1206 Eric Rohmer's Tales of the Four Seasons

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swo17
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1206 Eric Rohmer's Tales of the Four Seasons

#1 Post by swo17 » Wed Nov 15, 2023 1:14 pm

Eric Rohmer's Tales of the Four Seasons

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The seasons may change, but the follies of the heart are constant in this ineffably lovely quartet of films by Eric Rohmer, one of cinema's most perceptive chroniclers of the pangs and perils of romance. Set throughout France, Tales of the Four Seasons is a cycle to stand alongside the director's two earlier acclaimed film series, Six Moral Tales and Comedies and Proverbs. By turns comic and melancholic, breezy and richly philosophical, these bittersweet tales of love, longing, and the inevitable misunderstandings that shape human relationships probe the most complex of emotions with the utmost grace.

A Tale of Springtime

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In the first film of Tales of the Four Seasons, a burgeoning friendship between philosophy teacher Jeanne (Anne Teyssèdre) and pianist Natacha (Florence Darel) is strained by jealousy, suspicion, and intrigue. Natacha encourages Jeanne to pursue Igor (Hugues Quester), Natacha's father, in order to supplant Ève (Eloïse Bennett), his young girlfriend, whom Natacha loathes. Natacha's scheme, however, risks alienating those closest to her as well as entangling Jeanne in the very kind of romantic drama she has vowed to avoid. A Tale of Springtime finds Eric Rohmer in full command of his subtle visual storytelling as he contrasts the brightness of his characters' Parisian and suburban surroundings with their conflicting desires, ideas, and temperaments.

A Tale of Winter

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The second Four Seasons tale made by Eric Rohmer is among the most spiritual and emotional films of his storied career. Five years after losing touch with Charles (Frédéric van den Driessche), the love of her life and the father of her young daughter, Félicie (Charlotte Véry) attempts to choose between librarian Loïc (Hervé Furic), who lives in the Parisian suburbs, and hairdresser Maxence (Michel Voletti), who has recently moved to the central French town of Nevers. In the midst of indecision, Félicie holds to an undying faith that a miracle will reunite her with Charles, a faith that Rohmer examines in all of its religious and philosophical dimensions.

A Tale of Summer

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According to Eric Rohmer, A Tale of Summer is the most autobiographical film that he made. Based on events from Rohmer's youth, this installment of Tales of the Four Seasons follows amateur musician Gaspard (Melvil Poupaud) to a seaside resort in Dinard, on the coast of Brittany. There, three women (Amanda Langlet, Gwenaëlle Simon, and Aurélia Nolin) each offer the possibility of romance, but Gaspard's inability to commit to just one puts all of his chances at love in jeopardy. The film features Rohmer's wistful observations on indecisiveness and the fickle nature of desire, as brought to life by a talented young cast in a picturesque setting.

A Tale of Autumn

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The last entry in the Tales of the Four Seasons tetralogy is a breezy take on the classic American romantic comedies that influenced Eric Rohmer and his French New Wave peers. Set among the golden vineyards of the Rhône Valley, A Tale of Autumn concerns simultaneous schemes to find a new love for the reserved widow and winegrower Magali (Béatrice Romand). Her son's girlfriend (Alexia Portal) attempts to pair her with a former professor and lover (Didier Sandre), while Magali's friend Isabelle (Marie Rivière) assumes a false identity in order to lure eligible bachelor Gérald (Alain Libolt). The misunderstandings that follow are pure Rohmer in bringing out the humor in human folly.

FOUR-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New 2K digital restorations, supervised by cinematographer Diane Baratier and Laurent Schérer, director Eric Rohmer's son, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks
• New interview program recorded at Rohmer's house in Tulle, France, featuring Baratier, producer Françoise Etchegaray, sound engineer Pascal Ribier, and editor Mary Stephen
• Excerpts of radio interviews with Rohmer conducted by film critics Michel Ciment and Serge Daney
• Documentary from 2005 on the making of A Tale of Summer, by Etchegaray and Jean-André Fieschi
• Two short films directed by Rohmer: A Farmer in Montfaucon (1968) and The Kreutzer Sonata (1956)
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translations
• PLUS: An essay by film critic Imogen Sara Smith

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knives
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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#2 Post by knives » Wed Nov 15, 2023 1:16 pm

I am perhaps unreasonably excited over the inclusion of the two shorts.

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ryannichols7
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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#3 Post by ryannichols7 » Wed Nov 15, 2023 1:19 pm

banging my usual "no extras" drum (especially when I'm sure Adrian Martin would've loved to do tracks for any of these), but the shorts are a nice touch

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domino harvey
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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#4 Post by domino harvey » Wed Nov 15, 2023 1:28 pm

What a pathetic collection of extras for that $125 price point

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domino harvey
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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#5 Post by domino harvey » Wed Nov 15, 2023 1:33 pm

What (subtitled) Rohmer titles are left from the huge French Blu set when the Arrow box and the two Criterion boxes are factored in?

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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#6 Post by ryannichols7 » Wed Nov 15, 2023 1:36 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Wed Nov 15, 2023 1:28 pm
What a pathetic collection of extras for that $125 price point
it's truly paltry - I have tried to not sound too repetitive on here, but it's comical how the UK labels have brought their extras-heavy releases to the US and charge substantially less than Criterion. so the "it's cheaper to put them out in the UK" argument truly has no standing anymore. you know if Arrow had released these nowadays there would probably be a commentary on each title, video essays, interviews, etc. I know they didn't on their initial box, but they load everything up at this point so I wouldn't be shocked.

like yes, thank you Criterion for the good movies and good transfers, but I don't know what more it'll take to change this

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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#7 Post by Finch » Wed Nov 15, 2023 1:37 pm

Even if they were selling these at $125 (currently they're charging $99), that would still only be $31.25 per film which is below the SRP of $39.99 for recent titles like Nanny or the $49.99 SRP for the Last Picture Show BD.

edit: I agree, the price is still higher (simply because they can and they're coasting on name recognition) than what UK labels charge for with more extras, but all things considered the Rohmer set is more competitively priced than some of their other titles.

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domino harvey
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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#8 Post by domino harvey » Wed Nov 15, 2023 1:41 pm

Last Picture Show is a double feature, so a fair price consistent with other releases. And there are not four solo releases worth of extras in this box— Six Moral Tales, a packed release with more movies and way more extras, has an MSRP of $99.95

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JSC
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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#9 Post by JSC » Wed Nov 15, 2023 1:46 pm

domino harvey » Wed Nov 15, 2023 1:33 pm
What (subtitled) Rohmer titles are left from the huge French Blu set when the Arrow box and the two Criterion boxes are factored in?
Rendezvous in Paris, The Lady and the Duke, Triple Agent, and The Romance of Astrea and Celadon. I don't
remember why the mostly complete Potemkine set couldn't include his final three films on blu-ray.

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Finch
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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#10 Post by Finch » Wed Nov 15, 2023 1:47 pm

Mea culpa re LPS and the Six Moral Tales. I forgot Texasville was bundled with the US edition of LPS.

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ryannichols7
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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#11 Post by ryannichols7 » Wed Nov 15, 2023 1:50 pm

on top of that, the "box" seems to be the exact same as the new Jackie Chan set - which is just barely bigger than a standard release. one essay covering all four films is somewhat silly too

as Finch said - they do this because they can and they're coasting at this point. they can put basically zero effort into these releases people are still gonna pick them up. the "film school in a box" days are long gone - some random exceptions aside. the Tod Browning set is the most recent where this is actually the case - Pasolini was incredibly disappointing on this front, you'd have to go back to 2020 where releases like High Sierra and Mirror offered a lot more for the money

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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#12 Post by swo17 » Wed Nov 15, 2023 1:58 pm

JSC wrote:
Wed Nov 15, 2023 1:46 pm
domino harvey » Wed Nov 15, 2023 1:33 pm
What (subtitled) Rohmer titles are left from the huge French Blu set when the Arrow box and the two Criterion boxes are factored in?
Rendezvous in Paris, The Lady and the Duke, Triple Agent, and The Romance of Astrea and Celadon. I don't
remember why the mostly complete Potemkine set couldn't include his final three films on blu-ray.
Also Le Signe du lion. Most welcome here are the two shorts, which I believe were unsubtitled in the French set.

Incidentally, here is a helpful summary of the contents of the French set. Interesting that the two shorts Criterion is including here are the exact same ones featured on Four Seasons discs by Potemkine

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knives
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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#13 Post by knives » Wed Nov 15, 2023 2:00 pm

JSC wrote:
Wed Nov 15, 2023 1:46 pm
domino harvey » Wed Nov 15, 2023 1:33 pm
What (subtitled) Rohmer titles are left from the huge French Blu set when the Arrow box and the two Criterion boxes are factored in?
Rendezvous in Paris, The Lady and the Duke, Triple Agent, and The Romance of Astrea and Celadon. I don't
remember why the mostly complete Potemkine set couldn't include his final three films on blu-ray.
I can’t remember if it applies to all of them, but the DV he shot some of them on wasn’t deemed fit for Blu-ray.

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JSC
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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#14 Post by JSC » Wed Nov 15, 2023 2:05 pm

Yes, The Lady and the Duke was shot on some kind of HD video format (probably due to the number of greenscreen effects),
but I'm pretty sure Triple Agent was 35mm, and The Romance of Astrea and Celadon was (I think) on Super-16.

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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#15 Post by diamonds » Wed Nov 15, 2023 2:17 pm

Glad to see they at least did the bare minimum with the Etchegaray/Fieschi doc, but after all that waiting it is supremely disappointing that they failed to include Marie Rivière's En compagnie d'Eric Rohmer. Especially given that A Tale of Autumn was her personal favorite collaboration with Rohmer.

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Maltic
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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#16 Post by Maltic » Wed Nov 15, 2023 3:25 pm

Maybe they're taking the boutique part of 'boutique label' too seriously at this point, and believe extras are only for comic book guys.

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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#17 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Wed Nov 15, 2023 3:34 pm

JSC wrote:
Wed Nov 15, 2023 2:05 pm
Yes, The Lady and the Duke was shot on some kind of HD video format (probably due to the number of greenscreen effects),
but I'm pretty sure Triple Agent was 35mm, and The Romance of Astrea and Celadon was (I think) on Super-16.
Per the press kit, The Lady and the Duke was shot on SD Digibeta, which I think is reflected in the finished product. I'm pretty confident it wasn't HD, since there were only a few digital HD cameras available at the time and they all had very distinctive form factors that clearly aren't reflected in this making-of video, despite its dreadful 240p-ness. Based on the shape I'm fairly sure it was something from the Sony DVW-7xx line. Astrea and Celadon was shot on Super 16 but went through a digital intermediate—perhaps the DI was done in SD? There is a 1080p copy floating around online, but I don't think it boasts any more detail than a good SD master. No idea what happened with Triple Agent, though.

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furbicide
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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#18 Post by furbicide » Wed Nov 15, 2023 6:17 pm

Potemkine set owners stay winning. Adore these films, but there’s no way I’m buying this.

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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#19 Post by Rupert Pupkin » Wed Nov 15, 2023 7:47 pm

What master do you think they used ? The recent StudioCanal for "Conte d'été" or the Potemkine ?
There has been also a German Blu-Ray release like 2 years ago (and a Japanese release).
The color grading (based on Criterion web site sounds a bit odd for "Conte d'été").
"Conte d'Hiver" which is my favorite movie of the set with "Conte d'Été" should have its 16mm grain but the part they used on the Criterion web site is the MTV-like opening of the summer romance. (In fact I guess I love 'em all) - Hope that "Conte d'Été" won't look like filmed through sunglasses like Magic Mike (which I like for that reason, and many others).
Last edited by Rupert Pupkin on Wed Nov 15, 2023 9:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#20 Post by Rupert Pupkin » Wed Nov 15, 2023 7:49 pm

wasn't "La Cambrure" on the Potemkine box set ? a short movie - the last E.Rohmer movie, not signed by Eric Rohmer, but, in the end, it was probably by him.

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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#21 Post by yoloswegmaster » Wed Nov 15, 2023 9:12 pm

I, for one, am shocked that the company that recently had layoffs amidst clear economic downturn and increased production costs isn’t filling their releases with extras, especially compared to the other company that was recently bought out by a billion-dollar corporation that. Nah, it must be because they are “coasting on their name” (ugh).

It’s also pointless to even compare the prices between U.K. and U.S. companies. The prices involved in a release, starting from licensing to production, are going to be different for both sides of the pond. It’s also a bit sad that not many people on here realize that a company that isn’t subscribed to the LE model system and attempts to keep everything in-print is very obviously going to have a higher MSRP in comparison to the U.K. labels. It’s also interesting how no one mentions the fact that most of the other U.S.-focused labels like Oscilloscope, VinSyn, Film Movement, and Synapse offer a very similar price structure to that of Criterion. Even the official Arrow U.S. website has a pricing system that is the same from what Criterion is charging.

I know we like to clown on the bluray forum for the lack of sense and the amount of toxicity that the users frequently exhibit there, but quite frankly, this place has started to become its clone for a while now (though the internet in general has started to become quite negative).

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domino harvey
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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#22 Post by domino harvey » Wed Nov 15, 2023 10:35 pm

I am comparing this label’s releases against… this label’s releases. Using the same director, even! This release is just shrinkflation and I see nothing to praise with a label throwing us scraps AND charging more for it

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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#23 Post by yoloswegmaster » Wed Nov 15, 2023 10:41 pm

Totally not what I was saying and wasn't even targeted at you but ok
Last edited by yoloswegmaster on Wed Nov 15, 2023 10:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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furbicide
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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#24 Post by furbicide » Wed Nov 15, 2023 10:42 pm

Rupert Pupkin wrote:
Wed Nov 15, 2023 7:49 pm
wasn't "La Cambrure" on the Potemkine box set ? a short movie - the last E.Rohmer movie, not signed by Eric Rohmer, but, in the end, it was probably by him.
It's from 1999, so would have been far from his last even if it had been by him (it was directed by the lead actress, Edwige Shaki, though presumably with close assistance by Rohmer). That film is on Criterion's Six Moral Tales set with English subs, and also in the Potemkine set along with a bunch of other shorts made by others under Rohmer's mentorship, but without subtitles. There are two from that series that were made after Astrea and Celadon: Le Nu à la terrasse (Éric Rohmer & Annie Balkarash, 2008) and La Proposition (Anne-Sophie Rouvillois, 2009).
Last edited by furbicide on Wed Nov 15, 2023 10:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: 1206 Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons

#25 Post by vsski » Wed Nov 15, 2023 10:44 pm

yoloswegmaster wrote:
Wed Nov 15, 2023 9:12 pm
It’s also pointless to even compare the prices between U.K. and U.S. companies. The prices involved in a release, starting from licensing to production, are going to be different for both sides of the pond. It’s also a bit sad that not many people on here realize that a company that isn’t subscribed to the LE model system and attempts to keep everything in-print is very obviously going to have a higher MSRP in comparison to the U.K. labels.
I think you make some very good points here. If you are correct that Criterion continues to have significant economic problems that drive their almost barebones new releases, is this the best strategy going forward though? Like it or not many collectors do look at the extras and other companies are by now mostly superior. Maybe it is because their financial situation is better, but from a consumer’s perspective am I spending $30 on a stacked Arrow’s edition that I like or a Criterion edition with next to no extras just because it has the name cache?
And why / how did Criterion get into this situation? Are they holding too many licenses for movies that never see a physical release? Are they paying more for their licenses than others? Are their print runs bigger? Are they publishing titles that have a lot of critical value but few people are buying compared the endless “second tier” genre releases in exquisite collector editions with endless extras that seemingly sell well.

I don’t know Criterion’s situation, but if at least some of this is true, then maybe it’s time to rethink their strategy. Don’t keep licenses you aren’t using for a physical release, focus on a smaller number of key titles that others may not be publishing but that film collectors and cinephiles highly value (which in fairness they have been doing for a long time) and publish them with lots of extras. And why not go down the limited edition model? Yes it’s annoying to some, but in many ways it does impact their bottom line. If I like two movies and want to own both but currently can only afford one, am I going to buy the one that’s going to be sold out by the time I have money again or the one that will still sit on the shelf with slightly more dust on it?

Otherwise I’m concerned that this becomes a losing proposition for everyone involved. Criterion continues to limp along and cinephiles are deprived of some of their last opportunities to own a physical release of their favorite movie, as licenses are not available to those able to make the investment in a physical release.

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