Godard on DVD and Blu-ray

[accatone]

…just rewatched ELOGE yesterday and must say - this is my favourite since NOUVELLE VAGUE! The passages about aging, memory and history are cristal clear and absolutly stand outs. Plus told out of the perspective of an irresolute protagonist, Edgar, makes it even more enjoyable. This is, as pointed out before, the perfect and logical fiction film after the HISTOIRE(S) with all the importand themes transfered into a wonderfull story!

[Oedipax]

As it happens I also watched Eloge de l'amour again last night, after having an image from it come to me suddenly, walking down the street in Atlanta. It's the image of the homeless person sleeping on a bench, next to his canine companion, while traffic on the Champs-Elysees rushes by in the background. That one image in particular made me nearly gasp the first time I saw the film; it recalls Godard's 60s dictum that we must 'confront vague ideas with images of clarity'.

On every level, it's an incredibly striking image: firstly, the photographic quality (excellent across the board in this film, including the section in DV), its composition, its simplicity in evoking so many thoughts and emotions, and most of all, its moral force. But the moral weight of this image is not didactic, it's not a screeching indictment of bourgeois indifference, it is simply a human portrait, and for me it has the same kind of effect as one of Godard's beloved trees in films like Nouvelle vague, Helas pour moi, and JLG/JLG. I don't mean to suggest the image is apolitical or that it's putting forth homelessness as some kind of eternal condition that society shouldn't feel compelled to address. But it somehow transcends that dichotomy to become both a just image and just an image.

Recalling it while walking down the street, literally out of nowhere, was a bit like a waking dream - and it made me ponder for a while my infinite compassion for that person on the bench as I watch the film, contrasted by the way one often comes to ignore people, or not see them at all, who are in the same situation when you walk through a city everyday.

[Kirkinson]

Someone posted Dans le noir du temps, Godard's contribution to Ten Minutes Older: The Cello, at YouTube. Could someone who knows French more intimately than I take a look at it and confirm my suspicion that those are the worst subtitles ever made? Comparing them to the subtitles on the R3 DVD and what little French I can understand by ear, it seems like someone just looked at the images and made a bunch of wild guesses as to what was being said.

[Michael Kerpan]

Japanese HD re-mastered Godard: Deux ou trois choses que je sais d'elle & Masculin-feminin

[domino harvey]

[Kinsayder]

I think they mean Le Gai Savoir. Le Gai Savior is something quite different.

[Ingeri]

Koch Lorber has announced a 5/13 release date for Jean-Luc Godard's LA CHINOISE on DVD.

I haven't had the opportunity to really see anything released by Koch Lorber on DVD, and remain skeptical given my experience with Fox Lorber's extreme negligence with Godard's BREATHLESS (total crap). Thank God for Criterion's BREATHLESS DVD release last summer.

I know "Koch" Lorber is not "Fox" Lorber, but if I'm not mistaken, it's the same company. Have things improved? Can I look forward to this release?

[justeleblanc]

Koch Lorber has announced a 5/13 release date for Jean-Luc Godard's LA CHINOISE on DVD.

I haven't had the opportunity to really see anything released by Koch Lorber on DVD, and remain skeptical given my experience with Fox Lorber's extreme negligence with Godard's BREATHLESS (total crap). Thank God for Criterion's BREATHLESS DVD release last summer.

I know "Koch" Lorber is not "Fox" Lorber, but if I'm not mistaken, it's the same company. Have things improved? Can I look forward to this release?

It's the same Lorber, but with different backing and a different library (the Fox Lorber label is now Wellspring).

Koch Lorber doesn't do in-house restorations I don't think, so like most DVD labels, their quality is solely dependent on the available materials. With that being said, their print of La Chinoise that played at film forum last fall was stellar and I suspect the DVD will follow suit. The quality of Gai Savoir may not be as stellar, but again, I would say this is the fault of the available materials than it is of Koch. When Lorber was releasing art house titles under Fox Lorber, he made the decision to release what was available as opposed to waiting for better prints to come about. And as much as I didn't particularly care for the quality, I at least got to see these films. It's a trade off, and even a company like Criterion is often forced to make this decision (hence why they are sitting on Antonioni's LA NOTTE). And at the same time I would be surprised if Criterion would even consider releasing a film like Gai Savoir.

Their DVD of Muriel last year was pretty terrific, as was their Riget DVDs from von Trier. Even Chabrol's Violette was pretty good, despite the poor prints that were available.

I suspect others will disagree with me.

[ptmd]

I thought the Violette DVD was atrocious, it looks like it was sourced from a bad video (which it probably was since there is only one English-subtitled print in existence now and it's deeply archival), but I am very grateful to Koch Lorber for making the film available at all. Their DVDs of Donkey Skin and Muriel aren't bad and I would suspect the same will hold true for Le Gai Savoir and La Chinoise (especially in the case of the latter because a good transfer is available in France and the UK already).

[justeleblanc]

I thought the Violette DVD was atrocious, it looks like it was sourced from a bad video (which it probably was since there is only one English-subtitled print in existence now and it's deeply archival), but I am very grateful to Koch Lorber for making the film available at all. Their DVDs of Donkey Skin and Muriel aren't bad and I would suspect the same will hold true for Le Gai Savoir and La Chinoise (especially in the case of the latter because a good transfer is available in France and the UK already).

Re: Violette... has anyone else noticed what horrible shape most Chabrol DVDs are in? I assume this is a global phenomenon. The Pathfinder DVDs looked like Chabrol made movies for BBC on beta.

Re: La Chinoise... yes, this is probably the terrific Studio Canal print that has been floating onto DVD recently. It's not worth double-dipping, but if you've held off on getting it, I don't think giving your money to Koch is a bad idea.

[ptmd]

The Pathfinder Chabrol DVDs are equally bad, if not worse, and I'm pretty sure this has to do with the fact that they simply adapted existing video transfers. It's a shame, because most of those films are available in much better transfers, but without subtitles, in France.

I would certainly hope that Koch Lorber is using the Studio Canal transfer, but shouldn't that be with Lions Gate? It's possible that they simply weren't interested, but it seems strange to me that only this one Godard film would have been translated to an outside, non-Criterion company.

[justeleblanc]

I would certainly hope that Koch Lorber is using the Studio Canal transfer, but shouldn't that be with Lions Gate? It's possible that they simply weren't interested, but it seems strange to me that only this one Godard film would have been translated to an outside, non-Criterion company.

Koch Lorber, like Criterion, must have secured the rights to the Studio Canal title before Lionsgate inked the deal. Lionsgate only got DVD rights to 4 out of the 12 Studio Canal/Godard titles. If anything, it was Criterion, not Lionsgate, that wasn't interested in the title. Same goes for Le Petit Soldat and Les Carabiniers (which I believe are in the possession of Weinstein).

Also, does anyone have screencaps of the Chabrol releases on French DVD? It might be worth posting (in another thread) since the Chabrol DVD quality is a subject that's come up many times in this forum.

[Kinsayder]

Also, does anyone have screencaps of the Chabrol releases on French DVD? It might be worth posting (in another thread) since the Chabrol DVD quality is a subject that's come up many times in this forum.

Some screencaps of the French Violette Nozière here.

[Ingeri]

I haven't had the opportunity to really see anything released by Koch Lorber on DVD, and remain skeptical.....

Koch Lorber doesn't do in-house restorations I don't think, so like most DVD labels, their quality is solely dependent on the available materials. With that being said, their print of La Chinoise that played at film forum last fall was stellar and I suspect the DVD will follow suit.

Great, looking forward to it. Thanks!

..... I would say this is the fault of the available materials than it is of Koch.....And as much as I didn't particularly care for the quality, I at least got to see these films. It's a trade off.....

.....but I am very grateful to Koch Lorber for making the film available at all.

Mmm, good point. I guess beggars can't be choosers, and I did really enjoy the David Sterritt commentary on the Fox Lorber issue of BREATHLESS.

[justeleblanc]

Also, does anyone have screencaps of the Chabrol releases on French DVD? It might be worth posting (in another thread) since the Chabrol DVD quality is a subject that's come up many times in this forum.

Some screencaps of the French Violette Nozière here.

Wow. Why are these prints then not available to other distributers?

[ptmd]

Probably because they are located in France and accessing them for a telecine would cost more money than many smaller distributors are willing to pay. There's also the question of paying for subtitles. Leaving their ports of foreign releases aside, Koch Lorber seems to only do telecines of prints with pre-existent English subtitles (I've never known them to do their own subtitles), and, as I mentioned, there is only one print of Violette with English subtitles in existence at this point. It's an unfortunate situation and one that, sadly, probably won't change in the foreseeable future.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

The worst-case scenario is that the KL La Chinoise will be a PAL-to-NTSC port of the (excellent) transfer used by Optimum in the UK and Madman in Australia -- not that a native NTSC is an impossibility, but Koch has a spotty record with that sort of thing. I'm more interested to see how Le Gai Savoir turns out, since I think this is its (authorized) home video debut and the bootlegs I've seen over the years are so bad I have no idea what the movie should look like.

[justeleblanc]

The worst-case scenario is that the KL La Chinoise will be a PAL-to-NTSC port of the (excellent) transfer used by Optimum in the UK and Madman in Australia -- not that a native NTSC is an impossibility, but Koch has a spotty record with that sort of thing. I'm more interested to see how Le Gai Savoir turns out, since I think this is its (authorized) home video debut and the bootlegs I've seen over the years are so bad I have no idea what the movie should look like.

I saw a VHS tape at my university library but I never got around to rending it. It didn't look like a bootleg, but it barely looked authorized.

Also, for what it's worth, Koch Lorber did release the La Dolce Vita special edition.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

I saw a VHS tape at my university library but I never got around to rending it. It didn't look like a bootleg, but it barely looked authorized.

Probably the New York Film Annex release, which was basically a bootleg (at least I've seen no reason to believe they ever held the rights) and seemed to have been telecined by pointing a video camera at a Moviola.

Also, for what it's worth, Koch Lorber did release the La Dolce Vita special edition.

...which was marred only by PAL-to-NTSC conversion issues, although it was a pretty good conversion all things considered (not all KL releases have been that lucky, though).

[Klaus Capra]

Top 5 Godard:

1.Pierrot le Fou
2.My Life to Live
3.A Woman is a Woman
4.Breathless
5.Masculin Feminin

My Life to Live was my introduction to European cinema, I've seen the vast majority of JLGs 1957-1966 films with the exception of a short, Le Petit Soldat, and Les Carabiniers. Which I plan on ordering, along with the Lions Gate boxed set. I've seen some of Godard's post new wave films, Weekend, Tout va Bien, and Notre Musique.. which were worth watching, but wasn't too keen on. Me being more of an early Godard fan, as opposed to the jaded and bitter more recent Godard, would the movies in the Lions Gate set be a good move? Or are these films more playful, and less angry?

Movies included in the boxed set:
Passion
First Name: Carmen
Détective
Oh Woe is Me

[justeleblanc]

Me being more of an early Godard fan, as opposed to the jaded and bitter more recent Godard, would the movies in the Lions Gate set be a good move? Or are these films more playful, and less angry?

These are the films Godard made when he was returning to his New Wave roots, albeit with a more distinct editing/visual/sound aesthetic. His films from Sauve qui peut (la vie) through Keep Your Right Up! are the more accessible of his later films. Their subject matter isn't as political (though their formal choices are) and they are lighter, if not funnier.

Take a look at Carmen and see what you think.

[ellipsis7]

MADE IN USA is rather lovely and rightly presented anamorphic 2.35:1 on the Optimum R2 UK DVD (the best side of their split personality!)...

[Petty Bourgeoisie]

Top 5 Godard:

1.Pierrot le Fou
2.My Life to Live
3.A Woman is a Woman
4.Breathless
5.Masculin Feminin

Me being more of an early Godard fan, as opposed to the jaded and bitter more recent Godard, would the movies in the Lions Gate set be a good move? Or are these films more playful, and less angry?

Interesting that you don't have Contempt in your top five. I only say this because I feel many of his later films (including Nouvelle Vague, In Praise of Love and Notre Music) are built upon the foundation of Contempt. But that observation is applicable post 1990 and all the Lionsgate entries are from the 1980's and have a more playful air about them. I'll bet you'll like them. And really, for $25 it's a steal.

[domino harvey]

Detective is arguably his most playful late-period film.

[Klaus Capra]

Thanks a bunch for the tips, folks.

Interesting that you don't have Contempt in your top five. I only say this because I feel many of his later films (including Nouvelle Vague, In Praise of Love and Notre Music) are built upon the foundation of Contempt.

Contempt is a gorgeous film, and I love the cinema references in it, and Godard's personal life overtones. And I can't think of another director from the era that used cinemascope so elegantly/modernly. I guess it doesn't make the top 5 cut, because for me it doesn't have the same sort of.. continuity that his other films from the time had. But who knows? I haven't seen most of his 90s work, so Contempt might quickly find its place in my favorites. My top lists are perpetually under construction.

Can't wait to see more.