Το νέο είναι σχετικά παλιό (τέλη Ιουνίου) αλλά ιδιαίτερα σημαντικό και αφορά το κλείσιμο μιας από τις σημαντικότερες εταιρείες στο χώρο της διανομής κινηματογραφικών ταινιών στην Ευρώπη, της Tartan.
Από το http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/06/rip_tartan.html
"It wasn't entirely unexpected, but the sudden slide into administration of independent distributor Tartan Films is still a moment to give the British cinema world chills.
Fronted by the enthusiastically eccentric Hamish McAlpine, Tartan had been going in one form or another since 1984, but began its run as a major art-film player when it merged with another distributor, Metro, in 1991. (This gave it a base to work from: the Metro cinema, in London's Rupert Street, the destination for many of their films, until it was sold off in 2002 and renamed the Other Cinema - before finally closing in 2004.)
Tartan had been haemorrhaging top staff for some time, and been the subject of tentative takeover talk - but industry talk suggests that the outfit was undone when it set up its US arm (which itself closed its doors and auctioned off its catalogue on June 1 this year). Tartan USA went big on Red Road to launch itself - a film not likely to sustain any commercial ambitions in America.
Whatever repercussions develop from all this messiness, McAlpine and Tartan deserve our gratitude for identifying and capitalising on specific trends in international cinema - most notably as pioneers, in this country at least, of J-horror and Korean body-shock cinema, as well as pushing the envelope in all sorts of ways.
Not only were Tartan the company that gambled on bringing such indelible Far East classics as the Ringu trilogy, Battle Royale, the two Tetsuo movies, Oldboy and The Eye, they also were instrumental in popularising music documentaries (with films like The Devil and Daniel Johnson, End of the Century, and Dig! - the last-named still being one of my personal favourites of the last five years) and censor-baiting fare such as The Idiots, 9 Songs and Irreversible. (They sometimes stepped over the line; perhaps they should have left The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael alone.)
And it goes without saying they could spot and get hold of masterpieces outside the obvious generic categories; docos like Capturing the Friedmans and My Architect, Bernard Rose's lacerating Ivans xtc, Sylvain Chomet's beautifully animated Belleville Rendezvous.
The independent end of the British distribution world is currently in major flux. Artificial Eye, the veteran foreign language outfit, has been sold to a larger company; its one-time founder has set up a new company, Next Wave. Established art-film companies, such as Soda, Optimum and Metrodome are being joined by newer, smaller entities that have yet to prove their longevity - or their taste.
Most, if not all, seem to be kept afloat by DVD sales, and quietly complain that the UK Film Council's attempts to support what they term "specialist" film are often more of a hindrance than a help. Be that as it may, Tartan's demise leaves a major hole in British cinema - and MacAlpine's engaging personality will be missed - though for how long is open to question."
(και αναρωτιόμουν τόσο καιρό γιατί δεν λειτουργεί το site τους...)
Από το http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/06/rip_tartan.html
"It wasn't entirely unexpected, but the sudden slide into administration of independent distributor Tartan Films is still a moment to give the British cinema world chills.
Fronted by the enthusiastically eccentric Hamish McAlpine, Tartan had been going in one form or another since 1984, but began its run as a major art-film player when it merged with another distributor, Metro, in 1991. (This gave it a base to work from: the Metro cinema, in London's Rupert Street, the destination for many of their films, until it was sold off in 2002 and renamed the Other Cinema - before finally closing in 2004.)
Tartan had been haemorrhaging top staff for some time, and been the subject of tentative takeover talk - but industry talk suggests that the outfit was undone when it set up its US arm (which itself closed its doors and auctioned off its catalogue on June 1 this year). Tartan USA went big on Red Road to launch itself - a film not likely to sustain any commercial ambitions in America.
Whatever repercussions develop from all this messiness, McAlpine and Tartan deserve our gratitude for identifying and capitalising on specific trends in international cinema - most notably as pioneers, in this country at least, of J-horror and Korean body-shock cinema, as well as pushing the envelope in all sorts of ways.
Not only were Tartan the company that gambled on bringing such indelible Far East classics as the Ringu trilogy, Battle Royale, the two Tetsuo movies, Oldboy and The Eye, they also were instrumental in popularising music documentaries (with films like The Devil and Daniel Johnson, End of the Century, and Dig! - the last-named still being one of my personal favourites of the last five years) and censor-baiting fare such as The Idiots, 9 Songs and Irreversible. (They sometimes stepped over the line; perhaps they should have left The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael alone.)
And it goes without saying they could spot and get hold of masterpieces outside the obvious generic categories; docos like Capturing the Friedmans and My Architect, Bernard Rose's lacerating Ivans xtc, Sylvain Chomet's beautifully animated Belleville Rendezvous.
The independent end of the British distribution world is currently in major flux. Artificial Eye, the veteran foreign language outfit, has been sold to a larger company; its one-time founder has set up a new company, Next Wave. Established art-film companies, such as Soda, Optimum and Metrodome are being joined by newer, smaller entities that have yet to prove their longevity - or their taste.
Most, if not all, seem to be kept afloat by DVD sales, and quietly complain that the UK Film Council's attempts to support what they term "specialist" film are often more of a hindrance than a help. Be that as it may, Tartan's demise leaves a major hole in British cinema - and MacAlpine's engaging personality will be missed - though for how long is open to question."
(και αναρωτιόμουν τόσο καιρό γιατί δεν λειτουργεί το site τους...)
3 σχόλια:
Φορ έβερ ρε.
Και φυσικά μιλάμε για την δεύτερη πιο αγαπημένη εταιρία όλων των εποχών.
Μετά την Criterion εννοείς ή σε εγχώρια αναφέρεσαι ;
Μετά την Criterion προφανώς
Δημοσίευση σχολίου