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BILL DOUGLAS TRILOGY 1972-1978
complete 2-disc set

My Childhood (1972)
imdb.com/title/tt0068983/
User Rating: 7.9/10   135 votes

My Ain Folk (1973)
imdb.com/title/tt0070424/
User Rating: 7.8/10   112 votes

My Way Home (1978)
imdb.com/title/tt0077964/
User Rating: 7.8/10   104 votes


Studio: BFI Video Publishing

DVD Release Date: June 23, 2008


Director: Bill Douglas

Description:
Three of the most compelling films about childhood and adolescence ever made -- released for the first time on DVD.

Bill Douglas's award-winning films -- My Childhood, My Ain Folk and My Way Home -- which the BFI is releasing together in a two-disc DVD set with special features, are three of the most compelling and critically acclaimed films about childhood ever made.

The narrative is largely autobiographical, following Jamie (played with heart-breaking conviction by Stephen Archibald) as he grows up in a poverty-stricken mining village in post-war Scotland. In these brutal surroundings, and subject to hardship and rejection, Jamie learns to fend for himself. We see him grow from child to adolescent - angry and bewildered, but playful, creative and affectionate.

In My Childhood (1972), eight-year old Jamie lives with his granny and elder brother in a Scots mining village in 1945. With his mother in a mental home, and his father absent, he is subject to the hardships of poverty. In My Ain Folk (1973), Jamie is sent to live with his paternal grandmother and uncle; a life full of silence and rejection. My Way Home (1978) sees Jamie's ultimate victory over his circumstances; after a spell in foster care, and a homeless shelter, he is conscripted into the RAF, where he embarks on a redemptive friendship with Robert, which allows him to emerge from his ineffectual adolescence to pursue his artistic ambition.

Watching the Trilogy is far from a depressing experience. This is cinematic poetry: Douglas contracted his subject matter to the barest essentials - dialogue is kept to a minimum, and fields, 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.


Format: PAL

DVD Size: 7.46 + 4.10 GB -- Exact Untouched Copy

Runtime (total): 166 minutes

Type: Black and White

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 | Non-Anamorphic

Sound (main feature): English DD2.0 Mono

Subtitles: optional English



SET FEATURES:

# Bill Douglas: Intent on Getting the Image (2006, 63 mins), a new documentary about Bill Douglas's life and work.
# Come Dancing (1970, 15 mins), Douglas's remarkable, rarely-seen student short.
# Rare archive interview with Bill Douglas (4 mins)
# Illustrated booklet containing newly commissioned essays, notes and credits.



Posted in: a.b.dvd.classics
Poster: JimB