Blu-ray: BFI
Disc:
Region: FREE!
(as verified by the
Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)
Runtime: 1:29:54.555
Disc Size: 38,109,351,032 bytes
Feature Size: 16,222,095,744 bytes
Video Bitrate: 20.17 Mbps
Chapters: 12
Case: Standard Blu-ray case
Release date: January 25th, 2010
Video:
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1 matted to 1.78
Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio:
LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps /
24-bit
Subtitles:
English, None
Extras:
• Original Permissive trailer
• Bread: Whilst hitch-hiking back
from the Isle of Wight Festival, a
group of friends decide to stage
their own music event. But how will
they afford it? (1:08:24)
• Bread - Deleted scenes: newly
transferred from the original
negative (16:33)
• Ave You Got a Male Assistant
Please Miss? A humorous film in
which a permissive couple are given
some useful advice (4:27)
• Extensive illustrated booklet with
contributions by I Q Hunter and Lee
Dorrian, and Comus band-members'
recollections if working with
Lindsay Shonteff
The Film:
When Suzy arrives in London to visit
an old school friend, she is
unwittingly plunged into the
ruthless world of the 'groupie'.
Fuelled by sex, drugs and jealousy,
her new lifestyle fosters in her a
cold cynical instinct for survival.
But tragedy is never faraway. With
its effective blend of gritty
location work, brooding
flash-forward devices, and a
soundtrack by cult acid folk and
prog rock legends Comus, Forever
More - who also star - and Titus
Groan, Permissive is a dark British
countercultural artefact that is
shot through with grim authenticity.
Excerpt of review from BFI located
HERE
Image:
NOTE:
The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.
As the accompanying booklet tells
us, the film has undergone a full
video restoration to remove
scratches and dirt, replace missing
frames and improve stability, and
has undergone a full DVNR
restoration. The good news, however,
is that unlike some other production
companies that use DVNR as a shotgun
approach to give a quick clean and
consistent image to their product,
the BFI has used it in the right
way, meticulously going through
frame by frame to clean up the
picture and thereby avoiding some of
the easy pitfalls that have given
the process a bad name. What's more,
the MPEG-4 AVC Video/1080p transfer
looks quite gorgeous on my system,
with colors (reds in particular)
looking vibrant and the contours of
shapes looking sharp and well
defined. Overall, its certainly a
lovely transfer with satisfying
clarity and richness of texture that
you wouldn't expect given the source
materials.
CLICK EACH
BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio & Music:
The Linear PCM audio track does an
acceptable job with the dialogue and
music (it's also free of all
background interference like pops
and hisses). Although it's a
bonus feature, I'll mention here
that the short film "Bread" has a
good deal of background interference
(mostly hissing) that I could only
detect when the volume on my system
was a little higher than usual. Like
most of their releases, this disc
comes with optional English
subtitles.
Extras:
Although I enjoyed the main film, I
have to admit loving the short
"Bread" even more. The film tells
the story of a group of hippies
outside of London that want to put
on their own rock festival. Lacking
the funds, they trick a country
estate owner into lending them his
manor for a week. While the set up
may not sound like much, the film
itself is oftentimes hilarious and
worth the price of the disc alone.
Also included are 17 minutes worth
of silent outtakes from "Bread" and
the original trailer for the main
feature. Next, there's also a
humorous short entitled "Ave You Got
a Male Assistant Please Miss?" about
a madcap dash to purchase
contraceptives after a narrator
tells a couple in bed about unwanted
pregnancies. Finally, there's the
typically thoughtful and gorgeous
illustrated booklet, with numerous
essays covering the film, its music,
the director, and "Bread".
Bottom line:
The BFI has done another stellar job
with this entry in their flipside
series. It would be all too easy to
write this film off as another
instance of hippie sexploitation,
but to do so would miss the point.
While it may not be up to their
caliber, I couldn't help but be
reminded or Roeg's "Performance"
and Schroeder's "More" in
their attempt to mix the free love
counterculture with the zeitgeist of
the era. Its a worthy attempt and
one that I doubt that I'd even have
heard of if it weren't for this
flipside series. When you add to
that the bountiful extras on the
disc, then you have one heck of a
good release. Definitely
recommended.
January 25th,
2010