Didn't know that BFI had started limiting their booklets. Got I Start Counting today. If I'd known, I think I'd of made sure I got a booklet copy for this one.

Ah well, if you snooze you lose, I guess :(

June 26th
 

The Driver's Seat.

Director: Giuseppe Patroni Griffi

Elizabeth Taylor stars as a troubled woman who, upon arriving in Rome, finds a city fragmented by autocratic law, leftist violence and her own increasingly unhinged mission to find the most dangerous liaison of all.

Never before released in the UK, The Driver’s Seat (aka Identikit) remains the most obscure, bizarre and wildly misunderstood film of Taylor’s illustrious career. Adapted from an unnerving novella by Muriel Spark (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie), the film marked a wild step into the unknown for the screen icon, as she cast off the shackles of the US studio system in the shadow of her tumultuous personal life. Co-starring Ian Bannen, Mona Washbourne and Andy Warhol, The Driver’s Seat stunned critics and audiences alike upon its premiere in 1974 but failed to secure a UK release – until now.

Directed by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi ('Tis Pity She's a Whore) and featuring cinematography by three-time Oscar® winner Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now), this much-sought after cult classic is presented in a new 4K restoration by Cineteca di Bologna and Severin Films.

Special Features

Restored in 4K by Cineteca di Bologna and Severin Films and presented in High Definition

Introduction By Kier-La Janisse, author of House of Psychotic Women (2022, 6 mins)

Audio Commentary with TCM Underground curator Millie De Chirico (2022)

A Lack of Absence (2022, 22 mins): writer and literary historian Chandra Mayor on Muriel Spark and The Driver's Seat

The Driver’s Seat (credit sequences) (1974, 4 mins)

**FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Illustrated booklet featuring new writing on the film by the BFI’s Simon McCallum and Canadian artist, writer and filmmaker Bruce LaBruce. Also includes Kier-La Janisse’s piece on The Driver’s Seat, previously published in her acclaimed book, House of Psychotic Women

Other extras TBC

As much as i like the artwork for the film they should have gone with this original Italian one.

Seems like it's quite near to Giallo territory in plot, although not in the conventional sense.

Is this one you can recommend??

Never seen it.

As the blurb says it's never before been released in the UK.

This is the sort of release i like and want to support.

This was on the recent Severin Films box set 'House of Psychotic Women' as Identikit and also featured Footsteps on the Moon. The contents of the disc look identical to the Severin one. The Box Set was around £70, too rich for me although I'd REALLY like Footprints in HD.

Apparently Ken Russell's Gothic is on the the BFI's Jul-Sep slate, along with Gregory's Girl UHD and something for John Wayne fans...


https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/bfi-blu-...september-2023

Brannigan - Awesome. Can't wait.

Targets, Brannigan and Gothic! Can't wait.

Gothic will be my Halloween film.

Mention of Brannigan reminds me. We've never had a Blu of The Young Americans as far as i know. Danny Cannon's reworking of Brannigan starring Harvey Keitel as the American cop sent to London. Also very good.

Noticed they are selling a Werner Herzeg boxset.


The Werner Herzog Collection – an extensive 8-disc Blu-ray box set compiling 18 films from the legendary German director.

The set features digitally remastered presentations of classics such as Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972); The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974); Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) and Fitzcarraldo (1982) plus many of Herzog’s hugely acclaimed short films.

Extras include Jack Bond’s long-unseen South Bank Show episode on Herzog from 1982 and Les Blank’s Burden of Dreams.



Films:

The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz (1967)
Last Words (1968)
Precautions Against Fanatics (1969)
Handicapped Future (1970)
Fata Morgana (1971)
Land Of Silence and Darkness (1971)
Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972)
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974)
The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1975)
Heart of Glass (1976)
How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck (1976)
Stroszek (1977)
Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
Woyzeck (1979)
Huie's Sermon (1980)
God's Angry Man (1980)
Fitzcarraldo (1982)
Cobra Verde (1987

Extras

All films remastered to High Definition
Alternative German and English versions of selected titles
Full-length audio commentaries with Werner Herzog on selected titles
Optional 5,1 German and English audio on selected titles
Nosferatu on-set documentary (1979, 13 mins)
Werner Herzog Eats His shoe (Les Blank, 1980, 21 mins)
Burden of Dreams (Les Blank, 1982, 95 mins)
Guardian Lecture with Werner Herzog (1988, 83 mins, audio only)
The South Bank Show: Werner Herzog (Jack Bond, 1982, 56 mins)
Original trailer on selected titles
Stills Galleries on selected titles
Illustrated booklet with extensive essay by Laurie Johnson; full film credits

£29.99

I have that set. There's so much material on it but I've barely scratched the surface. Nosferatu the Vampyre looks stunning.
Never seen Gothic, I'm not sure if I fancy it or not. Always seemed a bit too arthouse for me.
Haven't seen Brannigan before. Like the crisps though.
I see they have the new(ish) Get Carter 2 disc set in the sale. Bad timing sadly.