Olive Films releases BREAKING GLASS in August! (1 Viewer)

[Mark Edward Heuck]

Apparently another beneficiary of Olive's licensing deal with Paramount, Brian Gibson's BREAKING GLASS is finally getting a U.S. release, in both standard and Blu-Ray formats!


http://www.olivefilms.com/Drama.2/Olive_Films_Opus.38/Breaking_Glass__DVD___Blu-Ray_.5324.html



However, their tagline "mastered from an archival 35mm print" raises a lot of questions from this fan. Is the negative lost? Is this the often-mentioned BFI print that has occasionally played recent screenings, and if so, does this mean Olive will release the longer UK cut of the film instead of Paramount's truncated edit?


I know that on some occasions, Olive reps have posted here. I'm hoping they might clear up some of these questions and others that are coming to mind.


Make no mistake though, it's nice to scratch this off my most-wanted list. Thank you Olive!!!

 

[ShowsOn]

The Skidoo press-release said it was from a print too; hopefully this is wrong in both cases.

 

[Bryan^H]

Oh my gosh, this is awesome. I just watched this on Netflix, and loved it. Picking this up for sure.

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

I understand from a friend with close ties to Olive that the print used was provided by Paramount, one that, I'm assuming, contains the same U.S. theatrical cut that Paramount released in '80. In fact, as I understand it, the films and materials are dictated by Paramount to Olive. So, as much as I would love to see the British ending at least added as a supplement, I'm not counting on it. But, we'll only know for sure when this released, of course.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Edward Heuck



However, their tagline "mastered from an archival 35mm print" raises a lot of questions from this fan. Is the negative lost? Is this the often-mentioned BFI print that has occasionally played recent screenings, and if so, does this mean Olive will release the longer UK cut of the film instead of Paramount's truncated edit?


I know that on some occasions, Olive reps have posted here. I'm hoping they might clear up some of these questions and others that are coming to mind.


Make no mistake though, it's nice to scratch this off my most-wanted list. Thank you Olive!!!

 

[Mark Edward Heuck]

Well, that's awful vague.


Interesting that Paramount has a print that they were able to provide Olive for transfer. Much like SKIDOO, this is a title that they have never serviced to any U.S. repertory theatre in decades, not even prestige houses like American Cinematheque in Hollywood: when they wanted SKIDOO, they obtained a BFI print. Which is why I had thought Olive would be using the BFI's BREAKING GLASS print, because A (No 35mm material in the U.S.) + B (35mm prints of SKIDOO and GLASS at BFI imported by U.S. programmers) suggested C (Olive was using those prints).


Honestly, I'll be happy either way. But it does raise the bigger question of why Olive maintains such near-absolute radio silence on their releases. It's frustrating because it's a simple question and I don't see the harm in having a rep on hand to answer it.

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

Said "radio silence" may be dictated or encouraged by Paramount, I'm not sure. It's consistent with all, or most, of the Olive "by way of Paramount" releases that they are barebones and hew closely, if not completely, to original U.S. theatrical cuts.


Again, from what I understand from my friend, everything, in terms of materials, that Olive has used has come straight from Paramount. I'm guessing that if Paramount doesn't have requisite materials they aren't putting it on the list of available titles to Olive.

Originally Posted by Mark Edward Heuck


Interesting that Paramount has a print that they were able to provide Olive for transfer. Much like SKIDOO, this is a title that they have never serviced to any U.S. repertory theatre in decades, not even prestige houses like American Cinematheque in Hollywood: when they wanted SKIDOO, they obtained a BFI print. Which is why I had thought Olive would be using the BFI's BREAKING GLASS print, because A (No 35mm material in the U.S.) + B (35mm prints of SKIDOO and GLASS at BFI imported by U.S. programmers) suggested C (Olive was using those prints).


Honestly, I'll be happy either way. But it does raise the bigger question of why Olive maintains such near-absolute radio silence on their releases. It's frustrating because it's a simple question and I don't see the harm in having a rep on hand to answer it.

/forum/thread/311525/olive-films-releases-breaking-glass-in-august#post_3825342

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

Review. Unfortunately, doesn't tell us about the cut that appears on the disc or the a/v quality of said disc.

 

[Mark Edward Heuck]

Thanks to the video store next door to work, I got a peek at the disc. It has the U.S. ending. So if you got the UK DVD, hold onto that, as it has the longer ending and the British trailer.

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

Thanks to the video store next door to work, I got a peek at the disc. It has the U.S. ending. So if you got the UK DVD, hold onto that, as it has the longer ending and the British trailer.

Thanks, Mark. I'm not surprised based on what my pal had relayed to me from his friend at Olive.

 

[Mark Edward Heuck]

Okay, somebody seriously fell asleep at the switch during the mastering on this disc! Yes, it is the US cut of the movie, complete with abbreviated ending, Paramount logos, and even the old MPAA PG card. However, the audio playing under the credits...is from the deleted UK ending!!! An explanation:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

In the American version, the film ends when Kate finishes singing "Eighth Day," and credits roll as the song reprises underneath. The closing Paramount logo appears as the song finishes with the "Amen! Amen!" chorus. In the original UK version, after the concert, Kate, still drugged up from the show, rides the subway home, and hallucinates being taunted by the same riders who were on the train with her at the start of the movie, and has a breakdown. Then we transition to a rest home, where she sits in near catatonia as Danny (Phil Daniels) visits her and tries to console her to no avail. The last shot is a close-up of her haunted face, and the credits roll with the piano ballad "If Only" playing underneath. You can get an approximation of this from the following YouTube clip:

Apparently, someone made this HD master by grafting picture from Paramount's US negative to the audio from the UK print, and nobody noticed...or at least, nobody familiar with the different versions of the film paid attention. So as the credits roll on this DVD, you're going to hear the movie as it continued in the UK, all the way until the PG card and then it will cut off. I don't know if Olive or Paramount will care enough to fix this, but I felt this should be brought to the fans attention.

 

[bgart13]

Mark, last night I posted a question to Olive on FB about this after they made a post clarifying which version of BG they released... They removed my comment without replying. So, there ya go.