I watched Friday Night last night and the film's so amazing that I want to include it in my DVD library. Cinema was made for films like this.

The Wellspring DVD doesn't seem to be really good unless I'm mistaken. I plan to spin the DVD on a different player later to double check but the film was filmed mainly at night and anytime we see anything in dense black, there are horizontal lines "combing" in the black. Friday Night is thoroughly pulsated with enthereal shots/compositions but the surface is grainy which is probably what Denis wants - to give the film a dreamy quality.

The Wellspring's video quality is very hard to judge and Friday Night is nowhere to be found on dvdbeaver so I would appreciate any information or help you could supply. Thanks.

Michael, you can also check out DVD Times, or try DVDBasen.

Have you listened to Claire's commentary yet? Noel on DVDTimes writes positive things about the track.

I am renting the disk today.

san.solieil, thanks for the links. Please do come back with your thoughts after watching Friday Night.

Who is that guy in your avatar?

That's Jae-hyeon Jo gazing at a pretty college girl sitting on a bench in Bad Guy. Sometimes I get the illusion that I resemble him in looks. I recommend the movie (although with trepidation), if you have not seen it and don't mind Kim Ki-Duk.

I just changed my profile name into something more specific so that I sound like a person, not a concept.

I shall let you know about my thoughts after I watch Vendredi Soir. By the way, is it just me or the New Yorker Beau Travail has lots of ghosting (or combing?) during medium to close motion scenes??

You can spell out Friday Night 's entire plot in one sentence but Denis turns that humble plot into something so magical and profound.. and the film is unquesttionably as great as the best of cinema. Films like this are rare and must be treasured. For those of you who dismissed Denis based on the awful Trouble Every Day, you will be most certainly shocked (like I was) by the greatness of Friday Night. Pay close attention to the woman's expression on her face as the film concludes. In Friday Night, everything feels so perfect. It's been on my mind all night all day.

I still need to finish watching Beau Travail.. I fell asleep halfway through.

Now about Agnes Godard. I still couldn't get over how beautiful her work is. Inspiring, elegant and pure.

I've got the UK (Tartan) Friday Night but haven't watched it yet. I'll let you know about quality when I have.

I agree that it's a great film, but it's only about my fifth or sixth favourite film by Denis. Godard's work is so superb, and so subtle and textured, that these films really need to be seen on a big screen, but any DVD release is better than nothing (and I say this as the owner of a horribly shoddy Korean boot of Nenette et Boni).

I'm sure you'll appreciate Beau Travail on a second try, and just wait till you see L'Intrus: Godard is in rare form there. Despite the magnificence and epic sweep of those films, I think Nenette et Boni is still my favourite Denis, and it's probably the closest in tone to Friday Night, and its use of music is, if anything, even more sublime than Beau Travail. When will somebody issue a decent DVD of this film!?

While we're doing personal faves here mine is without question J'ai Pas Sommeil with a transcendent performance by Richard Courcet, (also of course in Beau Travail) and incandescent photography from Agnes. I would have rated Trouble Every Day a very close second but for the presence of Vincent Gallo, an actor whom I simply cannot bear, even if I sort of understand why Claire chose him for this transgressive role. But it has to be seen for Beatrice Dalle's sublime and compelling performance alone. Beau Travail and Chocolat are both wonderful and masterful, Vendredi Soir just strikes a false note in direction late in the piece for me (but I still like it.) Did see l'Intrus earlier this year in Paris - I have to confess I was rather unmoved by it (even despite all the dogs in the picture which I confess is a sure fire trap for this old dog-lover.) I look forward to seeing it again though on DVD (whenever.)

BTW I don't see any ghosting on the New Yorker Beau Travail - I thought this was a direct NTSC disc not a PAL-NTSC transfer -even if it is I don't see any.

The DVD of L'Intrus is coming to UK from Tartan on December 5th. No word on extras yet...

I am counting the days before I see it at the festival.

Say word! That's high up on wishlist!

how about I Can't Sleep?anyone seen this flick?

Have you read davidhare's post?

Getting back to the original post, I've now looked at the UK Tartan disc of Vendredi Soir and it seems decent. The image is crisp enough, at least on my screen, though it does seem to have an slight overall green tinge, which may actually be true to the film, if my foggy memory serves. The black levels are not entirely consistent throughout as well: generally good, but when Jean is speeding in reverse down the suddenly empty streets, for example, the blacks are speckly and greenish. Again, this may be true to Godard's moody, impressionistic photography.

What I love about this film, and what is beautifully preserved on the small screen, is its dreamlike mood and slippery sense of reality. At just about any point along the way, we could be leaving Laure's reality and entering her fantasy. When I attended a screening of the film presented by Denis, she seemed to downplay this possibility, however (and then she went and made L'Intrus). What she emphasised was her absolute fidelity to the source novel, right down to its most fleeting idiosyncracies (such as the smiling pizza).

As for J'ai pas sommeil, what a film indeed. I've heard the US disc is not great, but I don't know how much longer I can hold out. Any comments on that edition?

I thought the US disc of Vendredi Soir was pretty good, indeed better than the Wellspring J'ai pas Sommeil. The latter disc is really just ok - like so many Wellspring titles not bad but not terribly good. The color is undersaturated for one thing. But the movie is so incredible you have to buy it.

I can recommend the Oz R4 disc of Trouble Every Day which is a port of the R2 UK and French editions but without Claire's commentary track. I tried tracking down some French discs of Denis' films while in Paris in June but didn't have any luck off the shelves. I am really not sure how well she is served by DVDs in her home country but would certianly like to upgrade editions of anything, even without subs. (Claire is a damn good reason for learning French if you haven't already.)

Snap! I was amazed how poorly served she was on French DVD (and I don't think it was solely the fault of fnucking FNAC). Even Vendredi Soir seemed to be AWOL. I had little luck with Assayas as well.

Thanks for the tips re. different editions. I doubt I'll be able to resist the temptation of J'ai pas sommeil much longer, so here's hoping somebody rushes out a superior transfer.

I was hoping like crazy Accent Australia might have picked it up as a "queer" title, following their very beautiful and fine transfers of several Ozons but they seem to have died in the arse. (Like so many great small-scale labels..)

Does anyone know if L' Intrus is coming out on DVD anytime soon?

It will probably come out in France first, before the end of the year. From Arte, which means probably no english subtitles but some interesting supplements. I saw it when it was broadcasted on the Arte TV channel in France back in May, and it's my favourite film of the year so far and can't wait to get into it again.

Just finished watching Beau Travail. My god.. what can I say? The best film ever made! No but seriously, it's really that great. I want to say so much about my experience with Beau Travail but the words fail to come out. The most beautifully shot ballet with breathtaking rhythmic patterns - men in the desert, local women weaving, disco...

And what an ending!

A question: I'm trying to understand Galoup's jealousy toward Sentain..why does he feel and think so negative about Sentain? I certainly need time to digest and also revisit the film.

And what a great soundtrack. Who would have thought that Benjamin Britten, Neil Young and North African pop could all have been so right for the same film?

Jonathan Rosenbaum's take on Claire Denis and Beau Travail.

Been digesting Beau Travail for a few hours. Is it wrong to read Galoup as a man who's violently afraid of his repressed sexual feelings for Sentain?

Considering the entire thing is influenced by Billy Budd, I'd say no it isn't wrong. It's fairly clear.

Now there is a word on extras: an interview.

Michael, I think, with uncertainty, that you will love L'Intrus. My reaction to the whole experience when the film ended was similar to that I had for Mirror (namely utterly confused and spellbound), although Claire Denis' universe is completely in a class of its own.

Acquarello, I am posting a link to your article because it quickly facilitated my infatuation with the film.

More old news: Robert Davis's brilliant interview with Claire Denis and commentary.

Franco, thanks. Can't wait for the UK DVD coming out in early December. It's absolutely certain that I will love it. Your mention of Mirror makes me even more excited about seeing it. By the way, I just ordered the DVD of Bad Guy. I will let you know what I think of it.

Cahiers du Cinema is releasing 'Nenete & Boni' and 'S'en fout la mort' in November. No words on subs yet

Terrific! Keep us posted on the English subs question.