criterionforum.org

An outrageously wicked comedy about two families from award winning debut filmmaker Étienne Chatiliez, this fast-paced satire became the most popular French comedy of the decade.

The radiantly bourgeois Le Quesnoys with their immaculate children and perfect manners and the grubby, disreputable Groseilles are thrown together in absurd chaos by an act of revenge as they discover that twelve years prior their babies were switched at birth.

A witty send up of class relations and family ties, Life Is a Long Quiet River was celebrated with a host of trophies at France’s César Awards ceremony winning for best screenplay, best debut work and acting prizes for Héléne Vincent and Catherine Jacob.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:

• High Definition digital transfer
• High Definition Blu-rayTM (1080p) presentation
• Original Mono audio
• Newly translated optional English subtitles
• Archival interviews with director Étienne Chatiliez, actor André Wilms, co-writer/co-producer Florence Quentin and producer Charles Gassot
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Scott Saslow

FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Jonathan Romney

This was the film that I was most quickly reminded of when I saw Hirokazu Kore-eda's Like Father, Like Son because of the similar inciting incident and nature versus nurture child swap premise, although this film is much (much!) more comedically broad in its social satire parade of grotesques compared to the later film's quietly devastating insight into parents and their feelings about their suddenly estranged children. But approached with the knowledge that it is more of a comedy than a straight drama, this film is quite fun!

Haven’t gotten to this one from my Cesar Awards viewing project, but I still gather this was a rather left field acquisition for Arrow (not complaining!)

I would never want to deny any film a Blu Ray release and am glad to see this make its English language Blu Ray debut but I do wish it was Étienne Chatiliez's brilliant Tatie Danielle (1990) instead. 'She hasn't met you but she already hates you' was the tagline for the film in its initial release.

I would agree in preferring Tatie Danielle as well due to its great focus on the ultimate twinkly evil old lady in cinema! Even beating out Maggie Smith in Gosford Park/Downton Abbey!