Looks very good.

Thanks for the caps, looks good but I think I'll wait for it show up on Netflix first based on the uneven reception to the film

Glad to see that the girl from Louis Malle's Black Moon is in it. That with the combination of it being a Demy movie, makes it a no-brainer for me.

DVDDrive-In reviews Pied Piper.

I recently got an email from axelmusic.com saying Bay of Angels was back in stock! I suspect they have very limited quantities...

Cine-Tamaris (Varda's prod company) will release the complete films (including shorts) of Jacques Demy in November in France, a 12 DVD box. Likely to have English subs, although no confirmation at this stage.

The news I've been waiting for all my DVD-collecting life! Link?

Edit: never mind. Already went to the Cine Tamaris site and also to the DVDClassik forum and in fact, all his features are confirmed, as well as the shorts and even the TV movie, La naissance du jour! Brilliant!

Here's a closer look at the Boxset. Also to be included is a CD and a book(let?). Still no confirmation on those english subs, though.

I can't imagine it having subs, but if it did, it would be one of the most necessary DVD releases of all time

Well all the Tamaris releases so far have eng subs. But you're right that there's no mention anywhere on the articles about it so far.

The most amazing news have arrived! I emailed Cine Tamaris about the english subs and I already got a reply this morning:



So, english subs on the movies but not on the extras (fair enough) and an Integrale Agnes Varda for 2009! How about that for the DVD scoop of 2008, hey? Start saving those euros, people - and yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus after all!

That tip is probably the best and worst news Domino Harvey's heard in quite a while. I'm thrilled with both coming releases. I saw some of the new Demy prints (and a luminous Jacquot de Nantes) recently and they were stunning.

I've emailed Cine-Tamaris about what extras are to be included (that way I can sell my Demy DVDs with no worries about losing some very valuable extras in anticipation of the boxset). Let's see if they answer back.

Just what I've been waiting for, an opportunity to buy Cléo for a fourth time. Really, all I want is Kung-fu Master and Documenteur separately.

Considering how little Demy is represented on DVD anywhere, this is monumental. They could have stretched this out for years, but they've given it to us all in one shot. This news is so fantastic that I won't even take zedz's bait

They did but hèlas, they did not tell me what they were going to be like... However, they did show me how the boxset is going to look like and by the looks of it, it's going to be packaged in slim-packs and it's a slip-on box like the Criterion Cassavetes one. Brilliant job all around!

I think this is new. At least I don't remember seeing it mentioned before: Cine-Tamaris' edition of Varda's Jacquot de Nantes, including among other extras Demy's first film from 1955, Le Sabotier du Val de Loire (25 minutes). I saw CT's 35mm restoration of Jacquot earlier this year and it was simply exquisite, so I expect this disc will be superb.

CT's packages are all uniformly excellent, but their transfers are not always the best.

Extras, extras! Flabberghasting package! It's everything you've ever hoped it could be and then more! Now I can safely sell my Demy DVDs knowing that I won't be missing a single thing.

Boxset of the year for me.

If the extras had subs, would be a contender for best boxed set ever

Fnac.com has prepared a YouTube clip to promote the upcoming boxset. Take a look, it's quite fun and lively and at the end you can spot old movie posters and what seem to be the covers for the single DVDs to be included in the set.

And now, Cine-Tamaris has created its own trailer to promote the upcoming boxset. By the way, mine it's already on its way! I will report back on how it looks, sounds and feels when it arrives.

Received my copy of the Demy box this morning; it's quite a hefty box, and attractively designed as well. The outer box is a thick slipcase with the inner box having a wrap around shot of Demy with Deneuve and Dorleac on the set of ROCHEFORT. The discs are in thinpak cases with a uniform white color scheme, like the outer box. There is also a booklet of sorts, albeit in an accordion-like folded format that includes the essays and interviews and such. Naturally, I received this just before having to leave for the day, but I can't wait to take a look at the discs tonight. A thumbs up on the packaging if nothing else.

Thanks! Looking forward to hearing about the transfers.

You beat me to it! And yes, I can perfectly second everything you said, right down to not having time to check the transfers. However, I did do a cursory viewing on some of them and so far, so good. By the way, no trailers are announced but some are to be found on several of the discs. More on this amazing set later.

I can add more of the same: amazing set (the ridiculous 'party-streamer' booklet is sort of horrible and awesome at the same time) but I've only quickly glimpsed at a couple of transfers, and they look fine.

The two I sampled were Bay of Angels (which I'd already seen on the R1 release) and Trois places pour le 26.

It also just occurred to me that the set isn't quite "integrale", since it omits La Table tournante, his last feature directed in collaboration with Paul Grimault. It's easy to see why it was omitted, since it's much more about Grimault (it's a career retrospective), but it is delivered with Demy's lightness. Completists can find it on the French 2DVD of Le Roi et l'oiseau

EDIT:
(Slightly) more transfer information:
I did a quick comparison between these discs and the only two Demy discs I already owned and found little difference.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg seemed to be pretty much identical to the Optimum UK disc - looked very good.
Bay of Angels looked like the same transfer, but ever so slightly better (fewer artifacts?) than the R1 edition. This may be simply a PAL / NTSC issue. Grainy in that fabulous opening shot, but good.

Working my way through this set, so here are some more reports.

The subtitles on the features are very well done - complete, idoiomatic. The unsubbed extras (so far) seem to all be very short (3 minutes tops): filmmakers making a few salient points, contextual intros read out by Mathieu Demy or brief extracts of Demy himself talking about the film in question. It's generally straightforward stuff and I've been able to follow 60-70% of what's been said with my primitive French. The first substantial extra I've come across - Varda's feature-length L'Univers de Jacques Demy is subtitled.

The transfers are generally excellent, though there does seem to be a rule of thumb that films with existing transfers simply use those transfers (see below for more detail).

I'm trying to work through the films chronologically. Here's what I've seen so far:

Le Pont des Mauves / Attaque nocturne / La Ballerine (1944-53) - These three lost animated films are represented by the careful recreations generated for Jacquot de Nantes in 1990. Varda used the remnants of the films where possible (damaged frames, puppets) and Demy oversaw their authenticity. Superb transfers, though they were artfully 'aged' for the film.

Les Horizons morts (1951) - Lovely transfer of a not bad print (various inherent / lab flaws, but not particularly worn). This is such a student film, steeped in adolescent angst (romantic rejection leads to despair - but wait! - there's still hope!). Attractively shot, with arty compositions, and the sometimes incongruous 'narrative' music looks ahead to mature Demy.

Le Sabotier du Val de Loire (1955) - A beautifully shot, moving regional documentary presented here in a gorgeous, sharp and textured transfer.

Le Bel Indifferent (1957) - Stunning transfer of a fascinating film, in which Demy shows us just how much he has to offer working with colour. This self-consciously stagy rendering of a Cocteau monologue takes place in a deeply saturated red room with forest green drapes, with Jeanne Allard (in gren / black velvet) enacting the mise en scene before our eyes (she's both main actor and key element of the art direction).

Ars (1959) - Another great black-and-white transfer, and a really interesting short, with Demy taking a typical short subject ('great man' biography) and turning it into a Left Bank essay film, with the elegant visuals (tracking shots through empty streets etc.) free-associating against the narration.

Lola (1960) - Just a quick glimpse of this. An OK transfer, but it seems to be lacking in detail. It looks like a pre-existing transfer done several years ago now, but I don't have anything with which to compare it.