Fans of Jean Renoir will rush to see something ‘new’ from the great director; this very different Renoir picture sees him filming in the South of France, among regional laborers that bring their Italian and Spanish customs with them. It’s a tragedy about a crime of passion, all shot outside of a film studio, without big stars or glamorous trappings.
Toni
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1040
1935 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 84 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date August 25, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Charles Blavette, Celia Montalvan, Édouard Delmont, Max Dalban, Jenny Hélia, Michel Kovachevitch, Andrex.
Cinematography: Claude Renoir
Film Editors: Suzanne de Troeye, Marguerite Renoir
Original Music: Paul Bozzi
Written by Jean Renoir from material by Jacques Levert
Produced by Marcel Pagnol
Directed by Jean Renoir
We’re told that in 1933 Jean Renoir was stinging from some pictures that didn’t go over well with the public, including the classic comedy-drama Boudou Saved from Drowning.
Toni
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1040
1935 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 84 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date August 25, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Charles Blavette, Celia Montalvan, Édouard Delmont, Max Dalban, Jenny Hélia, Michel Kovachevitch, Andrex.
Cinematography: Claude Renoir
Film Editors: Suzanne de Troeye, Marguerite Renoir
Original Music: Paul Bozzi
Written by Jean Renoir from material by Jacques Levert
Produced by Marcel Pagnol
Directed by Jean Renoir
We’re told that in 1933 Jean Renoir was stinging from some pictures that didn’t go over well with the public, including the classic comedy-drama Boudou Saved from Drowning.
- 8/25/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
‘Hands off the Loot!’ Jacques Becker’s crackling Paris crime tale is a time machine to an age of Parisian tough guys in double breasted suits, who never show their cards, and mistreat women in ways the Hollywood production code would never allow. Old thief Jean Gabin’s ill-gotten wealth is threatened by the newcomer creep Lino Ventura, thanks to the treachery of a very young Jeanne Moreau; the struggle revives weapons and tactics not used since the Occupation. One of the Great Euro crime classics is now looking terrific in Kino/Studio Canal’s restoration.
Touchez pas au grisbi
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1954 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 96 min. / Honor among Thieves / Street Date August 13, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jean Gabin, René Dary, Paul Frankeur, Lino Ventura, Jeanne Moreau, Dora Doll, Daniel Cauchy, Michel Jourdan, Marilyn Buferd, Denise Clair, Gaby Basset, Delia Scala.
Cinematography: Pierre Montazel
Film Editor:...
Touchez pas au grisbi
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1954 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 96 min. / Honor among Thieves / Street Date August 13, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jean Gabin, René Dary, Paul Frankeur, Lino Ventura, Jeanne Moreau, Dora Doll, Daniel Cauchy, Michel Jourdan, Marilyn Buferd, Denise Clair, Gaby Basset, Delia Scala.
Cinematography: Pierre Montazel
Film Editor:...
- 9/21/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Finally out on Blu-ray in Region A, Luis Buñuel’s beautiful color adventure is a worthy jungle tale shot through with his signature negativity — it could be titled “The Bad, The Greedy and the Faithless.” The Spanish surrealist’s filmic obsessions steered toward the anarchistic, the anti-clerical and anti-bourgeois; all of his films are political, but three features in the 1950s cast a harsh eye on the subject of revolution itself, with surprising results. With the presence of movie stars Simone Signoret, Georges Marchal, Charles Vanel, Michel Piccoli, this may also be the director’s most commercial feature.
Death in the Garden
Blu-ray
Kino Classics
1956 / Color / 1:37 / 104 min. / Street Date July 23, 2019 / La mort en ce jardin / Available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Simone Signoret, Georges Marchal, Charles Vanel, Michel Piccoli, Tito Junco, Mich.le Girardon, Jorge Martínez de Hoyos, Francisco Reiguera, José Chávez.
Cinematography: Jorge Stahl, Jr.
Film Editors: Denise Charvein,...
Death in the Garden
Blu-ray
Kino Classics
1956 / Color / 1:37 / 104 min. / Street Date July 23, 2019 / La mort en ce jardin / Available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Simone Signoret, Georges Marchal, Charles Vanel, Michel Piccoli, Tito Junco, Mich.le Girardon, Jorge Martínez de Hoyos, Francisco Reiguera, José Chávez.
Cinematography: Jorge Stahl, Jr.
Film Editors: Denise Charvein,...
- 7/30/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Finally out on Blu-ray in Region A, Luis Buñuel’s beautiful color adventure is a worthy jungle tale shot through with his signature negativity — it could be titled “The Bad, The Greedy and the Faithless.” The Spanish surrealist’s filmic obsessions steered toward the anarchistic, the anti-clerical and anti-bourgeois; all of his films are political, but three features in the 1950s cast a harsh eye on the subject of revolution itself, with surprising results. With the presence of movie stars Simone Signoret, Georges Marchal, Charles Vanel, Michel Piccoli, this may also be the director’s most commercial feature.
Death in the Garden
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1956 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 104 min. / Street Date July 23, 2019 / La mort en ce jardin / Available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Simone Signoret, Georges Marchal, Charles Vanel, Michel Piccoli, Tito Junco, Mich.le Girardon, Jorge Martínez de Hoyos, Francisco Reiguera, José Chávez.
Cinematography: Jorge Stahl, Jr.
Film Editors: Denise Charvein,...
Death in the Garden
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1956 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 104 min. / Street Date July 23, 2019 / La mort en ce jardin / Available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Simone Signoret, Georges Marchal, Charles Vanel, Michel Piccoli, Tito Junco, Mich.le Girardon, Jorge Martínez de Hoyos, Francisco Reiguera, José Chávez.
Cinematography: Jorge Stahl, Jr.
Film Editors: Denise Charvein,...
- 7/30/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Luis Buñuel’s filmic obsessions steered toward the anarchistic, the anti-clerical and anti-bourgeois, with a surreal spin. All of his films are political, but three features in the 1950s cast a harsh eye on the subject of revolution itself, with surprising results. This beautiful color show is a worthy jungle adventure tale shot through with Buñuel’s signature negativity — it could be titled “The Bad, The Greedy and the Faithless.”
Death in the Garden
Region B Blu-ray + DVD
Eureka Entertainment / Masters of Cinema
1956 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 104 min. / Street Date June 19, 2017 / La mort en ce jardin / Available from Amazon UK / £ 11.65
Starring: Simone Signoret, Georges Marchal, Charles Vanel, Michel Piccoli, Tito Junco, Michèle Girardon, Jorge Martínez de Hoyos, Francisco Reiguera, José Chávez.
Cinematography: Jorge Stahl, Jr.
Film Editors: Denise Charvein, Marguerite Renoir
Original Music: Paul Misraki
Written by Luis Alcoriza, Luis Buñuel, Raymond Queneau, Gabriel Arout from a novel by José-André Lacour.
Death in the Garden
Region B Blu-ray + DVD
Eureka Entertainment / Masters of Cinema
1956 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 104 min. / Street Date June 19, 2017 / La mort en ce jardin / Available from Amazon UK / £ 11.65
Starring: Simone Signoret, Georges Marchal, Charles Vanel, Michel Piccoli, Tito Junco, Michèle Girardon, Jorge Martínez de Hoyos, Francisco Reiguera, José Chávez.
Cinematography: Jorge Stahl, Jr.
Film Editors: Denise Charvein, Marguerite Renoir
Original Music: Paul Misraki
Written by Luis Alcoriza, Luis Buñuel, Raymond Queneau, Gabriel Arout from a novel by José-André Lacour.
- 5/26/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Presenting two real-life stories from my days of yore, although names have been changed to protect both the innocent and the guilty.
Story The First:
I knew a girl in high school – I wouldn’t say we were friends, but she was someone who had never participated in the Piggy horrors. Sally was an A+ student, on the track to an Ivy League school. Pretty (but not gorgeous) and popular (but quiet about it), she came to me one day and said that she needed to talk to me privately. I was surprised… and a bit suspicious. What did she want? But because Sally had never been overtly mean to me, even though she was part of the clique that instigated most of the callous cruelties upon me, and because I still hoped to be “accepted,” and I wanted to believe for some reason she was about to warn me...
Story The First:
I knew a girl in high school – I wouldn’t say we were friends, but she was someone who had never participated in the Piggy horrors. Sally was an A+ student, on the track to an Ivy League school. Pretty (but not gorgeous) and popular (but quiet about it), she came to me one day and said that she needed to talk to me privately. I was surprised… and a bit suspicious. What did she want? But because Sally had never been overtly mean to me, even though she was part of the clique that instigated most of the callous cruelties upon me, and because I still hoped to be “accepted,” and I wanted to believe for some reason she was about to warn me...
- 9/11/2017
- by Mindy Newell
- Comicmix.com
Welcome to the world of Jean Grémillon, where adult characters work through adult problems without benefit of melodramatic excess. The impressively directed experiences of Micheline Presle’s lady doctor on a storm-swept island opts for a progressive point of view, not sentimentality.
The Love of a Woman
Blu-ray + DVD
Arrow Video USA
1953 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 104 min. / Street Date August 22, 2017 / L’amour d’une femme / Available from Arrow Video 39.95
Starring: Micheline Presle, Massimo Girotti, Gaby Morlay, Paolo Stoppa, Marc Cassot, Marius David, Yvette Etiévant, Roland Lesaffre, Robert Naly, Madeleine Geoffroy.
Cinematography: Louis Page
Film Editor: Louisette Hautecoeur, Marguerite Renoir
Production Design: Robert Clavel
Original Music: Elsa Barraine, Henrie Dutilleux
Written by René Fallet, Jean Grémillon, René Wheeler
Produced by Mario Gabrielli, Pierre Géin
Directed by Jean Grémillon
Film critics that pride themselves on rediscovering older directors haven’t done very well by France’s Jean Grémillon, at least not in this country.
The Love of a Woman
Blu-ray + DVD
Arrow Video USA
1953 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 104 min. / Street Date August 22, 2017 / L’amour d’une femme / Available from Arrow Video 39.95
Starring: Micheline Presle, Massimo Girotti, Gaby Morlay, Paolo Stoppa, Marc Cassot, Marius David, Yvette Etiévant, Roland Lesaffre, Robert Naly, Madeleine Geoffroy.
Cinematography: Louis Page
Film Editor: Louisette Hautecoeur, Marguerite Renoir
Production Design: Robert Clavel
Original Music: Elsa Barraine, Henrie Dutilleux
Written by René Fallet, Jean Grémillon, René Wheeler
Produced by Mario Gabrielli, Pierre Géin
Directed by Jean Grémillon
Film critics that pride themselves on rediscovering older directors haven’t done very well by France’s Jean Grémillon, at least not in this country.
- 9/9/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Plus: Ileen Reich assumes corp comms role at Participant Media; and more…
The Weinstein Company (TWC) has promoted Nicole Quenqua and Marguerite Michael to co-heads of TWC publicity.
Quenqua will run the department’s New York office and Michael will lead the publicity team in La.
TWC-Dimension has promoted Pantea Ghaderi to executive vice-president of publicity.
TWC top brass made the announcements as it emerged that president of publicity Dani Weinstein was departing after 16 years.
Ileen Reich has joined Participant Media as senior vice president of publicity and corporate communications. She arrives from Sony Pictures Entertainment where she served as senior vice-president of national publicity and reports to Christina Kounelias, executive vice-president of worldwide marketing and communications.George Blagden, Charleene Closshey, Robbie Kay, Stelio Savante, Michael Beach, and Raymond J. Barry have joined No Postage Necessary. The story of a hacktivist who tries to win the heart of a young widow is shooting in Florida until the end...
The Weinstein Company (TWC) has promoted Nicole Quenqua and Marguerite Michael to co-heads of TWC publicity.
Quenqua will run the department’s New York office and Michael will lead the publicity team in La.
TWC-Dimension has promoted Pantea Ghaderi to executive vice-president of publicity.
TWC top brass made the announcements as it emerged that president of publicity Dani Weinstein was departing after 16 years.
Ileen Reich has joined Participant Media as senior vice president of publicity and corporate communications. She arrives from Sony Pictures Entertainment where she served as senior vice-president of national publicity and reports to Christina Kounelias, executive vice-president of worldwide marketing and communications.George Blagden, Charleene Closshey, Robbie Kay, Stelio Savante, Michael Beach, and Raymond J. Barry have joined No Postage Necessary. The story of a hacktivist who tries to win the heart of a young widow is shooting in Florida until the end...
- 8/4/2016
- by govi2016@lawnet.ucla.edu (Alec Govi)
- ScreenDaily
It's the time-honored tale of the cuckolded lover, his heartless woman and 'the other guy,' told in terms that Émile Zola would endorse. Jean Renoir's first full-length talkie is a little masterpiece of social observation and indifference to sentimental niceties. Michel Simon is terrific as the clerk who has a tough time with illicit love. La chienne Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 818 1931 / B&W / 1:19 flat full frame / 96 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 14, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Michel Simon, Janie Marèse, Georges Flamant, Magdeleine Bérubet, Roger Gaillard. Cinematography Theodore Sparkuhl Film Editor Marguerite Renoir Written by Jean Renoir, André Mouézy-Éon from the book by Georges de la Fouchardière Produced by Pierre Braunberger, Roger Richebé Directed by Jean Renoir
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
We American film students learned about Jean Renoir's La chienne only in the context of its remake. It's an earlier version of the book by Georges de la Fouchardière, that was also adapted for Fritz Lang's 1945 noir Scarlet Street. Renoir's film has never been readily available here in the States, an oversight now corrected with Criterion's new Blu-ray. The good news is that the French restoration of this tale of vice and virtue is beyond good -- the movie looks absolutely new. The even better news is that the movie is a revelation, the equal of Renoir's Boudu Saved from Drowning. This is the kind of movie that might suffer in a bad presentation -- the ability to soak up its atmosphere and detail makes all the difference. Yes, the title does translate as The Bitch, a straight-up vulgarism. The story parallels most of the same events of the Lang version. A puppet theater prologue tells us that story has no moral, no lesson to be learned. Company cashier clerk Maurice Legrand (Michel Simon) is a meek, henpecked husband and a Sunday painter. Maurice's wife Adèle (Magdaleine Bérubet) harangues him about her beloved first husband, to whom he'll never measure up; work colleagues make fun of the meek Maurice behind his back. Late at night Maurice meets Lucienne Pelletier (Janie Marèse), who he does not realize is the sometime-prostitute of Dédé (Georges Flamant), a vain, brutish punk who takes the money she squeezes from the men she meets and beds. He beats her for good measure, but she seems to enjoy it. Maurice has soon installed Lucienne in a love nest. He tells Adèle that he's thrown his paintings away, but instead puts them on the walls of Lucienne's apartment. She and Dédé have the mistaken impression that Maurice is rich, but he keeps her by stealing money from his wife, and eventually, the office safe. Then something unusual happens. Dédé tries to sell Maurice's paintings as the work of Lucienne, and has success. She is soon signing his paintings as a supposedly well-known American artist named Clara Wood. Critic Langelard (Alexandre Rignault of Eyes without a Face) promotes 'Clara's' art because she offers him sexual favors. Dédé makes much better money pimping Lucienne in the art world, than he did on the street. Far too naturalistic, 'earthy' and sordid for anything Hollywood might have produced in 1931, Renoir's La chienne turns a 'way of all flesh' tale into a sharp criticism of society. The milquetoast Maurice Legrand is too naïve to realize that he's being had by Lucienne, a femme fatale well versed in hooking wealthy, vulnerable clients. Lucienne herself is a romantic fool, hopelessly in love, or lust, with a man who treats her like dirt. The more abuse Dédé dishes out, she just comes back for more. When Maurice declares his desire to take Lucienne away, she laughs in his face without a shred of sympathy or basic respect. Stories like this do not have happy endings, and La chienne's main task is to imply that the art world is as big a racket as prostitution. 'Clara Wood's' paintings become big sellers because Dédé pimps Lucienne to a critic willing to praise them for sex. The art dealer and the critic collude to tout 'Clara's' paintings to new clients, one of whom we see getting quality time with the artist as well. As director Renoir was of course the son of the famous painter Auguste Renoir, it's easy to see a personal connection in the critical view of Art as a business. Renoir used live location audio, adding greatly to the film's realism. As there was not as yet any audio mixing for French films, the tracks are beautifully miked to pick up ambient sounds. We even hear the clacking of Lucienne's shoes on the cobblestoned streets. Theodor Sparkuhl's night exteriors are every bit as sophisticated as later low-key, deep focus work in '30s poetic realism and '40s film noir. The rain we see in some scenes may be real as well. The film isn't about crime and retribution, but the grand ironies of 'the oldest story,' a foolish love that leads to murder. The tale turns comic when Maurice has to deal with a man from Adèle's past, who turns up unexpectedly and then figures in the even more ironic ending. The three main characters are just terrific. Michel Simon is a very different character than his bohemian Boudu from the following year. The actor is also far thinner than we're used to seeing him, in films made just a few years later. Janie Marèse is as dangerous a female as ever hooked a man. Lucienne's unreasoning, limitless love for Dédé makes her pure poison for a defenseless fellow like Maurice. Georges Flamant also demonstrates great skill as a thorough, unrepentant louse. Comparing La chienne with Lang's Scarlet Street sets the difference between the humanist and determinist filmmakers in strong relief. Both Renoir and Lang see the events as an unstoppable consequence of human nature, but Renoir's view is much warmer. Maurice lives in a full spectrum of human interaction, even if most people take him for a fool. But he's essentially a warm and accepting person, and his one moment of violent rage is fully understandable. When all is said and done, with his life ruined, Maurice can still laugh at the absurdity of it all. Life goes on, somehow. Lang's version is a chilly noir thesis that makes its innocent hero (Edward G. Robinson) a more innocent victim, not only of Joan Bennett's cheap tart, but of his employers and society itself. His rich boss doesn't even have to hide the fancy woman he keeps on the side, whereas Robinson's wife keeps him around mainly to wash dishes. As one expects from Lang, the plot twists are sharper, wickedly ironic and cruelly merciless. Lang doesn't believe in 'live and let live'.' Haunted by what he's done, his poor hero goes insane. Life does not go on. Renoir's film has a music theme under the titles but I believe the rest of its music is organic, always with a source in the scenes. The beautifully filmed murder takes place with a ballad singer entertaining in the street. Unable to protest when his wife compares him unfavorably to her first husband, the long-lost soldier, Maurice instead sings a mocking children's song about a soldier who went to war and didn't come back. [When we screened La chienne, my wife jumped up immediately at the sound of the song. It has a nearly identical Spanish counterpart, "Mambrú Se Fue A La Guerra." Mambrú went to war, and if he comes back it'll only be at Easter and Christmas. Most likely, it'll be never. To my mind it's a great children's song because it reflects the reality of war glory. There's the Sunday Savant culture lesson for you.] The Criterion Collection's Blu-ray of La chienne is simply terrific -- it looks much better than many expensively restored American movies from this year. The producer must have kept the picture and audio masters in perfect conditions. The rich images display a modulated granularity that heavy digital processing would surely have removed. Being from 1931 the sound does carry a light surface noise. The extras explain that a few lines recorded on location are weak, but I didn't notice as I of course was reading the English subtitles. It's a welcome disc indeed. Christopher Faulkner hosts the 25-minute overview featurette. He covers the love triangle that developed among the actors during filming, and the sad fate of the film's star Janie Marèse. Faulkner places the film in Jean Renoir's career, explaining that in the 1920s the director was often adjudged a dilettante. He had to prove himself before the producers would let him do a sound feature. Here in its entirety is Renoir's short (50 minute) film On purge bébé from the same year, a talkie Renoir was obliged to film to prove he could handle sound. The title translates as Baby's Laxative -- it's a comedy from a play by George Feydeau, about a manufacturer of chamber pots whose son is constipated! Michel Simon is a visitor to the house, where Baby's parents carry on a marriage squabble suitable for a music hall farce. Playing a small supporting part is a young Fernandel. On purge bébé must have been kept in the same magic film can as the main feature, for it is fully restored and just as perfect. Jean Renoir offers one of those introductions filmed for French TV in the early '60. Much rarer is a 90-minute 1967 TV show hosted by Jacques Rivette, in which both Jean Renoir and Michel Simon reminisce about their careers and La chienne. The precise, informative insert essay is by Ginette Vincendeau; and the attractive cover art is by 'Blutch.' Criterion's disc producer is Elizabeth Pauker. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, La chienne Blu-ray rates: Movie: Excellent Video: Excellent very surprisingly so Sound: Excellent Supplements: Introduction to the film from 1961 by director Jean Renoir, New interview with Renoir scholar Christopher Faulkner, New restoration of On purge bébé (1931), Jean Renoir le patron: 'Michel Simon' a 95-minute 1967 French television program featuring a conversation between Renoir and Simon, directed by Jacques Rivette, Essay by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau. Deaf and Hearing-impaired Friendly? Yes; Subtitles: English Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: June 12, 2016 (5139chie)
Visit DVD Savant's Main Column Page Glenn Erickson answers most reader mail: dvdsavant@mindspring.com
Text © Copyright 2016 Glenn Erickson...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
We American film students learned about Jean Renoir's La chienne only in the context of its remake. It's an earlier version of the book by Georges de la Fouchardière, that was also adapted for Fritz Lang's 1945 noir Scarlet Street. Renoir's film has never been readily available here in the States, an oversight now corrected with Criterion's new Blu-ray. The good news is that the French restoration of this tale of vice and virtue is beyond good -- the movie looks absolutely new. The even better news is that the movie is a revelation, the equal of Renoir's Boudu Saved from Drowning. This is the kind of movie that might suffer in a bad presentation -- the ability to soak up its atmosphere and detail makes all the difference. Yes, the title does translate as The Bitch, a straight-up vulgarism. The story parallels most of the same events of the Lang version. A puppet theater prologue tells us that story has no moral, no lesson to be learned. Company cashier clerk Maurice Legrand (Michel Simon) is a meek, henpecked husband and a Sunday painter. Maurice's wife Adèle (Magdaleine Bérubet) harangues him about her beloved first husband, to whom he'll never measure up; work colleagues make fun of the meek Maurice behind his back. Late at night Maurice meets Lucienne Pelletier (Janie Marèse), who he does not realize is the sometime-prostitute of Dédé (Georges Flamant), a vain, brutish punk who takes the money she squeezes from the men she meets and beds. He beats her for good measure, but she seems to enjoy it. Maurice has soon installed Lucienne in a love nest. He tells Adèle that he's thrown his paintings away, but instead puts them on the walls of Lucienne's apartment. She and Dédé have the mistaken impression that Maurice is rich, but he keeps her by stealing money from his wife, and eventually, the office safe. Then something unusual happens. Dédé tries to sell Maurice's paintings as the work of Lucienne, and has success. She is soon signing his paintings as a supposedly well-known American artist named Clara Wood. Critic Langelard (Alexandre Rignault of Eyes without a Face) promotes 'Clara's' art because she offers him sexual favors. Dédé makes much better money pimping Lucienne in the art world, than he did on the street. Far too naturalistic, 'earthy' and sordid for anything Hollywood might have produced in 1931, Renoir's La chienne turns a 'way of all flesh' tale into a sharp criticism of society. The milquetoast Maurice Legrand is too naïve to realize that he's being had by Lucienne, a femme fatale well versed in hooking wealthy, vulnerable clients. Lucienne herself is a romantic fool, hopelessly in love, or lust, with a man who treats her like dirt. The more abuse Dédé dishes out, she just comes back for more. When Maurice declares his desire to take Lucienne away, she laughs in his face without a shred of sympathy or basic respect. Stories like this do not have happy endings, and La chienne's main task is to imply that the art world is as big a racket as prostitution. 'Clara Wood's' paintings become big sellers because Dédé pimps Lucienne to a critic willing to praise them for sex. The art dealer and the critic collude to tout 'Clara's' paintings to new clients, one of whom we see getting quality time with the artist as well. As director Renoir was of course the son of the famous painter Auguste Renoir, it's easy to see a personal connection in the critical view of Art as a business. Renoir used live location audio, adding greatly to the film's realism. As there was not as yet any audio mixing for French films, the tracks are beautifully miked to pick up ambient sounds. We even hear the clacking of Lucienne's shoes on the cobblestoned streets. Theodor Sparkuhl's night exteriors are every bit as sophisticated as later low-key, deep focus work in '30s poetic realism and '40s film noir. The rain we see in some scenes may be real as well. The film isn't about crime and retribution, but the grand ironies of 'the oldest story,' a foolish love that leads to murder. The tale turns comic when Maurice has to deal with a man from Adèle's past, who turns up unexpectedly and then figures in the even more ironic ending. The three main characters are just terrific. Michel Simon is a very different character than his bohemian Boudu from the following year. The actor is also far thinner than we're used to seeing him, in films made just a few years later. Janie Marèse is as dangerous a female as ever hooked a man. Lucienne's unreasoning, limitless love for Dédé makes her pure poison for a defenseless fellow like Maurice. Georges Flamant also demonstrates great skill as a thorough, unrepentant louse. Comparing La chienne with Lang's Scarlet Street sets the difference between the humanist and determinist filmmakers in strong relief. Both Renoir and Lang see the events as an unstoppable consequence of human nature, but Renoir's view is much warmer. Maurice lives in a full spectrum of human interaction, even if most people take him for a fool. But he's essentially a warm and accepting person, and his one moment of violent rage is fully understandable. When all is said and done, with his life ruined, Maurice can still laugh at the absurdity of it all. Life goes on, somehow. Lang's version is a chilly noir thesis that makes its innocent hero (Edward G. Robinson) a more innocent victim, not only of Joan Bennett's cheap tart, but of his employers and society itself. His rich boss doesn't even have to hide the fancy woman he keeps on the side, whereas Robinson's wife keeps him around mainly to wash dishes. As one expects from Lang, the plot twists are sharper, wickedly ironic and cruelly merciless. Lang doesn't believe in 'live and let live'.' Haunted by what he's done, his poor hero goes insane. Life does not go on. Renoir's film has a music theme under the titles but I believe the rest of its music is organic, always with a source in the scenes. The beautifully filmed murder takes place with a ballad singer entertaining in the street. Unable to protest when his wife compares him unfavorably to her first husband, the long-lost soldier, Maurice instead sings a mocking children's song about a soldier who went to war and didn't come back. [When we screened La chienne, my wife jumped up immediately at the sound of the song. It has a nearly identical Spanish counterpart, "Mambrú Se Fue A La Guerra." Mambrú went to war, and if he comes back it'll only be at Easter and Christmas. Most likely, it'll be never. To my mind it's a great children's song because it reflects the reality of war glory. There's the Sunday Savant culture lesson for you.] The Criterion Collection's Blu-ray of La chienne is simply terrific -- it looks much better than many expensively restored American movies from this year. The producer must have kept the picture and audio masters in perfect conditions. The rich images display a modulated granularity that heavy digital processing would surely have removed. Being from 1931 the sound does carry a light surface noise. The extras explain that a few lines recorded on location are weak, but I didn't notice as I of course was reading the English subtitles. It's a welcome disc indeed. Christopher Faulkner hosts the 25-minute overview featurette. He covers the love triangle that developed among the actors during filming, and the sad fate of the film's star Janie Marèse. Faulkner places the film in Jean Renoir's career, explaining that in the 1920s the director was often adjudged a dilettante. He had to prove himself before the producers would let him do a sound feature. Here in its entirety is Renoir's short (50 minute) film On purge bébé from the same year, a talkie Renoir was obliged to film to prove he could handle sound. The title translates as Baby's Laxative -- it's a comedy from a play by George Feydeau, about a manufacturer of chamber pots whose son is constipated! Michel Simon is a visitor to the house, where Baby's parents carry on a marriage squabble suitable for a music hall farce. Playing a small supporting part is a young Fernandel. On purge bébé must have been kept in the same magic film can as the main feature, for it is fully restored and just as perfect. Jean Renoir offers one of those introductions filmed for French TV in the early '60. Much rarer is a 90-minute 1967 TV show hosted by Jacques Rivette, in which both Jean Renoir and Michel Simon reminisce about their careers and La chienne. The precise, informative insert essay is by Ginette Vincendeau; and the attractive cover art is by 'Blutch.' Criterion's disc producer is Elizabeth Pauker. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, La chienne Blu-ray rates: Movie: Excellent Video: Excellent very surprisingly so Sound: Excellent Supplements: Introduction to the film from 1961 by director Jean Renoir, New interview with Renoir scholar Christopher Faulkner, New restoration of On purge bébé (1931), Jean Renoir le patron: 'Michel Simon' a 95-minute 1967 French television program featuring a conversation between Renoir and Simon, directed by Jacques Rivette, Essay by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau. Deaf and Hearing-impaired Friendly? Yes; Subtitles: English Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: June 12, 2016 (5139chie)
Visit DVD Savant's Main Column Page Glenn Erickson answers most reader mail: dvdsavant@mindspring.com
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- 6/14/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
We’ve got questions, and you’ve (maybe) got answers! With another week of TV gone by, we’re lobbing queries left and right about shows including Scorpion, Pretty Little Liars, Nashville and How to Get Away With Murder!
1 | On Hawaii Five-0, is Ingo Rademacher not quite Ingo Rademacher without his Aussie accent?
2 | How hard did you laugh when Grimm unveiled its Renard campaign poster… and it was a carbon copy of Obama’s “Hope” ad?
RelatedAsk Ausiello: Spoilers on Flash, Bones, Gilmore Girls, Legends, NCIS, Five-0, Outlander, Pll, S.H.I.E.L.D. and More
3 | Are you impatient...
1 | On Hawaii Five-0, is Ingo Rademacher not quite Ingo Rademacher without his Aussie accent?
2 | How hard did you laugh when Grimm unveiled its Renard campaign poster… and it was a carbon copy of Obama’s “Hope” ad?
RelatedAsk Ausiello: Spoilers on Flash, Bones, Gilmore Girls, Legends, NCIS, Five-0, Outlander, Pll, S.H.I.E.L.D. and More
3 | Are you impatient...
- 3/18/2016
- TVLine.com
The 68th Cannes Film Festival is now little under a month away, and Variety has the skinny on the event’s impressive line-up, which includes Carol and French comedy-drama La Tete Haute – itself set to open the festival on May 13 – not to mention the likes of Pixar’s emotional animation Inside Out and Mad Max: Fury Road screening out of competition.
For a full rundown of those candidates in question, you can consult the list down below. Due to take place from May 13 to May 25, it’s expected that more films will be added to the cinematic selection in the coming days, but already the billing is chock full of eye-catching releases. Interestingly, the aforementioned La Tete Haute will be the first festival opener since 1987 to be directed by a female filmmaker, in this case, Emmanuelle Bercot.
The 68th Cannes Film Festival will begin on May 13 and run right through...
For a full rundown of those candidates in question, you can consult the list down below. Due to take place from May 13 to May 25, it’s expected that more films will be added to the cinematic selection in the coming days, but already the billing is chock full of eye-catching releases. Interestingly, the aforementioned La Tete Haute will be the first festival opener since 1987 to be directed by a female filmmaker, in this case, Emmanuelle Bercot.
The 68th Cannes Film Festival will begin on May 13 and run right through...
- 4/16/2015
- by Michael Briers
- We Got This Covered
Woody Allen, Asif Kapadia, Natalie Portman and Pete Docter set for Out of Competition screenings.Cannes 2015Full line-upCOMMENT: surprises and no-showsBLOG: Comment and reactions
Cannes Film Festival delegate general Thierry Fremaux unveiled the Official Selection for its 68th edition (May 13-24) at a packed conference in Paris On Thursday morning.
“It’s a beautiful, fresh line-up which formulates ideas, takes risks and says something about the state of creativity in cinema around the world,” Fremaux told reporters at the Ugc Normandie Cinema on the Champs Elysées
The selection is a sign that Fremaux and his programming team are attempting to shake things up with Cannes old-timers vying for the Palme d’Or against a slew of first-time contenders.
Jacques Audiard’s provisionally titled Dheepan, Hou Hsiao Hsien’s The Assassin and Nanni Moretti’s Mia Madre will compete with French director Valérie Donzelli’s Marguerite And Julien, Norwegian Joachim Trier’s Louder Than Bombs, Greek filmmaker...
Cannes Film Festival delegate general Thierry Fremaux unveiled the Official Selection for its 68th edition (May 13-24) at a packed conference in Paris On Thursday morning.
“It’s a beautiful, fresh line-up which formulates ideas, takes risks and says something about the state of creativity in cinema around the world,” Fremaux told reporters at the Ugc Normandie Cinema on the Champs Elysées
The selection is a sign that Fremaux and his programming team are attempting to shake things up with Cannes old-timers vying for the Palme d’Or against a slew of first-time contenders.
Jacques Audiard’s provisionally titled Dheepan, Hou Hsiao Hsien’s The Assassin and Nanni Moretti’s Mia Madre will compete with French director Valérie Donzelli’s Marguerite And Julien, Norwegian Joachim Trier’s Louder Than Bombs, Greek filmmaker...
- 4/16/2015
- ScreenDaily
Once again, the world is coming to Cannes and with it some of the more anticipated films of the year. Festival du Cannes President Pierre Lescure and General Delgate (aka Festival Director) Thierry Fremaux revealed this year's main competition and Un Certain Regard slates during a long and rambling press conference early this morning and a number of American auteurs are once again in the mix. Todd Haynes' "Carol" with Cate Blancehtt, Gus Van Sant's "Sea of Trees" with Matthew McConaughey, Woody Allen's "Irrational Man" with Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone, Pixar's "Inside Out," Denis Villeneuve's "Sicario" with Emily Blunt and Josh Brolin, Justin Kurzel's "Macbeth" with Marion Cotillard and Michael Fassbender and Natalie Portman's "A Tale of Love and Darkness" are some of the initial highlights from today's announcement that will perk the ears of American audiences. The festival previously announced that George Miller...
- 4/16/2015
- by Gregory Ellwood
- Hitfix
Qui aime les films français ?
If you do and you live in St. Louis, you’re in luck! The Seventh Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival — co-presented by Cinema St. Louis and the Webster University Film Series begins March 13th. The Classic French Film Festival celebrates St. Louis’ Gallic heritage and France’s cinematic legacy. The featured films span the decades from the 1930s through the early 1990s, offering a comprehensive overview of French cinema. The fest is annually highlighted by significant restorations.
This year features recent restorations of eight works, including an extended director’s cut of Patrice Chéreau’s historical epic Queen Margot a New York-set film noir (Two Men In Manhattan) by crime-film maestro Jean-Pierre Melville, who also co-stars; a short feature (“A Day in the Country”) by Jean Renoir, on a double bill with the 2006 restoration of his masterpiece, The Rules Of The Game, and the...
If you do and you live in St. Louis, you’re in luck! The Seventh Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival — co-presented by Cinema St. Louis and the Webster University Film Series begins March 13th. The Classic French Film Festival celebrates St. Louis’ Gallic heritage and France’s cinematic legacy. The featured films span the decades from the 1930s through the early 1990s, offering a comprehensive overview of French cinema. The fest is annually highlighted by significant restorations.
This year features recent restorations of eight works, including an extended director’s cut of Patrice Chéreau’s historical epic Queen Margot a New York-set film noir (Two Men In Manhattan) by crime-film maestro Jean-Pierre Melville, who also co-stars; a short feature (“A Day in the Country”) by Jean Renoir, on a double bill with the 2006 restoration of his masterpiece, The Rules Of The Game, and the...
- 3/4/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
A Day in the Country
Written and directed by Jean Renoir
France, 1936
Jean Renoir’s A Day in the Country comes at a curious point in the director’s career. In 1936, he had several exceptional silent films to his credit, as well as such classics of early French sound cinema as La Chienne (1931), Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932), and The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936), among others. But he had still not yet achieved his singular place on world cinema’s pre-war stage. That he would do just a year later, with La Grande Illusion (1937). As noted on the new Criterion Blu-ray, A Day in the Country was “conceived as a short feature…[and] nearly finished production in 1936 when Renoir was called away for The Lower Depths. Shooting was abandoned then, but the film was completed with the existing footage by Renoir’s team and released in its current form in 1946, after the...
Written and directed by Jean Renoir
France, 1936
Jean Renoir’s A Day in the Country comes at a curious point in the director’s career. In 1936, he had several exceptional silent films to his credit, as well as such classics of early French sound cinema as La Chienne (1931), Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932), and The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936), among others. But he had still not yet achieved his singular place on world cinema’s pre-war stage. That he would do just a year later, with La Grande Illusion (1937). As noted on the new Criterion Blu-ray, A Day in the Country was “conceived as a short feature…[and] nearly finished production in 1936 when Renoir was called away for The Lower Depths. Shooting was abandoned then, but the film was completed with the existing footage by Renoir’s team and released in its current form in 1946, after the...
- 2/17/2015
- by Jeremy Carr
- SoundOnSight
After making some huge (and unfortunately controversial) announcements about Thor and Captain America before San Diego Comic Con, Marvel fleshed out future developments involving these characters and their titles. They also announced the first Star Wars comics since getting the license from Dark Horse. More details can be found in this article. A bulk of the announcements had to do with the upcoming “Spider-Verse” event spinning out of Dan Slott’s Amazing Spider-Man run, which will include every Spider-Man that Marvel currently has the rights to. (No Tobey or Andrew sadly.)
1. Ben Reilly Returns in Scarlet Spiders
Ben Reilly was the clone of Peter Parker made by Jackal that first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #149. He even took up the mantle of Spider-Man when Peter Parker retired to raise his child. Eventually, Peter returned as Spider-Man, and Ben Reilly was killed by Green Goblin towards the end of the infamous “Clone...
1. Ben Reilly Returns in Scarlet Spiders
Ben Reilly was the clone of Peter Parker made by Jackal that first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #149. He even took up the mantle of Spider-Man when Peter Parker retired to raise his child. Eventually, Peter returned as Spider-Man, and Ben Reilly was killed by Green Goblin towards the end of the infamous “Clone...
- 7/28/2014
- by Logan Dalton
- SoundOnSight
In a controversial move, DC decided to forego publishing its regular line of books and put out 52 one-shot stories featuring some of its best villains. The one-shots range from extremely popular (Joker, Lex Luthor, Brainiac) to the newer and more obscure (Relic, Shadow Thief). They feature some veteran creators and some who have barely drawn a comic. Each “Villains Month” book will get a decimal point after a regular DC Comic. For example, Joker will feature in Batman 23.1, Riddler will feature in Batman 23.2 etc. The first issue of the new DC event Forever Evil will come out the same month as the villain one-shots. It is a direct follow up to “Trinity War” and will be written by Geoff Johns and drawn by David Finch. There are quite a few “Villains Month” books, but the following comics either have great creative teams, continue a compelling storylines, or are simply intriguing.
- 8/31/2013
- by Logan Dalton
- SoundOnSight
Veteran New Wave director Alain Resnais is back, but this odd tale of a wacky dentist-cum-Spitfire-pilot is just too whimsical, writes Peter Bradshaw
This latest film by the 88-year-old French New Wave master Alain Resnais, adapted from the 1996 novel L'Incident by Christian Gailly, is another occasion to ruminate on the nature of late style – among other things. Having first seen it at last year's Cannes film festival, and now a second time for its British release, my main feeling remains mystification, perhaps not so much at the film itself as the attendant eager critical consensus that this is a tremendous piece of work and that the director has returned to form. It looked and looks to me like an eccentrically stately and sporadically interesting misfire, a kind of farce in slo-mo, a comedy of inconsequence whose stageyness, datedness and lack of inner life are camouflaged by quirks and tics, moments...
This latest film by the 88-year-old French New Wave master Alain Resnais, adapted from the 1996 novel L'Incident by Christian Gailly, is another occasion to ruminate on the nature of late style – among other things. Having first seen it at last year's Cannes film festival, and now a second time for its British release, my main feeling remains mystification, perhaps not so much at the film itself as the attendant eager critical consensus that this is a tremendous piece of work and that the director has returned to form. It looked and looks to me like an eccentrically stately and sporadically interesting misfire, a kind of farce in slo-mo, a comedy of inconsequence whose stageyness, datedness and lack of inner life are camouflaged by quirks and tics, moments...
- 6/17/2010
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
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