Indications of Incoming Indicator Entertainments

[Aspect]

Just when I told myself I was gonna take it easy for the rest of the year.

[domino harvey]

Like tenia, I assume from the description the Chabrol is L'oeil du malin, but is it too much to hope for one of his numerous titles unavailable in English friendly Blu-ray instead? My god, what if Indicator puts out all the recent restos in a box now that the studio noir sets are increasingly likely to end

[Aspect]

1968-1975, please.

[brundlefly]

though I wish they'd keep on releasing mexican movies first.

Right? Still waiting on a Mexican Noir box more than a decade after MoMA's showcase. (Without knowing status of materials or rights, of course. Entirely possible these are set to trickle out through the Film Noir Foundation and Flicker Alley over another couple decades, ugh.)

[ChunkyLover]

now that the studio noir sets are increasingly likely to end

RIP Universal Noir.

[rapta]

Over coming months, we will be turning our attention to a number of exceptional crime thrillers from noted filmmakers, such as Jacques Becker, Étienne Périer, and Edmond T Gréville, and some under-appreciated works by celebrated auteurs, including Claude Chabrol, Bertrand Blier, and Nadine Trintignant.

Shit, somehow missed this bit earlier. Seeing as today's titles are all from StudioCanal AFAIK (as is the upcoming Buffet froid), I'd assume most if not all of these will be licensed from them. Therefore we might be able to narrow it down somewhat:

Becker - Dernier atout, Les Aventures d'Arsène Lupin
Périer - Un si joli village..., Un meurtre est un meurtre
Gréville - Pour une nuit d'amour, Le Diable souffle
Chabrol - L'Œil du Malin, À double tour, Marie Chantal contre Dr. Kha, Landru, La Ligne de démarcation
Trintignant - Défense de savoir, Le Voleur de crimes

[Beloved Aunt]

By Perier, do you actually mean Yves Allegret

[Lowry_Sam]

Just checked to make sure I didn't pick up any of these on one of my Amazon.fr blu-ray sale binges. Brelan d'As blu was released by Coin de Mire, Stavisky & Buffet froid were released on blu by Studio Canal, no English subs. It doesn't look like La Travestie was ever released on blu in France.

[domino harvey]

Buffet froid had an English friendly Blu from Kino. Some of those Chabrol SC picks aren’t “crime thrillers”

[ryannichols7]

Buffet froid had an English friendly Blu from Kino. Some of those Chabrol SC picks aren’t “crime thrillers”

must be noted:

Two categories are cited in your quotation: crime thrillers, and "some under-appreciated works by celebrated auteurs".

[domino harvey]

Homer no read well beer with out

[MichaelB]

Just checked to make sure I didn't pick up any of these on one of my Amazon.fr blu-ray sale binges. Brelan d'As blu was released by Coin de Mire, Stavisky & Buffet froid were released on blu by Studio Canal, no English subs. It doesn't look like La Travestie was ever released on blu in France.

We had to commission subtitles for Full House and La Travestie as StudioCanal didn’t have any on file, suggesting that the Indicator discs will be English-friendly premieres.

[BoltzmannBrain]

So first Indicator starts releasing the same films as 88 Films and Vinegar Syndrome (actually before that they were already invading on the BFI's turf), and now Indicator starts copying Radiance's MO... I guess Indicator really doesn't want to have its own identity.

Some people may welcome this but I think that this is lame, it's like they have seriously run out of ideas for what to do so they just start imitating other labels. But they might as well quit the business altogether if they feel that there's nothing in it left for them to do anymore.

[Peacock]

Indicator have been in a weird and somewhat underwhelming place the last couple of years no doubt, but calling for them to quit because they are trying something new is insane.

There’s more than enough movies out there for everyone to put out.

[BoltzmannBrain]

Indicator have been in a weird and somewhat underwhelming place the last couple of years no doubt, but calling for them to quit because they are trying something new is insane.

But they are not trying something new, they are just watching what other labels do and then they do the same thing. The Mexican Santo movies were a more original venture than these French titles.

[therewillbeblus]

Indicator may not have released many titles I've wanted to pick up recently, but they continue to release interesting choices of films not on my radar, and occasionally that pays off. I prefer that model to a label that just releases stuff everyone already knows about. It's cool to discover new films, or watch others discover them. For instance, I'm really excited to have more people turned on to Blier just by following the label. That's a huge win.

[TechnicolorAcid]

Indicator have been in a weird and somewhat underwhelming place the last couple of years no doubt, but calling for them to quit because they are trying something new is insane.

But they are not trying something new, they are just watching what other labels do and then they do the same thing. The Mexican Santo movies were a more original venture than these French titles.

I think Peacock is just trying to say that they’re doing something new for their label and either way I still think that this is in line with Indicator’s mission of presenting neglected or underrated gems that have slipped through the cracks.

[JSC]

I suppose it depends on what films one should expect from any particular label. I've been very interested in some of the releases
they've been doing recently. I was glad to see The Liberation of L.B. Jones and Bonjour Tristesse in new editions. The
Jean Rollin project has been continuing (The Grapes of Death is a Rollin title I've been waiting for). Films like The Hireling
and Saraband for Dead Lovers have also been welcome. In fact, just being able to see some of these at all on blu-ray has been
a blessing.

[GaryC]

Hammer Box Set Seven (Ships & Giggles) has landed. The new homeviewing certificates aren't on the BBFC database yet, but interesting that films which at the time got an A certificate (A Weekend with Lulu) or a U (the other three), admittedly with cuts for all of them except The Ugly Duckling, now are all rated 12.

[GaryC]

This is entirely speculative as I have no inside information, but if I look at the sleeve numbers, Buffet Froid is 493 and Merci la vie 496. Assuming they were licensed together, I wonder what 494 and 495 will be? Indicator usually assign numbers to batches of films licensed together in chronological order, so if those are other Blier films there are some possibilities that he made between 1979 and 1991 (and one highly unlikely to have a UK release, namely Beau-père (1991)).

I may of course be completely off-base here, but no doubt we'll find out in due course.

Meanwhile, French Dressing has the highest number so far, 514. The only other one so far released or announced higher than 491 is La travestie (506). The lowest numbers yet to be filled (under 300) are 179, 218 and 236.

[MichaelB]

I can certainly confirm that Beau-Père is (and always has been) unreleasable in the UK.

It was available for licensing, but one of the most pivotal scenes (so pivotal that it even ended up on the French poster) would unavoidably have to be cut for legal reasons. I daresay Indicator could have licensed it exclusively for the US, but even there it would open up a huge can of worms with possibly significant reputational blowback for the label.

I saw it during a Blier retrospective at the NFT in the early 1990s, and it didn't surprise me one iota that it had never been released commercially in Britain—even in 1981 it would have unarguably breached the 1978 Protection of Children Act with no possibility of a legal defence (since context and artistic merit aren't taken into account when it comes to PCA infringements).

179 is still being reserved for Dracula (although by this stage I'd frankly be amazed if it ever happened), 218 was the aborted Ishtar release and will no doubt be reassigned at some point, while 236 was an unannounced title whose materials turned out not to be up to scratch; that'll most likely be reassigned too.

[GaryC]

I don't know if it was available for licencing but another Blier film not released in the UK and unlikely ever to be is Un deux trois soleil (1993). I saw it at the London Film Festival and if I remember rightly had heard it was likely to fall foul of the BBFC. The issue is a scene towards the end of the film where

Spoiler

Anouk Grinberg is lying in bed, topless, flanked on both sides by young boys, at least two of whom have their hands on her breasts. It's a lengthy scene with quite a lot of dialogue, so uncuttable.

. I don't remember much about the film thirty-plus years later, but do remember that scene.

[MichaelB]

Yes, that's another one that's almost certainly unreleasable—and, like Beau-Père, and for exactly the same reason, it's never had a commercial release in the UK.

[mrb404]

The "coming soon" picture in this month's newsletter is from Bertrand Blier's Les Acteurs (2000), so that’s at least 3 further upcoming Bliers.

[domino harvey]

I don't know if it was available for licencing but another Blier film not released in the UK and unlikely ever to be is Un deux trois soleil (1993). I saw it at the London Film Festival and if I remember rightly had heard it was likely to fall foul of the BBFC. The issue is a scene towards the end of the film where

Spoiler

Anouk Grinberg is lying in bed, topless, flanked on both sides by young boys, at least two of whom have their hands on her breasts. It's a lengthy scene with quite a lot of dialogue, so uncuttable.

. I don't remember much about the film thirty-plus years later, but do remember that scene.

This one was released by HVe in the states, but I doubt we’ll ever see Criterion take it back for the aforementioned reason. Although, Cohen released Blier’s (Oscar-winning!) Handkerchiefs which is just as dicey with this stuff (and KLSC and Imprint released Pretty Baby), so I wouldn’t rule any of these out in the states from some brave (or foolish?) label