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Happy to see a French film I can recommend without reservation coming from Radiance! Here’s my write up

domino harvey wrote: Mon Aug 03, 2020 5:29 am Was pleasantly surprised by Un témoin dans la ville (1959), the best of Molinaro's early pre-comedy noirs this decade, and give it a hearty recommendation. I could see a label like Arrow releasing this and making a nice profit as it's a real hidden gem with would-be wide appeal and great forward momentum. Lino Ventura avenges the death of his wife by faking the suicide of her murderer, only to have his perfect plan unravel after running into a cabbie on his way out the door. You have the give the film a little latitude on how dumb Ventura's delayed reaction is (if he had just given the driver his 400 francs fare the film would be over), but Ventura's fevered and unwavering stalking immediately after he realizes his mistake is terrific and never slows. By the end, the film becomes a variation of M, with a network of taxi drivers instead of criminals all working together against Ventura, who is oddly likeable in a role that becomes by design less defensible. Those who enjoyed the ASMR of all the driving scenes in Hill's the Driver will especially dig all the diagetically-scored interior car shots here, and for me the best thing about the film was seeing all of the great location shooting.

It’s really good, with some very memorable technical choices especially in the last act

It's the third film in Kino's just released French noir set which I was planning to get at their Q1 sale in Feb or March, but I suspect Radiance's booklets and extras are going to be good enough to warrant buying the film a second time when it gets released in the UK. I have not seen it and am looking forward to my first viewing next year.

I saw the Dino Risi set announced, and thought to myself "Damn, I hope we get a Pietro Germi set, too, some day!", then looked a little closer at the newly announced titles and, well...close enough!

Vol. 1 18 Dec and there should be a Vol. 2 next year

I wonder if volume 2 will focus on the 60s, or if there will be a different theme for the next volume.

Un maledetto imbroglio was unfortunately a disappointment. I enjoyed Germi's starring role and the bald comic relief second in command who hates Franco Fabrizi for his thick head of hair, but not much else here worked for me. This is most definitely not a noir, it's an eccentric detective procedural, and the central mystery wasn't all that compelling (as such, it kind of reminded me of that Mastroianni detective film Radiance released--- fun light perf from the detective, but not much else). The whodunnit aspect also runs against the same issue the first half of Law & Order episodes sometimes deal with, where the guilty party is obvious because they're a big name who hasn't been in the action enough.

As the 1960s got underway, the golden age of film noir in Hollywood came to an end, with a new wave of filmmaking emerging that would define itself against the studio system. But while the classic noir fell out of favour with American audiences and producers, filmmakers from across the world - particularly in countries that continued to grapple with the devastating fall out of the Second World War - continued to produce first-rate examples of the genre, with three such examples collected here, in our second volume of titles showcasing the best of World Noir.

BLACK GRAVEL

Sohnen is a town built on vice for the occupying American forces in Cold War Germany. Robert, a local truck driver who sells off gravel from the site he works on as a side hustle, runs into an old flame, Inge. Inge is now respectably married to American officer John who runs the site. Driving in Robert’s truck, tragedy strikes and he and Inge must do their best to cover up a pair of dead bodies. From Helmut Käutner, unknown in the UK but the subject of numerous recent retrospectives and hailed as an underappreciated master, his films have remained difficult to see outside of Germany until recently: Black Gravel has been restored by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung in two versions, the ‘Premiere version’ and a ‘Distribution version’, the latter of which removing two moments of antisemitism, something which Käutner was unafraid of portraying in the film as still being present in society but proved to be too uncomfortable for audiences at the time.

SYMPHONY FOR A MASSACRE

Five gangsters raise the cash to buy a large shipment of drugs which they plan to sell on. One of the gang however plans to secretly rob his partners, beginning an escalating spiral of violence and deception that leaves a trail of bodies across France. Fiendishly plotted with a twisty script from José Giovanni (Le trou) and Claude Sautet (Classe tous risques) adapting a novel by Reynaud-Fourton, Symphony for a Massacre sees the French master of the mystery thriller Jacques Deray (La piscine) directing with real energy and verve. Featuring an icy performance by Jean Rochefort (Tell No One), support from a remarkable cast of France’s finest character actors, and stunning photography by Claude Renoir (La grande illusion), this is French crime cinema of the highest quality.

CRUEL GUN STORY

Togawa (Joe Shishido, Branded to Kill) is released from prison early by his underworld bosses. They make him execute a daring heist on an armoured vehicle, knowing he has no choice to do it as he needs the money for his sister’s surgery. With multiple partners and facets to the operation, much is at risk and all is never as it seems. A variation on Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing from Nikkatsu’s Action line, Takumi Furukawa directs this yakuza tale with every bit of the deftness found in classic American noir of the 1950s, featuring hard-boiled characters and enough twists to make your fedora spin.

BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION BOX SET SPECIAL FEATURES:

4K restoration of Symphony for a Massacre by Pathé, presented on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK
2K restoration of Black Gravel by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung, presented on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK
High-Definition digital transfer of Cruel Gun Story, presented on Blu-ray for the first time in the world
Original uncompressed mono PCM audio for all films
Optional English subtitles for all films
Newly designed artwork based on original posters
Limited edition 80-page perfect bound book by critics and experts including Carmen Gray on post-war German politics and film, Elena Lazic on Jose Giovanni, David Hering on noir’s evolution in the 1960s, and Jake Cole on the filmography of Joe Shishido
Limited Edition of 3,000 copies presented in a rigid box with full-height Scanavo cases for each film and removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

BLACK GRAVEL

Includes both uncensored original cut and the re-edited distribution cut
Audio commentary with film historian Olaf Möller (2020)
Newl introduction from writer and programmer Margaret Deriaz (2024)
Newsreel footage of film set featuring behind-the-scenes footage and an interview with Käutner (1960)
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork

SYMPHONY FOR A MASSACRE

New audio commentary by critic Travis Woods (2024)
New introduction by critic Christina Newland (2024)
Archival interviews with cast members Charles Vanel, Jean Rochefort and director Jacques Deray (1963)
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork

CRUEL GUN STORY

Audio commentary by author and filmmaker Jasper Sharp (2024)
New introduction by critic and programmer Tony Rayns (2024)
Archival interview with actor Joe Shishido
Visual essay by critic Philip Kemp on Nikkatsu’s noir films of the 1960s (2024)
Original trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork

This is like a bad running joke now, but Symphonie pour un massacre is terrible (and Cohen already put it out on Blu if you want to touch the hot plate yourself)

I'm supporting their efforts on these world noir sets by getting both (and any additional sets in the future), stomaching the possibility that each set might have one bad (or just lesser) film. I guess it's only inevitable when grouping such diverse films and trying to balance many different aspects like nation of origin, quality of transfer and availability of bonus material in each collection. A totally commendable undertaking. At least to me it's much more attractive than other running projects like the ShawScope sets.

Read some strong reviews for Black Gravel on Slant and Glenn Erickson, so between that and Cruel Gun Story, I feel comfortable plunging for this set even if I end up disliking the French entry as much as dom.

Black Gravel! Did not expect to see that here. Glad I hadn’t opened the Kino…

I really enjoyed Symphonie pour un massacre (I bought the French Pathé release with English subs) but I'd say it's a clever crime movie rather than a full-on noir.

Interestingly, Un témoin dans la ville was ravaged by the Cahiers critics, with Godard, Moullet, and Rivette giving it a bullet and Rohmer and special guest contributor Jacques Demy being a little more generous with one star. Moullet wrote the capsule review, which illuminates nothing (he draws a direct line to the ol' Tradition of Quality, though none of those sins are actually found in this film and no real evidence other than "Editing bad" is offered) but at least has a good line for the amusement of his fellow critics in "Or, de toute évi­dence, Paris n’appartient pas à Molinaro."

domino harvey wrote: Wed Dec 20, 2023 10:17 pm Un maledetto imbroglio was unfortunately a disappointment. I enjoyed Germi's starring role and the bald comic relief second in command who hates Franco Fabrizi for his thick head of hair, but not much else here worked for me. This is most definitely not a noir, it's an eccentric detective procedural, and the central mystery wasn't all that compelling (as such, it kind of reminded me of that Mastroianni detective film Radiance released--- fun light perf from the detective, but not much else). The whodunnit aspect also runs against the same issue the first half of Law & Order episodes sometimes deal with, where the guilty party is obvious because they're a big name who hasn't been in the action enough.

Couldn't agree more with each and every word. While I loved The Sunday Woman, there's no angle for appreciating this as a commedia all'italiana disguised as a pulp thriller, even with the lead's amusing eccentricities. Mastroianni and Luigi Comencini were in lockstep with one another to create that offbeat tone against the grain of the content, but it's interesting how in this film, the star and director are the same yet the actor plays it one direction and moves in the other in the director's chair. That's not to say it's a wholly serious film - it's not - but it ultimately takes itself as a sincere genre film above anything else. Despite being handsomely made, the material just doesn't earn it, nor does the friction of attitudes create a novel spirit like the Comencini

LB also tells me that I watched I Am Waiting, and even though I apparently thought it was okay, I remember zilch about it. Anyone have any praise to leap on it to help me consider another viewing?

Black Gravel is a well-made and decent movie, though it's too long and pitches its focus more on a postwar milieu rotting more than a specific, isolated malaise for much of its duration. Too much time spent on characters, narrative strands, or extraneous details dilute the power of the central arc, and I wonder how much better the film would be with a classic noir runtime, trusting itself to create a strong sense of this world without the additional exposition. The film's understanding of its atmosphere is richly textured, but only gets going about an hour in, which is when I started noticing myself invested in the story - itself something very familiar just thrown into a novel context. And there are a lot of great 'window-dressing' moments populating that back half already, leaving the first half's multi-focus even more puzzling.

Worth seeing but I doubt I'll watch it again. It's one of those movies that's incredibly bleak without enough evocative elements to enliven it into a pleasurable form of bleakness, though the fatalistic one-two punch of a finale certainly works well. Again, it would be more potent if tacked at the end of a shorter film.

Vol 2 is 95% sold out according to the latest stock update and copies are drying up. if you want it, now is probably the time..

Released in the UK: June 23rd

The conclusion of World War Two saw film noir become firmly established as one of the defining Hollywood film genres, with studios almost unable to keep up with audience demand for more violent and bleak stories of murder, greed and betrayal.

But outside of the USA, a number of European film-makers, many of whom were still reeling from the destruction levied by years of war on their respective countries, were creating works that were every bit the equal of their contemporaneous American counterparts, while often applying uniquely European sensibilities to the recently established noir framework.

This set features three such classic examples of European noir from the post-war period, with all three presented on Blu-ray with English subtitles for the very first time.

NOT GUILTY

A wickedly enjoyable noir from prolific French genre director (and French national swimming champion) Henri Decoin, Not Guilty sees Michel Simon (Boudu Saved From Drowning, L’Atalante) as an alcoholic yet brilliant doctor who, after accidentally causing a tragic accident while in a drunken stupor, covers his tracks by weaving a complex web of lies and engineering havoc within a small town.

THE LOST ONE

Peter Lorre (M, Casablanca) stars in and - for the first and only time in his career - directs this story of a troubled man navigating post-war Germany while haunted by a terrible secret. Contemporary German audiences, shattered by the war, found this bleak depiction of their country too depressing and painful on its release in 1951. Since then, The Lost One has achieved recognition as a significant work of both noir and German cinema in its own right.

GIRL WITH HYACINTHS

This early example of Nordic noir is regarded as one of the great films of Swedish cinema, and the masterpiece of Hasse Ekman, one of Sweden’s most important and influential directors. Following the sudden suicide of a mysterious young woman, her neighbours are compelled to investigate the circumstances leading to her death, in a twisty, formally daring and taboo-busting narrative that feels far ahead of its time.

BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION BOX SET SPECIAL FEATURES:

4K restoration of Not Guilty by Tf1 presented on Blu-ray for the first time with English subtitles

High-Definition digital transfer of The Lost One, presented on Blu-ray for the first time with English subtitles

2K restoration of Girl with Hyacinths, presented on Blu-ray for the first time outside of Sweden

Original uncompressed mono PCM audio for all films

Newly improved optional English subtitles for all films

Newly designed artwork based on original posters

Limited edition 80-page perfect bound book featuring archival pieces and new writing by critics and experts including Farran Nehme, Martyn Waites, Elena Lazic, Jourdain Searles, and more

Limited Edition of 3,000 copies presented in a rigid box with full-height Scanavo cases for each film and removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

NOT GUILTY

New interview with critic Imogen Sarah Smith on Not Guilty (2025)
Archival Michael Simon radio interview (1947)
Archival behind the scenes

Archival behind the scenes radio documentary (1947)
Alternate ending
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork

THE LOST ONE

New commentary by Alan Rode and Stephen D Youngkin (2025)
Interview with critic and historian Pamela Hutchinson on Peter Lorre and The Lost One (2025)
Interview with programmer and historian Margaret Deriaz on post-war German cinema (2025)
Trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork

GIRL WITH HYACINTHS

New audio commentary by Peter Jilmstad (2025)
Archival interview with Hasse Ekman (1993, 63 mins)
Visual essay by novelist Julia Armfield (2025)
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork

Der Verlorene is one of the most exciting announcements of the year.

What A Disgrace wrote: Wed Mar 05, 2025 11:24 am Der Verlorene is one of the most exciting announcements of the year.

And I got the German Blu-ray only last week!

TMDaines wrote:

What A Disgrace wrote: Wed Mar 05, 2025 11:24 am Der Verlorene is one of the most exciting announcements of the year.

And I got the German Blu-ray only last week!

Is the transfer any good on the German blu? Since this film is the only one with merely an HD master…

Haven't seen the other two, but Girl With Hyacinths is excellent.

Finch wrote: Wed Mar 05, 2025 11:18 am NOT GUILTY

A wickedly enjoyable noir from prolific French genre director (and French national swimming champion) Henri Decoin

Wasn't so sure about this set, but now I'm all in!