On 17 February, Indicator focuses its attention on a trio of works by three British greats: Sidney Gilliat, whose work in the film industry spanned many decades and many classics; Dennis Potter, one of British television’s most important and controversial figures; and the iconoclastic Peter Greenaway, who makes films like no other.
Presented in a new 4K restoration, Endless Night (1972) is the final feature of writer-director Sidney Gilliat, capping a career that encompassed screenplays for Alfred Hitchcock and Carol Reed, the anarchic St. Trinian’s comedies, and his own directorial gems such as mystery-thriller Green for Danger. Adapting Agatha Christie’s celebrated novel of the same name, the film reunites the co-stars of cult classic Twisted Nerve, Hywel Bennett (The Virgin Soldiers) and Hayley Mills (Take a Girl Like You), and boasts an impressive supporting cast including Britt Ekland, Per Oscarsson and George Sanders.
Unfairly neglected since its original low-key cinema run, Secret Friends (1991) is the only feature to be written and directed by Dennis Potter (Pennies from Heaven, The Singing Detective). Made shortly after his hugely controversial mini-series Blackeyes, the film centres on a writer, played by Alan Bates (A Day in the Death of Joe Egg), who descends into a kind of madness during a train journey as memories, fantasies and psychotic visions collide.
Finally, Peter Greenaway’s The Pillow Book (1996) is a showcase for one of British cinema’s most singular talents. Starring Vivian Wu (8½ Women), Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting) and Ken Ogata (Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters), and inspired by Sei Shōnagon’s first-century diary, the film is an audio-visual tour de force, and among Greenaway’s most daring and adventurous works. This release will also feature the director’s 1992 short film, Rosa, made with the same key creative talent as The Pillow Book, newly restored from the original negative.
Mastered from the finest available materials, each of these collectable limited editions contains extensive collections of new and archival extra features, and English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.
