Louis Feuillade: The Complete Crime Serials (1913-1918)

[denti alligator]

Bummer that Barabbas isn't included. Was the Judex sequel ever realized?

[Stefan Andersson]

Bummer that Barabbas isn´t included. Was the Judex sequel ever realized?

Re: Judex sequel - go here (possible spoiler alert):
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Nouvel ... n_de_Judex
https://mubi.com/en/se/films/the-new-mission-of-judex

+1 vote for Barrabas

[denti alligator]

Bummer that Barabbas isn´t included. Was the Judex sequel ever realized?

Re: Judex sequel - go here (possible spoiler alert):
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Nouvel ... n_de_Judex
https://mubi.com/en/se/films/the-new-mission-of-judex

+1 vote for Barrabas

Fingers crossed for a restoration! And I guess MoC's title is inaccurate.

[foggy eyes]

This is a wild release.

I vividly remember when the Artificial Eye DVD of Les Vampires dropped and I watched that and Fantômas using Bordwell's Figures Traced in Light as a guide. It was really rewarding but now I can't remember a thing about the serials so it would be nice to do it again. I suffered through Assayas' inexplicably baggy, cosmetic Irma Vep TV show (I like the film though!) and the time would've been better spent revisiting the source.

[TechnicolorAcid]

Bummer that Barabbas isn't included. Was the Judex sequel ever realized?

I believe that the Judex sequel might be lost as the elements have been listed as unknown if we can trust Silentera.com.
https://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/N/N ... x1917.html
Anyways this is an excellent release and I’m getting this almost immediately.

[senseabove]

Bummer that Barabbas isn't included. Was the Judex sequel ever realized?

I believe that the Judex sequel might be lost as the elements have been listed as unknown if we can trust Silentera.com.
https://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/N/N ... x1917.html
Anyways this is an excellent release and I’m getting this almost immediately.

Nouvelle Mission seems to have screened in 2006, so there was something in at least a projectable state this century: https://web.archive.org/web/20150615135 ... de,40.html

[Saturnome]

I guess the title of this boxset, as massive as it is, isn't exact.

[Stefan Andersson]

[
Nouvelle Mission seems to have screened in 2006, so there was something in at least a projectable state this century: https://web.archive.org/web/20150615135 ... de,40.html

Maybe they announced the screening and then found out the materials weren´t in fact available? This might happen, surely; though the Cinématheque Francaise´s online info always seems very reliable.

That said, here is another mention of a 35mm print owned by the CF (beware spoilers):
https://filmstarpostcards.blogspot.com/ ... -1917.html

Searching the Gaumont catalogue only turns up the first Judex serial; La Nouvelle Mission should have turned up also, if Gaumont owns/owned rights to the film, being one of the original producing companies:
https://www.gaumont.com/en/advanced_search?text=
https://www.gaumont.com/en/movie/judex
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Nouvel ... n_de_Judex

[Peacock]

Keep a hold of your Kino’s as they have some Feuillade shorts that so far this set doesn’t appear to have. But extras are still tbc so who knows.

Feuillade is easily one of my favourite filmmakers so it’s a shame we are only getting the four titles already readily available on Blu in both the US (3/4 anyway) and France. But the special features and book will partially make up for it I’m sure.

Here’s hoping its success leads miraculously to a second boxset of rarer serials.

[andyli]

It also depends on further restoration projects. Without the extensive 4k restos neither Gaumont nor this MoC set is possible.

[What A Disgrace]

I'm guessing this set will be about the size of Arrow's Psycho boxed set: four regular sized cases and a fairly hefty book. It'll be about three inches wide in that case. I'm also guessing it'll be three discs for Les Vampires and Tih Minh (and likely any short films will be included there, too).

[Forrest Taft]

The last seven days have started with a 9am screening of one or more Judex-episodes, what great timing for this announcement. Tih Minh remains the only one of these I haven’t seen. Judex, although not as strong a work as Fantomas, was very enjoyable, had some entertainingly incompetent villains, and child performances «up there» with Jake Lloyd. Wonderful restoration, it looked absolutely incredible.

[AidanKing]

I understand that sales for boutique labels are not very high, but a limited edition of 2000 copies seems quite low for such a milestone release. I imagine Eureka aren't anticipating many sales outside the UK.

The box design looks really good: possibly by Nick Wrigley, I think.

It would be nice to see Pamela Hutchinson involved as one of the critics, given her extensive writing on silent films and her contribution to the Eureka 'Pandora's Box' BluRay. I thought her BFI Classic on 'Pandora's Box' was very good too.

[denti alligator]

Having re-watched all but Fantomas recently, my opinion of the relative strengths of these serials has changed. Judex, for me, easily comes out on top as the most accomplished, both in terms of storytelling and visuals. Feuillade's use of locations outside of Paris (that castle!) is stunning--the new restoration of course makes these even more impressive to behold. Tih Minh, shot in the south of France, also has some wonderful location shots, but not totally as jaw-dropping as in Judex, and the story is a little less compelling. In event, these are all great, but Judex seems to me the pinnacle of Feuillade's work.

[AidanKing]

Jonathan Rosenbaum would also be a good addition to the contributors, particularly bearing in mind his previous writings on Feuillade.

[domino harvey]

Have there been any reveals of the extras for this yet? I know it's not uncommon for Eureka to release discs with unannounced extras that don't even appear on their site, but for something this huge coming out next month, surely they have it locked down already, right?

[ryannichols7]

Have there been any reveals of the extras for this yet? I know it's not uncommon for Eureka to release discs with unannounced extras that don't even appear on their site, but for something this huge coming out next month, surely they have it locked down already, right?

*crickets*

hoping we don't see a delay, but also want this box to be the best quality possible

[Finch]

They posted this on their social media feed earlier.

Set includes all four serials across 10 Blu-ray Discs, all presented in 1080p HD from stunning 4K restorations courtesy of Gaumont Film Company
Uncompressed LPCM 2.0 audio on all serials
Fantômas – Audio commentaries on In the Shadow of the Guillotine and Juve vs Fantômas by film historian and author David Kalat
Les Vampires – Brand new audio commentaries on The Red Cipher and The Spectre by film historian and author David Kalat
Judex – Brand new audio commentaries on the prologue, The Mysterious Shadow, Atonement, The Water Sprite and The Forgiveness of Love by genre film expert and Video Watchdog founder Tim Lucas
Tih-Minh – Brand new audio commentaries on The Potion of Forgetfulness, The Mysteries of Circé Villa and Justice by genre film expert and Video Watchdog founder Tim Lucas
Casting a Long Shadow – Brand new interview with critic and author Kim Newman
Pamela Hutchinson on Musidora – Brand new interview with critic, film historian and silent cinema expert Pamela Hutchinson on the star of Les Vampires and Judex
The Spectre of War in Les Vampires – Brand new video essay by film scholar Elizabeth Ezra, editor of European Cinema and France in Focus: Film and National Identity
Feuillade in Context – Brand new interview with writer, composer and silent film accompanist Neil Brand
A Closer Look at Feuillade – Brand new interview with critic, writer and film commentator Tony Rayns
Fold-out poster
A limited edition 100-page collector’s book featuring new writing by Louis Feuillade experts Jonathan Rosenbaum, Calum Baker, Annette Förster, Wendy Haslem, Robin Walz and Leon Hunt on the filmmaker and his crime serials alongside select archival imagery

[andyli]

So many brand-new extras. It seems everyone is invited to the party.

[Peacock]

All the usual faces, for better and for worse!

Shame there’s so many scholarly extras that will discuss Feuillade and Musidora’s work without any of their unreleased short films being included. Missed opportunity but maybe too expensive and the only ones available were the ones Kino had already put out. I was spoiled by that Kino Nasty Woman set I think!

Very excited for this regardless, hopefully it’s not the last we see of Feuillade, a true master of cinema.

[domino harvey]

Thanks for sharing, Finch! These look great, clearly release of the year here

[ryannichols7]

haha, very glad I made that post last night. unless this is screwed up in some weird way, no contest release of the year. what an insane package top to bottom! amazing to see so much new Kalat!

MoC really have their own "troupe" of usual scholars at this point, but man what a talented, knowledgeable group it is

[denti alligator]

Thrilled to have all these extras, but I guess I'll need to hold onto my French set for the shorts.

[MichaelB]

All the usual faces, for better and for worse!

That's because at a time when budgets have never been tighter you need people you can rely on.

Although it wasn't that long ago that Pamela Hutchinson made her on-disc debut - in fact, I edited and mixed her debut commentary as recently as 2020, and it was very obvious well before I'd finished that it wouldn't be her last.

[tenia]

And it'll actually be 9 discs and not 10, Eureka wrote on FB : "No difference in content, but miscalculated the amount of data and have been able to fit the whole set on 9 discs rather than 10 discs. So 9 discs is correct!"