John Schlesinger’s British New Wave classic Billy Liar on 2-disc 4K UHD in August

To celebrate the centenary of the BAFTA and Oscar-winning director, John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy, Darling), StudioCanal has announced a brand-new 4K restoration of his British New Wave classic, Billy Liar.

The special 4K UHD collector’s Edition of the film will be released on 3 August. The 2-disc set features the film on both UHD and Blu-ray with brand-new extras, a 64-page booklet, poster of the new artwork by Sam Smith plus calendar and will be the first time the film is available to own in 4K.

The World Premiere of the new restoration will take place at Cinema Rediscovered in Bristol on 26 July. The film will be introduced on the day by writer/director/actor Alice Lowe. Tickets will be available here.

The newly-restored Billy Liar will play at selected cinemas from 31 July and will also form a major highlight of the ongoing UK-wide centenary project, The Consummate Professional: John Schlesinger at 100.  Retrospectives of Schlesinger’s films will feature as part of the regular Curzon Film Club strand across all Curzon cinema sites, culminating in screenings of Billy Liar in August.  For more information, visit schlesinger-100.webflow.io and curzon.com/film-club.

Starring Tom Courtenay (King and Country, The Loneliness of the Long-distance Runner), Julie Christie (Far From the Madding Crowd, Darling) and Wilfred Pickles (The Family Way, Dr Finlay’s Casebook), Helen Fraser(The Birthday Party, Repulsion) and Mona Washbourne (My Fair Lady, The Bed Sitting Room), this comedy-drama made an instant star of Christie – a real feat considering she appears for only 12 minutes in the film.

Going nowhere fast, Billy Fisher (Tom Courtenay), an incorrigible fantasizer, dreams incessantly of escaping his drab existence and humdrum routine work as an undertakers’ clerk in Yorkshire. Seeking refuge from his working-class family and not one but two demanding fiancées in the imaginary country called Ambrosia, Billy finds himself cut off from reality. As Billy’s fabrications grow increasingly wilder and problems start piling up, happy-go-lucky Liz (Julie Christie) enters the young day-dreamer’s life, offering a way out of his mess. However, new beginnings are always scary, and Billy must make up his mind: it’s either a fresh start in London or an endless beautiful lie in Ambrosia.

Keith Waterhouse initially adapted his 1959 novel (inspired in part by James Thurber’s Walter Mitty stories) for the stage before bringing it to the screen in 1963. Although Albert Finney originated the role of Billy on the West End stage, Schlesinger opted instead to cast Finney’s understudy, Tom Courtenay, for the film, believing his less imposing figure made him more convincing as a dreamer.

Widely regarded as one of the most memorable and universally acclaimed films of the 60s, this new restoration is the perfect way to revisit some of the best work carried out by one of Britain’s most cherished directors in his centennial year. A welcome addition to StudiioCanal’s Vintage Classics label.