Philippe Grandrieux on DVD

[Oedipax]

Grandrieux is one of my favorite filmmakers and it's always bothered me how poorly represented he is on DVD, particular in region 1 and for English-only audiences in general.

The good news is Sombre is being released soon in R1! I've heard so little about this release however that I'm worried about the quality - but so long as it's not pan-and-scanned and the transfer is passable, this is easily one of my most-anticipated discs so far this year.

La Vie Nouvelle, as far as I know, is only available in France, sans English subs (although they're not completely necessary in this case).

[Numéro 2]

I just saw this as well... I'm complely thrilled. Grandrieux is in my opinion one of the most interesting filmmakers today, and I'm hoping English friendly discs will help other (especially fans of Jean Epstein, Peter Tscherkassky and David Lynch) discovering this amazing director.

I'm anxious to hear about the american disc as well. the french disc is actually quite alright, but I'm hoping the american disc will be better. (and even though there are only two scenes with - sparse - dialogue, English subtitles is good to have)
In terms of image quality I was hoping La Vie nouvelle was the first dvd to be released outside france since the French disc could certainly need an upgrade! (though I must admit I haven't checked out the quality on the Canadian relase. Anyone knows anything about this release?).

Further online reading for the curious:

Adrian Martin on La vie Nouvelle and Sombre

Nicole Brenez also edited an excellent book in La vie nouvelle (which actually comes with the dvd) published by Éditions Le Scheer in France.

[Oedipax]

An update on the Sombre DVD from Koch Lorber: overall a pretty decent DVD, non-anamorphic but progressive, and in the correct 1.66:1 aspect ratio. Subtitles are optional. I don't know the average bitrate, but it is a DVD5 for a 111-minute film. Still, the image looks good from a quick glance through the chapters. Anamorphic would've been nice, but otherwise a decent release of a great film for $15. The only extra is the trailer.

[Oedipax]

Bumping this old thread to ask whether anyone has heard anything about a possible future DVD release of Grandrieux's latest, Un lac. It's been over a year since it began playing festivals but it appears to lack any kind of video distribution.

[polysicsarebest]

I have somber and the new life, I desparately need more. Don't care about the region or whatever. Any help?

[Nothing]

Un Lac is a real misfire, I'm sorry to say. Confoundingly shallow, an almost defiant lack of ideas, leaving only the photography by Grandrieux himself, which itself is notably less accomplished than before. Serra's Birdsong looks like Preston Sturges by comparison. Be thankful there's no DVD. Retain your memories of La Vie Nouvelle and Sombre and avoid, if at all possible.

[foggy eyes]

Un Lac is a real misfire, I'm sorry to say. Confoundingly shallow, an almost defiant lack of ideas, leaving only the photography by Grandrieux himself, which itself is notably less accomplished than before. Serra's Birdsong looks like Preston Sturges by comparison. Be thankful there's no DVD. Retain your memories of La Vie Nouvelle and Sombre and avoid, if at all possible.

Well, it's not La vie nouvelle, but then what cinema is? I was a little confounded by Un lac first time round, but felt it the second. Thank God it's not Sombre anyway. Did you see this on film, Nothing? Bangkok? Makes a big difference...

[Nothing]

On film, of course (although I believe it was shot digitally). It just felt as if someone needed to shake Grandrieux and say, 'why this script? why this idea? why this cast? what's so compelling about any of it?' and, yet, this never happened. I'm not joking when I say this was several levels below Birdsong; at least Serra's cast were interesting to look at. Everyone in Un Lac looks like as if they have been pulled off a fashion shoot and thrown, unprepared, in front of the camera. Did you ever really believe in the world these characters inhabit? There is no detail to any of it, nothing to embody it with life or conviction. Who were they selling those logs to, for example? I guess I might have given the film fractionally more leeway if it had been made by a first-time director on a $25,000 budget (because this is what it feels like).

[Doug Cummings]

Who were they selling the logs to? You must be joking--I can't imagine a more innocuous question in this film.

I loved the film, felt it existentially as its sounds and images fluttered in and out of perception and even a kind of consciousness. As formally compelling as all his films have been, Sombre was too obsessed with its own cruelties and La Vie Nouvelle was so fractured (but extraordinarily beautiful) that it really requires multiple viewings. Un Lac is his most humanistic and emotionally cohere film, for sure. It will probably make the perfect "gateway" film to Grandrieux's developing oeuvre.

[Nothing]

I'm not joking in the slightest - the world of the film lacks even the remotest credibility, it feels simply like a small group of pretty actors walking in front of a camera. Explain to me how that's a good thing ("humanistic and emotionally cohere" - these are generalised platitudes). But... he shakes the camera around in low light and adds a few drones onto the soundtrack, so that's okay? The opening scene of La Vie Nouvelle alone (the camera moving in and out on the terrified faces) is both more conceptually interesting and more cinematically powerful than anything in this disaster.