An Introduction to Radiance Films
Radiance Films is one of the newest boutique labels to hit the scene, but they’ve made an immediate impact with an eclectic collection of films you’ve never heard of, packaged with stylish cover art and loads of features. Open-minded cinephiles who have already explored the classics of European and Asian cinema and need more would do well to check out their offerings, and they’ve also released plenty of horror and sci-fi options to appeal to genre fans.
Who is Radiance Films?
Radiance Films are a small company based out of the United Kingdom, founded and operated by Francesco (Fran) Simeoni. Fran worked as a curator at Arrow Films for many years, including curating the Arrow Academy sublabel. Radiance is a continuance of his work with Arrow Academy, veering towards the obscure and lesser-known works of important directors.
They are a small operation, with Fran sometimes even covering customer service, but you wouldn’t know it by the quality of their products. Their passion for every aspect of the work can be seen in every release so far.
What does Radiance do?
Their website describes their work as a “series of films, books, merchandise and more curated from a variety of genres and modes of filmmaking, from arthouse provocateurs to genre classics.”
Their first release, amongst a line of ten initial announcements, was The Working Class Goes to Heaven, a little-known movie by the director of the classic Investigations of a Citizen Above Suspicion that deserves to be held in similar standing but was not accessible to most cinephiles until now. This ability to find hidden gems that are connected to bigger classics is typical of their releases.
Most releases are put out as an initial limited edition run before becoming available in a standard format. The limited edition versions contain an OBI strip and a booklet, both of which are dropped for the standard release.
A look into Radiance’s catalogue
Radiance Films holds a unique spot in my relationship with boutique labels in that I very rarely know the movies that are being announced, let alone have seen them, but that doesn’t detract from my interest. They are a trustworthy source of new options, even if you can’t necessarily choose any of their movies as a guaranteed sure-fire hit for all crowds. Their releases are worth checking out because of the care that they put into the curation and release of the movies, especially in the limited-edition formats, which usually contain insightful essays that provide context or analysis that greatly adds to your experience of a film.
Main catalogue
Radiance’s catalogue can’t easily be contained in a short list, but we’ve compiled some highlights from their releases so far.
Yakuza films
If there is one niche that they could be known for, it’s the steady stream of movies about the Yakuza, with very direct titles like Tokijiro: Lone Yakuza and Japan Organised Crime Boss. As Criterion has seemingly moved away from releasing Japanese movies as often as they did earlier in their curation, Radiance is offering some essential releases for Japanese action and genre fans to be excited about.
Two of the most popular movies they’ve released in this genre are Big Time Gambling Boss and Yakuza Graveyard. These offer alternately atmospheric and chaotic views into violent criminal underworlds at war.
Under the radar arthouse
This is a broad category that more or less defines their catalogue so far, and it is likely that any movie you don’t recognize will be from this category. These movies are more often driven by characters and scenarios rather than plot and action. Fill ‘er up with super is a French movie from the ’70s about a road trip across France. What more do you need to know?
There are also movies like Francois Truaffaut’s The Bride Wore Black, which was one of several movies that could have inspired Tarantino in the making of Kill Bill, with a plot about a bride enacting revenge on the people responsible for murdering her husband, an age-old story.
The Bride Wore Black
fill ‘er up with super
Horror and sci-fi
There’s no better way to grab the attention of people buying Blu-rays than by releasing horror movies. Radiance has only stepped into this realm a few times, but their first foray with the cult ‘70s movie Messiah of Evil proved to be one of their most popular releases up to that point. They also put together a beautiful release of Mario Bava’s influential Planet of the Vampires. Bava’s films remain locked away at the moment so most of his key works are out of print, but Radiance did an amazing job with this feature-packed release.
Messiah of Evil
Planet of the Vampires
Hollywood
It’s hard to avoid Hollywood, and why would you want to when some releases by important creative figures are not available to the audiences that want to watch them? Radiance has drawn in an audience from North America by releasing some of the movies that you would always read about on IMDB or as the “other stuff you should watch” by important directors, but couldn’t actually find, like the first movies made by Todd Solondz and Hal Ashby.
Consider their release of a Robert Altman movie from the ‘80s, O.C. and Stiggs, which was almost entirely unavailable before this, barely even receiving a theatrical run. This adaptation of characters from the National Lampoon brings together a wild cast of comedic talent in a totally jumbled stretch of hijinks that only Altman could put together.
O.C. and Stiggs
Welcome to the Dollhouse
The Landlord
Partner releases
Radiance also acts as the UK distributor for some of the great boutique labels working in North America, such as Fun City Editions, Raro Video, and Canadian International Pictures.
Support Radiance Films
In a podcast interview with The Radiance Films Podcast, Fran explained that they don’t want to be beholden to releasing a certain amount of movies per month at the expense of quality, and they even try not to repeat themselves. They would rather continue trying to release high-quality and interesting films instead of trying to chase audiences’ wants.
Check out their website to buy their movies, and stay tuned for upcoming gems via the newsletter and social media.
If you’re in Canada, also consider Rough Cut Video as a local option for acquiring their films.
Written by Matthew Long
Edited by APT Editing