many of which are on my wish list - i.e. the Ackerman, Becker and Ozu titles. I too would love to see HOUR OF THE FURNACES on F4 World but a political film that runs in excess of 4 hours seems unlikely to get such treatment. I'm going to see it in London tomorrow - looking forward to it.

LANDSCAPE IN THE MIST, LATE SPRING, L'AGE D'OR, LOS OLVIDADOS, COME AND SEE and MEMORIES OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT have all been broadcast previously on F4. Some, such as COME AND SEE were only given one or two screenings - please show this film again! An Ozu season is forthcoming and will probably include the same films seen previously on the channel - RECORD OF A TENEMENT GENTLEMAN, LATE SPRING, FLAVOUR OF GREEN TEA OVER RICE, OHAYO and AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON. There was an excellent retrospective of Bunuel's films on F4 too, though sadly lacking L'AGE D'OR (which has turned up on BBC4 once or twice). Some Mizoguchi has been seen too - as far as I can remember SANSHO THE BALIFF, UGETSU MONOGATARI and TALES OF THE TAIRA CLAN have periodically turned up. Ichikawa's AN ACTOR'S REVENGE also screens regularly.

I recently saw SPIRITED AWAY and enjoyed it very much. I'd love to see more Miyazaki - how about a season F4?

Other titles you may be interested in that have aired previously and could crop up again - I AM CUBA (it's influence on the restless, prowling cinematography of Gasper Noe's IRREVERSIBLE is unmistakable), KWAIDAN, ONIBABA, QUEMADA!, THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS, PEPE LE MOKO, SANS SOLEIL, MON ONCLE D'AMERIQUE, L'ATLANTE, ZERO DE CONDUITE, HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR, and RED BEARD.

Hope this has helped a little bit!

That's a really helpful reply, thanks! A shame i was late getting F4 and so missed some of the above, but i'm delighted to hear about the Ozu season. I sometimes wish i lived nearer the National Film Theatre in London, to catch all the films inaccessible to most other parts of Britain-(why is called the British Film Institute, when it's really the London F.I?) but i wouldn't swap the city for the lovely countryside here. Our local film society in Brecon, Wales will be showing L'Age d'Or on March 3. We like to have a mix of countries, old and new films.

Dear Kenji and James

Thank you for your posts - the Ozu season will be airing in March on FilmFour World and comprises these titles:-
Equinox Flower, Ohayo, There Was A Father, An Autumn Afternoon, Early Spring, Late Spring and Tokyo Story.

We will also be showing these Mizoguchi films in March on World:-

The Story of The Late Chrysanthemums, Ugetsu Monogatari and New Tales of The Taira Clan.

Come and See is on FilmFour on Saturday Feb 8th at 1.05 am.

Hope you enjoy them all.

...whether there's any possibility of BLUE (Jarman) being shown on F4 in the near future?

This is terrific news indeed - four new Ozu's to add to my collection. I'm overjoyed!

Tokyo Story is a great masterpiece, but Late Spring the one i'm especially looking forward to. Yes, things are looking brighter.

Story of the Late Chysanthemums, which i saw on a video bought from France, last night, is as astoundingly brilliant (camerawork, compositions, choreography, lighting) as Mizoguchi admirers might expect. The control of different planes in a scene, and originality of mise-enscene is quite extraordinary. Ugetsu Monogatari is lyrical and exquisitely beautiful- perhaps still his best known film. I also love the underrated Tales of the Taira Clan- such gorgeous colours. Sansho the Bailiff, not on the little list, is merely the peak of World Cinema.

is my favourite Ozu (it's not easy to pick one!). Story-wise the film is an early pre-cursor to AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON. The measured pace, the understated performances and gorgeous cinematography win me over every time. The subject matter of the film is all the more poignant when we consider that Ozu, like the lead female protagonist, lived with his mother throughout his life. She was to die in 1962 whilst her son was making AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON. The sense of loss (a staple feature of many Ozu films) that imbues the film is overpowering and it seems hardly surprising that this was to be the master's final film. It's a terrific swan song.

As for the Mizoguchi titles that you mention - well, there really isn't much to add. The BFI were supposed to release STORY OF THE LATE CHYSANTHENUMS a couple of years back but for some inexplicable reason it never surfaced. I'm excited at the prospect of this screening. I never really engaged with the subject matter of TALES OF THE TAIRA CLAN but am tempted to revisit it following your comments. I guess I was expecting something a little different so perhaps a second viewing will be a more pleasurable experience as I will have abandoned my high (or over?) expectations. UGETSU and SANSHO are my favourite Mizoguchi's (along with the amazing THE LIFE OF OHARU). In fact I would go as far as saying that SANSHO THE BALIFF concludes with one of the most powerful and memorable final shots in the history of cinema. A masterpiece.

You won't get an argument from me about the great final scene in Sansho! There's a spot at the Mawddach estuary in Snowdonia, with a cherry tree, which brings that little promontory and the film to mind. Wistful thinking. The real locations are marked on a map in the BFi classics book on the film. But perhaps the most sublime moment is when Anju (Kyoko Kagawa) gives herself up to the water; a simple frame and a few ripples, yet such incredible delicate beauty and poignancy. I've been hoping to find Kyoko, who's still alive apparently and returned to film acting in the 90's- After Life for instance.

Tales of the Taira Clan isn't usually ranked up with the top 4 Mizoguchi, and it may be a personal response. The colours are jewel-like (ruby, amber, amethyst) and it has many of his expected qualities, but in this instance i was won over by the lovely short romantic section, the search for identity, and moments like the forest torch-lit procession that somehow recalled a vague dream from childhood. Intangible things that hit the right spot, really.

I asked again recently about BFI video of Story of the Late Chrysanthemums, after the dsappointment you mention; they may still release it after all- but anyway, Film Four are in there first. The film is not his most moving, and it doesn't open out into the exquisite landscapes of Sansho and Ugetsu, but it's a work of luminous beauty and staggering brilliance. Compositions, lighting effects, angles, exploitation of space that had me reeling. Not only a master but here, unmistakeably, a genius.

A film is a film whether it lasts 20 minutes or 20 hours. The sooner programmers realise this and stop compartmentalising films into 'features' and 'shorts', the better.

Films running under 30 minutes are currently either used as buffers between films running over 75 minutes, or screened after midnight as part of infrequent C4 series: "The Shooting Gallery".

In both of the above instances, they are given little significance within listings (if they are lucky enough to be listed), especially in comparison with the attention devoted to films running over 90 minutes. I know there isn't as much to write about, but some listings are ridiculously short (hypothetical example: La Jetee - Short film directed by Chris Marker).

A film is a film.

will you be in the near future, showin the canadian film 'Black Christmas' as it was one of the most scariest films that i have ever since. (none of that teen horror crap)

After watching Solaris ( 1972 ) on FilmFour a couple of weeks ago, I became interested in the films of Andrei Tarkovsky. Are there any plans to show a season of his films?

I know you've shown a few Godard films, but are there any plans to show more of his films, especially Pierrot le Fou?

YES. SHOW A SEASON OF TARKOVSKY FILMS. HE ONLY MADE ABOUT SEVEN SO IT SHOULDN'T BE DIFFICULT.

comprising SOLARIS, STALKER, MIRROR and IVAN'S CHILDHOOD, but sadly no THE SACRIFICE (my favourite of Tarkovsky's films) and NOSTALGIA, or ANDREI RUBLEV, which has been broadcast before on F4 in it's complete state, unlike the hideously compromised Artificial Eye DVD.

Oh, for those interested - Criterion's recent DVD release of THE KILLERS (both the Robert Siodmak and Don Siegel versions) includes Tarkovsky's student film adaptation of Hemingway's story. Essential for all you Tarkovsky fans out there...

Just wondering whether you are ever planning to show Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Conformist" on one of the FilmFour channels?

The last place I saw it was last year on the (sinister-drum-role) BBC I think.

It's a brilliant film but torturously unavailable on video or dvd. In fact after watching it for the first time I was so desperate to see it again that I went out and read the book. Plus it just seems like the right class of film to have on FilmFour.

Pretty-please-with-cherries-on-top

DITB

[This message was edited by Darth in the Bath on 23-03-03 at 13:29.]

is one of my favourite films. It's incredibly atmospheric and, as a study of a disturbed child's development into a dangerously repressed and twisted adult, it is fascinating.

My favourite scenes are when the two couples go out dancing together in Rome and the final scenes in the woods.

Moravia's book is wonderful too...

Yeah, the books' ending really cuts you down.

I first caught The Conformist when BBC2 showed it in the early hours of the morning and I kept pinching myself to stay awake because I was so in awe of the camera work and the energy of the whole thing.

I've seen it so few times that I haven't had the chance to really soak it up on an emotional and political level... which is why only the pictures stick out in my memory.

From the book I was fascinated at how Marcello is on this personal quest to conform to what he thinks is the social and sexual standard of his peers, but slowly begins to discover their morals are not as high as he first thought and that by conforming to this self created image of good he unwittingly becomes a rebel himself.

Erm... I think that's right anyway.

Anyway, is it ever going to be shown again or released on dvd?

DITB

DITB

wow, am I a threadkiller or what?

DITB

Stop trying to dodge the issue, Film Four Ed, by introducing new strands. There is only one issue.
Are you committing suicide? Who gets the payout?

NO MORE FILMFOUR WORLD

I am giving up my subscribtion tonight after I have seen "Merci pour le Chocolat".

Your changes leave me with no choice. I subsribed the week you introduced FILMFOUR WORLD.

I was waiting for you to extend this service not limit it.

I wish you luck and hope you have the foresight to provide material people want and expect from FILMFOUR. Otherwise you will fold, which would be a shame.

I haven't been around these parts of late.

Sounds to me like you've hit the nail on the head as far as The Conformist goes. I love the end of the film (can't quite remember if the book ends the same way) when, with the fall of Fascism, he realises that the regime he pledged himself to has crumbled to nothing and that, despite his best efforts, he's back on the outside looking in. The street scenes in Rome are just magnificent.

And in response to all those who've expressed their displeasure at the loss of FilmFour World, I couldn't agree more. I don't subscribe to FilmFour myself but am saddened to hear that one of the few remaining ways to access great foreign cinema is being removed.

I can't even begin to comprehend how anyone could possibly think FilmFour Weekly is anything approaching a good idea.

If anything, I was hoping we might see an *expansion* of World so it could go on late into the night. But no, you're taking the highly regressive step of dropping it, together with Extreme, and trying to fob us off with a channel showing a massive total of 3 films a week and some lame statement that the World and Extreme films will end up on FilmFour.

If you can't afford to run 3 channels (I don't count +1 as a unique channel), you could at least be honest about it instead of this charade. I'm willing to bet that most people would pay more for the schedules to be expanded. Think about it, would people rather pay more to receive more, or pay the same to get less?

I feel as frustrated as Quiz Kid Donny Smith as I type this, but the right words to finish this post come from Julianne Moore, in the same film:

Shame on you.

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