John Schlesinger’s Darling, starring Julie Christie and Dirk Bogarde, gets a new 4K Restoration release

STUDIOCANAL is celebrating the 60th Anniversary of Darling with a brand new 4K restoration of the fabulously lavish and critically acclaimed film set in London at the height of the Swinging Sixties. Winner of three Academy Awards® and four BAFTAs including Best Actress for Julie Christie, DARLING is directed by John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy, A Kind of Loving, Far From The Madding Crowd), written by Frederic Raphael (Eyes Wide Shut, Nothing But The Best) and features iconic performances from Julie Christie (Doctor Zhivago, Don’t Look Now, Far From The Madding Crowd), Dirk Bogarde (The Servant) and Laurence Harvey (The Manchurian Candidate, Room at The Top). DARLING (1965) will be released in UK cinemas from 30 May and on 4K UHD and Blu-ray, with special extras and 64-page booklet including brand new essays, on 16 June into Studiocanal’s Vintage Classics Collection.

DARLING is the story of a good-time girl of the era. Diana Scott (Julie Christie) is a young model who moves from bed to bed on the presumption that fidelity means having only one man in it at a time, and opportunistically bends her ambitions to take advantage of whatever (or whoever) the moment offers her. There are three men in her life, each of whom willingly or involuntarily helps her on her way to the top: Dirk Bogarde plays Robert Gold a TV interviewer, an honest man striving to tell illusion from reality; Laurence Harvey, an advertising executive, totally cynical about manipulating society’s values; and Roland Curram, a gay magazine photographer battening parasitically on glossy society. There is also a ‘fourth man’ – the one whom Darling marries, only to find herself a prisoner of the jet-set world she has conquered.

You can pre-order it here.

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One of the coolest and most defining films of the Sixties, which catapulted actors Julie Christie and Dirk Bogarde to global stardom, DARLING has endured the test of time, remaining visually as sleek and stylish as it was upon its original release, with its lush jazz score by John Dankworth and glamorous outfits by Oscar-winning costume designer Julie Harris, capturing perfectly the essence of the era. The tale of the desperate, and at times tragic, pursuit of fame is as relevant in today’s image conscious society, as it was back then.

DARLING was scanned in 4K 16-bit by FILMFINITY, UK, using the best 35mm film elements available. Colour grading was completed in 4K HDR (Dolby Vision) by Filmfinity. Digital restoration specialists dedicated over 350 hours to this project using advanced image processing tools to repair imperfections and damage.

Special Features:

• NEW Sofia Coppola on Darling
• NEW Let’s Call It Darling: An Interview with Frederic Raphael
• NEW After a Fashion: Julie Harris’s Costumes for Darling
• Excerpt from BEHP audio interview with John Schlesinger
• Behind the Scenes stills Gallery
• Costume Designs Gallery
• Original Theatrical Trailer