Edge of Outside blew it

[langbry]

I was very disappointed that TCM's documentary "Edge of Outside" which is supposed to be about independant filmmakers completely ignored British filmmakers from the 70's such as Nicolas Roeg and Ken Russell, both big forces in 70's cinema. If Ken Russell isn't an independant filmmaker, then I don't what one is. Did anyone else feel this way?

[Gonzo]

That's a good point but the British studio system was basically a shambles by the mid-sixties anyway, and most films were produced by small independents such as Tony Richardson's Bryanston (A Taste of Honey, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning) or underwritten by Hollywood majors like Universal (Boom!, Secret Ceremony, Isadora, Privilege) and Warners (Roeg and Cammell's Performance). British film history during this period is a special case because of the lack of domestic financing and the continued dependence on foreign markets (especially the US). You'll find that most of the so-called independent films were actually international co-productions: e.g. Joe Losey's 'The Assassination of Trotsky' (with Dino de Laurentiis), made by an American with a British/French/German/Italian cast and filmed at Cinecitta.

[dickson]

I thought Edge of Outside was ok, but when they put the names up on the screen, you couldn't read them. I knew some of them, but not them all. I checked with a couple of friends who watched and they had the same complaint.

 

I really liked the segments on John Cassavetes and Nick Ray.