Review: Friendship’s Death
Blu-ray & DVD: Friendship’s Death (1987)

It’s a short film, and I suppose sections of it can be seen as wordy for showing off sake, but there’s something about this film, it’s funny, not laugh out loud, but gently comedic in the alien’s views of, for instance, football.
Special Features:
- Remastered in 4K by the BFI National Archive from the original Standard 16mm colour negative and soundtrack digitised directly from the original 35mm final mix magnetic master track.
- Newly recorded audio commentary with producer Rebecca O’Brien, cinematographer Witold Stok and BFI curator Josephine Botting
- Reflections on Friendship’s Death (2020, 40 mins): Tilda Swinton, Bill Paterson, Rebecca O’Brien and Witold Stok join BFI curators Will Massa and Josephine Botting to talk about Friendship’s Death
- Peter Wollen – Writing, Politics, Film (2020, 63 mins): academics and filmmakers Laura Mulvey and Kodwo Eshun join BFI archivist Wendy Russell for an appreciation of the work of Peter Wollen
- Frida Kahlo & Tina Modotti (1983, 30 mins): documentary by Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen exploring the work of painter Frida Kahlo and photographer Tina Modotti, female icons of the Mexican Renaissance. It features footage of Modotti in the 1920 Hollywood film The Tiger’s Coat and some exquisite home movie shots of Frida Kahlo and muralist Diego Rivera
- Newly created French subtitles (feature only)
- ***First pressing only*** Illustrated booklet with a new essay by So Mayer, an archival interview with Peter Wollen by Simon Field, an archival review by Thomas Elsaesser, notes on the special features and full credits
Review by Tina from a disc kindly supplied by the BFI.