Bill Douglas Trilogy Blu-ray offers decent video and audio in this still overall recommended Blu-ray release
Douglas's magnificent, award-winning Trilogy is the product of an assured, formidable artistic vision. These are some of the most compelling films about childhood ever made.
Presented here in a High-Definition restoration, the Trilogy follows Jamie (played with heart-breaking conviction by Stephen Archibald) as he grows up in a poverty-stricken mining village in post-war Scotland. This is a cinematic poetry: Douglas contracted his subject matter to the barest essentials - dialogue is kept to a minimum, and field, slag heaps and cobbled streets are shot in bleak monochrome, yet with its unexpected humour and warmth, the Trilogy brims with clear-eyed humanity, and affection for an ultimately triumphant young boy.
"Bill Douglas Trilogy" arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of the British Film Institute. The three films in it - "My Childhood" (1972), "My Ain Folk" (1973), and "My Way Home" (1978) - have been transferred in High-Definition from the 16mm and 35mm restoration negative materials preserved by the BFI National Archive. All of the supplemental features are placed on a separate SDVD. They consist of the Scottish director's short film "Come Dancing" (1970), the documentary "Bill Douglas: Intent on Getting the Image", as well as a short archival interview. A 32-page illustrated booklet with essays, notes and credits is also included. Region-Free.
Cold and angry
The three films in Bill Douglas Trilogy - My Childhood (1972), My Ain Folk (1973), and My Way Home (1978) – are unsettling to say the least. In My Childhood, we are transported back to a small mining town in post WW2 Scotland where we meet Jamie (Stephen Archibald), an angry, dirty-faced and somewhat shy young boy. He lives with his sick grandmother (Jean Taylor Smith) and half-brother, Tommy (Hughie Restorick). As the film progresses, we learn that Jamie and Tommy's mother (Helena Gloag) has been locked in a mental asylum. She is seriously sick and incapable of recognizing her own sons. Jamie's father (Paul Kermack) has gone back to live with his elderly mother.
We see the two boys fighting each other a lot. They feel neglected and miserable. They rarely talk about their mother, though it is obvious that they miss her. Their grandmother (Jean Taylor Smith) encourages them to respect and help each other, but the boys rarely listen to her.
While wandering around the mining fields, Jamie befriends Helmut (Karl Fieseler), a German P.O.W, who knows only a few words of English. They spend plenty of time together. Soon, we realize that the young boy sees in Helmut the father he never had.
In My Ain Folk, Jamie and Tommy lose their grandmother. Tommy is taken to a children's home while Jamie is welcomed back by his father, whose mother immediately makes it clear that she does not care for him. Things get even worse, when the old woman discovers that her son is having an affair with one of their neighbors. She goes berserk and Tommy runs away.
My Way Home is just as bleak of a film. Tommy finds himself in a boarding school where he is extremely unhappy. His father appears again and takes him back home. However, Jamie's stepmother rejects him and he once again finds himself on the streets. Eventually, he joins the Royal Air Force (RAF) and ends up in Egypt. There, Jamie becomes friends with a young man with a passion for literature, Robert (Joseph Blatchley), who encourages him to pursue his artistic aspirations.
Bill Douglas Trilogy is a powerful account of one man's troubled transition from childhood to adulthood. Each of the three films in it is rather short – 46, 55, and 71 minutes – but very effective. They arrive on Blu-ray a year after they were released on SDVD by the British Film Institute.
The stories are exceptionally bleak. The actual films, however, are uncharacteristically beautiful. The dialog in all three of them is kept to an absolute minimum; director Douglas' camera does most of the "talking". As a result, many have compared Bill Douglas Trilogy to a visual poem.
None of the three films follow the canons of traditional storytelling – they begin and end abruptly, leaving its audience pondering what might have happened to the main protagonist. There is no real climax in any of them either.
The young Stephen Archibald delivers unforgettable performances. In each of the three films, his face is like a giant canvas, pure and honest. His words, though rare, are just as moving.
Bill Douglas Trilogy has been transferred in High-Definition from the 16mm and 35mm restoration negative materials preserved by the BFI National Archive. MTI and HD-DVNR pictures restoration tools have been used to minimize dirt, scratches and debris.
Presented in their original aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted 1080p transfers, the three films in Bill Douglas Trilogy arrive on Blu-ray courtesy of the BFI.
If you compare the Blu-ray release of Bill Douglas Trilogy with its SDVD counterpart, you would notice plenty of improvements in terms of clarity and detail. On the other hand, the color-scheme is pleasing but not overly convincing. For example, My Way Home looks impressive, but My Childhood occasionally appears a bit flat. There are also some minor stability issues that I noticed. Once again, the majority of them are on My Childhood. Scratches, debris, and flecks occasionally pop up here and there. I did not find them to be overly distracting, but they may annoy some you. This being said, if one wants to own these fabulous films in one's collection, one should most definitely opt for the Blu-ray release. Simply put, when projected on a large screen, these films look far superior in High-Definition than they do in Standard-Definition. (Note: This is a Region-Free release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English LPCM 2.0. For the record, the BFI have provided optional English HOH subtitles for the main feature.
I did not encounter any issues to report in this review. The dialog is clear and easy to follow. Dynamically, there truly isn't anything to be overly excited about, but this is how the films were shot - raw and organic. This being said, there are no disturbing pops, cracks, or clicks that I detected on any of the there films. I did detect a bit of mild hiss, however, which I assume the more sensitive amongst you will be able to hear as well. Still, I doubt it that without an elaborate restoration these films could sound (and look) and better.
Note: All of the supplemental features are placed on a standard, PAL-encoded, DVD. In order to view them in North America, you must have a DVD player converting PAL-NTSC.
Bill Douglas: Intent on Getting the Image - a new documentary on Bill Douglas' work. (2006, 63 min).
Come Dancing - Bill Douglas' remarkable, rarely-seen student short. (1970, 15 min).
Archive interview with Bill Douglas (4 min).
Illustrated booklet - a 32-page booklet containing newly commissioned essays, notes and credits: "A Can of Words" by Peter Jewell, "The Bill Douglas Trilogy" by John Caughie, "The Poetics of Childhood: Form and Structure in the Trilogy" by Matthew Flanagan, "Bill Douglas (1934-1991)" by Louise S. Milne, "Stephen Archibald (1959-1998)" by Sean Martin, and an interview with Bill Douglas.
A year after they were released on SDVD, Bill Douglas' award-winning films My Childhood, My Ain Folk, and My Way Home arrive on Blu-ray courtesy of the fabulous BFI, and I cannot recommend them highly enough. More importantly, they happen to be Region-Free, so there is absolutely no reason why serious film aficionados should not own them.
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