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Arnaud Desplechin (1960- )



Each time I'm starting to work on a film, even if I love to settle the plot in the real world, I start to think about the plot as a fairy tale, or a dream, or a nightmare...

Filmography
Features
La vie des morts (1991)
La sentinelle (1992)
Comment je me suis disputé... (ma vie sexuelle) / My Sex Life... or How I Got Into an Argument (1996)
Esther Kahn (2000)
En jouant 'Dans la compagnie des hommes' (2003)
Rois et Reine / Kings and Queen (2004)
L'Aimée (2007)
Un conte de Noël / A Christmas Tale (2008)
Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian (2013)
La forêt (2014)
Trois souvenirs de ma jeunesse / My Golden Days (2015)
Les Fantômes d'Ismaël / Ismael's Ghosts (2017)
Roubaix, une lumière / Oh Mercy! (2019)
Tromperie / Deception (2021)

Television
Angels in America (2021)

Web Resources
2002 interview with Andrea Meyer, IndieWire
2008 interview with Tom Hall, IndieWire
2008 interview with Catherine Deneuve, Film Comment
2010 interview with Marko Bauer, Senses of Cinema
2015 interview with Yonca Talu, Film Comment
2015 interview with Hillary Weston, Criterion
2016 interview with Justin Chang, Variety
2018 interview with Matthew Eng and Mathieu, Reverse Shot
2018 interview with Vadim Rizov, Filmmaker Magazine
2020 interview with Laura Cappelle, The Guardian

Forum Discussion
492 A Christmas Tale
Ismael's Ghosts

foggy eyes wrote: Tue Oct 14, 2008 11:16 am A quick search hasn't turned anything up. Outside of Rois et reine (AE R2 disc is fine), what are the best options for Desplechin on DVD?

- Comment je me suis disputé... - I've only seen the Pathe R2 UK release, which suffers from a lacklustre transfer and burnt-in subs. It's perfectly acceptable, but is there a better version around?
- La Sentinelle / La Vie des morts: Does the Cahiers set have English subs?
- Esther Kahn: Is the Fox Lorber disc ok?
- Anything else I've overlooked?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Yes the Cahiers set has English subtitles.

Esther Khan was released by Studio Canal in France, in a budget but good edition. I think it's OOP but may turn up on ebay and other market places.

The other French dvds don't have English subtitles i think.

Excellent, thanks. Does this have English subs as well? If not, I'd rather get the Fox Lorber release of Esther Kahn if it's as good as the French disc (shipping will be cheaper) - has anybody seen both?

Just checked on the Cahiers website, Comment... has english subs, and Esther Khan is in English anyway.

Indeed it does - I should have checked there first. Thanks.

The r1US Esther Kahn is fine (and, iirc, the original french disc had burnt in French subs - but maybe memory fails). There's an r1US My Sex Life too. The french disc of the amazing Leo Plays in "In the Company of Men" is, sadly, subless. A french blu-ray of Christmas Story has been announced. No word on subs yet.

yoshimori wrote:The r1US Esther Kahn is fine (and, iirc, the original french disc had burnt in French subs - but maybe memory fails). There's an r1US My Sex Life too.

I agree with you on the R1 Esther Kahn (Wellspring a.k.a. Fox Lorber). It's a perfectly decent DVD and available for under $5 (even though it's OOP).

The Fox Lorber DVD of My Sex Life, however, is horrible. Among the worst DVDs ever. In the class action lawsuit of my dreams against Fox Lorber, this would have been exhibit A.

I wonder whether the Cahiers disc of Esther Kahn has burnt-in subs as well - the description merely states 'version anglaise, sous-titres: français'. Anyone? Incidentally, the R1 My Sex Life has a fucking awful cover.

Thanks for the info on R1 Esther Kahn as well, Matt.

Matt wrote:The Fox Lorber DVD of My Sex Life, however, is horrible.

True. The french disc got a goodish review at dvdrama.

david hare wrote:Blu Ray of Arnaud Desplechin’s Un Conte de Noel.

Did this have English subtitles?

david hare wrote:The Blu Ray of Arnaud Desplechin’s Un Conte de Noel ...

Did this have English subs? Any indication of the region-coding?

Yes. Conte de Noel was my favorite movie at Cannes this year - I was pretty surprised it didn't win; maybe some interfrancine politics - and Desplechin has been what my real best friend calls "my new best friend" since La Sentinelle. I adore Esther Kahn and Leo Plays ... and Kings and Queen and also respect My Sex Life. Amalric is great, and I'm always amazed by Devos. There's something about her ... Desplechin/Gautier's compositions are so idiosyncratic, and the cutting is crisp. The 150 movie breezed by for me. And ... and ... and ...

Thanks for the expected but still disheartening news.

I've got all of them - even the subless Leo - except Conte and I may very well buy it too. My French is not as good as yours and it's a chatty film, but I may, as you suggest, not be able to wait. The movie did get a US release so it should be coming, but ...

yoshimori wrote:I've got all of them - even the subless Leo - except Conte and I may very well buy it too. My French is not as good as yours and it's a chatty film, but I may, as you suggest, not be able to wait. The movie did get a US release so it should be coming, but ...

It's available right now from IFC's on-demand cable service, in SD and HD (!) -- although this is obviously unhelpful if your cable/satellite provider doesn't carry it (or if you don't have cable/satellite).

The French Fnac Limited Edition DVD of A Christmas Tale has as a bonus feature Desplechin's documentary L'Aimee, a film that i do not want to miss. Unfortunately, my french is pretty bad, so if it was humanly possible I'd prefer to wait for a subtitled release. With that in mind, is anyone willing to speculate as to who will be releasing A Christmas Tale on DVD in the US/UK, and whether, based on their previous practices, it's likely that L'Aimee will come along with it?

Fingers crossed for New Wave Films (formerly of Artificial Eye, UK). Their first DVD, Unrelated, will be released by Drakes Avenue next week, so we might have a better idea of what standard they aim to maintain then.

More props for Conte de Noel-- I saw it on Christmas day down at IFC on a recommend and took me mum and girlfriend-- all were very impressed. Very good film indeed.

yoshimori wrote:The r1US Esther Kahn is fine (and, iirc, the original french disc had burnt in French subs - but maybe memory fails). There's an r1US My Sex Life too. The french disc of the amazing Leo Plays in "In the Company of Men" is, sadly, subless. A french blu-ray of Christmas Story has been announced. No word on subs yet.

Could anyone tell me more about Leo Plays in "In the Company of Men"? I saw this on sale the other day but know nothing about it. It appears, to my eye, to be some sort of filmed play, or two filmed plays, as there are two features on the disc.

New Wave's release of A Christmas Tale is scheduled for 01/06. Up for pre-order at Amazon & HMV. No word on extras or L'Aimée yet.

foggy eyes wrote:I wonder whether the Cahiers disc of Esther Kahn has burnt-in subs as well - the description merely states 'version anglaise, sous-titres: français'. Anyone? Incidentally, the R1 My Sex Life has a fucking awful cover.

I just picked up both Cahiers Desplechin discs in Paris--Esther Kahn's subtitles are removable, and surprisingly it's the version longue--at 165 minutes it's 23 minutes longer than the R1. It's wonderful to finally have My Sex Life (and La Sentinelle!) available anamorphic with English subs--My Sex Life is coupled with La vie des morts which I've not seen yet and which is unavailable in the US, as far as I know.

I don't know if I can bear to throw away my R1 Sex Life, though. It's by far the worst piece of shit DVD I own, and I almost have a fondness for its lousiness and failure in every category of quality.

Coming to BAMcinematek as part of its 10th anniversary:

An Evening with Arnaud Desplechin, July 1
Arnaud Desplechin, director of Kings and Queen and A Christmas Tale, presents two personal favorites: Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), followed by a conversation with film critic Kent Jones; and François Truffaut’s Mississippi Mermaid (La Sirène du Mississippi, 1969), introduced by Desplechin

I guess my suspicions that A Christmas Tale was heavily influenced by Tenenbaums have been confirmed. There are a huge number of parallels: the twin boys, playwright sister and her dollhouse theatres, the parent who may or may not be terminally ill, the nouvelle vague references, conspicuously deceased family members, the reunion, etc., etc. Still, I think I consider Desplechin's to be the better film.

For anyone who's interested, I just saw an ad in Sight & Sound that confirms that a subtitled copy of L'aimee will be on New Wave films' A Christmas Tale disc.

FerdinandGriffon wrote: For anyone who's interested, I just saw an ad in Sight & Sound that confirms that a subtitled copy of L'aimee will be on New Wave films' A Christmas Tale disc.

Oh thanks I was about to buy the 30 euros French collector for that supplement...

I'm happy to confirm that the S&S ad is entirely correct - I haven't watched disc two yet, but it certainly seems to have a subtitled copy of L'aimee on it.

New Wave Films has really become a label to watch-- their Silence of Lorna DVD is one of the best standard-definition R2 transfers I've seen lately