criterionforum.org

For completists only perhaps but Quiet Days in Clichy is out on blu
http://www.amazon.fr/Jours-tranquilles- ... 3&sr=1-237" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There's a book-length collection of interviews conducted with Chabrol shortly before his death that sounds absolutely amazing, for the French speakers among us. Here's a translated review from the Cahiers blog

domino harvey wrote:Knives, you should wax color in the Chabrol thread, we could use some new blood

Okay, though I'm afraid I don't have much to offer. Thus far I've basically been limited to the Kino set and Cry of the Owl so it's been hard to see any colours beyond brown, black, and the occasional red so you can only imagine the level I was stunned by the clean print of The Ceremony which makes me all the more wish his films would get better editions. What really is interesting about this use of colour is that it's not any sort of colour coding and not really used for emotional explanation as most uses of colour are. It's fairly close to that later thing, but the difference is the lack of highlight and connection to emotion. It was almost Kubrickian, but dependent on light rather than actually accentuation if that makes sense.

The most shocking use of this is the climax where I don't think anything changed so I believe this was caused only by lighting, but the whites are so strongly highlighted as to give it a nastier and more disturbing edge. By nothing being actually changed to the best of my knowledge (it would be a wonderfully smart assed move if he did replicate the set in white) everything becomes grounded to the past, but instead of bringing reality or calm to the scene it makes all the past scenes creepier and more disturbing. Each flash of the muzzle is like watching the whole film again and while this would come across even if the transfer looked as much like shit as Chabrol's other available movies we'd get that. The difference here is that it makes for more specific recollections.

What I was immediately reminded of with that climax was the use of green throughout (it's really more of a blue, but green seems to be the emotion) that's rather invisible throughout so I may be making this up, but the colour haunts the film like a ghost and seems to be like the teevee a symbol of Bonnaire's past. The colour in memory becomes like a bacteria eating away at the film. I'm sure when I see it again and am looking for the colours more closely I'll be more eloquent and thought out, but here's my first impressions I guess.

Am I misremembering, or was The Cry of the Owl unavailable on Netflix and fetching high prices on amazon for a while there? If so, that's no longer the case. Looking forward to seeing Chabrol tackle Highsmith.

Hopscotch wrote:Am I misremembering, or was The Cry of the Owl unavailable on Netflix and fetching high prices on amazon for a while there? If so, that's no longer the case. Looking forward to seeing Chabrol tackle Highsmith.

Netflix is streaming Jamie Thraves' version of The Cry of the Owl right now, not Chabrol's.

I'm not talking about the Thraves version or streaming. The Chabrol version is available on disc, whereas if I recall correctly it was previously unavailable.

You can get it for $5 plus shipping here. You can also get the Epstein Fall of the House of Usher there for $5, which is way less disappointing PQ-wise.

It's always been available

Two years, no posts?

This is surely due to the fact that, STILL, there are hardly any Chabrol BDs, and most DVDs of his pre-90s work look horrific!!

Somebody, anybody, please - get these films some much needed HD!!

Inspector Lavardin Collection on blu-ray from Cohen April 22nd.

Of all the titles to upgrade from the Kimstim collection, those are the ones?!

I wonder if they're going to split up the films since I really am not interested in double dipping the first one.

How many French schoolteachers do I have to stalk to get a proper release of Le Boucher? Anyone have any idea who has the blu-ray rights?

Aspect wrote:How many French schoolteachers do I have to stalk to get a proper release of Le Boucher?

Just this guy:


Oh, and her:


But she's easy.

Oh, I don't care about Le Boucher! But everything surrounding it - his entire 60s, 70s and 80s output (except for the two aforementioned Detective films) - are in dire need of restoration!!

Got to a lesser known one, Marie-Chantel Vs. Doctor Kha, today. On the global level this is easily one of the best post-Bond '60s chic films I've yet to encounter. The only thing that comes close is the Matt Helm films. Now, on the level of Chabrol's career this ranks mightily low not standing to the standard he set for himself after Les Biches. Nevertheless it works far better then his other female staring film in the genre I've seen, Road to Corinth, with the sense of fun and intelligence of the lead succeeding. The film really doesn't work independently. You either have to watch it as a Chabrol film, a Bond comedy, or both. It dies in its two legs. For me its most interesting to watch as a Chabrol since it is identifiable as him while also being a clear case of a lost in the wilderness film which I've come to associate his '60s period with. There's little visually to indicate Chabrol, but what is is an interesting showing of his evolution as an artist. The main thing is his use of colour, particularly blue, white, red, and black, which remains associations no one else would think of. The other bit is the use of violence which is fairly extreme and rough here. There's probably no other film in the genre with as many exposed arteries as this and the fights scenes have a natural brutality to it that Chabrol perversely seems to be pushing just for the reason others wouldn't; namely the lead's gender. I wouldn't call the film feminist per say, but Chabrol doesn't allow concerns of gender affect his violence ala Batgirl.

The other fun thing to consider is the degree and fashion in which he's aping Hitchcock here. Obviously next to De Palma he has the biggest reputation for such behavior, but generally I've found it to be lacking in his text with consideration of genre being the only serious factor. Not so here. He steals liberally for plot and visuals even going so far as an overextended cameo which comes across almost like a last minute replacement. Nearly every film Hitchcock had made up to that point and seemingly at least one he hadn't done yet given the Topaz like humour at the cold war. Each sequence could function as its own tribute starting with The Lady Vanishes going to The Man Who Knew Too Much so on and so forth. It's a little bit of fun which makes the experience worth more then the dated jokes its printed on.

i really liked his last film Bellamy (2009). after the disapointing "A Girl Cut in Two", it was a fantastic return to form. i wanted to spend hours with the inspector and his wife. as far as i was concerned, the movie should have gone on for hours.
my favorites will always be the swindle and la ceremonie, with his other isabelle huppert collaborations not too far behind.
L'enfer (1994) was also good.

Le Beau Serge, restored, to screen at this year´s Venice festival:
http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/ve ... ntID=42422" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Containing homosexuals of both sexes" is my new favorite pull quote

That was an unexpectedly interesting article, thanks!

I don't know if this is widely known, but despite not being mentioned on the packaging, David Kalat actually splits duties with RIc Menello on the commentary for All Day Entertainment's edition of the Cry of the Owl. Both do a great job, and man, what a masterpiece, one of Chabrol's best. Another one to add to your list for the David Kalat completists out there. The insert is a recreation of one character's suicide note too, helpfully translated into English...

HD rips of Le boucher and La femme infidele on French TV have surfaced on back channels... have these films finally received restoration work? Would love to see Arrow revisit their Chabrol holdings with a massive set

domino harvey wrote:HD rips of Le boucher and La femme infidele on French TV have surfaced on back channels... have these films finally received restoration work? Would love to see Arrow revisit their Chabrol holdings with a massive set

Oh man, doing for him something like what they’ve been doing for Borowczyk would be terrific