Michel Deville

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swo17
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Re: Michel Deville

#76 Post by swo17 » Thu Jan 09, 2020 5:23 pm

I was about to say I don't think Ce soir ou jamais is even available with English subs on backchannels, but now I see that apparently that wrong has recently been righted

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barryconvex
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Re: Michel Deville

#77 Post by barryconvex » Sat Jan 11, 2020 3:55 am

The other day, out of the clear blue sky, my 8 year old son started looking through the shelves for the dvd of Le Petite Bande so he could rewatch it on his own. He's never done this before, even with his favorites- My Neighbor Totoro or The Cat Returns or Toy Story, etc. I don't think I've ever been prouder of the kid even as I was telling him to buy his own damn copy and keep his filthy hands off my stuff.

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Re: Michel Deville

#78 Post by therewillbeblus » Sat Jan 11, 2020 4:06 am

barryconvex that’s heartening on so many levels! And a great initiator for anyone who has children to buy that dvd immediately. I wish I had the pleasure of seeing it in childhood-it’s one of my favorites now, but it’s a child’s dream movie. Trust me, you’ll be parent of the year, and spread the Deville love. Two birds, one stone. Plus you’ll be good with god for life

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Re: Michel Deville

#79 Post by kekid » Sat Jan 18, 2020 11:50 pm

How does one find these top 3 recommendations (all listed on the first page as available in English-friendly versions) on "back channels?" I could locate the first but not the other two.

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domino harvey
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Re: Michel Deville

#80 Post by domino harvey » Sun Feb 02, 2020 2:59 am

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La lectrice (1988) + Nuit d'été en ville (1990)

Miou-Miou advertises her availability as the titular reader in La lectrice, a service open to interpretation by her patrons. Due respect to the masses (or what masses there ever were for Deville) and TWBB, but I found La lectrice to be not much more than an amusing pisstake from Deville, filled with tricks he’s used before and some new ones that seem to only indicate how casually he takes all of this. I liked touches like Miou-Miou’s framing narration not only being read from the novel under adaptation, but it being intoned in a “reading” voice rather than an actorly performance. There's much to enjoy. But I think this is all kinda silly, albeit intentionally so, and I enjoyed it on the lowest level of Deville’s successes because it really didn't seem like he thought of this as anything but a bridge between more interesting projects and he could prob make larks like this in his sleep (and he's welcome to return to filmmaking to do so at any time!)

Much more interesting is Nuit d'été en ville [P], which gives us something approaching a real time depiction of a more universal experience than the above: two lovers debating between themselves whether they should spend the night together after having sex for the first time. The film starts immediately upon the completion of coitus and ends with the resolution to the argument, and in between we get another wonderful lesson in filmmaking. It is, of course, the natural inclination to praise the bravery of the two actors, especially considering the first half of the film (and maybe more…) is just the two of them completely nude and frolicking around the apartment and in and out of each others’ embrace (with no Austin Powers-style censoring) in an open defiance to the phony Hollywood style of post-sex intimacy that passes as “realistic” even now. But imagine doing that and still hitting every last blocking intricacy beat for beat while in the buff! How closely every single second of footage is so clearly laid out, planned, and blocked for Deville’s camera movements and framings really shows up every half-assed mumblecore piece of shit that’s come from pseudo-intellectuals who took all the wrong lessons from all the wrong Rohmer films. This, like every Deville film, is some of the most highly-controlled cinema in the history of the medium. Because it is not notably sterile or flashy like other poster boys for this kind of measured and consistent hand (Kubrick, et al), it can be easy to overlook, but more than any other Deville film I just kinda watched this one to appreciate how every beat is hit— which is fine, because while I’ve been in my share of situations like the one the protagonists are enacting, I’ve certainly never been anywhere near as neurotic, over-analytical, or loquacious as these two (at least I hope not!) and there are times I kinda zoned out and got distracted by the method. But it’s fine. Like, well, every Deville, you could probably watch this without subs and still enjoy it… WHICH YOU’LL HAVE TO DO, BECAUSE THIS IS YOUR REGULAR REMINDER THAT YOU ARE BEING DENIED COMMERCIAL ACCESS TO THE WORKS OF ONE OF THE GREATEST FILMMAKERS IN THE HISTORY OF THE MEDIUM

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Re: Michel Deville

#81 Post by therewillbeblus » Sun Feb 02, 2020 3:30 am

I appreciated la lectrice for its psychological toying with the audience but it was definitely silly, trying to find its way around some limitations in access that Deville directly addresses in Nuit d'été en ville but not giving those characters a way out in a film he takes very seriously! I’m excited for you to get to La maladie de Sachs, as it’s easily my favorite post-La petite bande Deville and a contender for a top five.

I have faith that one day we will find a way to get these films out there in some respect, and I’m happy to help in any way I can to lobby. I dream of the day we can have a Deville list project...

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barryconvex
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Re: Michel Deville

#82 Post by barryconvex » Mon Feb 03, 2020 2:05 am

We could do a Deville list now. Just think how easy it would be to compile the results!

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Re: Michel Deville

#83 Post by therewillbeblus » Mon Feb 03, 2020 2:32 am

I'll wait patiently for enough people to see Le voyage en douce at least so that it can rightly place in the top tier of his work! Otherwise, things would probably turn out the way I want, but my comment was really just dreaming for the day when there's more discussion in a thread that tied for the best thread of the year yet is comprised of such little participation.

After revisiting my top three, L'apprenti salaud has reinstated itself as the best. It's like Zazie dans le Métro on speed, with a crash that reveals such a tenderness of pathos during a car ride that is one of the most impactful moments in cinema.
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When the unexpected silence that follows the insanity gives way to the yielding from a smile, we are optioned that all the antics have perhaps been the ultimate defense mechanism in a loud personality as compensation for the powerlessness and the fear of seeking solace in traditionally social means.
I don't know if I'm crazy in my observation as I can't say if domino sees what I do but it's Deville's depth of philosophy within the male psyche at its best and most subtle. I'm shocked Criterion wouldn't pick this up if anyone in their vicinity gets to see it, given the gags and accessibility especially its kinship with the Malle. But after all, L'Ours et la Poupée is a screwball comedy with a Wes Anderson family, so the "no-brainer" argument died in the water long ago. We just need access, people.

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barryconvex
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Re: Michel Deville

#84 Post by barryconvex » Wed Feb 05, 2020 3:13 am

Just finished L'Ours et la Poupée myself. I liked this the least out of the Deville features I've seen thus far but that doesn't mean it's not better than most movies made by pretty much anybody else. The man has set the bar high. In Vincent Canby's original review he dismissed the film, deeming it "witless" and called the central relationship "...the kind of courtship that only the talent of the late Ernst Lubitsch might have elevated into fabulous farce." I'm not sure how someone could walk away from this movie and call it "witless" or what Lubitsch has to do with anything but fabulous farce is exactly what this is with Bardot and Cassel breezily alternating between the masculine and feminine roles (literally in one great scene), taking turns playing the bear and the doll. Roles like this never get enough respect but Bardot is pretty great here, riffing on her image of a vapid sexpot while verbally fencing with Cassel, who plays the first man she's met that she can't instantly wrap around her finger. She's in rapid fire mode throughout and any misses are quickly left behind. That goes for Deville as well, hurtling through another Companeez screenplay without coming up for air.

How much financial commitment would it take for Criterion to license say, five of Deville's films, add subtitles and put them on their streaming channel? All the transfers I've seen, while not recent, are perfectly watchable so it's not as if they would have to lay out for brand new scans and it wouldn't be setting some kind of precedent as they already have several dvd era transfers on their site. Unless I've got the numbers I'm imaging this would cost totally wrong, or Deville has some unrealistic Eustache-like sum he's holding out for, this seems like an ideal way to introduce an overlooked director to a group of people who would be appreciative of the chance to discover a new talent with minimal financial risk involved.

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domino harvey
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Re: Michel Deville

#85 Post by domino harvey » Wed Feb 05, 2020 2:49 pm

Gaumont released most of Deville's films spread across several DVD sets, so the rights in France are mostly in one place, though I'm not sure how much that translates to international rights. It would take a miracle for Criterion to take the plunge, though. Far better off holding out for Cohen or Arrow (which we know license from Gaumont), though I'm not sure I trust even that to turn the tide, since I can imagine they'd go for the more salacious titles and not necessarily the best (though something, anything would be better than nothing...)

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Re: Michel Deville

#86 Post by kekid » Wed Feb 05, 2020 6:02 pm

What is the correct Aspect Ratio of Le Paltoquet?

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domino harvey
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Re: Michel Deville

#87 Post by domino harvey » Wed Feb 05, 2020 6:23 pm

2.35

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Re: Michel Deville

#88 Post by martin » Sun Feb 09, 2020 5:54 am

Great thread. Thanks a lot. Speaking of the Gaumont discs, I recently watched their Toutes peines confondues (1992) - aka Sweetheart DVD. It has a pretty interesting featurette about the use of mirrors in Deville's films - narrated by Deville himself. I haven't seen enough of his movies to really be certain about this but it seems like the mirrors are as important as in Fassbinder's films. There are certainly times when the mirrors are just a part of the inventory (Deville stresses that) but there are also scenes where the mirrors suggests double or split personalities, narcissism, voyeurism, vanity and so on. Deville also mentions that the first scene of his very first film begins with a mirror scene.

We see a lot of mirror scenes from his films. He mentions the titles of many films but not all, so I started identifying the films by comparing with IMDb's cast lists. But 5 minutes into the 12-minute featurette I gave up. We'd already seen mirror scenes from 17 of his films at this point! But this was quite interesting. I don't have all the Gaumont releases but according to a French article, there are 16 such featurettes or cinema lessons with Michel Deville spread across the Gaumont box sets. It would be great to have these bonus features in English-friendly versions. Unfortunately the Gaumont sets are unsubbed regarding both feature films and bonus material (not even French subs on the main films). My French is a bit rusty but fortunately there are English subs for Toutes peines confondues out there.

I know I ought to say something about the film too, but I need some more time. Except this (major spoiler):
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Jacques Dutronc plays a mob boss who's into corporate crime. When he enters his bedroom and sees his wife (Mathilda May) sitting in front of the mirror, he laughs.
- Why are you laughing?
- I'm seeing you double.

(He sees both her and her reflection in the mirror). And it turns out, which neither he or we knows at this point, that she's an Interpol informant.

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Re: Michel Deville

#89 Post by domino harvey » Wed Jun 03, 2020 1:03 am

Deville to Cahiers in 1964 on his dream project
Michel Deville wrote:A musical! I think there is no need to explain why I am having trouble realizing this "expensive" project.

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Re: Michel Deville

#90 Post by therewillbeblus » Wed Jun 03, 2020 1:08 am

Oh man, an uncovered Deville musical is exactly what the world needs right now

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Re: Michel Deville

#91 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Jun 04, 2020 1:46 am

Image

Martin Soldat

Maybe I've just been on too long a drought between new Devilles, but I thought this was pretty great. Not every idea works but most do, and the premise -in classic Deville fashion- takes a familiar premise and twists it cleverly to maximize rewards. This is Deville making a wartime ‘wrong man’ film, which on its own is a perfect fit for a director with a keen interest in identity and aptitude for relationship dynamics. The angle here is that instead of fighting the situation tooth and nail, our protagonist embraces and even enjoys playing the role as much as we enjoy watching his accelerating string of predicaments! I had to wonder if Ben Stiller ripped off the jovial nature for Tropic Thunder, which now strikes me as a re-imagining forcing itself into misunderstanding to get the same results Deville does with conscious intent of all involved.

Robert Hirsch won me over immediately, delivering a hilariously deadpan explanation for why the Germans are mad at the bombings. The method by which the plot kicks off is absolutely ridiculous, using Hirsch's passivity to believably shift identities playfully without flinching. When you can’t find your ID to connect you to your old life, just ask for a different one! He’s always playing a part (“Limp or no limp?”) and not only treats life like a game, but sells us on this attitude. Deville gets a lot of mileage out of the unpredictable behavior of people in war (the best hitchhiking gag in cinema?) and paints war as basically adult-games, even outside of Martin's Keaton-like dazed mannerisms. As for the comedic staging, the action is framed in wide shots recalling the silent physical comedy, but closes in for silly lyrical finesse in verbal and facial expressions. Deville is always playing to Hirsch's strengths, though for such an experimental filmmaker in technique and expert of space, he probably would have gone this route anyways.

Per usual, Deville's style can be manic (though nowhere near L'Apprenti salaud) or idyllic, but his scenes are always imbuing a feeling of liberal construction, a freedom that breathes and forgives a dud joke because there's already a few hardy laughs in the chamber. The social conflicts in human interaction applied to a gravely serious war are rendered absurdist, and because this matches Hirsch's aura he essentially reflects back a tweaked projection of his insanely calm vibe onto this milieu. This is where we find surging humor, in the space between acute situational fear and a coasting human yo-yo without self-preservation skills- well, beyond 'acting'- and we are there to reap the benefits of Martin treating life as a joke, which it very well may be.

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Re: Michel Deville

#92 Post by Glowingwabbit » Thu Jun 04, 2020 2:05 am

I love these writeups by you (therewillbeblus) and domino as Deville and Mouret have been my favorite discoveries from my entire time following this forum.

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Re: Michel Deville

#93 Post by domino harvey » Thu Jun 04, 2020 2:40 am

Image

Martin Soldat (1966)
Okay, this Deville can stay buried. Deville treads on the same ground as Clair's Paris brûle-t-il ? released the same year as French forces try to prevent the destruction of Paris by exiting German forces and while I can't decide which is worse, at least Deville's take is shorter. And certainly it falls as far behind Lubitsch's take on actors getting involved in espionage, which is already such a thankless cleanup act that you have to question why a genius like Deville would even try. Deville's movie is 100% catered to and lives and dies with Robert Hirsch's performance, and I hated every single moment of that, so one guess how much I enjoyed this star vehicle catered to his utterly unfunny, pasty-faced nancying. Sitting through his mugging was like watching a ninety minute Pornhub video for a fetish you don't have. But the script does his mannerisms no favors. Oh ho, he's short and effeminate but still likes the tall local slut-- it's funny because they're different heights, you see. He quotes Le Cid to regale the French rubes of the D-Day invasion he didn't experience because they don't know that stuff!! Ah ha, he can act his way out of mortal danger but the real threat is auditioning for the Comédie-Française. And so on. Every gag a missed opportunity to be funnier, to try harder, to do more with the premise. No one to blame but Deville and Companeez, who put their name several times all over on the credits for this film, so they obviously bear full responsibility. Sorry TWBB, we finally found our big Deville divide-- this ranks with On a vole Joconde for me as Deville's only bad movies (so far-- I'm still watching chronologically and am only up to the 90s). Sad proof that Deville is not infallible, though he still comes closer than just about any other director!

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Re: Michel Deville

#94 Post by domino harvey » Thu Jun 04, 2020 3:03 am

Glowingwabbit wrote:
Thu Jun 04, 2020 2:05 am
I love these writeups by you (therewillbeblus) and domino as Deville and Mouret have been my favorite discoveries from my entire time following this forum.
I'm flattered but also sad that it took us screaming into the void on this great director to put him on the radar for many readers of the forum. Deville has had a lifetime of genius auteur status, copious critical studies, and a common cultural impact stolen from him and all of us by the failed gatekeepers of cinematic taste. Imagine if no one today had heard of Chabrol or Godard? That level of talent is being withheld from everyone without access to back channels, whose subtitling and uploading members are doing the real work of film preservation and historic legacy.

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Re: Michel Deville

#95 Post by Glowingwabbit » Thu Jun 04, 2020 3:34 am

At least someone is screaming. I've seen 12 Deville features so far thanks to you and therewillbeblus. Even if it's not hitting the mainstream of cinephilia, you at least spread his work to one person who didn't even know he existed who can now champion him to others.

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Re: Michel Deville

#96 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Jun 04, 2020 11:52 am

domino harvey wrote:
Thu Jun 04, 2020 2:40 am
Deville's movie is 100% catered to and lives and dies with Robert Hirsch's performance, and I hated every single moment of that, so one guess how much I enjoyed this star vehicle catered to his utterly unfunny, pasty-faced nancying. Sitting through his mugging was like watching a ninety minute Pornhub video for a fetish you don't have. But the script does his mannerisms no favors. Oh ho, he's short and effeminate but still likes the tall local slut-- it's funny because they're different heights, you see. He quotes Le Cid to regale the French rubes of the D-Day invasion he didn't experience because they don't know that stuff!! Ah ha, he can act his way out of mortal danger but the real threat is auditioning for the Comédie-Française. And so on. Every gag a missed opportunity to be funnier, to try harder, to do more with the premise.
I get what you mean, and those examples you cite fell flat for me too. Hirsch's perf was interesting to me because he isn't inherently funny, and like I said in my writeup there were many duds, but I am a sucker for passive, insouciant people coasting through spaces and situations that don't match their careless attitudes. Even though I only laughed out loud a few times, I was amused by Hirsch's presence ill-fitting into what we know are dangerous and oppressive environments that aren't funny in the least in reality. Hirsch is a strange egg in that his performance barely followed an internal logic, so when his meandering appeared to be trying to force jokes, I was puzzled, but then if his demeanor sustained itself with no apparent motive in certain conditions, I would smile at the ridiculous scenario as a whole (a good example is his drunk performance, and the following morning trying to piece together what happened - so much isn't funny there but at a certain point the contextual absurdity kicked in). Deville and Companeez really go for broke here, and so there's this risky line where their choices around time and editing makes a huge difference, and often they give a bit too much or to little to allow the joke to land. It's tough when stuff like the 'ladder' gag happens, but hitching a ride with a Heil, or explaining that soldiers are angry at bombs because they're unexpected rather than their status of mortal threats, or nonchalantly requesting to get a new identity and join-up when he can't find his, all worked for me.

It's funny, when I was watching this last night, I actually thought you might not like this one- and I can't blame you- but like I said: maybe I was too hyped on a fresh Deville to be impartial, maybe I'm just personally drawn to Pynchon's "human yo-yo" from V. in all his various forms, or maybe I just needed something goofy without Deville's accompanying, normally welcome, deeper analyses (of which this one really doesn't warrant, unlike L'Apprenti salaud's secret pathos) during our trying times. Either way, I agree it's minor Deville, certainly on the comedic end, but I also think his worst works are some of his more dramatic attempts that have failed, probably due to the playful looseness in his comedies providing a flavor that automatically settles well for me.

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Re: Michel Deville

#97 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Jun 04, 2020 12:42 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Thu Jun 04, 2020 3:03 am
Glowingwabbit wrote:
Thu Jun 04, 2020 2:05 am
I love these writeups by you (therewillbeblus) and domino as Deville and Mouret have been my favorite discoveries from my entire time following this forum.
I'm flattered but also sad that it took us screaming into the void on this great director to put him on the radar for many readers of the forum. Deville has had a lifetime of genius auteur status, copious critical studies, and a common cultural impact stolen from him and all of us by the failed gatekeepers of cinematic taste. Imagine if no one today had heard of Chabrol or Godard? That level of talent is being withheld from everyone without access to back channels, whose subtitling and uploading members are doing the real work of film preservation and historic legacy.
Glowingwabbit wrote:
Thu Jun 04, 2020 3:34 am
At least someone is screaming. I've seen 12 Deville features so far thanks to you and therewillbeblus. Even if it's not hitting the mainstream of cinephilia, you at least spread his work to one person who didn't even know he existed who can now champion him to others.
I've been thinking about this a lot lately. As I've mentioned before, I became active on this forum exclusively due to the fact that domino praised Deville so highly that I overcame my anxiety, reached out, located his works, and I began posting in this thread, which led to more of an online presence and confidence in self-expression (you could argue that Deville's exuberance indirectly influenced me to match his worldview in real life). Aside from paying it forward by preaching Deville to friends, filling up flash drives (I just gave my sister the works a few months back and am filling a friend's drive this weekend to hopefully introduce him and his wife) I've been feeling motivated to create a group that can do some outreach or even start a company releasing these films.

I have no idea how to do this, and it could very well be a pipe dream, but I'd love to connect with folks (I know there are plenty on this board) who know the game or who are passionate about doing the same. Definitely an offline, or different thread, kind of conversation - and I know domino has mentioned it before related to either Deville or Mouret- but this whole virus crisis (and maybe the inspiration of Larrain's empowerment-of-agency in Ema) has made me re-evaluate what I want to be doing in life, and while it's likely that my idealism is getting the better of me, I would love to collaborate in some kind of offline group around how to take action beyond micro-recs, to at least see what we're working with.

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Re: Michel Deville

#98 Post by domino harvey » Sun Jun 07, 2020 12:49 am

Stumbled upon while looking for something else, but we can add Luc Moullet to the shortlist of French critics who saw the light: He named Adorable menteuse as the best film of 1962

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Re: Michel Deville

#99 Post by furbicide » Sun Jun 07, 2020 10:48 am

domino harvey wrote:
Thu Jun 04, 2020 3:03 am
Glowingwabbit wrote:
Thu Jun 04, 2020 2:05 am
I love these writeups by you (therewillbeblus) and domino as Deville and Mouret have been my favorite discoveries from my entire time following this forum.
I'm flattered but also sad that it took us screaming into the void on this great director to put him on the radar for many readers of the forum. Deville has had a lifetime of genius auteur status, copious critical studies, and a common cultural impact stolen from him and all of us by the failed gatekeepers of cinematic taste. Imagine if no one today had heard of Chabrol or Godard? That level of talent is being withheld from everyone without access to back channels, whose subtitling and uploading members are doing the real work of film preservation and historic legacy.
Couldn’t agree more on the last part. And I’d like to echo GW’s thoughts above; Deville would have been well off my radar if I hadn’t followed your and TWBB’s detailed reviews and discussions in this thread, and I’m really grateful that I got the opportunity to dig up some of his work with English subtitles as a result – it should, as you say, be canonical.

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Re: Michel Deville

#100 Post by domino harvey » Mon Aug 17, 2020 2:00 pm

On a volé la Joconde is streaming on Amazon Prime for free in a letterboxed format with English subs as the Mona Lisa Has Been Stolen... but the version upped is the Italian dub! Not that I recommend this for anyone but Deville completists anyways, but hey

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