625 Eating Raoul

[Jeff]

Eating Raoul



A sleeper hit of the early 1980s, Eating Raoul is a bawdy, gleefully amoral tale of conspicuous consumption. Warhol superstar Mary Woronov and cult legend Paul Bartel (who also directed) portray a prudish married couple feeling put upon by the swingers who live in their apartment building; one night, by accident, they discover a way to simultaneously realize their dream of opening a little restaurant and rid themselves of the “perverts” down the hall. A mix of hilarious, anything-goes slapstick and biting satire of me-generation self-indulgence, Eating Raoul marks the end of the sexual revolution with a thwack.


Disc Features

- New, restored digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Gary Thieltges, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- Audio commentary featuring screenwriter Richard Blackburn, art director Robert Schulenberg, and editor Alan Toomayan
- The Secret Cinema (1968) and Naughty Nurse (1969), two short films by director Paul Bartel
- Cooking Up “Raoul,” a new documentary about the making of the film, featuring interviews with stars Mary Woronov, Robert Beltran, and Edie McClurg
- Gag reel of outtakes from the film
- Archival interview with Bartel and Woronov
- Trailer
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic David Ehrenstein

[The Narrator Returns]

I can only hope this means Scenes From the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills is coming soon.

[domino harvey]

I can only hope this means Scenes From the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills is coming soon.

If only! I'm saddened that Criterion didn't license Bartel and Woronov's cameo as their Eating Raoul characters from Chopping Mall

EDIT: Since everything is on YouTube, you can see their scene here (They come in after the initial two minute demo of the security robot)

[vertovfan]

I'm excited to upgrade my copy of The Secret Cinema from the VHS copy I've had for ages!

[domino harvey]

The Secret Cinema was later remade by Bartel for Amazing Stories, too bad that couldn't be arranged either. Dear Criterion, hire me to run Paul Bartel supplement ideas past you, I have lots more

[swo17]

They may legitimately not know about all of what's out there. You should email them.

[domino harvey]

Good advice, I just did!

[Ashirg]

I don't see how they can do it and still stay within the price range. A clip from Chopping Mall would have to be licensed from Lionsgate and Amazing Stories episode from Universal.

[bainbridgezu]

Beaver

[domino harvey]

Yowza, I didn't know the film's stock could look so good. Can't wait for people to (re)discover this gem!

[manicsounds]

Just watched Paul Bartel in "Rock N Roll High School" and "Gremlins 2". I guess I have to see "Eating Raoul" and "Death Race 2000" now...

[mfunk9786]

It looked fabulous on Hulu Plus, so I had a feeling this release would be a video quality standout. Will certainly be in my Top 5 at the end of the year unless Criterion drops a December bombshell on Monday!

[Anhedionisiac]

Does anybody know if The Secret Cinema includes subtitles for the hearing-impaired? That alone would be worth a buy in my case!

[oldsheperd]

The packaging for the liner notes is a nice touch!

[JamesF]

Got this in the post yesterday. It's an amazing package and presentation of the film, with one fairly major exception - Naughty Nurse, the second short, is presented in black-and-white when it in fact is supposed to be in colour. The original VHS release had it in colour, so I wonder why Criterion were only able to access it in b&w?

[PfR73]

http://projection-booth.blogspot.com/20 ... raoul.html

This past weeks' episode of the podcast The Projection Booth focused on Eating Raoul & features some interesting interviews with Richard Blackburn, Mary Woronov, & Susan Saiger. An interesting Criterion-related tidbit is that Richard Blackburn reveals Criterion had interested in licensing Lemora-A Child's Tale Of The Supernatural, but for various reasons he decided to go with Synapse.

[therewillbeblus]

Rewatching this years later it was somehow even funnier, with even the less clear gags landing hard (the salesman declaring his favorite food as veal coincidentally and Bartel’s awkward need to solve this as a problem is hilarious, and hardly a ‘joke’ in the conventional sense).

I’ve never sought out Bartel’s other work, mostly because I didn’t like Death Race 2000 and called it a wash, but I’m curious if there are any favorites more in line with this?

[Big Ben]

Not really in my opinion. The characters from Eating Raoul make an appearance in the Roger Corman produced Chopping Mall which is most certainly not on the same level as this film unless you're looking for some incredibly corny sleaze. The only other Bartel film I can think of is Lust in the Dust which I would argue isn't even a cult film despite having Divine in it.

[knives]

I like all his films to be fair so I'd recommend them all, but as Ben seems to indicate only really Lust in the Dust plays with a similar tone.

[therewillbeblus]

Really? It appears that a few of his films are dubbed as, and appear at least in brief blurbs, like black/absurdist comedies: Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills, Private Parts, The Longshot, and Not For Publication are all different vibes?

[knives]

All of his films are certainly black comedies, but I was making a differentiation between the wryness of Eating Raoul and the more medium dependent sensibility of Death Race which you said you didn't like.

[therewillbeblus]

Fair enough, I guess I'll check out the ones I've mentioned gradually unless anyone has a clear favorite to throw out there, or anything not on my list. I also thought The Secret Cinema was great.

As for Eating Raoul, I find the "trail mix" flavor non-joke at the sex shop is sticking with me most.

[therewillbeblus]

All of his films are certainly black comedies, but I was making a differentiation between the wryness of Eating Raoul and the more medium dependent sensibility of Death Race which you said you didn't like.

I’d definitely say that Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills contains that wryness, even if it is a bit more animated in tone toward John Waters, but I think they’re similar enough in comedic delivery to cite a greater overlap

[knives]

(I haven't seen that one so it wasn't on my mind; I should change that).

[therewillbeblus]

I’d highly recommend it and think it’d be up your alley