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Matt wrote:Varda herself has recently released a 2-disc set of them (with English subs).

Has anybody ordered that set? How is the quality? And where's the best place to order for the US?

sevenarts wrote:

Matt wrote:Varda herself has recently released a2-disc set of them (with English subs).

Has anybody ordered that set? How is the quality? And where's the best place to order for the US?

I just got my shipping notice for it today. Will post screen caps and impressions once it arrives. I ordered it directly from Ciné-Tamaris (Varda's company) as Amazon.fr does not carry it and shipping was 5 Euros less than FNAC.com. Even if they had been the same price, I would have bought directly from Varda. The ordering process is very simple and pretty intuitive for non-Francophones.

I ordered the Varda and the Straub/Huillet sets from fnac.com yesterday, got a shipping notice today and it's supposed to arrive tomorrow. (Not too shabby, FedEx International Priority!)

tavernier wrote:I ordered the Varda and the Straub/Huillet sets from fnac.com yesterday, got a shipping notice today and it's supposed to arrive tomorrow. (Not too shabby, FedEx International Priority!)

Yeah, I got my Cahiers Godard set from FNAC the next day too, almost makes it worth paying the $30 for shipping.

domino harvey wrote:almost makes it worth paying the $30 for shipping.

Almost.

Matt wrote:

sevenarts wrote:

Matt wrote:Varda herself has recently released a2-disc set of them (with English subs).

Has anybody ordered that set? How is the quality? And where's the best place to order for the US?

I just got my shipping notice for it today. Will post screen caps and impressions once it arrives. I ordered it directly from Ciné-Tamaris.

Varda set arrived today. Screen caps are here. Discs are all-region despite packaging denoting Region 2. There is a Varda video introduction for each film. The package included a hand-written thank-you note (not from Varda)--how's that for service?

Beaver

spine

I'm not seeing the "improved clarity" that Gary claims Cleo's new transfer has. I'll wait for the disc, but the caps aren't eye-poppingly different, aside from contrast fixing.

I love the menu designs! I was going to ignore this because I already have Cleo, but the other films look great, too. The amount of extras certainly has me convinced. I'm not acquainted with La Pointe-Courte, but if these other films have as much style and humanity as Cleo then I'll be happy to buy it.

Got my box today and gave La Pointe-Courte a spin. Wow! Not only did Varda invent the nouvelle vague, she apparently also invented Bergman:

That's impressive that she made a shot like a filmmaker who was making them for ~10 years prior.

Just wish she'd get around to releasing Demy's superior work.

According to the "bonne année" card I got in my e-mail from Ciné-Tamaris, Varda's next DVD release will be Jacquot de Nantes.

domino harvey wrote:That's impressive that she made a shot like a filmmaker who was making them for ~10 years prior.

To be fair, you don't really find shots like that in Bergman's films until the '60s. La Pointe Courte does seem to owe a lot to Antonioni's early work, though. And when you can see a lot of where Alain Resnais is heading from his editing work on the film.

Matt wrote:

domino harvey wrote:That's impressive that she made a shot like a filmmaker who was making them for ~10 years prior.

To be fair, you don't really find shots like that in Bergman's films until the '60s.

Untrue. I can think of similar shots in Summer Interlude and Music in the Darkness, and probably more if I sat down to rewatch his earlier films.

My comment, although facetious, was made with Persona-era Bergman in mind. And in fact, I know nothing of Bergman's early work. Interestingly, Varda, when she made her film (1954), knew nothing of early Bergman either--if she can be believed. Ginette Vincendeau writes (in an essay included in the DVD booklet):

In September 1997, I saw Agnes Varda introduce a brand-new 35 mm print of her first feature film . . . to an admiring audience at Yale University. More astonishing than the luminous black-and-white images was Varda's claim that she had seen virtually no other films before making it (after racking her brain she could come up with only Citizen Kane).

I've just been through all the supplements; Criterion's description doesn't do them justice. Aside from some archival pieces, the extras were directed by Varda herself (most, presumably, made for the French DVDs). Not only do they provide insights into the features, they are themselves tiny works of art that convey every scintilla of Varda's wit and sparkle. I've never enjoyed a group of extras more.

I MUST have this Varda set. It's been years since I asked this kind of question and I'm too lazy to shop around. Where online can I get the set for the lowest price?

$64.95 at DVDPLanet plus the $5 coupon makes it $59.95 shipped.

Michael wrote:I MUST have this Varda set. It's been years since I asked this kind of question and I'm too lazy to shop around. Where online can I get the set for the lowest price?

dvdpricesearch.com

Just ordered. Thanks for the very helpful info that I will certainly use every time I shop for DVDs.

I've only just received this and have begun exploring it, but what a beautiful little box this is. The extras are fantastic, with more than I'll be able to sort through for some time, and the packaging is exquisite - I love the little interior illustrations that are just barely visible peeking out from within the box. And the films look wonderful. The transfer for Le Bonheur is especially impressive. The warm use of color in this film has always been noteworthy, but this transfer seems to have punched up the spectrum even further. This seems a wonderful little monument to a great director. I'm not on the firmest ground here, but I get the sense from several brief surveys of opinion that Varda leaves critics divided, with some finding her work dull or meandering, or even empty, which I don't see at all. Perhaps this set may help spark some reconsiderations of Varda's work, and move her beyond simply being titled "The Mother of the French New Wave," a somewhat meaningless reputation that I think obscures the full reach of her gifts.

The cats escape from L'atalante and find their home in La Pointe Courte and throughout the quiet parts of the fishing village - motels, empty beaches, unfinished ships, railroads, we stroll with a couple of lovers who try to make sense of their love, their marriage. Exquisitely choreographed, every shot perfectly composed. What's shocking about the film that it was made in 1954. I wasn't aware of the year till I checked the booklet after watching the film. I was shocked: the film was made long before the New Wave bullys -The 400 Blows and Breathless. And also Bergman's 60s/70s islands, which feel eerily similar to Varda's first film. I'm very saddened by the fact Varda remains uncelebrated and pretty much unknown. Unlike those big guys. The woman is ahead of them.

The boxset is precious. I have it standing up on my bedroom bureau since receiving it. With Varda looking at me everyday, I'm happy. The set is filled with little photos and it really feels very personal. I can't wait to dive into the set more.

I like your new avatar Michael!

DVD Savant review

Le Bonheur is a revelation and that rare thing, a work of art made up entirely of pieces of kitsch. I seem to remember seeing things very like each of these images on posters and calendars of the period:





And this bit of early product placement could have been from a tobacco CM:



It's a mistake, I feel, to approach this film as you would a typical drama. For example, the actors don't seem to be portraying characters at all, merely chattering images. Thus, attempting psychological explanations of character motivations is sure to lead one astray.

Oh yes, Le Bonheur is a revelation. I just finished watching it an hour ago. The composition and color palette are unbelievably striking and precise. It's a very unique film.. I don't think I've seen anything like Bonheur - the style, every image and the way the actors are presented are all so very peculiar and yes, truly spectacular. I didn't think there would be another film in the set superior to my long time favorite Cleo but I'm completely wrong. Bonheur is just as beautiful and magnificent as Cleo but very different and still so Varda.

Sometimes when buying a Criterion boxset, I only want one film and it can be painfully expensive. But not so with the new Varda set.

It really is unique. I think it's in the roundtable discussion in the supplements where someone says the story has no confilct. I wouldn't have thought such a thing was possible, but that does seem to be the case. Narrative interest is sustained, however, by the expectation of conflict (love triangles tending in that direction). The climax--the sudden eruption of reality into the manufactured world--resolves the very conflict it introduces as the denouement then allows fantasy to reassert itself. A truly novel approach.