Full Circle (1977)

   

"Superb Presentation of a Previously Hard to See Classic"

After a near seven year journey on behalf of film historian Simon Fitzjohn, FULL CIRCLE, Richard Loncraine's film of Peter Straub's excellent first novel Julia gets a UHD and Blu-ray release on the BFI Flipside label. 

After a family tragedy in which their daughter Kate (an early role for Sophie Ward) chokes to death, Julia Lofting (Mia Farrow) separates from her manipulative husband Magnus (Keir Dullea) and buys a big old house in a posh part of London. Still trying to come to terms with her grief, Julia allows one of her friends (Jill Bennett) to bring a seance group to the house for a meeting. The medium (Anna Wing) claims she sees the ghost of a boy in distress but delving into the house's recent history reveals that the only child to live there was a little girl called Olivia.

More digging reveals that a little boy did die many years ago, not in the house but near it, and that Olivia may have been involved. Contacting Olivia's surviving playmates, Julia realises that she may be in the middle of a ghostly revenge plot.

Apparently the backers of FULL CIRCLE wanted a British version of THE EXORCIST. What they got instead was a measured, atmospheric, almost ethereal ghost story with bite, set in the moneyed-but-stagnant environment of Kensington, with a bunch of murders and a downbeat ending. It's a testament to Loncraine's skill and restraint that the film only occasionally erupts into full-blown melodrama and on the whole the film grips through subtlety and a lead performance that is at least the equal of Farrow's turn in Polanski's ROSEMARY'S BABY.

The BFI's Blu-ray is admirably packed with extras. These include a commentary track with the director and moderated by Simon Fitzjohn. 'A Holland Park Haunting' is 25 minutes with Richard Loncraine in which he discusses his life, career and the making of the film, explaining that he chose the 2.35:1 aspect ratio because 'that's how we see things'. 'What's That Noise' has Colin Towns giving us his life and career history and his involvement with the film. No piano solo from him, though, which would have been the ideal end to the 25 minute piece. 

        'The Fear of Growing Up' has actress Samatha Gates (who plays Olivia) discussing her career, while Simon Fitzjohn explores the locations of the film in 'Park Life'. Kim Newman discusses the film (and the novel) in 'A Haunting Retrospective' and there are also interviews with actor Tom Conti and associate producer Hugh Harlow. Finally, there are two still galleries, one with a commentary from Simon Fitzjohn. The release of this film has obviously been a labour of love for him and he can be justifiably pleased that it has finally had such an impressive presentation, which is easily one of the releases of the year.

Richard Loncraine's FULL CIRCLE is out in a dual format UHD and Blu-ray release on the BFI Flipside label on Monday 24th April 2023. It will also be available to watch from that date on iTunes and Amazon Prime.