Amazon.co.uk: Night Mail / West Highland [1936]: John Grierson, Stuart Legg, Basil Wright, Harry Watt: DVD

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Special Features
4:3 Full Frame
English
Region 0
Interactive Menus
Scene Access

Synopsis
The 'Night Mail' sees a celebration of the Postals Special run from London to Scotland. 'West Highland' pays tribute to the West Highland line as steam was being phased out in the 60s.

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Customer Reviews

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34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

What Can You Say?, 2 Jan 2007

By	Mr. G. M. Mackley "Gordon" (Kent, England) - See all my reviews

The film 'Night Mail' is an all time classic. Auden's famous poem read by himself and the music by Benjamin Britten are the superb icing on a cake that was always an intersting and dramatically paced documentary about the overnight Anglo Scottish mail train. From seventy years on, it is of course an amazing soci-historical document as well. It incorporates what were for the time some very innovative aerial shots. The whole film is magnificent and of interest even if you have no particular interest in railways.

The West Highland Line film is a great bonus with what was a good documentary about this line of fabulous scenery but with the added bonus,like 'Night Mail' of the socio-historic interest, now that the film is so much older (although nowhere near as old as 'Night Mail'). The scenes of Glasgow are particularly poignant for those who remember the city at that time but this is also true of many of the shots of people in the Highlands, with the film reflecting a society which has now long since disappeared into history.

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97 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

What a documentry, 14 Dec 2002

By	Mr C Smith (London) - See all my reviews

Well, what an amazing DVD. A really fasinating insight into the working conditions of the postal service in the 30's and what an amazing feat it was to get the post north of the border. You don't need to be scottish or in to post, trains or black & white films to enjoy this. The music by B.Britten and words by W.H Auden are very special. The special effects by the BBC's old radiophonic workshop are fantastic. A really interesting look at life, and the start of the documentry genre. You can't help but enjoy this all too short film.

The West Highland is just as great - a real look at how life in small remote communites delt with the coming of the railway and the new connection to the modern world. Again a really facinating film with fantastic views of the wild scottish scenery and life.

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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

Very influential film and quite artistic, 2 Nov 2007

By	Lou Knee (England) - See all my reviews

Lovely verse blended seamlessly with great black and white photography, capturing the romance of riding on a night train all the way from London to Scotland. It is a working train, but you feel this is a very sought after job, watching this. The endless head on shots of track flashing by are quite exhilerating, and give the film its sense of speed. The clickety clackety rhythm of the verse is perfect and the whole thing works like a dream. The interior shots of the mail sorters matching the rhythm of the train with their sorting of the letters is just one of the many hilights. Everyone is the essence of industry, which gives the piece a busy feel, although there is the odd mug of (well earned) tea on view, naturally. Quite old fashioned and very English by today's standards, but this really is part of its appeal.

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