movie world

This film is made up of three separate stories which somehow represent a way of seeing an aspect of life in the Britain of the mid-nineteen-sixties. It starts with Ride of the Valkyrie, where opera singer Zero Mostel must take a perilous journey from the airport where he has just arrived to the theatre where he is meant to be appearing in Wagner's Ring. Second is The White Bus, where a young woman (Patricia Healey) leaves her deadly boring job in London to return north to her hometown, but finds things both the same and different. Third is Red and Blue, as chanteuse Vanessa Redgrave reflects while on a train journey back to her lovers, some more significant than others...

Unfortunately the three segments were quickly separated before the film could be given a theatrical release, with only Anderson's middle segment, the superb "The White Bus," getting a significant commercial release. Fortunately the BFI has corrected that oversight by restoring the entire film as originally intended, and it's a fascinating, sometimes surprising experience that also fills a significant hole in the history of British cinema.

Directors: Peter Brook, Lindsay Anderson, Tony Richardson
Cast: Zero Mostel, Julia Foster, Patricia Healey, Arthur Lowe, Vanessa Redgrave, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Country: UK
Genre: Drama, Short, Comedy

BD50 | 1080p AVC | 01:38:01 | 41 Gb + 3% rec
Language: English
Subtitles: English

Extras:
• Audio commentary by Adrian Martin
• About The White Bus (1968, 59 mins): documentary on the making of Lindsay Anderson's segment
• Lindsay Anderson Introduction/Stills Gallery (1968, 5 mins): an audio recording of Anderson addressing the NFT in 1968, played over stills
• Behind the scenes of Red and Blue (1966, 7 mins): Kevin Brownlow's 16mm footage of cast and crew
• Kevin Brownlow on Red, White and Zero (2018, 15 mins): the Red and Blue and The White Bus editor on making the films
• Billy Williams on Red and Blue (2018, 14 mins): the cinematographer recalls working with Tony Richardson on the segment
• No Arks (1969, 7 mins): political cartoonist Abu's satirical reworking of the Noah story, narrated by Vanessa Redgrave (this is great!)