167-171 Time to Play: Films by Jacques Rozier

[domino harvey]

Just got my shipping notice from Orbit

[therewillbeblus]

Same, one minute before you posted. They must be sending them all out at the same time

[denti alligator]

I noticed Orbit is sold out. Likelihood of restock?

[therewillbeblus]

I noticed Orbit is sold out. Likelihood of restock?

Yeah, there's usually a period between when preorders sell out and the product becomes unavailable before they restock

[domino harvey]

They actually cut off any orders once the preorder date approaches or if they sell out of their already preordered allotment. My guess is that it’ll be up for sale as soon as every order containing the preorder has shipped (so prob tomorrow or Monday)

[bdsweeney]

Just got my shipping notice from Orbit

Looks like those bought directly from Radiance are shipping too.

[TechnicolorAcid]

Mine’s already arrived from Atomic and I can confirm that it’s a thing of beauty, even acknowledging the lack of Back to School, it’s still probably going to place at the very top of my favorite releases of the year

[Noiretirc]

Is this region free?

Region B

I seriously need to just stop reading these Radiance threads.

[olmo]

Near Orouët, a new obsession. I wrote a concise Letterboxd review conveying my (perhaps incongruous) immediate thoughts toward Bill Forsyth's Gregory's Girl - to me it has the same heart, sunset and the hapless Gilbert is Gregory to a tee.

Bon.

[Zot!]

Mine’s already arrived from Atomic and I can confirm that it’s a thing of beauty, even acknowledging the lack of Back to School, it’s still probably going to place at the very top of my favorite releases of the year

If anybody wants Back to School/Rentrée des classes (1956), I will send you the complementary DVD set in pristine condition which includes it, if you pay the shipping, or feel free to trade me something instead. PM me if interested.

[JSC]

I'm holding onto the Potemkine set for that reason (despite the shelf space it takes up). Too bad Kino couldn't have
found a way to include it on their French New Wave shorts blu-ray.

[Peacock]

I'm holding onto the Potemkine set for that reason (despite the shelf space it takes up). Too bad Kino couldn't have
found a way to include it on their French New Wave shorts blu-ray.

Do you mean the Icarus Blu? Those films I think are all associated with Pierre Braunberger unlike the Rozier in question.

My hope is Criterion includes the short in question if they do an Adieu Philippine release. It would be a shame if it falls through the HD English friendly cracks.

[JSC]

Oh, sorry. Yes, my mistake. Don't know why I said Kino. Same here about Adieu Phillipine. Of course it's going to be
our luck that Criterion releases their own (pricey) box set which includes it.

[domino harvey]

I haven't read anything about Lettre de la Sierra Morena, but the pairing of Rozier and Luchini sounds like a match made in heaven – excited to check it out!

I see why Radiance licensed this one since it shares so much of the cast of Maine Ocean but this short is veeeeeery inside baseball on French cinema. I’d say at minimum you’ll want to have seen Carne’s Hotel du Nord and Pagnol’s La Femme du boulanger and be passingly familiar with Les Charlots for this to even make sense. I enjoyed it but it seems like a film made for friends. Clearly Rozier is passionate about this topic, as seen in his response almost twenty years earlier to Cahiers (translation mine):

Okay, one more from this issue: In typical puckish spirit, here's one of Rozier's answers in 1964 to Cahiers seven questions on French film-making

03 What do you think about the way your films in particular and French films at large are distributed and exhibited?

a) In 1964, there was no problem in France with the distribution of French film.
Act I. Dupont, a French producer, who has decided to make a film based on a script or a novel by Arthur, will go to Durand, a French distributor.
Durand: Okay, I distribute the film on the condition that the dialogue is written by Alfred and interpreted by Pierre, Paul and Jules.
Dupont: Amen (or: Yes Sir).
Dupont leaves.
Durand (catching up with him on the doorstep): Ah, by the way, which director?
Dupont (rushing into the elevator): Ah well, for example. Dubois, or Dubois, or Dubois!
Act II. Dupont, French producer, summons Dubois, French director.
Dupont: Dubois, do you want to make a film based on Arthur's novel, with dialogue written by Alfred and interpreted by Pierre, Paul and Jules?
Dubois; Yes Sir (or: Amen).
Act III. Dubois made "his" film.
Act IV. Durand distributes "Dubois' film".
Final Act: in 1964, there was no problem with the distribution of French Film.
Postscript: Warning! We don't consider screening at Publicis-Vendôme an exclusive run or at Studio-Logos, Studio-Cujas, Studio-Etoile, Pagode, Saint-Séverin a general release. The director whose film is released in these theaters does not have the good "Dubois" label and does not deserve the title of true French director.
b) If you are not Dubois and you still want to reach the same masses, respond four times a week to certain letters from the provinces' venues, buy the same trailer as Lucille Bail in The Long Long Trailer. This trailer will transport the director and the performers of the film. Stages of 50 km. Stop every evening at Tulle, Aurillac, Brive-la-Gaillarde. Play with the assistance of the local film club. Mandatory discussion. (After about thirty shows, you will know the audience's questions and your answers by heart) Do not be discouraged: to get 500,000 admissions, you will need 2,000 shows, or about 7 years at the rate of 300 shows per year. If you want to reach 15 million spectators in one evening, sell your film on Television, but do not shoot in Scope or in color (not yet).

[domino harvey]

Sadly, Fifi Martingale is every bit the disaster it was reported to be (and indeed much worse). What a depressing film, everyone old and tired on screen and capable of doing nothing to turn it around. There’s something especially sad about watching an aged Jean Lefebvre scarcely appear mobile in this and then have to act drunk, which is then indistinguishable from what came before it. There’s not much to talk about here, there’s nothing of value whatsoever in these proceedings. How could anyone think this restrictive premise had promise for that great auteur of extemporaneous plot? If you can do without watching every film in every set you own, skip this and keep your pleasant memories of Rozier unsullied