Released: 15th July 2024. BFI Flipside presents... Remembrance, a rarely seen British film that follows a group of young Royal Navy sailors during their last 24 hours ashore before their ship sets sail on a six-month naval exercise.Set around the pubs and clubs of the then-notorious Union Street in 1980s Plymouth, Colin Gregg's direction and Hugh Stoddart's script skilfully cuts between the interweaving stories of several characters as they prepare for the coming months at sea. The ensemble cast includes early performances from the likes of Timothy Spall, John Altman and Gary Oldman, here making his first appearance on screen.
One of the first films produced by Channel Four, where it was broadcast after a short theatrical run in the summer of 1982, Remembrance’s initial release was given added poignancy and relevance by the outbreak of the Falklands War a few months earlier. Rarely screened since, this new 2024 restoration by the BFI marks the first time this important British film has been available on
Blu-ray.
Extras
Newly remastered from original camera materials and presented in High Definition
Gary Oldman on Remembrance (2018, 3 mins): an introduction recorded for a screening on Film 4
Vivid Memories(2024, 21 mins): newly recorded interview with director and producer Colin Gregg
Working Away (2024, 21 mins): newly recorded interview with Hugh Stoddart, the screenwriter of Remembrance
Acting The Part(2024, 13 mins): newly recorded interview with John Altman, one of the young stars of Remembrance
David Rose in Conversation (2010, 11 mins): extracts from a career interview with the former senior commissioning editor for Channel 4 Television, conducted by Sir Jeremy Isaacs
Raleigh: The First Few Weeks (1986, 19 mins): following the daily lives of new naval ratings, from their arrival at training establishment HMS Raleigh, beginning the first phase of their training and onwards to the day of their passing out parade
Royal Navy Amazon (1980, 1 min): this made for TV advert was produced to bolster the recruitment of ordinary naval ratings, because ‘everybody’s somebody in the Royal Navy’
Galleries – a collection of materials including an early handwritten draft of the screenplay
**FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Booklet featuring a new essay by screenwriter Hugh Stoddart, new writing on the film by Johnny Mains, an essay by the BFI’sDr Josephine Botting and full film credits