496 Merci la vie

[MichaelB]

MERCI LA VIE
(Bertrand Blier, 1991, 118 mins)
Release date: 17 August 2026
Limited Edition 4K UHD (World premiere)

Preorder here: UK 4K UHD/UK Blu-ray/US 4K UHD/US Blu-ray

Charlotte Gainsbourg (Nymphomaniac) and Anouk Grinberg (The Night of the 12th) take a surreal road trip in Merci la vie, an outrageous, absurdist satire from acclaimed auteur Bertrand Blier (Femmes fatales).

When naïve Camille (Gainsbourg) meets the carefree and promiscuous Joëlle (Grinberg), the pair undertake a journey of self-discovery across time and space, encountering the German wartime occupation, the AIDS crisis, and Camille’s own conception along the way.

With cameos from French screen legends Gérard Depardieu (Stavisky…) and Jean-Louis Trintignant (Crime Thief), and an eclectic soundtrack that ranges from David Bryne to Beethoven, Merci la vie is a provocative classic from one of France’s most controversial filmmakers.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION 4K UHD SPECIAL FEATURES

• 4K HDR restoration from the original negative
• 4K (2160p) UHD presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Original stereo audio
• Bertrand Blier on ‘Merci la vie’ (2020): the writer-director takes an in-depth look back at his award-winning film
• Location report (1990): extract from the French television programme 12-13, featuring footage of a night shoot and an interview with Blier
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
• Script gallery: complete dialogue and continuity script
• New and improved English translation subtitles
• Limited edition exclusive booklet with new writing on the film by Sue Harris, archival interviews with writer-director Bertrand Blier, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
• World premiere on 4K UHD
• Limited edition of 6,000 copies (4,000 4K UHDs and 2,000 Blu-rays) for the UK and US
• All features subject to change

#PHILE496U
BBFC cert: 18
REGION FREE
EAN: 5060697925487

[brundlefly]

Happy for these. Thrilled Blier may get some fraction of the attention lavished on the more market-ready Rollin.

[therewillbeblus]

Props to Indicator for releasing one of Blier's most difficult yet rewarding films. I wrote this up exhaustively in the dedicated thread

[domino harvey]

Wow! An excellent choice for Blier, this one comes highly recommended. I don’t think this one ever had an English friendly disc release anywhere

[brundlefly]

The old UK DVD by Noveaux Pictures has burned-in English subs, and I think it's region-free. Better than nothing, but easily bested.

[Zot!]

Wow! An excellent choice for Blier, this one comes highly recommended. I don’t think this one ever had an English friendly disc release anywhere

I've never even heard of it, and I've seen a good number of Blier films since the VHS era, so I'm glad for a new discovery (for me).

[colinr0380]

This did get a premiere UK TV screening on Channel 4 back on 24th January 1999, but not repeated since.

(Channel 4 were big on Blier for a little while there, as in addition to Trop Belle Pour Toi! on 30th June 1998 they also put on a screening of Les valseuses on 4th January of that year! Both of these were repeat airings after earlier premieres, but similarly both have not been shown on UK TV since)

[domino harvey]

(Channel 4 were big on Blier for a little while there, as in addition to Trop Belle Pour Toi! on 30th June 1998

I gather that this was one of Blier's biggest successes in the states too. It even made either Siskel or Ebert's Top 10 the year it was released (though Ebert confusingly took the film at face value and treated it sincerely, which is... an odd thing to do)

[colinr0380]

I remember getting the impression from those Channel 4 airings that Depardieu helped in giving those particular Blier films the extra push to television as this was around the same time Channel 4 also showed Maitresse, and their 1998 "Creme de la Creme" season of French cinema was Depardieu heavy as well with of course the inevitable Cyrano de Bergerac but also the last UK TV screening to date of Alain Corneau's Tous les matins du monde. And Christmas 1998 showed The Horseman on the Roof. Which shows how different things were for Depardieu being perhaps the biggest name in French cinema during that era!

(The BBC for its part also showed Germinal and Le Colonel Chabert over the Christmas period in 1997 and Elisa in 1998, in which Depardieu turns up as the main character's father)

[domino harvey]

(The BBC for its part also showed Elisa in 1998, in which Depardieu turns up as the main character's father)

Which, if you watch the film, it's clear is supposed to be a massive surprise too, but then of course the recent US release put him front and center in the advertising (and I understand why, of course)

[colinr0380]

I seem to remember that the Radio Times used the final scene from Elisa as the accompanying still image in their film review pages for that screening. So, yes, if that was meant to act as a complete casting surprise it did not happen there either!

[Aunt Peg]

This is probably my favourite Bertrand Blier so I'll be able to off load the dated DVD.