BFI has announced they will be bringing the Czech filmmaker Jan Švankmajer’s surreal interpretation of Lewis Carroll’s perennial literary classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, home on Dual Format Blu-ray/DVD release in the UK 23 May, 2011.
The Blu-ray will feature a 1.33:1 1080p encodement of the film on a BD50 disc with Czech PCM 2.0 Mono soundtrack and English subtitles. The Dual Format set will sell at an RRP of £19.99.
See press release below for further details.
Press release
Alice A film by Jan Švankmajer
Following its release of Jan Švankmajer: The Complete Short Films in 2007, the BFI now presents the legendary Czech surrealist’s award-winning 1988 feature film Alice in a Dual Format Edition with a host of bonus extras.
Jan Švankmajer’s Alice (Něco z Alenky) is a distinctly disturbing and creepy interpretation of Lewis Carroll’s perennial literary classic, yet it is perhaps the closest to the original work. It is released on both DVD and Blu-ray discs in this Dual Format Edition. Combining a live-action Alice (Kristýna Kohoutová) with a stop-motion Wonderland filled with threatening, bizarre characters, Švankmajer’s deliberately crude style of animation, use of close-ups and rich design work lend the film a pervading sense of unease and a menacing dream-logic which marries a sly visual wit with piercing psychological insight.
Jan Švankmajer won the Feature Film Award for Alice at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, 1987 and the film was nominated for Best Film in the Fantasporto International Fantasy Film Awards, 1989.
Presented here fully uncut and in its original Czech-language version for the very first time, this comprehensive release also gathers together a selection of rare and fascinating Alice- related short films.
Special features:
- Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition
- Original Czech and alternative English-language audio
- Alice in Wonderland (1903, 9 mins): the first screen adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic
- Elsie and the Brown Bunny (1921, 8 mins, DVD only): early advertising film for Cadbury Bros. Ltd
- Alice in Label Land (1974, 12 mins): animated COI film explaining the 1973 food labelling laws
- Stille Nacht II: Are We Still Married? (1992, 3 mins): the Quay Brothers’ Alice-inspired music film
- Stille Nacht IV: Can’t Go Wrong Without You (1993, 4 mins): the white rabbit returns in the second of the Quay Brothers’ music films for His Name is Alive
- 34-page illustrated booklet with essays, film notes, biographies and credits
Release date: 23 May 2011
RRP: £19.99 / cat. no. BFIB1095 / Cert PG Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, UK, West Germany / 1988 / colour / Czech with optional English subtitles / 86 minutes / Original aspect ratio 1.33:1 Disc 1: BD50 / 1080p / 24fps / PCM mono audio (48k/24-bit) Disc 2: DVD9 / PAL / PCM mono audio (48k/16-bit)
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