The Jacques Rivette Collection

[Max von Mayerling]

Only useable toward future purchases.

[movielocke]

We are not throwing around endless superlatives because Rivette sucks. If by odd chance you hate it, you'd surely be able to make your money back reselling it

This is sort of my thought, the only french new wave auteur I dislike is Godard, so at the very least odds are in favor of my enjoying it. If I strike out, though, I can sell it. I'm kinda hoping criterion arrow and carlotta go swapsies and in twelve months out of the blue arrow and carlotta announce apu trilogy and criterion announces out1.

[Petty Bourgeoisie]

This is great news. Preordered in a flash! I wonder if the folks at Carlotta knew this announcement was coming? This is officially the most expensive box set I've ever purchased, but I can't think of a more worthy set of films on which to spend $120.

[TMDaines]

Loved Celine and Julie. Haven't seen much else by Rivette. Worth jumping in with this?

I'll second this question. I haven't seen *anything* by Rivette, despite him being on my radar for quite some time now. As an admirer of Godard, Truffaut, and the French New Wave as a whole, this box set seems like an essential blind buy, however. Thoughts?

Personally, I've only watched one Rivette, MoC's Blu-ray of Le Pont du Nord, and really didn't care for it. I'll still probably buy this, as you can always resell and break even or be close to it.

[tenia]

I'm quite sure Carlotta knew Arrow was about to announce the release of Out 1, but am unsure they knew about the other 3 movies.

[perkizitore]

We are not throwing around endless superlatives because Rivette sucks. If by odd chance you hate it, you'd surely be able to make your money back reselling it

Who is this Jack fella? :-$

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Rosie's husband.

[knives]

Maybe you're looking for direct confirmation from Arrow, but it is region-free according to the listing on their site.

Yeah, I'd prefer confirmation from someone working on the set.

[Askew]

They confirmed on Facebook that it is region-free.

[knives]

Well, thanks there. I guess I know what my birthday present to self will be.

[What A Disgrace]

I won't believe that its region free until I go through an out of body journey through the cosmos and its many histories, culminating in a meeting with the creator of the universe himself, and he answers the question affirmatively.

I will ask him twice, of course, just to be sure.

[EddieLarkin]

And if the Almighty isn't good enough for you, there's always MichaelB.

[Norbie]

I don't know what to do since I've got a limited budget. Since this isn't going to get a regular release I might have to pull the trigger on the Rivette set and let go of the Yoshida and Videodrome sets.

[jedgeco]

I won't believe that its region free until I go through an out of body journey through the cosmos and its many histories, culminating in a meeting with the creator of the universe himself, and he answers the question affirmatively.

Arrow confirmed Region Free on facebook:

I will ask him twice, of course, just to be sure.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

We are not throwing around endless superlatives because Rivette sucks. If by odd chance you hate it, you'd surely be able to make your money back reselling it

This is sort of my thought, the only french new wave auteur I dislike is Godard, so at the very least odds are in favor of my enjoying it. If I strike out, though, I can sell it.

Keep in mind that given the number of films in the set not to mention Rivette's reputation, a copy on hand will allow you the opportunity to take Rivette at your own pace of discovery. For that alone, I think it's a good investment. He's not easy but once on his wavelength it all comes together really well. Celine and Julie is a great introduction to the man's work so if that takes you should be able to find decent footing for the ones in the Arrow set. Even if you still want to sell your copy, a region-free box set will make it easier for potential buyers to take it off your hands.

[bainbridgezu]

He's not easy but once on his wavelength it all comes together really well. Celine and Julie is a great introduction to the man's work

Paris nous appartient was my first Rivette, and I was mostly annoyed until the very end -- which hit me like a rocket. After turning it over in my head for months, I revisited it and found the whole thing stunningly brilliant. I moved on to Le pont du nord, which I loved immediately, almost certainly because my mind had been primed by Paris.

The notion of finding a director's wavelength is something I've run into a lot. While a few of my favorite filmmakers struck me instantly (Lynch, Buñuel, Fassbinder), others took a lot longer -- but paid dividends in rhapsodic admiration (Pasolini, Godard, Bresson, Jarmusch).

Still haven't seen Celine and Julie. I'm hoping New Yorker Films finally drops dead so someone else can scoop it up and actually release it.

[Petty Bourgeoisie]

Paris nous appartient was my first Rivette, and I was mostly annoyed until the very end -- which hit me like a rocket. After turning it over in my head for months, I revisited it and found the whole thing stunningly brilliant. I moved on to Le pont du nord, which I loved immediately, almost certainly because my mind had been primed by Paris.

Still haven't seen Celine and Julie. I'm hoping New Yorker Films finally drops dead so someone else can scoop it up and actually release it.

My reaction to Paris was the same. That ending had quite an effect. Please please don't read any reviews or critiques of Celine and Julie! Go into that film a blank slate and it will blow your mind. If you happen to watch the BFI release, avoid the intro, as even that spoils too much.

[bainbridgezu]

Thanks for the tip. Fortunately, I know nothing about the content of the film. I've been hoping Criterion would inherent the rights eventually, though Arrow seems a better bet by now. Sadly, I think they've stated that they would avoid US-only releases -- and I doubt the BFI would let this one lapse.

[Gregory]

If Criterion ever acquired the rights to Céline & Julie, I'm sure they'd file it away somewhere important for a future release.

[nolanoe]

I won't believe that its region free until I go through an out of body journey through the cosmos and its many histories, culminating in a meeting with the creator of the universe himself, and he answers the question affirmatively.

You haven't seen Histoires du Cinema yet? :^o

Reg. Rivette: I think the only film that is a "minor one" in this release is Merry-Go-Round, which has a bit of a problem (coughMariaSchneidercough). Rivette later said making the film was like battling through hell, and it can be felt, especially during the completely chaotic ending (beautifully shot, but hard to decipher - I still have no clue what's going on there).
I wonder if NY are holding back Celine et Julie because they plan something similar, or because they have lost funding (or the clue). But I recall that a whole bunch of Rivette's are being restored, so fingers crossed we will see more in the near future. And yes, his 80s and 90s works demand their own box!

Reg. other Rivette: Pont du Nord is my very favourite, so I'd also recommend it. Celine et Julie takes a while to fully bloom in one's head, but it is indeed fantastic!! Paris... is his first film, and it shows, but I absolutely agree with the "hit by a truck" comments regarding the ending. It also makes About da Shuffle look like a piece of trash (which is never a bad thing).

[Petty Bourgeoisie]

Here is a technical question? Will the Dvd's be PAL and have the 4% speed up? The BluRays being not PAL will play at the correct speed? Correct or not? I've never purchased a dual set from R2.

[swo17]

NTSC/PAL is a DVD-only issue, so there will be no speed-up on the Blu-rays. Someone at Arrow will have to confirm how the DVDs will be presented, though the Amazon listing says PAL, which suggests that there will be speed-up. And I know that by R2 you mean the UK, but this set will be region-free. (Although if the DVDs are in PAL format, some players in the U.S. still won't be able to handle them, regardless of the lack of region locking.)

[HJackson]

I believe Out 1 was actually shot at 25 frames per second, so in this instance PAL would represent the proper speed and NTSC would be a slow-down.

[EddieLarkin]

The Wikipedia article does claim that, though it doesn't offer a source. If it's true then the US release will certainly have to run 30 minutes longer than the French, and I imagine Arrow will go with 24p as well.

[MichaelB]

The US, UK and French versions are all coming from the same restoration, so will most likely have identical framerates and running times - which will almost certainly be 24fps (or 23.976fps) in all cases for the simple practical reason of maximising compatibility with every Blu-ray player.