Bertrand Tavernier

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Koukol
Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2013 8:31 pm

Bertrand Tavernier

#1 Post by Koukol » Mon Jan 28, 2013 10:10 pm

Where's the love for Tavernier?

I would love to see a Criterion release of THE PASSION OF BEATRICE.
I believe it's Julie Delpy's first role in a film that takes place in the middle ages.
She plays a strong daughter who along with her brother is terrorized by her father once he returns from battle disillusioned.
It's a powerful film that hasn't even got a DVD release yet.
Last edited by Koukol on Tue Jan 29, 2013 7:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Jack Phillips
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2007 2:33 am

Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#2 Post by Jack Phillips » Tue Jan 29, 2013 4:25 pm

I'm not much of a fan of BEATRICE. However, I like a lot of his other films, especially Coup de torchon. Recent Blu-rays that look very good are Death Watch and The Princess of Montpensier (region B).

albucat
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#3 Post by albucat » Tue Jan 29, 2013 4:31 pm

Having only seen a handful of his films, I'd love to have more easily available. I'm a big fan of what I've seen, but he's never really caught on here as an arthouse phenomenon.

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GaryC
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#4 Post by GaryC » Tue Jan 29, 2013 6:33 pm

Une semaine de vacances and Sunday in the Country are long overdue releases in the UK on DVD, let alone Blu-ray.

And Beatrice has never had a UK release at all, not even in the cinema - I've never seen it.

Tim
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 8:27 am

Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#5 Post by Tim » Wed Jan 30, 2013 2:30 pm

I'm pretty sure that I saw Beatrice at the NFT, without subtitles but with live translation through headphones. It's been a while though, so maybe someone will correct me on that.

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NABOB OF NOWHERE
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#6 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Wed Jan 30, 2013 3:07 pm

For anyone interested in french film-making under the occupation or coming off the back of the Gremillon Eclipse set Laissez-Passer is a must.
The AE edition and french editions have some exhaustive supplements with Tavernier filling in the background as well as the film itself dealing with the making of Tourneur's La Main du Diable.
I saw him give a 'masterclass' at GFT a few years back and the boy sure can talk and is very entertaining and knowledgeable. News from Gaumont also that he is curating/involved with a Complete Continental Films box set for them. But don't hold your breath as it's a few years off yet.

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GaryC
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#7 Post by GaryC » Wed Jan 30, 2013 6:37 pm

Tim wrote:I'm pretty sure that I saw Beatrice at the NFT, without subtitles but with live translation through headphones. It's been a while though, so maybe someone will correct me on that.
I do remember a NFT showing that I couldn't get to. But it certainly has never had a UK commercial release.

Tavernier has made a lot of films, but there are quite a few which haven't been released here. StudioCanal (then called Optimum) put out five DVDs a few years back as The Bertrand Tavernier Collection - wonder if they could release a few more?

doc mccoy
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#8 Post by doc mccoy » Sun Feb 24, 2013 4:21 pm

The UK dvd releases of Watchmaker of St Paul and L.627 are certainly very good extras-wise. Tavernier is terrific value as a commentator - on L.627, he gives a very funny anecdote of the Interior Minister criticizing his film, and how he ordered a certain precinct to be destroyed; let's just say that Bertrand had the last laugh on that one.

I really don't get the lack of love for Tavernier in the UK at least - there are still no dvd releases of:

Let Joy reign supreme
Sunday in the country
Life and nothing but
The Bait
Captain Conan
Holy Lola

Incidently, what are the Kino dvd releases of "Let Joy.." and "Life and Nothing but" like?

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GaryC
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#9 Post by GaryC » Sun Feb 24, 2013 7:59 pm

doc mccoy wrote:I really don't get the lack of love for Tavernier in the UK at least - there are still no dvd releases of:

Let Joy reign supreme
Sunday in the country
Life and nothing but
The Bait
Captain Conan
Holy Lola
Let Joy Reign Supreme, Captain Conan and Holy Lola didn't even get UK cinema releases. Artificial Eye released the other three in the cinema and on VHS, but not on DVD - I don't know if they still have the rights?

Daddy Nostalgie/These Foolish Things is another which came out on VHS but not on DVD - Tartan were the VHS distributor in that case.

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colinr0380
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#10 Post by colinr0380 » Thu Mar 14, 2013 4:13 pm

It might be interesting to note that in the BBC's recent series focusing on archive interviews with actors "Talking Pictures" the episode devoted to Dirk Bogarde ended with Barry Norman's interview with Bogarde at the time of Daddy Nostalgie's release (which turned out to be Bogarde's last film). That would perhaps have been a great opportunity to show the film following the episode - unfortunately only Doctor In The House and Hot Enough For June got re-screenings instead!

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AidanKing
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#11 Post by AidanKing » Fri Mar 15, 2013 11:53 am

The French DVDs of Sunday in the Country and Captain Conan have subtitles on the films but not the extras. This is particularly a shame in the case of Captain Conan as it has what looks like a rather good (and lengthy) making of documentary by Tavernier's son on a second disc.

The film's pretty good too: one of those where you struggle to work out why it didn't get UK distribution.

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Ann Harding
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#12 Post by Ann Harding » Tue Sep 26, 2017 11:29 am

Image
I guess it's the best place to post this. My book about Continental Films is coming out on October 16th, 2017. Bertrand Tavernier (who made Laissez-passer) wrote the foreword.

Continental Films - Cinéma français sous contrôle allemand by Christine Leteux
publisher: La Tour Verte
400 pages, 16 p. illustrations

October 1940. A German producer, Alfred Greven, creates in occupied Paris, a new film production company, Continental Films for which he hires the most famous stars (Danielle Darrieux, Fernandel, Raimu, Harry Baur) and great filmmakers (Marcel Carné, Maurice Tourneur, Henri Decoin, Henri-Georges Clouzot). During the four years of occupation, Continental produces 30 films; some are masterpieces like Les Inconnus dans la maison (1942, H. Decoin) and Le Corbeau (1943, H.-G. Clouzot). For the first time, the history of this company, of its creater, and of those who worked there, is told from the inside thanks to unpublished French and German archives. New light will be cast on the deleterious atmosphere inside Continental, the famous trip to Berlin of French artists in March 1942 and the mysterious death of Harry Baur.

kekid
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#13 Post by kekid » Sun Aug 09, 2020 11:37 pm

I finished watching "Voyages à travers le cinéma français, la série". I did not realize how idiosyncratic the selections of directors and films are in this series. In a six-hour traversal of French cinema we get no Truffaut, no Godard, no Chabrol, no Rivette, apart from passing references. I appreciate being exposed to less familiar filmmakers, but not at the exclusion of the major figures from the new wave. I guess the coverage reflects Tavernier's personal likes and antipathies. This is like Scorsese's documentary on Italian cinema not saying anything about Rossellini, Fellini, Antonioni and Visconti.

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The Fanciful Norwegian
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#14 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Mon Aug 10, 2020 12:22 am

I've only seen the theatrical version and not the series, but my understanding is that Tavernier worked to avoid repetition between the two instead of just doing a "long version" and a "short version." I can't recall if the theatrical version had anything about Rivette, but Truffaut, Chabrol, and Godard certainly came up, the latter at some length (Tavernier did a stint as Godard's press agent after being fired by Melville).

ethel
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#15 Post by ethel » Mon Aug 10, 2020 2:27 am

The releases - “VOYAGE” and “VOYAGES” - look carefully when you order! - are in fact completely separate, with no overlap. Tavernier says somewhere his survey - which barely mentions the silent era - begins when his childhood cinemagoing began, and ends at the point where he began making features himself.

He says he didn’t think it appropriate to pass comment on his colleagues and rivals. When you think of Peter Biskind’s book MY LUNCHES WITH ORSON, where Orson Welles posthumously buckets dozens of his contemporaries to Henry Jaglom’s great amusement, you think Tavernier might be right. It’s certainly more dignified to at least wait until the targets are dead, (as Stephen Sondheim did in his book FINISHING THE HAT).

If you think of Tavernier’s survey as covering 1929-1959, with a bit of spillover at both ends, you’ll get the idea. I thought I knew French cinema pretty well, but this series runs several hours and contains name after name I’d never heard of. It’s one of the most absorbing film surveys I’ve ever seen.

The only minor blemish is the lack of subtitles on the sole special feature, a conversation with Tavernier where he talks about his choices in the series, and the fact that so many important 1950s and 60s films are awaiting restoration. Most of the many dozen clips in this series are from luminous restorations, a couple from battered 16mm (?) elements, and I think one from a video copy.

I suppose this is streaming somewhere, but I had to own it, via the fnac.com website. Essential.

kekid
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#16 Post by kekid » Mon Aug 10, 2020 10:35 am

Thank you for your comments, Ethel and Fanciful Norwegian. I did not realize that the two versions are completely different. I thought the theatrical version was simply a subset of the series. Thank you for that clarification.

Truffaut and Chabrol wrote about Hitchcock, still living and active, extensively. Cahiers du Cinema is full of filmmakers writing critiques of their contemporaries and competitors. Should different criteria apply to video criticism than written criticism? I am not sure I agree with the grounds for these major exclusions. Having said that, I understand that Tavernier felt uncomfortable including his contemporaries, and we can respect that.

Lack of availability of films he mentions in English-friendly versions is a source of frustration. Many of them are available, but not with English subtitles. I cannot imagine that these films generate huge revenues, so to keep them isolated to French-speaking regions makes no sense to me.

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domino harvey
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#17 Post by domino harvey » Mon Aug 10, 2020 11:33 am

An older Chabrol talks about how he no longer says bad things about other directors or drags films he doesn’t like in the doc on one of the MOC Chabrol discs...

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The Fanciful Norwegian
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#18 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Mon Aug 10, 2020 1:55 pm

In Truffaut's correspondence there's a 1976 reply to a letter from Jonathan Rosenbaum that apparently complained Truffaut's self-compiled book of his film writings excluded too many negative pieces:
With regard to my book, Les Films de ma vie, it contains several negative pieces: on Albert Lamorisse, Anatole Litvak, Jacques Becker (Arsène Lupin), Mervyn LeRoy and René Clément . . . Moreover, if I decided against publishing my negative criticisms of Yves Allegret, Jean Delannoy, Marcel Carné, etc., it is because these directors are now old men [. . .] and it would be needlessly cruel of me to hamper their efforts to continue working. It's a situation which you will understand better when you are a little older. That said, I accept your criticism of the book.
There's another letter in the book where Truffaut tells Charles Bitsch that he doesn't want to be on Cahiers' "Council of Ten" anymore, which a footnote explains with "Having become a film-maker himself, Truffaut no longer wished to sit in judgement on his colleagues." This was all the way back in 1957!

kekid
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#19 Post by kekid » Mon Aug 10, 2020 3:22 pm

These are indeed inspiring changes of attitude. I appreciate the compassionate disposition these artists have adopted.

However, it raises a question: if compassion prevents us from being unkind to others, is a negative criticism ever possible?

If we make rules as to when it is ok and when it is not, those could be questioned.

I think personally that it is possible to point out in an artist's work something that does not resonate with us, that does not feel right to us, without being unkind. I understand that many readers like to have vitriolic reviews; I do not. That is why I generally do not like Pauline Kael and much prefer Roger Ebert (even though many dismiss the latter as a populist "thumbs-up thumbs-down" critic).

I have learned something from this discussion. So thank you all who participated.

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ando
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#20 Post by ando » Mon Aug 10, 2020 4:55 pm

Well, Tavernier made one of the best films about a jazz musician (imo) with Round Midnight (1986). A vitriol-less Ebert (& Siskel) review.

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domino harvey
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#21 Post by domino harvey » Mon Aug 10, 2020 5:15 pm

The Fanciful Norwegian wrote:
Mon Aug 10, 2020 1:55 pm
There's another letter in the book where Truffaut tells Charles Bitsch that he doesn't want to be on Cahiers' "Council of Ten" anymore, which a footnote explains with "Having become a film-maker himself, Truffaut no longer wished to sit in judgement on his colleagues." This was all the way back in 1957!
Worth noting that none of the other young turks had any problem with appearing in the Conseil once they started making movies, so this sounds like typical youthful puffery from Truffaut anyways-- he was regularly trashing movies in conversation with the journal for the next decade

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Mr Sheldrake
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#22 Post by Mr Sheldrake » Tue Feb 16, 2021 12:10 pm

I recently finished watching the nine Tavernier films currently streaming on the Criterion Channel. Death Watch was the only one that disappointed (Tavernier’s obsession with death is uncomfortably morbid here) and although I don’t pretend to have much insight into Tavernier I found the other eight thoroughly engaging.

I liked A Sunday in the Country best, shades of Renoir and one of the three slice of life movies in this selection. I bought the Kino bluray which includes a great commentary by Tavernier, really enhanced my appreciation of the film.

The other two favorites would be Coup de Torchon, which I have on the old Criterion DVD, and Life and Nothing But. Tavernier’s historical works can be disturbing and disorienting with a political dimension that sometimes is explicit, as in Coup de Torchon where you can feel the sickness of colonialism throughout.

The picture quality was very disappointing on Daddy Nostalgia (Dirk Bogarde’s last performance) and Life and Nothing But. I couldn’t tell much difference between the bluray of A Sunday in the Country and the streaming version and the rest of the titles looked fine too.

There isn’t much literature on Tavernier in English. I did find an excellent essay at Senses of Cinema and I have Steven Hays’ The Filmmaker of Lyon on order. There is also a high high priced book of interviews with Tavernier available.

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Dr Amicus
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#23 Post by Dr Amicus » Tue Feb 16, 2021 1:06 pm

Tavernier was a particular favourite of mine in the 90s. I suspect that's because I was university and got to see some at the cinema, and also this was the time BBC2 and Channel 4 were still showing foreign language films on a regular basis. As I recall, back then he was one of the few name French directors to regularly get UK releases and for his name to be a major part of the publicity (Daddy Nostalgia was an exception - but that was a rarity in having a British star). I'd agree with you on Sunday in the Country and Life and Nothing But - both were favourites and I got to see the latter on the big screen.

I've had the French DVD of Capitain Conan sitting around for years and haven't gotten round to it - again, just from what I'd heard about it I was surprised it never got a UK release. Even The Undeclared War turned up on TV (I did record it an VHS back in the day but would really like to revisit). I think the last I managed to see was Laissez Passer which I really liked as well.

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hearthesilence
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#24 Post by hearthesilence » Mon Jul 26, 2021 1:32 am

Thanks to schellenbergk for recommending A Sunday in the Country. I watched the Kino Blu-ray knowing close to nothing about the film, and it was a wonderful surprise that brought to mind James Joyce - a routine visit or a day in the life, but with all the turmoil and drama rolling within each individual mind, so much of which is rooted in memory as well as thoughts of the future (and the inevitable). It's beautifully done because Tavernier finds a way to accomplish everything smoothly and accessibly without making anything feel too jarring. He also uses several different techniques, and the film doesn't feel patchwork in this approach - everything works together in a way that plays organically. My favorite trick is when Irene looks out the window and the film cuts around the scene in a clean, seamless manner before it cuts to a shot of her by the window that pulls back and reveals the room as it was in her memory of the past. Another thing that's subtly effective is when the voiceover makes a change and narrates interior thoughts that occurred in a previous visit, something that works extraordinarily well within the context of a routine as those past memories have a much stronger connection to what's presently happening - there's the sensation that what's being narrated are memories being triggered within the consciousness of the characters that are being alluded to.

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Mr Sheldrake
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Re: Bertrand Tavernier

#25 Post by Mr Sheldrake » Mon Jul 26, 2021 8:49 am

Kino will be releasing The Clockmaker of Saint Paul on August 24. This release includes a commentary by Tavernier which I’m really looking forward to. His commentary on A Sunday in the Country was superb.
https://www.kinolorber.com/product/the- ... ul-blu-ray

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