A Married Woman (Une femme mariée)

[Kirkinson]

Movies Unlimited and Facets (can't get a direct link from them - do a search) are both listing a DVD of Jean-Luc Godard's A Married Woman to be released on August 15 that includes the original French soundtrack with English subtitles. Neither of them lists the label releasing it and I haven't been able to find any mention of this DVD anywhere else. Does anyone know anything about it?

If Movies Unlimited is correct, apparently whoever is putting it out is also releasing two VHS versions (one with the English dub and one in French with English subtitles) on the same day. Wild.

[backstreetsbackalright]

Great news! That's a terrific movie! Might even buy that one...

[solent]

Facets & Unlimited specs state language options so here's hoping the label isn't the dreaded Facets itself. [They are too cheap to have anything but the bare essentials.] I assume the subs will be removable since a dubbed [English] track is on offer. I can't even find this listed at Amazon and it's supposed to be out in 2 weeks!

[Kirkinson]

I asked about this when I went into Facets today and they couldn't find any further information about it than what we already know. So at least we know they aren't releasing it. But it's still very strange that this hasn't shown up anywhere. I'll be interested to see whether anyone actually has it in stock in two weeks.

[solent]

I got word back from Facets saying that the disc is by the New York Film Annex. The film is in the public domain and the VHS version I have is from the same source. The problem is that this version - if it is the one coming out on DVD - is very poor in both audio & picture quality. The subs are by Molinaro (c. 1965) and are hard to read, the print suffers from cuts and multiple artifacts and the sound is lo-fidelity with high surface noise. If this is what I think it is then what we have here is an official bootleg of sorts. The "language options" quoted by Facets may mean that two versions of the film - French & English - may be on the same disc. I will wait for feedback before I chance this one.

[Oedipax]

Bleh. Sounds about as exciting as the recent Hail Mary DVD. I'll pass.

[backstreetsbackalright]

Yeah, that VHS is the way I saw the film, and it's true that it was not much better than a bootleg. At least more people will get to see it - it's really an undervalued gem of the Godard catalog (if only because of it's limited availability). Hopefully some work went into better image and sound quality for the DVD. Only time will tell....

I think NYFA also put out the VHS of Gai Savoir, which is also worth a look. Maybe we can hope for a DVD of that some day?

[backstreetsbackalright]

http://www.nyfavideo.com/

[solent]

I got my copy yesterday and it is not as bad as I expected. The print is cleaner than the deplorable VHS version. There are minor artifacts but no missing frames or pronounced scratches anywhere. The subs are removable and the audio has much less hiss than the older version. The image is bright and fairly clear. The subtitles are well translated and consistent. In comparison to Facets DVDs I'd say this is much better in terms of quality control. If you want to you can watch the film with a dubbed English soundtrack [c.f. CONTEMPT] instead of in French.

Facets are expecting stock in early December but they sell out quickly. I ordered mine when the stock level was at 6. The next day it was zero. The only other etailer selling this (I think) is Movies Unlimited.

With this DVD I now have every Godard film from 1959 to 1967 on disc. All I need now is to wait for improved versions for some of them but I'm happy for now.

[justeleblanc]

Could we see some pictures of what the casing/cover looks like?

[solent]

Unlike the VHS version this DVD actually comes in proper packaging - i.e. a clear amary case with a colour pictures of the sexy Macha Meril on the back and front and a reproduction of the poster in the inlay.

The NYFA logo is prominant on the back and it is stated as being "NTSC region 1"

These quotes from the back are amusing: "A look at modern relationships expressed largely through Godardian montages of pop art images and sounds" and "This film is one of the first instances where Godard used sex as a polemic." [Where are the other instances? MASCULIN FEMININ? PRENOM CARMEN?]

I watched the dubbed version last night and found it to be rather well done (as dubbed films go). Whoever dubbed it even went as far as to make the two teenage girls' dialogue [in the pool scene] almost inaudible, as it is in French. Even the sexual descriptions of the maid were mostly correct (apart from the word "fanny" instead of "ass," arse" or "bum").

I can't find much information on other NYFA DVDs from their website all they feature is videos and films. If MARRIED WOMAN is in the public domain as is claimed then why can't Criterion put it out?

[justeleblanc]

Unlike the VHS version this DVD actually comes in proper packaging - i.e. a clear amary case with a colour pictures of the sexy Macha Meril on the back and front and a reproduction of the poster in the inlay.

The NYFA logo is prominant on the back and it is stated as being "NTSC region 1"

These quotes from the back are amusing: "A look at modern relationships expressed largely through Godardian montages of pop art images and sounds" and "This film is one of the first instances where Godard used sex as a polemic." [Where are the other instances? MASCULIN FEMININ? PRENOM CARMEN?]

I watched the dubbed version last night and found it to be rather well done (as dubbed films go). Whoever dubbed it even went as far as to make the two teenage girls' dialogue [in the pool scene] almost inaudible, as it is in French. Even the sexual descriptions of the maid where mostly correct (apart from the word "fanny" instead of "ass," arse" or "bum").

That's great news indeed. I'm so anal, I wouldn't buy this if it didn't look like a professional DVD both in the packaging and the content. It is always strange to me when a small company seems to acquire the rights to a heavily desired DVD... such as the DVD of repulsion. My guess is I'll have to buy this one.

[hellboytr]

Since i had very nasty experiences with Facets and NYFA releases, i bougth the Japanese DVD. It is cheaper than other Godard DVDs released in Japan and both the image and sound quality is way better than that of the aforementioned old vhs. But the DVD only has removable Japanese subs. I can post here a few screenshots in the evening if there is any interest.

[justeleblanc]

Just curious, how does this film compare to Godard's other work from the 1960s? And does anyone know how a small company such as NYFA got the rights to a heavily desired film?

[Ted Todorov]

Is this out in R2 (Europe) anywhere?

And what transfer are they using for R1 (no way they did their own). Could it be the Japanese transfer and thus truly NTSC or is it yet another PAL to NTSC botch job?

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

And what transfer are they using for R1 (no way they did their own).

I dunno about that...I have the NYFA VHS of "Le Gai Savoir" and it looks to me like they did indeed do their own transfer. From a Moviola.

[justeleblanc]

If MARRIED WOMAN is in the public domain as is claimed then why can't Criterion put it out?

Could it be that this particular print of it is in the public domain, but really good prints of it aren't. Criterion's bees are quite good but they aren't alchemists.

Can we see some screenshots?

[hellboytr]

Here are three screenshots from the Japanese DVD:

http://img397.imageshack.us/img397/1687 ... 3105kt.jpg

http://img397.imageshack.us/img397/5365 ... 3111gj.jpg

http://img397.imageshack.us/img397/4844 ... 3144is.jpg

[yoshimori]

Just a quick note - didn't want to start another thread. I received the r2j of Godard's Germany Year 90, Nine Zero today [yes, on Thanksgiving Day] and took a quick look. The image looks very good to me - detailed, and no attempt to brighten the image. There are no English subs, of course, but the Japanese ones are removable.

[justeleblanc]

Weren't there at one point screenshots from the NYFF release in this thread? i wanted to take one more look before possibly blind-buying it.

[Kirkinson]

Weren't there at one point screenshots from the NYFF release in this thread? i wanted to take one more look before possibly blind-buying it.

They're in this thread.

[justeleblanc]

Thanks, much appreciated. But man, the image does look really poor. NYFF can go to hell for releasing such crap. Janus should buy this company as well.

[Adam]

Is NYFA just a bootleg company? looking at their listings...

[domino harvey]

Is NYFA just a bootleg company? looking at their listings...

Yes

[Stefan Andersson]

UNE FEMME MARIEE together with BANDE A PART and JLG/JLG is/was available in a German DVD box. No Eng subs but the screenshots I saw once were excellent. jpc.de probably carries it still. I´ll look around for the caps and post a link to them.