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Wow, that looks great.

Holy mother of mercy

Those screen caps do look good. Shame about the film, though.

Could you explain? Did the film die or something?

No, I just don't like it. It's OK for the first half or so, when Chabrol withholds what he's up to, but when he finally shows his hand (to wit: virtue shall be punished, vice rewarded) it's all a bit of a let-down. This approach was old when Mark Twain was doing it.

I haven't seen these particular films yet, but just because the approach to themes is old hat doesn't mean that hat is bad.

True. Allow me to rephrase: "This approach was trite when Mark Twain was doing it."

Right.

Anyway, the film is magnificent.

Can someone let the administrators know that, on the main CCF page with the reviews, that in "Le beau serge", the "serge" should be "Serge", because it's someone's name? And not a weather/hurricane "surge".

You mean it's not about a nice suit?

?

Only Gary could prefer Le beau Serge to Les cousins! I do look forward to revisiting it once I get the Blu (haven't seen it since a beat-up old VHS several years before any home video release looked likely), but can't imagine it possibly pushing past the absolute masterpiece that is Les cousins (and it's worth has always only been for me in its function as a role-reversed sister film to Les cousins, anyways). But as always, even mediocre Chabrol has some value!

Is anyone else going to wait for the Gaumont releases? The extras are of far more interest to me (especially if one has the Madman discs already). Does anybody have any reservations as to how these transfers will come out? Gaumont usually does a pretty good job, no?

cinemartin wrote:Is anyone else going to wait for the Gaumont releases? The extras are of far more interest to me (especially if one has the Madman discs already). Does anybody have any reservations as to how these transfers will come out? Gaumont usually does a pretty good job, no?

The A/V restoration and mastering was done by Gaumont with Eclair lab, so I would expect the transfer to be quite the same (except contrast) than Criterion.

Mondo Digital on Le beau serge and Les cousins.

domino harvey wrote:It looks like they went all out on these Chabrols, very happy.
The Adrian Martin commentary is terrific, offering Martin's requisite well-researched and non-fawning overarching discussion of Chabrol's career.

Really enjoyed the Martin commentary on Les Cousins.
He covers a lot of ground, including detailed discussion of Chabrol themes, camerawork, style, collaborators, context, influences, the film itself, etc.
Really rewarding. Impressive.
And I don't listen to many commentaries, generally checking out the first few minutes of a commentary either before or after I watch a film -- if I remember to do that.

Now I have an urge to re-watch Les Bonnes Femmes.

Wow. Calling these two "sister films" is like calling Laurel and Hardy "twins". As much as I enjoyed Le Beau Serge, Les Cousins is a jump measured in light years. I see a lot of La Dolce Vita in the second Chabrol, and I wonder if this has been acknowledged anywhere, by Felinni or others. From my admittedly limited readings on French Cinema, I get the feeling that Les Cousins is criminally overlooked.

I agree with you completely. When I watched it for the first time a few weeks ago, La Dolce Vita came to mind a few times, especially during the extended (and brilliantly filmed) party scene in Paul and Charles' apartment. There is also a thematic similarity in the form of the conflict between an intellectual/cultured/artistic life vs. a life of vacuous partying and tenuous, shallow relationships. Fellini's film presented a character who could not tolerate both, and fell into the latter lifestyle for a variety of reasons related to his character and insecurities.

Chabrol's film illustrates two characters with different personalities trying to cope with both school and a very social existence in the heart of a great city. Charles is greatly affected by the partying and his burgeoning relationship with party-girl Florence, while Paul relishes being the center of their social group. Charles locks himself away to study but cannot get Florence and the eventual loss of her affections out of his mind.

Spoiler

As a result, he can't study properly and fails his exams. Conversely, Paul, who has taken Florence from under Charles' nose, refuses to let his studies get in the way of his entertainment. Naturally, he aces his exams. Chabrol's cynicism is brilliantly evident in these final scenes (some, including myself, would call in realism), but a glimmer of morality appears in the final, tragic scene, when the fun and games with the gun literally end with a bang. It's all fun and games until someone is shot to death. Chabrol, like Fellini, seems to be saying you can't have it both ways after all. Now that I think of it, Chabrol is much harder on Paul. Fellini's Marcello will go on living his disappointing life, whereas Paul will face some serious jail time, not to mention the guilt of accidentally, yet nevertheless irresponsibly, killing his cousin.

Over the course of the few weeks since I've watched it, Les Cousins has grown in my estimation as one of Chabrol's very best films, and I've seen and appreciated the great majority of them. I agree that it is criminally overlooked, but I think Criterion's release will do something to correct that. It has for me. Curiously, I haven't watched Le Beau Serge yet. Soon...

Some might argue that Les Cousins is a bit Godfather III by the end, but I greatly admire how the closing scene is constructed/contrasted. There is practically a smalltalk vibe as the Wagner record spins. After the accident, Brialy's shocked and unsure movements are rendered in such an understated manner.

I'm a bit surprised that people like Les Cousins better. While it may be more plot driven, I found the acting to be a bit too forced in Les Cousins, or maybe it's just the clothes that gave it a bit contrived feeling. I enjoyed Le Beau Serge's understatedness much more, it felt like a pre-Stonewall Brokeback Mountain, and in fact I enjoyed it more than Brokeback Mountain.

So now that there are 3 editions out on blu, has anyone seen a thorough comparison between them?

The poster for the original American release reveals Walter Winchell of all people loved Les cousins!