Accident

Joseph Losey's and Harold Pinter's Accident has been given the full 4K restoration treatment for this Studiocanal UHD and Blu-ray release - out on October 26 - and it absolutely looks the business. It's a film that has been scrubbed up in various editions over time with this 16-bit version made at London's Silver Salt Restoration. There's a gorgeous inkiness to the night scenes, while the colours shine bright in the daylight.

In terms of sound there's an English LPCM 2.0 and French LPCM 2.0, plus optional English hard of hearing subtitles and French subtitles. The dialogue is as clear as the visuals and Johnny Dankworth's score has an opportunity to shine.

Some of the extras have been present on previous editions, including the excellent and informative commentary track from Kat Ellinger. It features a wealth of information about the film itself and sets Accident in the context of Losey and Pinter's work. There's also plenty of context regarding where the film sits within the careers of its stars. All in all, a deep and enjoyable thorough dive into the film.

Of the other extras carried across from previous editions, Joseph Losey and Harold Pinter discussing Accident in 1967 with journalist James Macandrew on US TV show Camera Three is the highlight. A time capsule in terms of how TV interviews were staged back then, it also offers insight into Losey's process and opinions in particular. "If you can't heighten reality or reduce it, which is a way of heightening it, it makes no sense," he says. There are cautionary words for critics reducing things to labels. "If they didn't have labels, they wouldn't be safe". And Losey is, perhaps unsurprisingly since he was backlisted, scathing about America. The pair talk about racist propaganda they encountered at a peace march, with Losey saying: "I am once again ashamed of my own country."

Additional context and critical angles are provided by the previously released extras: John Coldstream on Dirk Bogarde, plus interviews with Harold Pinter expert Harry Burton, feminist author and academic Melanie Williams and Telegraph film critic Tim Robey.

Of the new material on this release, Course Collision: Pamela Hutchinson on Accident is the most notable. Hutchinson offers a wealth of observations about the film, which could equally be enjoyed as an introduction before watching it or a deep dive afterwards. It's notable that many of the interviews deal with some of the trickier, ambiguous elements of the film, including the portrayal of women.

A new interview with dialogue coach Claire Davidson is a sweet addition. In it she talks about how, as a 21-year-old, she was hired to help coach the very nervous Jacqueline Sassard. There's also a lot of enjoyable personal detail about her relationship with Dirk Bogard and Joseph Losey, which extended beyond this film. An interview with Maxwell Caulfield, who plays Bogarde's son in the film, by Michael Billington is less essential, but nice for completists.

The disc extras are completed by behind the scenes stills and colour lobby cards galleries, plus the original trailer.

The set also includes a 32-page booklet, although this was not available for review.

Reviewed on: 22 Oct 2026