The Conformist

Bernardo Bertolucci's masterpiece on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time in the UK.

Awarded “Five Star” reviews during its theatrical re-release in 2008 by Empire (“Funny and frightening, seductive and satirical, ridiculous and tragic, this remains Bertolucci’s greatest film.”), BBCi Films (“One of the truly great films of the 1970s”), Time Out (“A dazzling film.”) and the Radio Times, amongst others, Bernardo Bertolucci’s undisputed masterpiece The Conformist comes to DVD and Blu-ray on 27th February 2012 for the first time in the UK courtesy of Arrow Academy.

At the peak of his creative powers the 29-year-old Bernardo Bertolucci eschewed the influence of mentor Jean-Luc Godard and partnered up with Vittorio Storaro and developed his own style for one of the most visually dazzling, politically and psychologically intriguing – and possibly greatest – of all Italian films.

Told in a non-linear structure that would go on to influence The Godfather Part II (although not the only influence on Coppola’s film), the story begins in Rome, 1938. Marcello (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is a young fascist who takes on the job of assassinating his former professor who has fled to Paris. With his wife (Stefania Sandrelli) in tow, he meets the professor and his young wife (Dominique Sanda), with whom he begins to fall in love.

A thriller as well as study of Italian politics and psychological character, Bertolucci’s Oscar nominated adaptation of Alberto Moravia’s novel (an adaptation Moravia greatly admired) has gone on to influence filmmakers such as Paul Schrader, Martin Scorsese and Michael Mann and remains one of the great triumphs of world cinema.

The Conformist (cert. tbc) will be released as a dual format Blu-ray/DVD edition (£27.99) by Arrow Academy on 27th February 2012.

Special Features include: audio commentary by Italian cinema expert David Forgacs; feature length documentary Bernardo Bertolucci: Reflections on Cinema on Bertolucci’s career with on-set archive material and interviews directed by Sandro Lai (Blu-ray only); a comprehensive booklet featuring brand new writing on the film by critic Michael Atkinson, a re-printed interview with Bernardo Bertolucci from 1971 and Bertolucci’s thoughts on filmmaking, illustrated with original stills; High Definition Blu-ray and Standard Definition DVD presentation of the film; HD restoration supervised by Director of Photography Vittorio Storaro in the original 1.66:1 aspect ratio; original Mono 2.0 audio; Italian language with optional English subtitles.

Arrow Academy: Miracle in Milan [Dual Format]



Released: 26 Mar 2012

Overview: After his earth shattering Bicycle Thieves, Vittorio De Sica and long time screenwriter Cesare Zavattini turned their neo-realist ideas to something much more like a fable yet retaining the core ideas behind the revolutionary cinema movement. Miracle in Milan went on to wow critics and audiences, winning the Grand Prize of the Cannes Film Festival in 1951.

Always in the shadow of the ever more popular Bicycle Thieves, this largely unsung masterpiece tends toward magic realism to imagine a place where society’s most downtrodden can find purchase and possible escape from misery. Set within a fantastically theatrical shantytown, Miracle in Milan constructs an alternate world from De Sica and Zavattini’s fascination with marginalised perspectives. The unusual use of deliberate artifice and spectacle rekindles the Meliesian magical aura of early cinema.

Arrow Academy is pleased to present a new HD transfer of the film along with De Sica’s Il Tetto in this deluxe edition.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- High Definition Blu-ray and Standard Definition DVD presentation of the film
- Full length feature: Il Tetto [The Roof], Vittorio De Sica’s 1956 film also written by Zavattini, made available for the first time in the UK on DVD
- Newly translated and more complete optional English subtitles on both features
- Interview with Manuel De Sica
- Interview with star Brunella Bovo
- Rome Premiere Newsreel Footage
- Original Trailer
- Comprehensive booklet including writing on Miracle in Milan and Il Tetto, a re-print of John Maddison’s 1951 article The Case of De Sica, illustrated with original stills and artwork.

Forbidden Zone [Limited Edition Blu-ray]

Released: 07 May 2012

Step into The Forbidden Zone, a bizarro world of frog butlers, topless princesses, machine-gun toting teachers, eccentric dwarves, their demonic wives, and the Devil himself (Danny Elfman). You’ve never seen anything like it...!

Check your basement. Is there door to the 6th Dimension there? If so, you’re going on a wild ride into excess as you join Frenchy and Rene in a land of musical madness, despotic queens and strange frog man-servants.

If you’ve tired of Rocky Horror and had enough of Hedwig, it’s time discover The Forbidden Zone, a demented tribute to the hot jazz and dark glamour of a lost age, featuring new wave pop music and Cab Calloway-style insanity, filtered through the mind of a maniac!

THIS EDITION CONTAINS:
- Reversible sleeve with 3 original poster artworks and newly commissioned artwork cover
- Double-sided fold-out artwork poster
- Collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by critic David Hayles

BLU-RAY CONTAINS:
- Brand new High Definition restoration of the Black and White and Colour versions of the film
- Optional 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio / LPCM Uncompressed Mono Audio
- Optional English SDH subtitles

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Audio commentary with director Richard Elfman and writer-actor Matthew Bright
- A Look into Forbidden Zone – extensive behind the scenes documentary featuring interviews and archive footage, including scenes from Elfman’s lost film The Hercules Family
- Two complete scenes from The Hercules Family
- Outtakes
- Deleted Scenes
- Oingo Boingo Music Video Private Life
- Original Theatrical Trailer

Artwork by Jeff Zornow
Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
Region ABC


The King of New York [Limited Edition SteelBook Blu-ray]

Released: 04 Jun 2012

Christopher Walken is out of prison and back on the dirty streets of New York as convicted drug lord Frank White in a pitch black 90s crime classic from the magnificently disreputable Abel Ferrara (Driller Killer, Ms.45).

White returns to his old patch to find it in disarray as the parasites that moved in to capture his business don’t share in the same Robin Hood spirit. Soon he’s violently taking out the competition, stealing their stashes and turning a healthy profit on the gear, putting it towards building a new South Bronx hospital.

But you can’t make an omelette without breaking some heads. As the street killings rise and the corrupt cops close in, White’s crazed mix of criminal psychosis and heartfelt charity threatens to tear apart everything he’s fought so hard to build...

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Limited Edition collectable SteelBook packaging
- Collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by Brad Stevens, author of Abel Ferrara: The Moral Vision
- High Definition Presentation of the film
- Optional 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio / 2.0 Stereo Audio
- Audio commentary with director Abel Ferrara
- Audio commentary with composer Joe Delia, producer Mary Kane, casting director Randy Sabusawa and editor Anthony Redman
- Interview with producer Augusto Caminito
- Abel Ferrara: Not Guilty: Documentary on Abel Ferrara from the French TV show Cinéastes de Notre Temps + More special features to be announced!

Artwork by Tom 'The Dude Designs' Hodge
Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
Region TBC