Last Year at Marienbad - Kino Lorber (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: France/Italy, 1961
Director: Alain Resnais
Writer: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Cast: Giorgio Albertazzi, Delphine Seyrig, Sacha Pitoëff

Release Date: August 20th, 2019
Approximate Running Time: 94 Minutes 40 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono French
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $29.95

"In a large international hotel in the European resort town of Marienbad, with a sumptuous but austere décor-a marble universe with gold paneling, statues, and stuff servants-the rich, anonymous, idle clientele circulates. A man (Giorgio Albertazzi) is convinced he met an enigmatic woman (Seyrig, Jeanne Dielman) the previous year at the same location, and perhaps had a flirtation. A second man (Sacha Pitoëff, Inferno), possibly the woman's lover or husband, repeatedly intimidates the first man. Their relations unfold through flashback shards that never quite fit into place, their lives a hall of mirrors that never reveal a true self." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "a gorgeous 4K restoration from StudioCanal."

Last Year at Marienbad comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45 GB

Feature: 27 GB

The source used for this transfer looks excellent. Image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic.

Audio: 5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in French with removable English subtitles. The audio is in excellent shape. Dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well represented.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer for Last Year at Marienbad (3 minutes 34 seconds, DTS-HD mono French with non-removable English subtitles), a short film directed by Alain Resnais titled All the Memory of the World (21 minutes 58 seconds, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, DTS-HD mono French with removable English subtitles), a documentary titled Memories of Last Year at Marienbad (48 minutes 19 seconds, DTS-HD stereo German with removable English subtitles), a video essay titled Last Year at Marienbad A to Z (51 minutes 11 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with second assistant director Volker Schlondorff (32 minutes 51 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English with non-removable English subtitles for French language film clips), and an audio commentary with film critic Tim Lucas.

Other extras are trailers for Woman in Chains and The Nun.

Rounding out the extras is a 12-page booklet with an essay titled In Search of Lost Time: Alain Resnais's Last Year at Marienbad written by Austin Collins and cast & crew credits.

Summary:

Directed by Alain Resnais, whose other notable films include Night and Fog, Hiroshima Mon Amour, and Je t'aime, je t'aime.

Memory is the theme that drives Last Year at Marienbad’s narrative. Last Year at Marienbad takes a mundane event, like a chance encounter, and examines how each person recalls a shared event from their past. And nowhere is this clearer than how Last Year at Marienbad explores how personal feelings influence memory’s. 

Though the narrative is well-constructed, there is no semblance of time as the narrative moves forward. The narrative’s simplicity reinforces what is said or seen.

Content-wise, Last Year at Marienbad has many elements that have since become synonymous with Gothic Romanticism. Most notably its use of mysterious architecture and supernatural undertones.

Performance-wise, the main characters are all very good in their respective roles, especially Delphine Seyrig (Daughters of Darkness,) in the role of A, the brunette woman. Her performance perfectly captures her character's inability to remember the past.

The other main characters are Giorgio Albertazzi (Le Notti Bianche) in the role of X, the man with the Italian accent, the man who tries to get A, the brunette woman, to remember a romantic embrace from their past, and Sacha Pitoëff (Inferno) in the role of M, the other man with the lean face, the husband, the man who is now romantically linked to the brunette woman.

From a production standpoint, Last Year at Marienbad achieves all of its goals. The Gothic-infused visuals are overflowing with dreamlike atmosphere and symbolism. And not to be overlooked is the role that sound plays in Last Year at Marienbad and how these two elements juxtapose, creating a perfect fusion.

Last Year at Marienbad gets an exceptional release from Kino Lorber that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and insightful extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer

Playing with Fire - Cult Epics (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: France/Italy, 1975
Director: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Writer: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Cast: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Philippe Noiret, Anicée Alvina, Sylvia Kristel, Agostina Belli, Serge Marquand, Charles Millot, Vernon Dobtcheff, Jacques Seiler, Michel Berto, Christine Boisson, Marc Mazza, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, Nathalie Zeiger, Joëlle Coeur

Release Date: January 24th, 2023
Approximate Running Time: 112 Minutes 35 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: LPCM Mono French, DTS-HD Mono French
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $34.95

"Grossly affluent banker Georges de Saxe (Philippe Noiret) keeps his daughter, Carolina (Anicée Alvina), hidden in a mysterious house of perversion after a kidnapping attempt snags a young woman who resembles her. Carolina soon finds herself trapped in a deliberately confused existence in the house of sexual exploitation and imprisonment. At the heart of it all seems to be an enigmatic man named Franz (Jean-Louis Trintignant), who will either be Carolina’s killer or savior." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "New 2K HD Transfer (from original negative) & Restoration."

Playing with Fire comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 32.6 GB

Feature: 29.4 GB

The source used for this transfer is in excellent shape. Flesh tones look healthy, colors are nicely saturated, image clarity and compression are solid, the image always looks organic, and outside of a few moments, black levels look great.

Audio: 4.5/5 (LPCM Mono French, DTS-HD Mono French)

This release comes with two audio options, a LPCM mono mix in French and a DTS-HD mono mix in French. I did not notice anything different about these two audio tracks. Both audio tracks are in great shape; dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and range-wise, this track does a great job with ambient sounds. Included are removable English subtitles for the French-language tracks.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a photo gallery (37 images - posters/lobby cards/pressbook), an interview with Catherine Robbe-Grillet (5 minutes 16 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), an audio commentary with film critic Tim Lucas, reversible cover with uncensored original poster art, and a eight-page booklet (limited to the first pressing) with an essay about Alain Robbe-Grillet written by Marcus Stiglegger, and a filmography for Alain Robbe-Grillet.

Other extras are trailers for Julia, Pastorale 1943, and Mysteries.

Summary:

After his daughter is nearly kidnapped, an affluent banker arranges for his daughter to stay at home, which is connected to a criminal organization that drugs women into being held for ransom and forced into sexual acts of depravity.

Most filmmakers have elements in their films that show you who influenced them. When it comes to a filmmaker like Alain Robbe-Grillet, he is a truly unique filmmaker whose films have no linkage to other films or filmmakers. That said, Last Year at Marienbad is the closest any film has come to capturing the essence of Alain Robbe-Grillet’s cinema. It's not surprising that Alain Robbe-Grillet wrote Last Year at Marienbad’s screenplay.

Before anyone is introduced or any words are spoken, Playing with Fire opens with a sensational opening sequence that does a superb job of setting the stage for what is about to unfold. It is also just one of many moments of misdirection or alternate realities where everything that happens is not always clear-cut.

Though the narrative moves forward in a fairly straightforward way, there is not much in the way of backstory, and when it comes to the character motivations, things are vague. Fortunately, the narrative does a superb job of building momentum towards a very satisfying coda that perfectly encapsulates the events that preceded it.

Playing with Fire has a solid cast that is filled with faces that anyone familiar with 1960s and 1970s European cinema is sure to recognize. The two performances that stand out are Philippe Noiret (Cinema Paradiso), an affluent banker whose daughter is kidnapped, and Jean-Louis Trintignant (The Conformist), in a dual role; one of his characters is a kidnapper while the other is a private detective. Other notable characters are Anicée Alvina (Successful Slidings of Pleasure) in the role of the affluent banker's daughter, Sylvia Kristel (Emmanuelle), and Agostina Belli (Scent of a Woman 1974), whose characters reside at the home where the banker's daughter is being held captive.

Though eroticism is an element that runs throughout Alain Robbe-Grillet’s films, a film like Playing with Fire is much more than your run-of-the-mill erotica; it is a film that is better described as avant-garde. Surrealism is another element that is prominent in Alain Robbe-Grillet’s films, and there is an abundance of surrealism in Playing with Fire. And nowhere is this clearer than when it comes to the visuals, which are overflowing with symbolism. Another strength of the visuals is how they take full advantage of the 2.35:1 scope frame. Also, the way that Playing with Fire uses images and sound heightens the mood. Ultimately, Playing with Fire is an extraordinary cinematic experience that is a must-see if you're a fan of Alain Robbe-Grillet.

Playing with Fire is an excellent release from Cult Epics that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and a trio of insightful extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer

La Belle Captive - Olive Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: France, 1983
Director: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Writers: Alain Robbe-Grillet, Frank Verpillat
Cast: Daniel Mesguich, Cyrielle Clair, Daniel Emilfork, François Chaumette, Gabrielle Lazure

Release Date: January 20th, 2015
Approximate Running Time: 88 Minutes 25 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono French
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: OOP

"After encountering a mysterious woman (Gabrielle Lazure) at a smoke-filled nightclub, secret agent Walter Raim (Daniel Mesguich) finds the woman lying bound and semi-conscious on a country road. He takes her to an isolated mansion, where a group of mysterious men have gathered. In the morning, Walter awakens to find bite marks on his neck, and embarks on a one-man crusade to unravel the mystery. But his detective work is thwarted by leather-clad, motorcycle-riding femme fatale Sara Zeitgeist (Cyrielle Clair), who commands a squad of black-shirted goons to keep Walter from attaining the object of his quest." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5

La Belle Captive comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 21.6 GB

Feature: 20.5 GB

No information is provided about this transfer’s source. The source used for this transfer is in great shape. Flesh tones look correct, colors are nicely saturated, image clarity, black levels, and compression are strong throughout, and there does not appear to be any digital noise reduction.

Audio: 4.25/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in French with removable English subtitles. The audio sounds clean, clear, and balanced. Range-wise, this audio track sounds very good.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 10 seconds, Dolby Digital mono French with removable English subtitles).

Summary:

An unnamed organization asks a man named Walter to deliver a letter to Henri de Corinthe. Along the way, he encounters a mysterious woman who is bound and lying in the middle of the road. From there, he takes the semi-conscious injured woman to a mansion, where a group of sinister-looking men are having some sort of gathering. Though reluctant at first, Walter is able to get one of the men to help him with the injured woman. This man then leads them upstairs to a room, and he locks the door after he leaves the room. Now alone with the woman, he starts to see things that should not be possible, like her freeing herself from the chains that bound her hand and her clothes miraculously removing themselves. Slowly, the mysterious woman draws Walter into her web of seduction. When he wakes up in the morning, she has disappeared into thin air, and all he has left to remember her by are the bite marks that she left on his neck. What does all of this mean? Will he finally discover the truth once he deciphers all of the clues, or was his encounter with her a figment of his imagination?

Inspiration for La Belle Captive comes from two primary sources. The first source of inspiration is Belgian surrealist René Magritte, and the second source is Louis Feuillade, a French filmmaker whose notable films include Fantômas, Les Vampires, and Judex.

Content-wise, La Belle Captive is equal parts Neo Noir and psychological horror film. The Neo Noir side resides mostly in the visuals, while the psychological horror elements manifest themselves in the form of a seductress named Marie-Ange, the woman that Walter discovers bound and semi-conscious in the idleness of the road. This character's potency lies in the fact that she is an enigma due to her lack of communication. And because of her ambiguity, her true indemnity is never fully exposed. Is she a vampire, is she an angel, or is she the grim reaper?

Once again, Alain Robbe-Grillet works with a fractured narrative that focuses on cerebral and sexual themes. The mainstay of the narrative is its constant revisiting of the protagonists’ observations and their suspicions. Imagery, music, and dialog are repeated to the point that it becomes impossible to differentiate between what one thinks that they have seen or what one suspects that they may have experienced. And nowhere is this more evident than in the finale.

Needless to say, anyone expecting anything that even remotely resembles what has since become accepted as the conventional way of telling a story should look elsewhere, while those with a more adventurous cinema palette are sure to thoroughly enjoy La Belle Captive.

La Belle Captive gets a strong audio/video presentation from Olive Films, recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer

Eden and After – Redemption Films/Kino Lorber (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: France/Czechoslovakia, 1970
Director: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Writer: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Cast: Catherine Jourdan, Lorraine Rainer, Richard Leduc, Sylvain Corthay, Pierre Zimmer, Ludovít Króner, Jarmila Kolenicová, Juraj Kukura

Release Date: May 27th, 2014
Approximate Running Times: 98 Minutes 37 Seconds (Eden and After), 79 Minutes 7 Seconds (N. Took the Dice)
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Both Versions)
Rating: NR
Sound: LPCM Mono French (Both Versions)
Subtitles: English (Both Versions)
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $34.95

"From the darkly erotic imagination of Alain Robbe-Grillet (Trans-Europe-Express) comes Eden and After, a dreamlike fable in which a group of decadent French students are drawn into the psychological and sexual games of a mysterious Dutchman (Pierre Zimmer). Once they imbibe his "fear powder," the students experience a series of hallucinatory episodes: reminations on death, explorations of sexual curiosity, and striking tableaux of sadomasochistic fantasy." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4/5 (Eden and After, N. Took the Dice)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Newly mastered in HD from 35mm elements."

Eden and After comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45 GB

Feature: 22.2 GB (Eden and After), 16 GB (N. Took the Dice)

The sources used for these two versions are comparable, and both versions are in great shape. Flesh tones look healthy, colors look vibrant, image clarity is strong, compression is very good, and though grain remains intact, it does look noisier in some moments than others. Also, there are some issues related to Black Crush. That said, despite these shortcomings, the image does retain an organic look.

Audio: 4.25/5 (LPCM Mono French - Eden and After, LPCM Mono French - N. Took the Dice)

Both versions come with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix in French with removable English subtitles. Both audio tracks are in great shape. Dialog always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well represented.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 41 seconds, LPCM mono French with non-removable English subtitles), a theatrical trailer for Trans-Europ-Express (3 minutes 21 seconds, LPCM mono French with non-removable English subtitles), a theatrical trailer for The Man Who Lies (3 minutes 22 seconds, LPCM mono French with non-removable English subtitles), a 2014 promo reel for the six Alain Robbe-Grillet films released by Redemption Films and Kino Lorber (2 minutes 9 seconds, LPCM mono with text in English), and an interview with director Alain Robbe-Grillet (30 minutes 56 seconds, LPCM stereo French with non-removable English subtitles).

Summary:

A group of college students have their lives turned upside down after a chance meeting with a mysterious man named Dutchman, whom he introduces as a hallucinatory, inducing white substance that he calls ‘fear powder’.

Where the overwhelming majority of his contemporaries have had their work reappraised, the same could not be said for the films of Alain Robbe-Grillet. That was until recently, as his films have become more widely available. And now that the bulk of his oeuvre has been given quality releases, the films of Alain Robbe-Grillet are ripe for their own reappraisal.

Though he was approached with the idea of shooting in color for the film The Man Who Lies, Alain Robbe-Grillet would hold out for one more film and not make his debut in color until his next film, Eden and After.

The transition from black and white to color is effortless, as Alain Robbe-Grillet immediately takes full advantage of his new palette of colors. Eden and After opens in grand style with a scene where a young woman is pursued through a maze-like structure that is bursting with vibrant colors. And though colors play an integral role in the story at hand, he makes an interesting visual choice halfway through when the action shifts away from robust, colorful locations to more subdued locations that are drenched in white. A few other striking moments visually include a woman watching broken glass and a nude woman descending down a staircase.

Narrative wise Alain Robbe-Grillet continues to experiment as he creates twelve loosely connected scenarios that, for the most part, are improvised. Whereas the first half focuses on a group of friends who hang out at a café called Eden, the second half shifts its focus more towards the protagonist's mind-altering trip after taking a mysterious substance referred to as ‘fear powder’. And to further support the idea that the second half is from the protagonist's point of view, for no reason at all, Eden and After shift locations to Tunisia while the protagonist and her friends are watching a documentary about Tunisia. To further drive home the protagonists’ trip down the rabbit hole, everyone in the documentary they are watching is their doppelganger.

From a performance standpoint, everyone is more than adequate in their respective roles, with Catherine Jourdan (Le Samouraï) in the role of the protagonist, a young woman named Violette, leaving the strongest lasting impression with her short, cropped Mia Farrow-like haircut and well above her knees very short mini dress. And though Eden and After would thematically continue along the same avenues that his previous three films had traversed, in terms of eroticism, Eden and After is the film where Alain Robbe-Grillet finally hits his stride.

Eden and After gets a solid release from Redemption Films that comes with a strong audio/video presentation, two versions of the film, and an informative interview, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer

The Man Who Lies – Redemption Films/Kino Lorber (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Czechoslovakia/France, 1968
Director: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Writer: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Cast: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Ivan Mistrík, Zuzana Kocúriková, Sylvie Turbová, Sylvie Bréal, Jozef Cierny, Jozef Kroner, Dominique Prado

Release Date: May 27th, 2014
Approximate Running Time: 97 Minutes 55 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: LPCM Mono French
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $34.95

"On the run from pursuing soldiers, Bois finds refuge in a small European town which, years before, was home to Jean, a resistance fighter hunted by Nazis. Boris ingratiates himself in the community, weaving elaborate tales of his encounters with the martyred rebel, and thereby seducing Jean's widow...and sister...and maid. But Boris's erotic games are interrupted when a mysterious stranger - who may, in fact, be Jean - arrives in the village." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Newly mastered in HD from the original 35mm elements."

The Man Who Lies comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 40 GB

Feature: 28.6 GB

The source used for this transfer is in great shape; any source-related imperfections are minor and never intrusive. Image clarity is strong, black levels are excellent, compression is very good, and outside of a few moments, contrast looks great. Also, the image retains an organic look.

Audio: 4.25/5

This release comes with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix in French with removable English subtitles. The audio is in great shape. Dialog always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well represented.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 22 seconds, LPCM mono French with non-removable English subtitles), a theatrical trailer for Trans-Europ-Express (3 minutes 21 seconds, LPCM mono French with non-removable English subtitles), a theatrical trailer for Eden and After (2 minutes 41 seconds, LPCM mono French with non-removable English subtitles), a 2014 promo reel for the six Alain Robbe-Grillet films released by Redemption Films and Kino Lorber (2 minutes 9 seconds, LPCM mono with text in English), and an interview with director Alain Robbe-Grillet (35 minutes 22 seconds, LPCM stereo French with non-removable English subtitles).

Summary:

After narrowly escaping soldiers that had been relentlessly pursuing him, a man named Boris finds refuge in a rural village that years before had been the home of a resistance fighter named Jean, who is believed to have died during the war. And not long after his arrival, Boris integrates his way into the lives of Jean’s widow, her sister, and their maid by seducing this trio of women with a series of tall tales about encounters with Jean. Unfortunately for Boris, his charade is put in jeopardy when another stranger arrives, claiming to be the widow's long-lost husband.

Where the overwhelming majority of his contemporaries have had their work reappraised, the same could not be said for the films of Alain Robbe-Grillet. That was until recently, as his films have become more widely available. And now that the bulk of his oeuvre has been given quality releases, the films of Alain Robbe-Grillet are ripe for their own reappraisal.

Alain Robbe-Grillet began his career as a novelist, and as an author, he is one of the pivotal figures associated with the Nouveau Roman (new novel) trend that emerged in 1950s French literature. This type of writing is best summed up as creating a new style with each new piece. From there, Alain Robbe-Grillet would make the shift into the world of cinema when he was asked to collaborate on the screenplay for Last Year at Marienbad. His screenplay would receive an Academy Award nomination for writing the original screenplay and win the Golden Lion for best screenplay. This success would lead to Alain Robbe-Grillet making the transition to directing, making his directorial debut in 1962 with the film L’Immortelle and following that up four years later with Trans-Europ-Express.

For his third feature film Alain Robbe-Grillet would re-team with Jean-Louis Trintignant (The Conformist) the leading man from his previous film Trans-Europ-Express. Only this time around Jean-Louis Trintignant would be given the task of portraying the dual role of Jan Robin, a presumed to be deceased resistance fighter and Boris Varissa, a man that nobody seems to remember and yet he claims to have been a close friend of Jan Robin. From a performance stand point Jean-Louis Trintignant does a remarkable job maintaining his characters likability, which is not an easy task considering the unreliability of the protagonist? Also his role is very important to the story at hand, since the remaining cast of characters are never fully explored and their own motivations never enter the fray. That said, despite the limitations of their characters the rest of the cast are very good in their respective roles.

Though there is a semblance of a linear narrative, the end result, like all of Alain Robbe-Grillet, is anything remotely straight forward. Also, the film’s appropriate title, The Man Who Lies, gives the viewer the ultimate clue on how to process what they are about to see. The protagonist is not to be trusted; don’t rely on what you hear, but on what you see, as it holds what’s left of the truth. And from a visual point of view, Alain Robbe-Grillet creates a world only seen in dreams and nightmares. There is never a moment in The Man Who Lies where anything comes close to being grounded in reality. The events that unfold in The Man Who Lies are firmly rooted in a subconscious world that deeply resonates and leaves itself open for multiple interpolations.

There are many great moments visually in The Man Who Lies, like a scene where the widow, her sister, and their maid are playing a game of hide and seek while the seeker is blindfolded. Or the finale, which features a striking image of the protagonist as he appears to have come to terms with the truth he has been trying to avoid. Another area where The Man Who Lies excels is its use of repetitive sounds and images as a means to reveal things that are just beneath the surface. Also, though The Man Who Lies is not as provocative as some of his later films, The Man Who Lies still delves into many of the themes that would dominate Alain Robbe-Grillet’s filmography, like sexuality and bondage. Ultimately, The Man Who Lies is an engrossing exercise in where the truth ends and a lie begins.

The Man Who Lies gets a solid release from Redemption Films that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and an informative interview, highly recommended.

 Written by Michael Den Boer