Quiet Days in Clichy – Blue Underground (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Denmark, 1970
Director: Jens Jørgen Thorsen
Writers: Henry Miller, Jens Jørgen Thorsen
Cast: Paul Valjean, Wayne Rodda, Ulla Koppel, Avi Sagild, Susanne Krage, Louise White, Petronella, Elsebeth Reingaard, Lisbet Lundquist, Olaf Ussing, Noemi Roos, Anne Kehler

Release Date: October 25th, 2022
Approximate Running Time: 90 Minutes 38 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $49.95

"Joey is a struggling writer with no money. His roommate Carl is a charming stud with a taste for young girls. Together, these two insatiable dreamers will laugh, love and screw their way through a decadent Paris paved with wanton women, wild orgies and outrageous erotic adventures." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "a brand-new restoration, scanned in 4K 16-bit from its recently discovered uncut & uncensored original fine-grain negative, with Dolby Vision HDR."

Quiet Days in Clichy comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD

Disc Size: 54.9 GB

Feature: 48.3 GB

Quiet Days in Clichy comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 37.5 GB

Feature: 21.1 GB

The source used for this transfer looks excellent. Image clarity, contrast and black levels are solid, there are no issues with compression, and the image retains an organic look. That said, it is hard to imagine Quiet Days in Clichy looking any better than this transfer.

Audio: 4.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English (there are a few dialog exchanges in French), and removable English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles. The audio sounds clean, clear, and balanced, and the score sounds robust.

Extras:

The extras on the 4K UHD disc are a theatrical trailer (4 minutes 19 seconds, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles), and a deleted scene (6 minutes 11 seconds, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles).

The extras on the Blu-ray disc include a theatrical trailer (4 minutes 19 seconds, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles), a deleted scene (6 minutes 11 seconds, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles), book cover image gallery (24 images), court documents image gallery (12 images), poster & still gallery (76 images), an archival interview with Country Joe McDonald titled Songs of Clichy (11 minutes 13 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with Henry Miller’s editor and publisher Barney Rosset titled Dirty Books, Dirty Movies: Barney Rosset on Henry Miller (17 minutes 19 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and Midnight Blue interview with Barney Rosset (17 minutes 19 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles).

Other extras include a reversible cover art and a limited edition NSFW embossed slipcover (first pressing only).

Summary:

Henry Miller’s novel Quiet Days in Clichy serves as the basis of Jens Jørgen Thorsen's film adaptation. In the same year that Jens Jørgen Thorsen made Quiet Days in Clichy, Joseph Strick would adapt Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer. Both films were made simultaneously around Paris in 1969. When Quiet Days in Clichy first arrived in America in 1970, it was seized by the authorities as pornography. Though it would eventually win its case in federal court, Quiet Days in Clichy faded away into obscurity until it was released on DVD in 2004 by Blue Underground.

Structurally, the narrative is straight-forward. And though there is a looseness to the story at hand, there is a lot more to Quiet Days in Clichy than just a series of sex scenes. At the heart of Quiet Days in Clichy is a tale about living life to the fullest. And though some will dismiss the two main characters, a struggling writer named Joe and his friend, for the harsh language they use when discussing the women they have slept with, there are a few moments throughout Quiet Days in Clichy that counterbalance their vulgarity. Most notably, a scene where Joe is on a blind date with a woman who feels used up and unwanted. By the end of their date, he had made her feel like she did matter. That said, if there is any drawback to the story at hand, some viewers may be turned off by the lack of progression of the two main characters. When quiet days in Clichy come to an end, they are exactly where they began.

From a production standpoint, there are not many areas where Quiet Days in Clichy does not excel. Whether it be its stark black and white cinematography, carefully framed compositions, well balanced pacing, or Country Joe McDonald's pitch perfect score, it often illustrates what is going on. Many will find the performances lacking. Fortunately, there is a rawness to the performances that lends itself to the story at hand. Ultimately, Quiet Days in Clichy does a phenomenal job of retaining the spirit of Henry Miller’s source novel.

Quiet Days in Clichy makes its way to 4K UHD via a definitive release from Blue Underground, recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a VLC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer