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THE COMPLETE HUMPHREY JENNINGS COLLECTION VOLUME 2 (DVD & Blu-ray)Films by Humphrey Jennings
Widely considered to be one of Britain's greatest filmmakers, Humphrey Jennings has long been celebrated as the director of works which beautifully capture the everyday heroism in times of war and peace.
This, the second of three volumes which collect together Jennings entire output, gathers 5 films from 1941-1943 and shows Jennings at the pinnacle of his career. It features his masterpieces Listen to Britain and Fires Were Started and the rousing Words for Battle as well as some previously neglected works and alternative versions, many of which are made available for the first time since their original release. .
Special Features*
- Contents: Listen To Britain (1941); Words for Battle (1941); The Heart of Britain (1941); Fires Were Started (1943); The Silent Village (1943)
- All films presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition
- This Is England (1941): alternate cut of The Heart of Britain
- I Was a Fireman (1943): Jenning's original cut of Fires Were Started
- Illustrated booklet with newly commissioned essays, film notes, and biography
* Special features are subject to change
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By T Everson
Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is the second of three volumes of the BFI's project to release all of British filmmaker Humphrey Jenning's films on DVD and Blu-ray. As with Volume One, this is a Dual-format package including both a Blu-ray and DVD with the same films on both. Fitting in with the chronological sequence of the volumes, these are the films he made during World War II. There are far fewer films than the previous volume, though one of them, 'Fires Were Started', clocks in at over a hour, while another, 'The Silent Village' is 35 minutes long. The full list of films included here is:
The Heart of Britain (1941)
Words for Battle (1941)
Listen to Britain (1941)
Fires Were Started (1943)
The Silent Village (1943)
As with the previous collection, the Blu-ray shows the limitation of the old film prints which these transfers were taken directly from, though they generally look very good for films that are now 70 years old. There's another comprehensive booklet inside, with notes about each film, and two extra features on the disc - one is 'This is England' which is an alternative cut of 'The Heart of Britain', and the other is 'I Was a Fireman', which runs at 74 minutes and is the original cut of 'Fires Were Started'.
The Heart of Britain (1941)
Words for Battle (1941)
Listen to Britain (1941)
Fires Were Started (1943)
The Silent Village (1943)
As with the previous collection, the Blu-ray shows the limitation of the old film prints which these transfers were taken directly from, though they generally look very good for films that are now 70 years old. There's another comprehensive booklet inside, with notes about each film, and two extra features on the disc - one is 'This is England' which is an alternative cut of 'The Heart of Britain', and the other is 'I Was a Fireman', which runs at 74 minutes and is the original cut of 'Fires Were Started'.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Adrian Drew
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase
Wow ! What films! What transfers and occasionally restorations!
The two volumes of Jenning's wonderful documentaries released to date are quite astonishing.
The Silent Village is extraordinary as is the passionate lyricism of his other work.
Congratulations BFI on making these wonderful blu rays available. Such work more than justifies your continuation as a publicly funded body and ensures that such gems are made available to new audiences.
The two volumes of Jenning's wonderful documentaries released to date are quite astonishing.
The Silent Village is extraordinary as is the passionate lyricism of his other work.
Congratulations BFI on making these wonderful blu rays available. Such work more than justifies your continuation as a publicly funded body and ensures that such gems are made available to new audiences.
By Davie Easton
Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase
This and volume two take us through a very important historical period, the 1930's and 40's. Despite some of the films being 'set up', they still show a Britain of that period. Important histoical viewing.
By WSH
Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase
The five films in this collection are all treasurable. "Fires Were Started-" (1943) is perhaps the most famous but the others do not suffer by comparison, especially "Words For Battle" (1941). I happen to have seen Powell and Pressburger's "49th Parallel" recently and am struck by the greater effectiveness of Jennings' documentaries as propaganda and as art. Whereas the 1941 movie resorts to tedious speeches by paper cutout Nazis to get its message across, the documentaries rely on un-narrated pictures of stunning power and deft editing to involve and hold the viewer. Jennings' exceptional ability to tell a story in documentary style, using non-actors but still orchestrating most of the action to create a convincing pictorial narrative, marks him out as one of the geniuses of this form of cinema. The prints seen here are sharp and intact though some carry quite a lot of wear and tear. They do not appear to have been restored, which probably accounts for the good black and white contrast. The sound tracks are excellent. A most collectable collection.
By A. Bear
Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase
Amazing collection of films by Jennings that present a view of a lost world. I bought both volumes in one go and have watched most of the films over the last two weeks or so.
Definetly worth adding to your collection.
Definetly worth adding to your collection.
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