Update 7/12/18: I've added the 2003 US MGM DVD release to the comparisons; and further down the page, I've also added coverage of the original, 1999 For Lorber DVD of Boyfriends and Girlfriends.
2003 MGM DVD on top; 2005 Arrow DVD mid; 2017 Arrow blu below. |
Both DVDs and the blu present the original French mono in 2.0, but it's in LPCM on the blu; and there are optional English subtitles on all three. The MGM disc also throws in Spanish and French subs.
Apart from the trailer and a couple bonus trailers, Pauline is barebones on the US DVD, however it received a small but nice little collection of special features once it fell into Arrow's hands. In fact, here is actually the single instance where something from the DVD set was left behind. It's somewhat minor, but still, one hates to lose anything in an upgrade. So here's what the DVD gave us: another great Rohmer intro, which in this case is presented as an on-camera interview rather than commentary over footage from the film, plus the original theatrical trailer, and a six and a half audio-only interview with Rohmer [right]. Arrow's blu gave us the intro/ interview and the trailer, but lost the little audio interview. It's not all backwards movement, though, because they added another one of those brief French TV interview clips, this time with Arielle Dombasile, who played Marion. Again, it's always a bummer to lose anything in the course of an upgrade.
We'll be hitting all these Comedies and Proverbs, now, in complete succession, so say hello to 1984's Full Moon In Paris. "He who has two women, loses his soul," we're told, and "he who has two houses loses his mind." And we're shown this in the story of Louise, who lives with her boyfriend but insists on getting a second apartment for herself in the heart of Paris. When he wants to get married, she is of course not ready and reacts instead by striking out on her own and embracing the single life. But she's just too social and out-going to stay alone for long, and her new suitors - particularly Fabrice Luchini - cause her far more troubles than she was trying to escape from in the first place.
2005 Arrow DVD on top; 2017 Arrow blu below. |
Anyway, again, both editions provide the original French mono in 2.0, but in LPCM on the blu, with optional French subtitles.
This is a good one for special features. Arrow provided some nice stuff the first time around, including another Rohmer introduction commentary, the trailer, and a roughly hour-long audio interview with Rohmer about his films, which plays over a gallery of stills from the film. Well, all of that is on the blu, except now the audio interview plays as a partial audio commentary over the film. And the new set also adds some stuff, including another super brief, three minute archived French TV interview, this time with actress Pascale Ogier. Then there is a somewhat strange and very 80s, hour long French TV special (pictured above) on actor Tchéky Karyo. So this one really feels like a special edition.
The Comedies and Proverbs then skip a year and come back in 1986 with The Green Ray, which is a reference to the Jules Verne book, yes; but this is not an adaptation. Instead we're taught about a line of Arthur Rimbaud poetry which reads, "ah! The times come where the hearts fall in love." In this film, our heroine is Marie Rivière (The Aviator's Wife), a single woman can't abide the dating scene and whose best friend leaves her in the middle of their travel vacation to run off with a new beau. So she winds up in the Alps on her own, where Verne's ray can perhaps guide her through her troubles.
2005 Arrow DVD on top; 2017 Arrow blu below. |
Original French mono in 2.0 on both discs, check. LPCM on the blu, check. Optional French subtitles on both discs, check.
The DVD set gave us another Rohmer intro commentary and the original trailer, which the blu-ray dutifully carries over. The new goodies include another one of these tiny French TV clips, this time with actress Marie Rivière and for the first time in this set, something new created by Arrow for their box. British actor Richard Aoyade from The IT Crowd provides a substantial - almost 45 minute long - on-camera interview/ "appreciation" of The Green Ray and Rohmer's work in general. Bet you didn't see that one coming!
The sixth and final film in the Comedies and Proverbs series is 1987's My Girlfriend's Boyfriend. This year's proverb is a philosophy just asking for trouble" "my friends' friends are my friends." The title tells you the basic framework of the plot rather directly. A young woman makes a new friend, but soon becomes attracted to her boyfriend. Fortunately(?), she's not the only one with thoughts of infidelity, and soon everyone is forced to reassess their relationships with each other. Apparently, this film was very loosely remade in America starring Alyssa Milano in 2010. And while this is one of Rohmer's lighter, more traditionally comically plotted efforts, I still can't imagine that version could touch the refined nuances of this original.
Oh, and by the way, I've also got the original US DVD of this one, which came out all the way back in 1999 from Fox Lorber.
1999 Fox Lorber DVD top; 2005 Arrow DVD mid; 2017 Arrow blu below. |
French 2.0 in mono, LPCM on the blu, optional English subs. Oh, except on the Fox Lorber disc. The subtitles are burnt in there. 👎
Arrow just had no love for My Boyfriend's Girlfriend, I guess. It's the only entry in Comedies and Proverbs they didn't get a Rohmer intro for. They just gave gave us the trailer (and remember, this was the disc they slapped Changing Landscape on), though that's more than the US DVD could say, which is so barebones it doesn't even have that. Well, the blu-ray doesn't give us much more. It has the trailer and another one of those tiny French TV clips, this time with Emmanuelle Chaulet, Sophie Renoir, and François-Eric Gendron. Despite featuring the three of them, it still only runs three minutes and twenty seconds. Hey, I'm grateful to have these things; they're fun little additions. But "little" is definitely the operative word.
Created the same year as The Green Ray is the film 4 Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle. It was actually released on DVD here in the US in 2015 by a company called Kimstim; but I'm happy now that I missed it because it's just another double-dip I'd be replacing with this set. Like it's title suggests, this film is broken up into four stories, each centered around the fast friendship formed when Mirabelle, a Parisian college student, runs into Reinette, an uncultured teenage painter out in the country. They're faced with a small series of moral and ethical quandaries, two similar minds sculpted by two very different environments, at times frustrated by each other and yet drawn together. This is perhaps a comedy without the proverb, but Rohmer's philosophic musings are as present as ever.
2017 Arrow blu. |
4 Adventures shares a disc with 1993's The Tree, the Mayor and the Mediatheque, or The Seven Chances. This is a lesser known Rohmer film, that got little release outside of his home country, and indeed, until the big French set from Potemkine, this film had never even been released on DVD or blu before. So for many of us, Arrow's box will have been our first encounter with the film. But this is no less smart or engaging than Rohmer's usual standard, a thoroughly enjoyable story about a mayor (Pascal Greggory from Pauline At the Beach) who struggles against seven conditions, including his own wife, to build a cultural center in a small, country village.
Apparently, this film was barely released outside of France because distributors were worried audiences would get lost in all the talk about specific France political parties, but in actuality, the issues are so universal, you can be completely ignorant of France's political system (and I'm speaking from experience here), and easily follow the story and relate to the characters. If anything, this is a perfect illustration of how politics is really all about people and our day to day lives. And like all these Rohmer's, it's an utterly charming and absorbing experience. Barely a single exchange between characters in this entire movie takes place without them smiling or laughing in it. Look for the welcome return of Rohmer regular Fabrice Luchini. And if you think this movie holds no surprises for you, just wait until you find out what the music they play during the interstitials is building to!
2017 Arrow blu. |
The original Arrow DVD set came in two fold-out digipacks housed in an outer cardboard slip-cover, and contained just a single sheet insert. Their new blu-ray boxed set comes in a thick, sturdy slip-box (not unlike their recent House set), housing five clear amaray cases and an impressive, 124 page full-color book. It features writing on each film by Jonathan Romney, Sophie Monks Kaufman, Geoffrey Macnab, David Jenkins, Geoff Andrew, Tara Judah, Philip Lopate, Andy Miller, Justine Smith and Brad Stevens, respectively. It's also full of glossy photos and lengthy excerpts from cinematographer Nestor Almendros's book, A Man With a Camera. And, as usual, it included a card for another of Arrow's upcoming releases: this time I got Robert Altman's Images.
Arrow's new Collection is a pretty terrific box that's hard to criticize, outside of tiny nitpicks (where'd that audio interview go?). With all its translated special features and 1080p transfers, it's easily the definitive release for the films it includes and has taken the super expensive Potemkine set off my wish-list. At least for these ten films. And until some of Rohmer's other films get released on blu, it's great to know most of Potemkine's other blus (i.e. the four seasons films) can be bought separately. So you can get this ideal box, and still use Potemkine to fill in the blanks.
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