web analytics

French New Wave

Les cousins [Masters of Cinema] [UK] Blu-ray Review

Posted April 16th, 2013 by Brandon A. DuHamel

Les cousins [Masters of Cinema] [UK] Blu-ray Review

Claude Chabrol’s second feature, Les cousins, was a mirror image of his first, Le beau Serge. More successful than the former, the complex morality play that mixed elements of farce, romance, thriller, and film noir would go on to help define and vindicate the nouvelle vague.

Le beau Serge [Masters of Cinema] [UK] Blu-ray Review

Posted April 16th, 2013 by Brandon A. DuHamel

Le beau Serge [Masters of Cinema] [UK] Blu-ray Review

The classic that launched the nouvelle vague arrives in a beautifully rendered edition from the Masters of Cinema series.

Official Shop of Warner Bros

Weekend [Criterion Collection] Blu-ray Review

Posted November 29th, 2012 by Lawrence D. Devoe, MD

Weekend [Criterion Collection] Blu-ray Review

Weekend is Jean Luc Godard’s frontal assault on the foibles of the middle class and their values or lack thereof. The Criterion Collection offers this restored version featuring decent if not outstanding sight and sound. Current viewers may find this film’s heavy-handed political agenda to be tough sledding.

Les cousins [Criterion Collection] Blu-ray Review

Posted September 26th, 2011 by Brandon A. DuHamel

Les cousins [Criterion Collection] Blu-ray Review

Claude Chabrol’s second feature, Les cousins, was a mirror image of his first, Le beau Serge. More successful than the former, the complex morality play that mixed elements of farce, romance, thriller, and film noir would go on to help define and vindicate the nouvelle vague.

Le beau Serge [Criterion Collection] Blu-ray Review

Posted September 24th, 2011 by Brandon A. DuHamel

Le beau Serge [Criterion Collection] Blu-ray Review

Claude Chabrol’s first feature film, Le beau Serge, launched the nouvelle vague and showed his mastery as a director from the beginning. It’s a poignant look at the struggles of the working class, far from the glitz and glamor of the big city, shot in stark black and white and natural light.

Playtime [UK Release] Blu-ray Review

Posted November 23rd, 2010 by Brandon A. DuHamel

Playtime [UK Release] Blu-ray Review

Tati’s prophetic 1967 comedy Playtime finally arrives in its restored version on Blu-ray in the UK from the BFI.

Breathless [StudioCanal Collection] [UK] Blu-ray Review

Posted September 3rd, 2010 by Brandon A. DuHamel

Breathless [StudioCanal Collection] [UK] Blu-ray Review

StudioCanal Collection in the UK enters with their superb looking edition of Jean-Luc Godard’s classic, Breathless, but it’s just a little weaker on extras than the Criterion release in the US.

Breathless [Criterion Collection] Blu-ray Review

Posted September 3rd, 2010 by Brandon A. DuHamel

Breathless [Criterion Collection] Blu-ray Review

Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless changed filmmaking forever and defined the French New Wave. Now it gets a definitive high definition Blu-ray release from the Criterion Collection collectors should enjoy.

Last Year at Marienbad (L’année dernière à Marienbad) [UK Release] Blu-ray Review

Posted October 27th, 2009 by Brandon A. DuHamel

Last Year at Marienbad (L’année dernière à Marienbad) [UK Release] Blu-ray Review

Alain Resnais’ enigmatic, genre-defining and defying film, Last Year at Marienbad, arrives on Blu-ray in a pleasing transfer from Optimum Releasing.

Le Mépris [UK Release] Blu-ray Review

Posted October 18th, 2009 by Brandon A. DuHamel

Le Mépris [UK Release] Blu-ray Review

The price of Hollywood, the price of being a god, the dissolution of love — it’s Godard’s most traditional narrative, but “traditional” doesn’t mean banal when it comes to Godard, the complex emotional and symbolic layers of Le Mépris and its leading actress Brigitte Bardot.