110 Britannia Hospital

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swo17
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110 Britannia Hospital

#1 Post by swo17 » Thu Apr 02, 2020 11:35 am

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BRITANNIA HOSPITAL
(Lindsay Anderson, 1982)
Release date: 29 June 2020
Limited Edition Blu-ray (World Blu-ray premiere)


Pre-order here.

The concluding instalment in Lindsay Anderson’s Mick Travis trilogy, following If.... and O Lucky Man!, Britannia Hospital finds the filmmaker casting a sourly satirical eye over Thatcher’s Britain. With a phenomenal cast at his disposal – everyone from Alan Bates (Georgy Girl) and Joan Plowright (Time Without Pity) to Robin Askwith (Confessions of a Window Cleaner) and Mark Hamill (Star Wars) to Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) reprising the role of Travis – Anderson trains his sights on royalty, trade unions, the media, and scientific research in typically uncompromising fashion.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

• High Definition remaster
• Original mono audio
• The BEHP Interview with Lindsay Anderson (1991): archival audio recording, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project, featuring the celebrated director in conversation with Alan Lawson and Norman Swallow
Healthy Reputation (2020): actor Robin Askwith recalls working with Anderson on If.... and Britannia Hospital
Biles Apart (2020): actor Brian Pettifer discusses working with Anderson and reprising the role of Biles
A Cut Above (2020): editor Michael Ellis reflects on the film’s production
• Image gallery: publicity and promotional material
• Original theatrical trailer
• Original teaser trailer
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Limited edition exclusive 40-page booklet with a new essay by Peter Cowie, an archival interview with Anderson, extracts from the diaries of Anderson and screenwriter David Sherwin, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
• World premiere on Blu-ray
• Limited edition of 3,000 copies

#PHILTD110
BBFC cert: 15
REGION B
EAN: 5037899071663

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domino harvey
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Re: Forthcoming: Britannia Hospital

#2 Post by domino harvey » Thu Apr 02, 2020 12:16 pm

Is that Sam Viviano’s work on the cover art?

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Drucker
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Re: Forthcoming: Britannia Hospital

#3 Post by Drucker » Thu Apr 02, 2020 12:30 pm

There appears to be his signature right below the man on the far left.

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domino harvey
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Re: Forthcoming: Britannia Hospital

#4 Post by domino harvey » Thu Apr 02, 2020 12:32 pm

Ha, sure enough! I didn’t realize he followed the path of Jack Davis and Mort Drucker of Mad artists who branched out into theatrical posters (which I imagine this was pulled from?)

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Forthcoming: Britannia Hospital

#5 Post by therewillbeblus » Tue Apr 07, 2020 9:13 pm

I’ve seen the first two installments of Anderson’s trilogy plenty of times, but always heard this was a poor finale next to those two and put it off until I felt I could enter in with cautious optimism. Well I thought this was absolutely terrific, upping the ante on absurdism, and utilizing a strong collaboration of skills. Anderson takes a witty script and concocts scenes to produce surreal behavioral gags in both loud and soft ideas populating each frame, sometimes simply by the expressions on the faces of a group of people arranged in a strict pattern of chairs, the camera steadily looking down on them. Mileage will certainly vary on how funny you'll find this, as it walks a fine line between falling in on itself and sustaining its balance before it nosedives anyways and, well, that's part of the fun. The rigidity of the objective framework is so wildly executed that this strange paradox in formalism sets the bar for tainting the execution of ideas into a vacuum of folly.

This is a sloppy film, without narrative cohesion (Oh Lucky Man! is a very straightforward subjective tale next to this), but the assemblage of varied imaginative concepts works because Anderson takes the approach of creating a simple setting of a hospital as a containment center to project and subsequently explore his broad knowledge of film history and style, from silent-visual to surreal to anti-sentimental jokes, and even some direct homages
SpoilerShow
the Frankenstein’s monster gag where McDowell's head rips off, blood spraying everywhere to one-up the Warhol
as well as explore (seemingly all of) his opinions on late 20th century man, including the absurdities inherent in social engagement, politics, ideology, materialism, narcissism, and identity; spilling farce into the encompassing satire. “Do not call us men, we are staff!” If nobody is taking life seriously, through the process of taking it too seriously, Anderson figures: why should he?

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MichaelB
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Re: 110 Britannia Hospital

#6 Post by MichaelB » Thu May 07, 2020 5:10 am

Now officially announced.

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MichaelB
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Re: 110 Britannia Hospital

#7 Post by MichaelB » Thu May 14, 2020 12:34 pm

Final specs confirmed:

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MichaelB
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Re: 110 Britannia Hospital

#8 Post by MichaelB » Thu Jul 02, 2020 10:22 am


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knives
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Re: 110 Britannia Hospital

#9 Post by knives » Fri Jul 03, 2020 12:49 pm

This was a truly brilliant film and a radical shift in style as the other three Anderson features I've seen have also been to each other. I found the most perfect scene of the film which seems to sum up Anderson's philosophy on it the hilarious finale to the kitchen strike where the strike leader basically sells out his team for a pointless yet pride swelling reward. In Don Quixote much ado is constantly made about the deprecation between the self made men, the caballeros, and those of nobility, the hidalgos, and Anderson with this joke does Cervantes one better in showing the utter silliness of both titles let alone the useless distinction.

Though the best consistent thread of the film is the mud thrown at the most sincere left arguing for liberty, equality, and fraternity. The opening scene, apparently pulled from a newspaper article, shows the absurd casualty necessary to free ones self of responsibility without right. Rousseau liberalism has become the immolating cannibalism of the 20th Century. I'm not sure what is a good counter to this selfishness, I'm here reminded of Rousseau's treatment of his children, and neither does Anderson which is probably why he gives us a laugh.

Given this complex and ambiguous lampooning which undermines the hopefulness of the final image of If... I'm very curious about what specific criticisms were launched against the film in Thatcher's England.

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