her own, but rejected by her married lover, Kata looks into adoption. She befriends troubled teen Anna, also determined to start a new life for herself, and the two women soon form a strong and unexpected kinship.

The first female director to win the Golden Bear at the Berlinale, Mészáros’ film is without any hint of artifice; no grand occurrences, no heavyweight discussions of issues, a film quiet and truthful in the best way.

 

• Presented from a new director-approved 4K restoration created by the national film institute film archive, hungary, and supervised by the film’s cinematographer lajos koltai

• A new introduction to the film by márta mészáros (2021)

• A Conversation with Márta Mészáros (2009): an archival interview with the director

• Trailer

• 16-page booklet with new writing on the film by journalist and critic carmen gray

• New and improved english subtitle translation

• Region free blu-ray (A/B/C)

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valerie and her week of wonders

 

With its stunning visuals and transcendent score by the great Luboš Fišer, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders is a potent mix of fairy tale, horror and surrealism, drawing the audience into the fantastical world inhabited by a young girl on the threshold of adulthood.

Caught between waking and dreaming, Valerie’s enchanted realm is inhabited by vampires and phantasmagorical creatures evoked in a marvellous kaleidoscope of intoxicating imagery. Haunting and poetic, Jaromil Jireš’ audacious film casts a powerful spell. Recognised as one of the most enduring and influential fantasies ever made, it has become a cult classic.

 

• valerie and her week of wonders presented from a brand new hd transfer of the film from original materials by the czech national film archive

• audio commentary with peter hames and daniel bird

• all-new projection booth audio commentary with mike white, samm deighan and kat ellinger

• filmed introduction by michael brooke

• interview with actor jaroslava schallerová (valerie)

• three acclaimed short films by jaromil jireš: uncle (strejda, 1959 / 6 mins), footprints (stopy, 1960 / 21 mins) – full length uncut version, the hall of lost footsteps (sál ztracených kroků, 1960 / 12 mins) – with original colour sequences

• 24-page booklet featuring writing by peter hames and joseph a. gervasi

• new and improved english subtitle translation

• region free blu-ray (a/b/c)

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neon bull

 

Gabriel Mascaro’s sensual, subversive Neon Bull unfolds within the macho world of traditional Brazilian rodeo, the vaquejada. Iremar is one of a motley gang of bull wranglers who travel from rodeo to rodeo, living an arduous itinerant life on the fringes of society. But each aspires to a better future and, after-hours, Iremar strives to fulfil his dream of becoming a fashion designer.

Balancing provocative realism with improvisational drama, Neon Bull is a celebration of its characters and their everyday lives as well as their obstinate capacity to dream. Filmed in mesmerizing, hypnotic visuals, it explores the lives of its protagonists with fierce, funny, sweaty intimacy, lyrically subverting its macho domain.

 

• Presented complete and uncut from a brand new transfer of the film

• A special interview with director gabriel mascaro, filmed at the film fra sør festival in norway

• the making of neon bull – an extended featurette

• 12-page booklet featuring a previously unpublished interview with mascaro by little white lies editor david jenkins

• Optional 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray

• Optional 5.1 Dolby Surround Audio on the DVD

• Theatrical trailer

• Region Free (A/B/C) Blu-ray

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larks on a string

 

Shot in 1968, whilst Czechoslovakia enjoyed a brief moment of political liberalisation, Larks on a String is a searing political satire from director Jiří Menzel and writer Bohumil Hrabal. Like their earlier Oscar-winning triumph Closely Observed Trains, it audaciously combines black humour with grim reality. Set in a scrap metal yard where dissidents are interned to be ‘re-educated’, the film is both a powerful critique of totalitarianism and a celebration of the resilience of the human spirit.

Promptly banned by the Communist regime, the film remained unseen until 1990, when it was released to great acclaim, winning the grand prize at the Berlin Film Festival. Now regarded as a lost masterpiece, Menzel’s wry comic drama is a hymn to humanity and nonconformity.

 

• larks on a string (skřivánci na niti, 1969) presented from an hd transfer of the new 4k restoration by the czech national film archive

• jiří menzel: 7 questions: an idiosyncratic reflection on the film and its history, shot by the late director in 2011 specially for second run

• menzel in discussion with filmmaker shivendra singh dungarpur

• a newly-recorded projection booth audio commentary with mike white and jonathan owen

• our dear mister foerster died (umřel nám pan foerster, 1963) – a restored early short film by jiří menzel

• 20-page booklet featuring an essay by author peter hames and an introduction by cinematographer jaromír šofr

• new and improved english subtitle translation

• region free blu-ray (a/b/c)

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the english surgeon

 

Geoffrey Smith’s multi-award-winning documentary centres on the work of Henry Marsh, a leading British brain surgeon, and a pioneer of neurosurgical technique whose expertise provides a glimmer of hope to patients in impoverished post-Soviet Ukraine.

Instrumental in creating a viable clinic in Kyiv that could offer hope to those who would otherwise go untreated, Marsh literally holds the power of life and death in his hands, provoking inevitable moral dilemmas. Grounded in compassion and humanity, this fascinating film unsentimentally explores the often complex relationship with his patients. Beautifully shot and edited, with a haunting score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, this powerful, emotive film shares the triumphs of Marsh’s successes and the profound sorrow of his failures.

 

• the english surgeon (2007) presented from a new hd transfer, approved by the director

• an exclusive, newly filmed interview with surgeon henry marsh

• an exclusive, newly filmed interview with filmmaker geoffrey smith

• trailer

• booklet with new writing on the film by writer and critic trevor johnston

• region free blu-ray (a/b/c)

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the creator

 

Presented from new HD materials, Second Run presents a special Blu-ray edition of one of its most enduringly popular titles – Juraj Herz’s The Cremator. The Cremator has been described in many ways – as surrealist-inspired horror film, as an expressionistic political allegory, a pitch-black comic satire and as a dark and disturbing tale of terror.

This brilliantly chilling film, a unique mix of Psycho, Dr Strangelove and Repulsion, is set in Prague during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. It tells the story of one Karl Kopfrkingl (Rudolf Hrušínský), a professional cremator, for whom the political climate allows free rein to his increasingly perverse and deranged impulses for the ‘salvation of the world’. Now more chillingly prescient than ever, The Cremator also contains another of master-composer Zdeněk Liška’s brilliantly inventive film scores.

 

• Presented from a new HD re-master and transfer from original materials held by the czech national film archive

• juraj herz’s short film the junk shop (sběrné surovosti, 1965)

• filmed introduction to the cremator by the quay brothers

• audio commentary by diabolique magazine editor-in-chief kat ellinger

• the projection booth podcast with mike white and critic samm deighan

• booklet with an essay on herz and the film by writer/producer daniel bird

• new and improved english subtitle translation

• region free

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coach to vienna

 

In the last days of the World War Two, a young Czech widow whose husband has been executed by Nazi occupiers is forced to transport two German soldiers to the Austrian border. As they journey through a seemingly endless forest, a barbed tale of hatred, revenge and unexpected sympathies unfolds.

Banned by the Czech authorities for challenging conventional depictions of villainous Nazis and honourable Czechs, Karel Kachyňa’s powerful and often harrowing film explores the fine line between justice and vengeance – and it remained unseen for over twenty years. Gripping and intensely atmospheric, Coach to Vienna is a fearless moral examination of the complexities of war.

 

• coach to vienna (kočár do vídně, 1966) presented from an hd transfer of the new 4k restoration by the czech national film archive, prague

• it’s not always cloudy (není stále zamračeno, 1949): karel kachyňa’s rediscovered feature-length semi-documentary graduation film, co-directed by vojtěch jasný

• a new projection booth audio commentary with film historians mike white, samm deighan and kat ellinger

• 20-page booklet featuring a new essay on the film by author and czechoslovak cinema specialist jonathan owen

• trailer

• image gallery – a collection of rare hungarian lobby cards

• new and improved english subtitle translation

• region free blu-ray (a/b/c)

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pearls of the deep

 

A manifesto for a new generation of young filmmakers, Pearls of the Deep is one of the delights of the Czechoslovak New Wave. Based on stories by Bohumil Hrabal, the film is a compendium of five films each demonstrating the differing styles of five emerging filmmakers: Jiří Menzel (The Death of Mr Batazar), Jan Němec (The Imposters), Evald Schorm (The House of Joy), Věra Chytilová (At the World Cafeteria), and Jaromil Jireš (Romance).

Each vignette displays unique approaches to Hrabal’s multi-faceted tales of ordinary people and odd obsessions. Ranging from the surreal to the satirical and the romantic, the films capture the essence and spirit of Hrabal’s work, and emerge as a joyous rallying cry for subversion and artistic expression.

 

• pearls of the deep (perličky na dně, 1965) presented from an hd transfer from the new 4k restoration created by the czech national film archive

• the two additional films based on stories by bohumil hrabal originally intended to be included in pearls of the deep: ivan passer’s a boring afternoon (fádní odpoledne) and juraj herz’s the junk shop (sběrné surovosti) – all seven films presented together for the very first time

• about cats, beatniks and all sorts of other things (o kočkách, beatnicích a všeličems jiném): rudolf růžička’s 1967 short film on writer bohumil hrabal

• restoration trailer

• booklet featuring a substantial new essay by peter hames

• new and improved english subtitle translations

• region free (a/b/c) blu-ray

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i was at home, but…

 

Angela Schanelec’s wonderfully elusive and allusive films intrigue audiences with their enigmatic explorations of everyday human dilemmas. Winner of the ‘Best Director’ prize at the 2019 Berlin Film Festival, I Was at Home, But… is a tender, profoundly moving portrait of a family living with love and loss. An exquisitely subtle and deeply affecting work, the film avoids easy exposition, trusting the audience to find connections in its elliptical narrative.

Beautifully shot, Schanelec’s elegantly radical films have a potent and mysterious power, achieving a masterful balance of quiet poetry, wry humour and raw emotion. Presented in a new director-approved HD-presentation of the film, this region-free Blu-ray edition also features a new and exclusive filmed interview with Angela Schanelec, three of her early short films – and a booklet with new writing on the film by journalist and author Carmen Gray.

 

• presented from a new high-definition transfer, approved by director angela schanelec

• an exclusive, newly-filmed interview with the director

• a programme of three rare short films by the director: lovely yellow colour (schöne gelbe farbe, 1991), far away (weit entfernt, 1992), prague, march ’92 (prag, märz 92, 1992)

• booklet featuring a new essay on the film by critic and journalist carmen gray

• 5.1 dts-hd master audio and 2.0 stereo audio options

• region free blu-ray (a/b/c)

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Vitalina Varela

 

Following on from his exquisite works Blood (O Sangue, 1989), Casa de Lava (1994), Colossal Youth (Juventude em Marcha, 2006) and Horse Money (Cavalo Dinheiro, 2014), Vitalina Varela is the latest film from maestro Pedro Costa.

Winner of the prestigious ‘Best Film’ and ‘Best Actress’ Awards at the 2019 Locarno Film Festival, and the Silver Hugo Jury Prize at the Chicago International Film Festival, Costa’s film follows the titular Vitalina, a woman left behind in Cape Verde when her husband leaves to find work in Portugal. Years later, she finally makes the journey to Lisbon herself but arrives three days after his funeral. Alone and isolated in her late husband’s home, Vitalina is determined to persevere and confront the ghosts of the past. Haunting, strikingly visualised and marked by a towering central performance, Vitalina Varela is an unforgettable modern masterwork.

 

• vitalina varela (2019) presented from a director-approved hd transfer of the film

• an introduction to the film by critic and author chris fujiwara

• pedro costa in an exclusive and expansive filmed conversation with maria delgado, recorded at the ica cinema, london, march 2020

• pedro costa: companhia – a short film about costa’s installation exhibition at the serralves museum, porto (2018)

• film trailers and teasers made by the director

• 24-page booklet featuring writing on the film by daniel kasman

• original soundtrack in 5.1 dts-hd master audio & 2.0 stereo lpcm

• region free blu-ray (a/b/c)

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The Valley of the Bees

 

Set in a vividly recreated 13th-century Europe, František Vláčil’s visionary medieval epic chronicles the tale of a young boy forced to join the Order of the Teutonic Knights. Years later he abandons them, only to be pursued by a fanatical comrade and made to pay a terrible price for his rejection of the Holy Order.

Visually stunning, with dazzling monochrome cinematography and intense period detail, The Valley of the Bees is a raw and haunting moral fable about the conflict between human nature and dogmatism – and just as powerful and compelling a film as his more famous work, Marketa Lazarová.

 

• the valley of the bees (údolí včel, 1967) presented from a new hd transfer from original materials held by the czech national film archive

• an all-new projection booth commentary with mike white and robert bellissimo

• new hd presentations of two of františek vláčil’s acclaimed short documentary films, photographed by františek uldrich with music by zdeněk liška: the city in white (město v bílém, 1972) and karlovy vary promenades (karlovarské promenády, 1972)

• 24-page booklet with writing by film historian, author and czech cinema expert peter hames

• new and improved english subtitle translation

• region free (a/b/c) blu-ray

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love

 

Károly Makk’s beloved, Cannes award-winning gem, based on the autobiographical writings of Tibor Déry, is a meditation on time, memory, love and loss. Two women – a wife and a mother – await the return of political prisoner János. His elderly mother believes him to be working abroad; his devoted wife knows the painful truth of his absence… and fears she may never see him alive again.

Beautifully played by two giants of Hungarian cinema, Lili Darvas and Mari Törõcsik, the film is a subtle yet powerful exploration of how love sustains life, even in times of fear and uncertainty. Perfectly realised, with luminous cinematography and innovative editing, Makk’s tender masterpiece is a landmark of international cinema.

 

• love (szerelem, 1971) presented from a new 4k restoration created by the national film institute – film archive, hungary

• károly makk on love (2005): the renowned filmmaker discusses the film

• audio commentary with károly makk and professor gábor gelencsér (2016)

• ‘love’ returns to cannes (2016): a film on the history and legacy of love

• archival newsreel footage of hungarian film week in sorrento, 1971

• trailers

• 20-page booklet with writing on the film by graeme hobbs and agnes sajti

• new and improved english subtitle translation

• region free blu-ray (a/b/c)

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the cassandra cat

 

Vojtěch Jasný’s sumptuous, surreal satire is one of the most visually inventive and uninhibited films of the Czechoslovak New Wave. A travelling circus and its magical feline mascot arrive in a provincial Czech town, unleashing mayhem as they expose the virtues, vices and desires of its unruly inhabitants. Part modern fairy tale, part colourful political metaphor, The Cassandra Cat (also known as When the Cat Comes) is a unique, glorious comic fantasy. Now newly restored in 4K, this Cannes award-winner makes its world premiere on Blu-ray.

 

• presented from an hd transfer of the new 4k restoration by the czech national film archive

• a newly-recorded projection booth audio commentary with mike white, spencer parsons and chris stachiw

• badly painted hen (špatně namalovaná slepice, 1963): the acclaimed animated short film by artist jiří brdečka, co-writer of the cassandra cat

• trailer

• 24-page booklet with an expansive new essay by curator and author cerise howard

• dolby digital 5.1 audio

• new and improved english subtitles

• world premiere release on blu-ray

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curling

 

A unique voice in contemporary cinema, Denis Côté is renowned for his unsettling, sparse and formally daring films.

Winner of the Best Director and Best Actor (Emmanuel Bilodeau) awards at the 2010 Locarno International Film Festival, Curling is in the starkly beautiful winter landscape of rural Québec. The film portrays the strange lives of taciturn loner Jean-François, who works at a deserted bowling alley at night and in a rundown motel during the day, and his daughter, Julyvonne, who he insists never leaves their home. Their isolation, and the fragile balance of their relationship, is jeopardised by Julyvonne’s encroaching adolescence, her curiosity about the outside world that Jean-François so fears, and the troubling secrets they both carry. Haunting, enigmatic and at times menacing, the film is a meditation on the universal need for human connection.

 

• curling presented from a brand new hd transfer of the film from original materials, approved by the director

• an exclusive, newly filmed interview with the director

• may we sleep soundly (que nous nous assoupissions, 2015): denis côté’s acclaimed short film

• 24-page booklet featuring essays by film critics and writers adam nayman and tom mcsorley

• optional 5.1 dts-hd master audio

• world premiere release on blu-ray

• region free blu-ray (a/b/c)

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the party and the guests

 

A group of friends enjoying an idyllic day in the country are accosted by mysterious figures who compel them to join an unexplained lavish banquet in the woods. A barbed satire of authoritarianism and conformity unfolds, as each new guest finds their place amongst the revellers, succumbing to the will of their menacing hosts.

Jan Němec’s surreal and sinister fable was considered one of the most politically dangerous films of its era. Made during the short flowering of the Czechoslovak New Wave in the 1960s, it was subsequently ‘banned forever’ by the authorities.

 

• the party and the guests (o slavnosti a hostech, 1966) presented from an hd transfer of the new 4k restoration by the czech national film archive

• the hand (ruka, 1965): jiří trnka’s renowned animated film presented from a new hd restoration and for the first time ever on blu-ray

• audio commentary by author jonathan owen

• projection booth audio commentary with film historians mike white, samm deighan and kat ellinger

• a filmed appreciation by czechoslovak cinema specialist peter hames

• 24-page booklet featuring michael brooke’s substantial essay on the film and jan němec

• new and improved english subtitle translation

• region free blu-ray (a/b/c)

• world premiere on blu-ray

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