Details
Please Note: This Fun City Editions release, manufactured and distributed by OCN, is going out of print due to the transition of Fun City Editions from OCN to MVD. Certain other Fun City Editions titles, which you can see at this link, will remain in distribution via OCN for the duration of their term.
This listing is for the standard edition Blu-ray. The limited edition slipcover (designed by Sister Hyde) was limited to 2,000 units and is sold out. The two versions are identical, aside from the slipcover.
Taking its name from the ironic moniker for late 1960s and '70s New York, Fun City Editions is a new boutique label focused on reissues of maverick repertory cinema and music that can best be described as works that exist "outside of their time." Spanning an array of genres, artists and countries, but with a unifying focus on forgotten and overlooked treasures, each Fun City release, be it a Blu-ray or vinyl LP, will present new restorations and comprehensive extras which contextualize and illuminate the artistic and historic value of the piece. Vinegar Syndrome’s sister company, OCN Distribution, is thrilled to be representing this diverse and unique home video line!
Cult favorite Patti D’Arbanville (Andy Warhol’s Flesh, Big Wednesday and Rancho Deluxe) essays the title role in Bilitis, the directorial debut of photographer David Hamilton. Based on the erotic nineteenth century poetry of Pierre Louÿs, the film’s script was co-written by filmmaker and novelist Catherine Breillat (A Real Young Girl and Fat Girl). Spending the summer in the French countryside with elegant and beautiful family friend Barbara (Mona Kristensen), young Bilitis comes of age and learns valuable—if sometimes painful—lessons about intimacy, romance and love. D’Arbanville, who had been part of Warhol’s Factory and was the inspiration for some of Cat Stevens’ most beloved songs, effectively plays the sheltered young woman who becomes steadily wiser as the story progresses. The film is considerably elevated by the sumptuous score by famed French composer Francis Lai (Love Story and A Man and a Woman), which became a worldwide best-selling record. Hamilton’s trademark soft focus photographic style is faithfully rendered on film by the cinematography of Bernard Daillencourt (Walerian Borowczyk’s Immoral Tales, La Marge and The Beast). Bilitis has been richly restored in 4K, from the original camera negative, for this first-ever North American Blu-ray edition.
Directed by: David Hamilton
Starring: Patti D'Arbanville, Mona Kristensen, Bernard Giraudeau
1977 / 95 min / 1.66:1 / French & English Mono
Additional info:
• Region A Blu-ray
• 4K restoration from its 35mm original camera negative
• Video interview with camera operator Noël Very
• Newly recorded audio commentary by film historians Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson
• Booklet with a new essay by Samm Deighan
• English subtitles