Claire Denis on DVD

[Anonymous]

don't know for sure about the difference between the 2 DVDs of Trouble Every Day Oedipax, but the cheaper one is the exact same cover as the Australian R4 if I remember rightly, so maybe it's just an import that's not listed as such?
Maybe you should email Sendit, or whoever, about it. assuming they know their own stock listings, which isn't always guarenteed when you're dealing with customer service staff. I think someone mentioned the R4 has a nice picture, but I can't see it being that cheap.
I've got the Tartan, which is fine, though of course is minus the commentary ...

thanks very much for the story link by the way

Adam

[colinr0380]

Edit: Also, not to be a pain in the ass about it, but does no one really know the difference (if any) between the R2 Trouble Every Day releases?

It looks like the teeth cover one is a budget rerelease. From those Amazon sites it came out October 2005, two and a half years after the Tartan release (April 2003 according to Amazon).

It is two different companies as well from the look of it - the rerelease is by Prism Entertainment. The Amazon site says that the RRP is £5.99, which was then discounted on the Amazon site to the £3.97. The rerelease is also advertised on MovieMail. Movie Mail does not list the Tartan version which might suggest that the Tartan release is out of print or going out of print, but it is still being advertised on Tartan Video's website

After all that there doesn't seem to be much difference between them - strangely the Amazon site lists a Claire Denis audio commentary on the Tartan disc but the box cover and the Tartan website do not mention this, so I think neither disc has this extra. The only other difference seems to be that the soundtrack on the Tartan is 5.1, compared to the rerelease which the Amazon page only has down as stereo.

Perhaps it was a really poor seller at £19.99 for just the film, and Tartan don't seem to do budget rereleases so perhaps they let the rights go to Prism?

[zedz]

by the way zedz, if fairly certain Chocolat has cinematography by Agnes Godard, she's been with Denis since the beginning...

I don't even remember the context for this (and I'm too lazy to scroll back), but the DP on Chocolat was Robert Alazraki. Anges was the camera operator, but I'm pretty sure my point was that, fine as the cinematography is, it doesn't have the same distinctive Godard touch of the later films. Much more conventionally pretty, for example, less tactile.

[Anonymous]

finding context on message boards if always difficult.
I thought it was Agnes as DP, but camera op. is close enough i guess. personally I thought the cinematography really suited Chocolat, in its stillness in distance, even if it was more conventional. That said I do prefer Godard's more tactile work in Denis' later films too. more moody and erotic. I think both Denis & Godard developed together film by film, and make one of those wonderful teams that, I think, were Denis to make a film now without Godard, it just would not have the same style or intensity. something would feel to be missing.
ie look what happens when Cronenberg makes a film without one of his inner circle (although here I think his films become damaged even when he works from someone else's script-but I better stop here before I divert this topic onto someone else entirely)

[Don Lope de Aguirre]

Chocolat is a superb debut! Some of the cinematography, to me, seemed very Tarkovskij flavoured. She uses a few languid tracking shots that she since completely eradicated... I think she worked for him at some point (her CV is pretty impressive as an assistant).

Has anyone seen her latest doc 'Vers Mathilde'?

(I'm hoping this and the latest Akerman will see daylight but I'm not holding my breath...)

[Anonymous]

Has anyone seen her latest doc 'Vers Mathilde'?

the Melbourne International Film Festival (or MIFF for the time-deprived) program comes out tomorrow, so with luck I'll find Vers Mathilde to be included, and will be able to talk of it in about a month, though I wouldn't hold my breath. I'll be glad when the current festival director leaves MIFF after this year, as I don't really share his taste in film. Though my pockets are rather happy for this...

[yoshimori]

Has anyone seen her latest doc 'Vers Mathilde'?

Saw it in Hong Kong.

Part master class, part making-of doc. In case you don't already know, the Mathilde in question is Mathilde Monnier, choreographer at the Centre National Montpellier Languedoc Roussillon. The film charts the evolution of a Monnier dance piece that involves both long stretches of "walking" and cages made of lots of gigantic rubber bands. Grainy super-8 and super-16 footage.

Not much like Denis' fiction work, but engaging enough to keep me in the theater.

[Anonymous]

well, as half expected, I won't get the chance to find out what it's like for myself, as its not showing at MIFF. Sounds interesting though, but perhaps not quite worth losing any sleep over (not that I'm that obsessive over film anymore )

[Dylan]

Has anybody seen Claire's segment "U.S. Go Home," from the series "All the Boys and Girls in Their Time?"

Review here

And anybody know the aspect ratio of "Nanette et Boni?"

[zedz]

Has anybody seen Claire's segment "U.S. Go Home," from the series "All the Boys and Girls in Their Time?"

Yes. It's a typically excellent film, one of the best of the series (of which I think the masterpiece is Assayas' L'Eau froide - the evil twin of Dazed and Confused; the Akerman is also excellent).

I've seen most of the films, and generally, the whole series is worthwhile. It's ridiculous that nobody's managed to get them all out on DVD. Among the lesser entries there's a touch of sameness (a lot of these films, including some of the best ones, are direct descendants of Pialat's Passe ton bac d'abord, so there's a strong familial resemblance involved), but the biographical particulars of the brief generate sufficient individuality to keep everything interesting.

[Dylan]

Sounds great. Are they available at all, even on VHS or maybe on some 'unofficial releases' webpage (of course with English subtitles)? I'd really like to see these. David(hare), have you seen these as well?

And Zedz, "Nanette et Boni" is your favorite Denis, right? Do you remember it's original aspect ratio, or did you see it on VHS? There's a cheap VHS online I might buy, seeing as that no DVD release is on the horizon.

[zedz]

And Zedz, "Nanette et Boni" is your favorite Denis, right? Do you remember it's original aspect ratio, or did you see it on VHS? There's a cheap VHS online I might buy, seeing as that no DVD release is on the horizon.

I have a terrible memory for aspect ratios (other than ones at either extreme). I saw this on the big screen when it was first doing the rounds. Sublime! Two of the most perfect image / music fusions I know of: 'God Only Knows' (Vincent Gallo's finest three minutes?) and 'Tiny Tears' (Stuart Staples and Gregoire Colin's finest four?).

I've also got a very poor subtitled Korean - or Hong Kong - DVD. I'll check the AR on that, but I wouldn't count on it being correct. (It looks like a smeary video transfer.)

[franco]

I've also got a very poor subtitled Korean - or Hong Kong - DVD. I'll check the AR on that, but I wouldn't count on it being correct. (It looks like a smeary video transfer.)

Are you talking about this one, Zedz? Looks like it came from Taiwan.

[Dylan]

'God Only Knows' (Vincent Gallo's finest three minutes?)

Alright, now I need to see this.

It looks like the Taiwan DVD isn't available, but a VCD (subtitled?) is. Can anybody vouch for this?

I'll likely just get the VHS, since it's really cheap and the subtitles are probably better (and if it's only 1.66 I'm not missing much). Then again, that VCD is dirt cheap as well.

Any other alternatives?

[zedz]

I've also got a very poor subtitled Korean - or Hong Kong - DVD. I'll check the AR on that, but I wouldn't count on it being correct. (It looks like a smeary video transfer.)

Are you talking about this one, Zedz? Looks like it came from Taiwan.

That's the one!

Wasn't this released recently (unsubbed) in France? It's not currently available from either Amazon or Alapage, but a single copy is for sale from one of Amazon's sellers. It's accompanied by No Fear No Die, which I'd love to see.

[franco]

It looks like the Taiwan DVD isn't available, but a VCD (subtitled?) is.

I doubt it is subtitled in English. Most of these bootlegged VCDs and DVDs only have forced traditional Chinese subtitles.

Since when did your fascination with Claire Denis start to grow, Dylan... ah never mind. I just read your Pont Mirabeau

[Dylan]

I sort of accidently walked onto the Denis train last week (via Vincent Gallo). I thought "Trouble Every Day" was great: cinematically affecting while at the same time being a completely disturbing (and rather sickening) physical/emotional rampage. It was incredibly well-balanced in its presentation, particularly for a film of this sort (and there aren't many of them, only "Twentynine Palms" is coming to mind). From what I understand, this is not a typical reaction, particularly if it was one's first Denis (as it was mine), but even aside from that, almost everybody else seems to hate it.

It looks like none of her work with Gallo is on R1, aside from Netflix carrying the R0 of "Trouble Every Day." Anybody seen their first work together, "Keep it for Yourself?"

At least Denis is more represented on R1 than other directors.

[zedz]

I checked out my Nenette DVD and it's 1.66 - and that looks about right. The big problem with the image is that it's very soft and ALL motion is blurred.

Has anyone seen her latest doc 'Vers Mathilde'?

Saw it in Hong Kong.

Part master class, part making-of doc. In case you don't already know, the Mathilde in question is Mathilde Monnier, choreographer at the Centre National Montpellier Languedoc Roussillon. The film charts the evolution of a Monnier dance piece that involves both long stretches of "walking" and cages made of lots of gigantic rubber bands. Grainy super-8 and super-16 footage.

Not much like Denis' fiction work, but engaging enough to keep me in the theater.

I saw this recently. It's pretty minor Denis, and lacks a lot of the formal virtues that make even her weaker features compelling. However, it has its points of interest if you've been following her career. Obviously, Monnier's interest in bodies in space aligns with Denis' own, and there are distinct similarities between the vernacular choreography in this film and the choreographed vernacular movements of, say, Beau travail. Nancy is there again, raising the remote possibility that this and Vers Nancy could be considered as the side panels of a very loose L'Intrus triptych. And there's also the concern with adaptation across forms (music into dance into film) which Denis has herself explored in several of her recent features.

Worth catching if you're a Denis-watcher and it lands in your town, but probably not worth fretting over if it doesn't.

[Oedipax]

Since this thread's been resurrected, I wanted to ask, does anyone else think the motion looks a little weird on the Wellspring DVD of Friday Night? It feels like the whole film has been slightly sped up, or something - if I didn't know for a fact it was shot on film, I would suspect it was done on video. The motion has the feel of interlaced 60i rather than progressive 24p. It's enough to take me out of the movie at certain points - look in particular at some of the pans in the film, during the traffic jam sequence - the movement is wrong somehow, too smooth, too fast, just not filmic, and unlike any of Denis' other movies - strange!

None of the DVD reviews I looked at mention this, so I feel a bit crazy pointing it out. I really don't think it's just me, though. Hopefully someone else feels the same way and can explain what is going on. My only guess is something to do with Wellspring's PAL-NTSC conversion (if this is what they used). Very odd, and frustrating.

[martin]

As mentioned in another thread her documentary Jacques Rivette - Le veilleur (1990) will be released as part of a German 5-disc set on Rivette March 2008 (by Arthaus). No English subs.

[Adam]

how about I Can't Sleep?anyone seen this flick?

I saw it years ago, and can't really remember it, beyond the impression that I thought it very good.

[pro-bassoonist]

None of the DVD reviews I looked at mention this, so I feel a bit crazy pointing it out. I really don't think it's just me, though. Hopefully someone else feels the same way and can explain what is going on. My only guess is something to do with Wellspring's PAL-NTSC conversion (if this is what they used). Very odd, and frustrating.

Hello Oedipax:

This is precisely the case! Even though not a single review mentions it I can confirm that the print for the R1 isn't properly converted. While your eye has caught something most other viewers were impartial about you are correct in assuming that the sourcing is to blame.

Ciao,
Pro-B

ps
I know your post was a very old one but still...

[Oedipax]

Well it's good to know I'm not just seeing things! Like I said, it really takes me out of the movie at times, which is a shame.

I see there's a DVD release of the film in France as of January '07. I wonder how the transfer is on that one? Probably no English subs, though.

[reaky]

There's a UK Tartan release (under its French title, VENDREDI SOIR). I have no idea about image quality, but would be interested to hear.

[Arn777]

I rented the Tartan one, and the PQ wasn't very good at all (on a plasma screen, and on my powerbook, might be better on a CRT). The Arte DVD has English subs, I haven't seen it as I'm not a big fan of Vendredi Soir, but their DVD of J'ai aps sommeil was good.