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Chiming in with unqualified praise for the blu which may even surpass the richness of Red Shoes at first look.

In case someone's still wondering there are english subs on the French release.

Am I to understand that the disc is Region A, B, and C?

Davidspector wrote:Am I to understand that the disc is Region A, B, and C?

Yes you certainly are.

That cinches that - thanks and I'll proceed to take the financial hit and order.

I finally got around to watching the "French Cancan" Blu-ray. This is a thing of beauty! This is my most satisfying purchase this year. Here's another vote for disc of the year.

Late year planning from Gaumont shows Clouzot's Assassin slipping from the schedules but Bresson's Condamné reinstated for November on BLU.

According to Gaumont's site of the upcoming blu-rays Joseph Losey's "Don Giovanni" and Francesco Rosi's "Carmen" will have English subs, although, sadly, this does not appear to be the case with Maurice Tourneur's "La Main du diable".

david hare wrote:Neither it seems will the first Bresson Blu (Un Condamne a Mort) have English subs.

I don't think the full specs of the November release are up anywhere...... perhaps you've found something David that contradicts that? It's true that the earlier announcement in May showed no english subs but the DVD version that came out shortly afterwards does have english subs (at least according to the Gaumont site) so it may just carry them over to the eventual blu release.

Not the safest source, but: http://www.dvdfr.com/dvd/f151948-condam ... happe.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I may have dreamt it ,perhaps Knappen can corroborate, but i seem to have read somewhere that DVDs in France will be compelled to carry HOH titles by law from next year.

Being nor English nor French I'm not sure if I can be of any help. I don't even know what corroborate means!

david hare wrote:Neveu!!
Nabob means confirm - conseiller, confirmer.....

From one who is a mangler of internationalese.

Baisers milles fois, etc.....

or even corroborer

NABOB OF NOWHERE wrote:I may have dreamt it ,perhaps Knappen can corroborate, but i seem to have read somewhere that DVDs in France will be compelled to carry HOH titles by law from next year.

You are right. According to this new plan for the deaf and HoH:

A partir de 2011, le sous-titrage en langue française de tous les DVD commercialisés en France sera obligatoire(mesure 41), cependant que dans le cadre du plan de numérisation des films du patrimoine 6 500 courts-métrages et 6 500 longs métrages seront sous-titrés (mesure n°40 ).

Translation: From 2011, French subtitles for all DVD commercialised in France will be compulsory (measure 41), while as part of the digitization plan, classic films (6,500 shorts and 6,500 feature-length films) will be subtitled (measure 40).

This measure is really a good thing. We always had trouble in France to have HoH subtitles. It's, of course, the problem for the deaf and HoF people, but also for people who watch movies in a non-quiet environment, or people for who French is not their native language but still have some good level and want the Frenc sub just as a support.

So this will be the thing that puts René Chateau behind bars!

Regarding Gaumont, they are also launching DVD on Demand. A list of more obscure classics are coming out on October 4th. (BTW they all have the HoH subs logo ). Click here.
I noticed Le Val d'Enfer (1943, Maurice Tourneur), Le Dernier des Six (1941, G. Lacombe) a fine comedy-thriller with a witty script by Henri-Georges Clouzot and Les Belles de Nuit (1952, R. Clair).

Thanks Ann, you're a darling right enough. I see there's Melville's 'Deux Hommes' lurking in there and I guess there's not going to be any alternatives in the forseeable future. Although despite being a confirmed Melvillian I'd have to watch this again with gritted teeth.

That bad?

Matt wrote:That bad?

Let's just say that it might be better if Mr Melville had stayed behind the camera.

It feels like Melville was way more excited to shoot in Manhattan and pack it with various references that he's in Manhattan than to care about anything else, there is an obvious improvisation feel to it. However I think it's a fun thing for Melville fans, and you kind of get Meville's excitement.

Wanted to thank davidhare for alerting everyone else to Gaumont's Cancan Blu. I finally received my copy from France today and watched it tonight. I genuinely think that Cancan is the new gold standard by which high def presentations of older colour films ought to be measured by, and I agree with david that it even surpasses (if ever so slightly) Crit's Red Shoes Blu (I don't own How The West Was Won, purely out of lack of interest in this film). Barring The Thin Red Line which I should have tomorrow or Wednesday, I can't imagine any other 2010 release to look as overwhelming beautiful as this.

edited for clarification

Second wave of Gaumont DVD-Rs announced: http://www.1kult.com/2010/09/30/gaumont-line-up/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
including Ophuls´s Sans lendemain.

My French is bad but according to this interview, those discs are pressed DVDs and not DVD-Rs?

Plus intéressant, lors de notre rencontre, Jérôme Soulet, directeur vidéo de Gaumont, nous a appris que ces titres étaient PRESSÉS et ce de manière professionnelle. Enfin, les titres sont sur le papier des raretés de grands réalisateurs, des films depuis longtemps attendus ou bien des œuvres qui en deux ou trois recherches sur le net permettent de créer la curiosité du cinéphile.

Also of interest in the same article is news of another Godard box set covering his 'political period'. Hopefully it will be as extensive as this year's forthcoming set and eclipse the spanish set.

Any news about the Les yeux sans visage BD? Subtitles?