Michel Deville

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mizo
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Re: Michel Deville

#101 Post by mizo » Fri Aug 21, 2020 9:13 pm

Was skimming through Ephraim Katz's The Film Encyclopedia (found at a tag sale), and found these valuable insights:

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And some of you think Deville's been critically neglected! [-(

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Re: Michel Deville

#102 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri Aug 21, 2020 9:20 pm

Another acknowledgment to the existence of Tendres requins.. the one that got away

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Never Cursed
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Re: Michel Deville

#103 Post by Never Cursed » Mon Aug 31, 2020 2:31 am

Fashionably late to the party (no pun intended) as per usual, but Ce Soir ou Jamais is just as dizzyingly delightful as has been previously reported. Deville’s total drawing of the viewer into the collective offbeat interactions of an ostentatious group of show-offs (and incidentally, my feelings towards the milieu of “theater kids” have been forever altered by this film) is masterful, at times provoking in me genuine feelings of awkwardness when I realized I was missing information about someone offscreen or when certain characters erupted into self-serving tangents or tantrums (thinking especially of Françoise Dorléac’s explosively indignant exit from the movie, which surely belongs next to DRAIIIIINAGE on some sort of all-time list of angrily comic film rants) when not fascinating me with knotted-up conflicts like the two duelling and rather sad romantic gambits, each of course born of a misunderstanding of the other partner’s feelings. I know some upthread have mentioned their cynical, even Sartrean interpretations of the function of the social group, but I thought the film’s ultimate message was warmer than one of meaningless interaction given meaning and blunted of sadness through different types of adversity. The group’s interactions are often absurd and self-serving and frequently the cause of their own problems through everyone within’s imperfect understanding of each other (and again, nowhere is this more apparent than the romantic tension and one upmanship of the two leads), but these large and small annoyances are also what bind the group together through these same competitions for attention and affection in ways that ultimately harm no one within the group and indeed usually grant them their non-problematic desires. I don’t think I’m alone in recognizing these same purposes, behaviors, dynamics, and feelings in real life (or, at least I don’t think I’m alone in doing so on this forum, given how difficult it is to see this...), and what a great film it is that can so precisely depict all these things while poignantly replicating the experience of engaging with them in real life. Isn’t that why we watch movies?

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Re: Michel Deville

#104 Post by therewillbeblus » Mon Aug 31, 2020 3:25 am

Great thoughts, Never Cursed. Not sure if you were referring to my post way back about Deville touching on the meaning/meaninglessness of the social experience, but just in case to clarify I was referring to inherent absurdity (i.e. objective meaninglessness), and noted that it's definitely posturing at a variety of different emotions and repurposing very real social discomforts into empowerment that provide subjective meaning. The context of my reading was in response to other Deville, particularly L'Apprenti salaud, where he throws in some sobering moments of isolation that -in instants absent from distraction- intrusive questioning of the meaninglessness of life occurs for characters suddenly feeling the impact of solitude even when surrounded by others, which casts a light on why we seize and project meaning into ours. I guess a better way to say this point is- as you allude to at the end of your post, he leaves room for all experiences of individuals coexisting in social contexts, across the spectrum from vibrancy and harmony to detachment and meaninglessness. I definitely didn't read the film as so definitively optimistic in its thematic intentions as you did, and saw it as more of a presentation of life on life's terms, which is pretty glorious and life-affirming even if there is harm or hard truths of less unity than one might see at times (the Sartre illustration is merely to affirm the conscious or otherwise mini-existential crises one feels in response to social comparisons on a regular basis, rather than to profess any staticity of said fleeting dysphoria). What I think Deville understands better than most filmmakers (and people) is that perspective is the only key objective truth that defines experience, and it wavers constantly. The optimism, here and in his other work, is that people will be happy and bind together and avoid 'real' harm, and yet they will also feel 'real' internalized harm (just as debilitating as observable pain in his worlds), be miserable, and completely disconnect. But the cycle will go on, if you can even simplify it into a cyclical pattern when he throws every emotion like paint on a canvas.

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Re: Michel Deville

#105 Post by domino harvey » Sat Dec 19, 2020 2:34 pm

Who’s ready for a merry Christmas? The subtitler for La divine poursuite messaged me to tell me their subs are finished and just need some proofreading, so they should be available very soon

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Re: Michel Deville

#106 Post by kubelkind » Sat Dec 19, 2020 3:17 pm

I've just had a skim through them and the grammar and everything looks OK to me but it'll be a few days before I get chance to watch them with the film (and my French is worse than terrible) so I guess someone else will do the proper proofread.
Thanks to everyone on this thread for their informative and passionate writings on Deville which has made for great reading. I did sample a fair handful of the films and though I must confess I wasn't entirely "convinced" and I certainly haven't discovered a new favourite (unlike Michele Rosier, whose few available films I discovered for myself and absolutely loved this year). I did very much like Lucky Jo, La Petite Bande and L'Apprenti Salaud and will be sure to check out some of the others.

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Re: Michel Deville

#107 Post by domino harvey » Sat Dec 19, 2020 3:22 pm

Wow, didn't realize he'd already posted them in the proofreading thread over a week ago, thanks for the heads-up!

This means we're now down to only one circulating feature and one portmanteau short remaining unsubbed on back channels

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Re: Michel Deville

#108 Post by therewillbeblus » Sun Jan 10, 2021 3:25 am

Image

La Divine Poursuite

Sandwiched between a string of mostly successful works dense with complex moods (excluding Aux petits bonheurs, which remains unsubbed at the time of this writing), this is a return to form for Deville reviving the puckish tone of his 70s comedies. Right from the credits sequence, Deville imbues his playful use of technique, fiddling with the possibilities of blocking and lighting as people unexpectedly emerge from shadows and the constant camera movement guides over to various characters doing nothing. Ironically this exuberance occurs after a robbery while the subject complains as he remains inactive, but set to a rhythm that seems fit for the robbery itself! This then follows the mold of a self-conscious screwball comedy, taking not a supporting character but an extra’s role of box-courier and making him the lead, along with a decent-sized group of Joe Schmoes, on the tale of a fiery enigmatic Emmanuelle Seigner- and subverting expectations by delaying their union for far longer than expected! I enjoyed the subversion of gender norms in various power dynamics that Deville has explored before, particularly emasculating the men (poor Denis Podalydès, between this and My Sex Life, he’s having a rough go as the mid-90s French cuckold) and giving the women a cool patience and confident attitude without necessitating them to hype their energy or compromise their personalities.

For everyone that hates It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and its quasi-remake Rat Race, this film is the funny, inspired version told through an economic series of incessant gags. Over the course of the narrative so many silly characters are introduced and cross paths that this becomes little more than a playground for Deville to experiment with action-based comedy and observational social humor using his expertise in form. Along with borrowing from Keaton’s silent cinema (Podalydès, in particular) and the early Hollywood sound comedies, Deville employs some witty nouvelle vague editing styles into setpieces at random, as well as formulating a last act that emulates Hitchcock’s spy adventure films (I also love his unique 'wipe' transitions using his camera to scan across several areas of a scene and into another one seamlessly). I’m not convinced this is as good as Deville’s 70s gems, and its ideas are as clear as the pool salesman’s face under his stupid “mask,” but I had a blast with the inane visual repartee flooding the screen at all times, and can confirm that it’s certainly his last work of comic genius. Another addition to the list of great comedies.

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Re: Michel Deville

#109 Post by domino harvey » Tue Apr 20, 2021 8:17 pm

Fun fact I learned today: Benjamin was the first X rated film ever released by Paramount in the states

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Re: Michel Deville

#110 Post by Glowingwabbit » Tue Jun 08, 2021 10:58 am

English subs for Aux Petits Bonheurs have popped up on back channels. \:D/

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Re: Michel Deville

#111 Post by therewillbeblus » Tue Jun 08, 2021 11:14 am

Yes, great news, though this is the one Deville that seems to have stumped a lot of translators due to difficult and compressed dialogue, so I'm approaching with caution (it also appears that, like the extended Les bonnes femmes we're going to have a few portions of dialogue that were left untranslated)

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Re: Michel Deville

#112 Post by therewillbeblus » Wed Jun 09, 2021 12:24 am

Aux Petits Bonheurs is a passable stab at the multi-narrative/one-roof pic, from a filmmaker who understands how to portray existential crises and messy social dynamics with a raw conscious temperament between comedy and drama. This is a half-hearted version of a great film, a Desplechin-y Big Chill with a makeshift group of mostly strangers switching lovers in their minds, hearts, or in practice. There's a central mystery that nobody has much investment in, and the film flashes its potential at greatness when pausing on the other trio of women (Nicole Garcia, Michèle Laroque, and Hanna Schygulla) outside of Anémone's enigma, who are desperate to connect, but also put up walls in games and resentments (including Schygulla’s “I like you very much” test, that reveals as much about her own unskilled interventions to engage socially, playing down to her peers like an experimenter, as their responses do about their willingness to breach confidence). Deville crafts a decent meditation on aging, when youthful desire is at odds with restricting emotional and physical cognizances that have dampened with experience over time. The pathos around maturation is complex- as these women in particular retain a vibrant sense of humor, wit, and yearning with immediacy- yet there’s a somber surrender to their insatiable natures, a recognition of wanting more, or what they don’t have, of looking for the kind of spiritual or philosophical catharsis in the corporal and coming up empty. Unfortunately this all amounts to very little, and Deville winds up playing things safe and petering out the strands of narrative that he established with a few bold pitches, and that an urgent auteur like Desplechin would bleed for all their complicated shades of spirit. It's a fine film, but it's uneven in a very bland routine- though the few comic moments in the film are gold, and there should have been more of them.

Well, now that I've seen all the circulating Devilles, I guess it's onto revisits (:devastated face:). That is, until Zärtliche Haie gets magically unearthed from the vaults

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Re: Michel Deville

#113 Post by domino harvey » Sun Oct 10, 2021 7:45 pm

Contre l'oubli's subs are now available on back channels, meaning save his presumably lost German film, all of Deville's output is now available subtitled (non-commercially, alas)

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Re: Michel Deville

#114 Post by domino harvey » Sat Oct 30, 2021 4:06 am

domino harvey wrote:
Sun Oct 10, 2021 7:45 pm
Contre l'oubli's subs are now available on back channels, meaning save his presumably lost German film, all of Deville's output is now available subtitled (non-commercially, alas)
Deville's segment with Beart leads off this endless portmanteau film and it's a good primer of what this movie will be for like 90% of the running time: a Who's Who of French acting, directing, and intellectual celebs very earnestly either reading a letter or depicting the reading of a letter at the behest of Amnesty International. Over and over. You wish someone had bothered to tell all these amazing directors and actors that they all inadvertently made what is functionally the same segment as their colleagues. As a result, only the segments that break the mold really stand out in memory. Shockingly, for all the talent behind the cameras here, the two best staged segments come from actors not known for their directing-- Jane Birkin and Michel Piccoli. They're both not quite fully realized segments, but they have real verve and are a welcome respite from their brethren (Certainly more welcome than the two or three music videos we get here-- WTF was that socially conscious reggae rap in Costa-Gavras' contribution?! Or how about Claire Denis having Alain Souchon sing about Senegal while she films two anonymous black men as props walking the streets? Vom). Of the "I'm a famous French actor and I'm reading this letter" variety, Philippe Noiret's recitation for Jean Becker fares the best because Noiret knows how direct and modulate himself to the right level of self-importance without hitting pomposity, which is a huge swing and a miss for some of his fellow superstars in other segments like Isabelle Huppert. I thought the most interesting of the reading a letter to a leader-variety of segments was the Patrice Leconte's short directed at Gorbachev where Guy Bedos cuts the sanctimonious bullshit of the rest of the film and basically berates Gorbachev and baits him into doing what he's asking. Actually amusing! And then a little card comes up and says Gorbachev released the dude before the film even came out. Of course.

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Re: Michel Deville

#115 Post by sallitt » Sun Nov 21, 2021 1:01 pm

Nice to learn from roujin about the enthusiasm for Deville on this forum! I first heard about him through Sarris's rave for BENJAMIN when it was released theatrically in the US. David Thomson's enthusiastic piece in his Biographical Dictionary of Cinema put me back on the track: Thomson was a Cahiers follower in his youth, and I suspect that he was following the party line in adoring ADORABLE MENTEUSE and CE SOIR OU JAMAIS, and feeling that BENJAMIN already showed signs of decline. Sarris occasionally wrote about Deville during his years as a working critic: he was particularly fond of DOSSIER 51, as I recall. But that's really about all the Deville excitement I encountered on the Cahiers/auteurist side of the world. I always heard that Positif (and maybe Sight & Sound) were more into Deville than Cahiers was, and suspect that that was true, with exceptions. I've now seen everything by Deville in the IMDb except for ZARTLICHE HAIE, the episode in CONTRE L'OUBLI, and whatever Deville might have directed of that TV series 1, 2, 3...RIDEAU.

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Re: Michel Deville

#116 Post by furbicide » Mon Jun 06, 2022 10:25 pm

You guys seen this?

https://store.potemkine.fr/dvd/37602982 ... l-deville/

Looks like no English subs, but might be worth making enquiries regardless.

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Re: Michel Deville

#117 Post by reaky » Sat Jul 15, 2023 4:24 am

I had no grounding in Deville’s work beyond having seen LA LECTRICE years ago, and bought the Gaumont blu of PERIL EN LA DEMEURE, thinking it would be something of in the Chabrol line. What I found was something more formally adventurous, with sleek, inventive editing and a determination to undercut every plot development with contradictions and undermining, thereby distancing the viewer from any engagement with the storyline. It’s seeded with genre stereotypes like the thoughful assassin, the wealthy man’s randy wife and nubile daughter and the nosey neighbour, and the chamber music score gives it the toney air of a Peter Greenaway film. The disorientation throughout reminded me of Robert Aickman’s stories.

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Re: Michel Deville

#118 Post by barryconvex » Mon Jul 17, 2023 2:55 am

Benjamin, ou Benjamin ou les Mémoires d'un puceau (1968)

What a pleasure it is to return after a few years away from Deville and be able to pick up where I left off, which for me was with Benjamin, a light entertainment that probably won't go down as one of Deville's great works but a film I loved all the same. This sort of story was a staple of the soft core films of my youth - a wide eyed innocent being shipped off to a decadent French countryside chateau - and while this is no skinemax Saturday night special (even if it is rated X for reasons beyond me) it is a master working during one of his extremely fertile periods, delivering one of the best representations of bittersweet, coming of age romance I can recall. Deville's confidence with actors has grown by this point and he's comfortable enough here to coax greatness out of a heavyweight cast that includes Deneuve and Michèle Morgan and most notably to me, Piccoli. I've seen him in numerous films and while he's always, at the very least, an interesting presence, and very often great, I don't know that I've seen him more at home in any part than he is here as the irresistible lothario taking the immovable innocence of Clementi's title character under his wing. He's a slab of straight experience, the dark rogue in the gaiety of the pastel proceedings who comes especially alive when being mischievous - look at the light in his eyes during his first meeting with Deneuve's white lace ingenue and later, after his midnight ride, verbally sparring nonsensically with Deneuve in her bedroom. Even more readily apparent than the universally brilliant performances is Deville's mastery of tone, the deftness of his touch is as light as a breeze through wind chimes. About halfway through the film Benjamin has a brief interlude with his aunt, the countess, as they stroll from the mansion to greet the party's first guest. Benjamin asks her about her lover, the count (Piccoli), how can he love his many conquests and still love her, is she not bothered by this? The countess isn't taken aback, or even upset, she knows the count well and is resigned to sharing a bed with him and not much else - she's accepted her role. It's one of several knowing and perfectly played moments which culminate in Clementi and Deneuve's final scene together which is a beautifully acted, directed and conceived moment between inexperienced lovers (although Deneuve's character may lack physical experience she is inherently knowledgeable and probably knows more about her partner than he does about himself). Deneuve has (literally) the last word here as it's her character who's the center of the third act proceedings and the one hurdle the countess can never clear. This isn't a total genre reimagining like Deville achieved with his next work, Bye, Bye Barbara or later in the 70s with Dossier 51, but it tweaks things more than enough to be novel with some of Deville's usual touches like the gallery of coquettish servants, or the running gag of Benjamin's umpteen chances at deflowering that all end as near misses, and again that lightness of touch that is pure '60s Deville.


Raphaël ou le débauché (1971)

Contrasting Benjamin, an innocent with an almost glowing virginal aura about him, is Raphael another 19th century period creation but this time featuring a protagonist who is a creature of the night, radiating death, a broken man who seemingly wills darkness into existence whenever he appears on screen. He's an aging alcoholic, a rake who leads a gang of younger debauchees from brothel to brothel, conquest to conquest, empty bottles and broken hymens left in their wake. Once he gets what he wants, he never wants it again until he meets the virtuous and upright widow Aurore (no doubt named after the morning star), herself the leader of a pack of fresh young things, who when first seen are at a lakeside admiring the sunrise. These two opposites attract and fleeting moments are shared but ultimately the night cannot partner with the day anymore than the dead can partner with the living and therein lies the drama at the center of Companeez' operatic screenplay, her last with/for Deville. As the film progresses and the stakes build it's quite apparent this is a master craftsperson operating at her peak. Deville wisely gets out the story's way and keep his direction tight and lean. That same lightness of touch that served him so well on Benjamin just a few years earlier is employed again here, this time in a minor key and with much more devastating results. Both leads could not be better cast - Maurice Ronet as Raphael seems like he's lived this role, his world weary and frequently drunk character has roots that reach back to his work with Louis Malle in The Fire Within. Françoise Fabian who I really only know from My Night At Maud's is radiant, glowing. Her scenes with her hair down, alone in her bedroom play like the inception of desire for an entire generation of 19th century women. As her feelings for Raphael increase, as it becomes clear the extent to which she will debase herself in the hopes of experiencing love with a man who is determined to avoid corrupting her both actors tread beautifully over complex ground and complicated emotions. One of Deville's very best films.

Deep Water (Eaux profondes) 1981

I can't hate a movie with dialogue such as:
"I want you to rid me of this bore who never leaves my house, wants to have sex with my wife and has never read Hugo!"
but I had a difficult time accepting Huppert's character and her relationship with husband Trintignant. What exactly is she after here? I'm still not entirely certain what makes her tick even if on the surface she seems like a woman who has outgrown her older husband, longs for younger lovers and new adventures. Could she ever be happy with just one man? The bigger question on my mind while watching was where was Claude Chabrol in 1981? This material (based on a Patricia Highsmith novel, an author Chabrol would adapt with The Cry Of The Owl in 1987) is so far up his alley that his presence is looming over every frame. The plot is rooted in the type of violent sexual jealousy that is Chabrol's bread and butter. Huppert attracts would be lovers in part because she enjoys being the center of attention and is catnip to much of the male population and partly as a way to antagonize Trintignant who then dispatches each of them, careful never to incriminate himself. Huppert has her suspicions but no proof so her claims of murder are largely pooh-poohed as the sentiments of a grief stricken and fragile woman. I may not be totally sold on her character but Huppert is still Huppert and I'd watch her do most anything and probably enjoy it. In the movie's high point and one of many career peaks she has her dress inadvertently torn after the drowning of the first victim when she rushes to join her would be lover in the ambulance. She then plays the rest of that scene and the next at a hotel kitchen table, quietly seething while surrounded by various officials, colleagues and friends, with her left breast exposed. When Trintignant attempts to cover her she smacks him in the face. Trintignant plays it icy. When his beloved snail habitat is threatened he loses his temper. During and after committing the murders his expression remains even and placid.

This was remade last year (2022) by Adrian Lyne with Ben Affleck and Ana De Armas in the lead roles. It would've been nice if that film had generated some interest as some of it might've led back to Deville but it seemed to have come and gone without much notice. Lyne totally misses out on the perverse humor of the original, the sense of mischievous fun that that permeates it. Deville's film is another of his second tier works but I still enjoyed it and would easily recommend it.

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Re: Michel Deville

#119 Post by domino harvey » Fri Aug 04, 2023 10:17 pm

While I found it underwhelming on the whole, Tavernier’s TV miniseries follow up Voyages à travers le cinéma français does devote a few minutes to Deville’s Ce soir ou jamais and Adorable menteuse, praising Deville and Conpaneez. So maybe someone, somewhere sees those clips and fucking releases them commercially for English-speaking audiences. Our luck, they’ll pick some of the inexplicably praised dross included in the series instead

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Re: Michel Deville

#120 Post by Telstar » Mon Feb 12, 2024 1:59 pm

Okay, I'm intrigued. Could some kind soul please pm me with info on how to see some of these films?

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Re: Michel Deville

#121 Post by therewillbeblus » Mon Feb 12, 2024 4:10 pm

Telstar wrote:
Mon Feb 12, 2024 1:59 pm
Okay, I'm intrigued. Could some kind soul please pm me with info on how to see some of these films?
I'm happy to connect around it, but my external hard drive with 4TB of kevyip + all the rarities just crashed so you'd need to give me a couple months or however long it takes Seagate to retrieve my files, if they even manage to.. (which is also an indirect ask for people to please post their rare darlings as recs in the list project threads, because all the recs I had are gone from the physical drive, any list I once had, and memory from collecting titles and downloading over the years)

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Re: Michel Deville

#122 Post by TechnicolorAcid » Mon Feb 12, 2024 4:21 pm

Telstar wrote:
Mon Feb 12, 2024 1:59 pm
Okay, I'm intrigued. Could some kind soul please pm me with info on how to see some of these films?

<<DELETED BY MOD>>

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Re: Michel Deville

#123 Post by domino harvey » Mon Feb 12, 2024 4:32 pm

Mod here: Do not, under any circumstances, ever post links to copyrighted material publicly on this forum. If you’d like to share a link with a fellow member, please use the PM function

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Re: Michel Deville

#124 Post by swo17 » Mon Feb 12, 2024 4:37 pm

There are actually some reasonable prices on the French DVD sets on eBay right now (like $100 each instead of $300 like they have been). No subs though so you will have to learn French

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Re: Michel Deville

#125 Post by TechnicolorAcid » Mon Feb 12, 2024 4:48 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Mon Feb 12, 2024 4:32 pm
Mod here: Do not, under any circumstances, ever post links to copyrighted material publicly on this forum. If you’d like to share a link with a fellow member, please use the PM function
Oh sorry about that Domino, I will PM them instead. Won’t happen again I promise.

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