Le roman d'un tricheur (Sacha Guitry, 1936)

[Michael Kerpan]

A Japanese release by Kinokuniya (French with Japanese subtitles)

[Kinsayder]

The recent restored Gaumont French edition has optional English subs.

[Michael Kerpan]

The recent restored Gaumont French edition has optional English subs.

Oops, didn't see the French DVD (IMDB seems to have changed the way it alerts one to what's available).

[Knappen]

The truth is that IMDb is and has always been utterly worthless when it comes to alert all but R1 releases.

[Michael Kerpan]

The truth is that IMDb is and has always been utterly worthless when it comes to alert all but R1 releases.

It IS there -- but now you have to click on each little flag to check. (It seems that there was an easier way of telling before).

[Knappen]

In fact, places like French Amazon should really consider doing an effort themselves to link up releases to the IMDb.

[Jonathan S]

Does anyone else feel this film's unusual style may have influenced that other writer-director-actor-narrator, Orson Welles?

The trailer for Citizen Kane is done in a very similar manner to Tricheur's eccentric opening credits with both Welles and Guitry calling out to their actors, who appear to respond to the narrator. The closing technical credits on The Magnificent Ambersons are also reminiscent of Tricheur's although Guitry shows us the actual people, not just illustrations of their trade as Welles does.

More importantly, perhaps, Welles' narration in Ambersons - especially in the opening sequence - seems possibly inspired by Tricheur. Of course, Guitry uses the technique throughout his film and to such an extreme that he erases virtually all the other actors' voices with his own. Welles' narration amplifies his images where as Guitry all too often merely describes what we see on screen. That, for me, is a negation of cinema.

I'd wanted to see Tricheur for decades but when I finally did I found myself being hugely annoyed by its formal experimentation! It seems to me a failure for the same reason The Lady in the Lake - with its subjective camera throughout - is a failure; a particular style is applied constantly whether it's artistically appropriate or not, so it just becomes a gimmick.

I must admit I'd probably have enjoyed the film more if I were not reliant on the English subtitles, which almost never let up. Nor did I see the DVD, but the old Interama VHS tape - quite good quality, but so heavily pictureboxed that about one third of the available picture area is blank. Mr Tooze would keel over...

[perkizitore]

I think it's best for someone to order the boxset.Does anybody know any other site except for Alapage and Amazon which ships worldwide and(Pixmania has great stuff but ships only to France)?

[tojoed]

Does anyone else feel this film's unusual style may have influenced that other writer-director-actor-narrator, Orson Welles?

Very possibly. I do know that Orson Welles once said that The Story of a Cheat was one of the greatest films ever made.