Directed by
Kenneth MacPherson
UK 1930
A groundbreaking silent
film for its explicit theme of racial prejudice and with an implicit homoerotic
subtext, Borderline (1930) is a seething exploration of love, passion and
betrayal, directed by Kenneth Macpherson, editor of the influential intellectual
film journal Close Up (1927-33).
In May 2006, a presentation of Borderline with a new score written and
performed live by British composer and saxophonist Courtney Pine at Tate Modern
attracted 2,000 people. Now released on DVD, Borderline's formal
experimentation finds a perfect match in the contemporary rhythms of Pine's
heady modern jazz score. Packaged in a double disc set, this release also
contains two films by Véronique Goël.
Prior to Borderline, Kenneth Macpherson had made three short films, but
this was his first feature and by far his most ambitious effort, released a year
after Dziga Vertov's pioneering Man With a Movie Camera (1929).
Borderline features the iconic star Paul Robeson and his wife Eslanda, and other
cast members from the Close Up collective (intellectuals from the
editorial board who called themselves the Pool group) including Hilda Doolittle
later known as H.D., Robert Herring and Winifred Bryher.
Highly influenced by the psychological realism of GW Pabst and Sergei
Eisenstein's montage, the film is a lost classic of the British avant-garde.
Borderline tells the story of a tense, inter-racial love triangle and its deadly
consequences. Macpherson embellishes this story by portraying the extreme
psychological states of the characters. The result is a unique and complex
matrix of racial and sexual tension moving between the boundaries of black and
white, male and female and the conscious and the unconscious.
Theatrical Release: October 13th, 1930
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Review: BFI (2-disc) - Region 2 - PAL
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CLICK to order from:
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| Distribution | BFI Video - Region 2 - PAL | |
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Borderline is also available in Criterion's Region 1 NTSC boxset
entitled Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artist:
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| Runtime | 1:11:54 (4% PAL Speedup) | |
| Video | 1.33:1
Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 9.10 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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| Audio | (Dolby Digital 2.0) | |
| Subtitles | English, None (for extras) | |
| Features |
Release Information: Edition Details: • Filmed
interview with Courtney Pine |
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| Comments: |
BFI have done this film justice with a complete 2-disc boxset. The image looks on par with the Criterion Paul Robeson 'Portraits of the Artist' collection. Marks are visible and contrast flickers to some degree but I'll wager this is probably the best you will see the film look. It has the same wonderful Courtney Pine score as put on the Criterion and optional subtitles for all the extras.
Supplements include a filmed interview with Courtney Pine (14 minutes), Close Up - documentary featurette on the film journal by Véronique Goël (13 minutes), some text bio screens and on the second disc a documentary by Véronique Goël, called Kenwin (1996, 86mins) which includes home movie footage, on the house that H.D., Bryher and Macpherson built at La Tour-de-Peilz. There is also a wonderful 20-page illustrated booklet containing essays by Sukhdev Sandhu, Jamie Sexton and David Bailey. Great work BFI making this available for PAL audiences and those not as interested in the rest of the Robeson titles offered in the Criterion edition. |
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Disc 2
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Intertitle Samples
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Screen Captures
Criterion (From the Paul Robeson 'Portraits of the Artist' boxset) - Region 1 NTSC TOP vs. BFI - Region 2 - PAL BOTTOM
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| DVD Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from:
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| Distribution | BFI Video - Region 2 - PAL | |
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Borderline is also available in Criterion's Region 1 NTSC boxset
entitled Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artist:
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Gary Tooze
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