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Georges Franju's horror masterpiece confirmed as a dual-format July release - presumably from the same HD master that fuelled the Criterion BD.

From Amazon...

Special features*

- Theatrical trailer
- Le sang des bêtes (Georges Franju, 1949, 20 mins)
- Les Fleurs maladives de Geroges Franju (2009, 46 mins): documentary with Claude Chalbrol, Robert Hossein and others
- Extensive booklet with essays and full film credits

* subject to change

That's looking pretty good - the Criterion has some decent extras, but they're mostly snippets of old Franju interviews, some of which could well be in the documentary anyway.

I'm happy with my Criterion, but add Hôtel des Invalides to the specs and you've got yourself a sale.

I haven't got Criterion's release yet, and this looks superior, so...sold.

I don't think they're available elsewhere so the Franju shorts that aren't Le Sang des bêtes would make good additions. Of those that I've seen, La Première Nuit and Hôtel des Invalides stand out as being two of Franju's best works.

Will this include the scene that was missing from the French Blu-ray.

Update from the BFI:

NB. Georges Franju’s Eyes Without a Face which was scheduled for a July release has moved back to September as it will now be a more extensive package.

3 new supplements added to the specs at Amazon:

La Première nuit (Franju, 20 mins)
For Her Eyes Only – an interview withy Edith Scob (17 mins)
Audio commentary by Tim Lucas

Well played, adding a short that's absent from both of the Criterion Franjus. Has anyone here seen it?

swo17 wrote:Well played, adding a short that's absent from both of the Criterion Franjus. Has anyone here seen it?

Yes, and its superb.

More to the point, it's the perfect transitional work between Franju's documentaries and his fiction, so doubly appropriate in a set that contains outstanding examples of both.

MichaelB wrote:

swo17 wrote:Well played, adding a short that's absent from both of the Criterion Franjus. Has anyone here seen it?

Yes, and its superb.

I couldn't agree more, but I've only seen a low quality recording off of Italian television so it will be a revelation to see it in HD (presuming the BFI use the recent restoration).

Calvin wrote:

MichaelB wrote:

swo17 wrote:Well played, adding a short that's absent from both of the Criterion Franjus. Has anyone here seen it?

Yes, and its superb.

I couldn't agree more, but I've only seen a low quality recording off of Italian television so it will be a revelation to see it in HD (presuming the BFI use the recent restoration).

and assuming it's not going to be a "dvd only" extra.

If it's recently restored and available in HD then I wonder why Criterion haven't used it on either of their Franju discs. Saving it for a third, perhaps? (c'mon Thérèse!)

EddieLarkin wrote:If it's recently restored and available in HD then I wonder why Criterion haven't used it on either of their Franju discs. Saving it for a third, perhaps? (c'mon Thérèse!)

It's possible that the restoration wasn't completed in time, as the CNC only funded it in February

Michael, do you know if Tim Lucas will be an ongoing BFI contributor, or whether this release and the Robbe-Grillets are a one-off? I would be very happy if there are plans for more commentaries down the line, and it is a fairly major incentive for me to choose these releases over those from the US/anywhere else.

Calvin wrote:It's possible that the restoration wasn't completed in time, as the CNC only funded it in February

And of course this would explain why the BFI is very sensibly postponing their release, as it presumably wasn't available when specs were originally drawn up.

I've just received this from the BFI:

Eyes Without a Face (Georges Franju, 1960) will now be released on 22 September. This will be a three-disc Collector’s Edition (2 x DVD, 1 x Blu-ray) featuring a number of short films by Georges Franju, including La Première nuit, Monsieur et Madame Curie and the notorious Le Sang des bêtes, as well as a Tim Lucas commentary and the 2009 documentary Les fleurs maladives de Georges Franju.

MichaelB wrote:I've just received this from the BFI:

Eyes Without a Face (Georges Franju, 1960) will now be released on 22 September. This will be a three-disc Collector’s Edition (2 x DVD, 1 x Blu-ray) featuring a number of short films by Georges Franju, including La Première nuit, Monsieur et Madame Curie and the notorious Le Sang des bêtes, as well as a Tim Lucas commentary and the 2009 documentary Les fleurs maladives de Georges Franju.

When it it says ' a number' and 'including' am I reading optimistically that there could be even more shorts (like Mon Chien and Les Poussieres for example) ?
Hope springs eternal.

Sadly, it's just those three - I've just checked.

MichaelB wrote:Sadly, it's just those three - I've just checked.

Dommage. Still thanks for checking and at least BFI are stealing a march on Gaumont

From the latest BFI press release:

We have had to move back Eyes Without a Face (Georges Franju) as we are working on making this edition the very best it can possibly be. We will be announcing a new release date in the near future.

More news when I get it.

Again ?

Personally they can keep on dollying this one up till Christmas if it means even more on the slate.

All of the Georges Franju shorts, please.