Éric Rohmer on DVD and BD

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Éric Rohmer on DVD and BD

#1 Post by Anonymous » Thu Jun 02, 2005 5:12 pm

I've never seen any Rohmer, but this new set, reviewed at dvdbeaver looks interesting. Can anyone tell me if this set would be a good introduction to this director?
Thanks!

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... ection.htm

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backstreetsbackalright
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#2 Post by backstreetsbackalright » Thu Jun 02, 2005 5:55 pm

This is a very decent introduction. Excellent ones to check out include Rayon vert, Chloe in the Afternoon, Pauline at the Beach, and Full Moon in Paris. Marquis of O is generally very well liked, but considered somewhat unusual for the director (haven't seen it myself). This set also might be a good way to get to know Rohmer simply because he's a director who seems to improve with accumulation. The more of him I've seen, the more I've liked all of his films. The first I saw was Full Moon, which I then had reservations about. Now, after seeing other Rohmer films, I love it. Other good ones not included in this set include the "Four Seasons" films. The only one of these I've seen so far is Tale of Winter, but it was excellent, and very possibly the most accomplished of the Rohmer I've seen.

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zedz
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#3 Post by zedz » Thu Jun 02, 2005 6:24 pm

Agreed. Your taste for Rohmer is likely to develop with familiarity, and the box looks like an ideal introduction. If you like urbane and witty, or want to see great naturalistic screen acting, Rohmer's definitely for you. Le Rayon vert is surely close to being his best film, and most of the others included are very well-regarded. (Come to think of it, I don't know if any of his features are poorly-regarded).

As for the Tales of the Four Seasons, it's only a matter of time before somebody (Criterion?) gives them the deluxe treatment they deserve. They're all great, but Winter and Summer are peak form.

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duane hall
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#4 Post by duane hall » Thu Jun 02, 2005 6:48 pm

from what i've seen so far (and from general critical consensus) rohmer is remarkably consistent.

of the four i've seen, My Night at Maud's hit me best, and is one of my very favorites of the 60s. some find it a bit talky and overly philosophical. (but you're talking to a guy whose favorite film of the 80s is My Dinner with Andre.) i can also vouch for the splendidness of Claire's Knee, Chloe in the Afternoon (now labeled Love in the Afternoon) and Pauline at the Beach. unfortunately the current Region 1 Claire's has an atrocious transfer. and Chloe might be crummy too, i don't remember too well.

in a perfect world, Criterion would release it all. moral tales, comedies and proverbs, four seasons and everything in between. i hope they do justice to at least Maud's and Claire's, as has been rumored for a while now.

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backstreetsbackalright
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#5 Post by backstreetsbackalright » Thu Jun 02, 2005 7:54 pm

Wow that's cheap! Maud's I've never seen, mostly because I'm holding out for the rumored Criterion disc.

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jorencain
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#6 Post by jorencain » Thu Jun 02, 2005 8:43 pm

I'm also taking the plunge. I haven't seen any of his films, but based on his reputation, and the dvdbeaver review, I ordered it yesterday. An 8 film set at that price by ANY director is worth taking a chance on.

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#7 Post by unclehulot » Fri Jun 03, 2005 12:35 am

jorencain wrote:I'm also taking the plunge. I haven't seen any of his films, but based on his reputation, and the dvdbeaver review, I ordered it yesterday. An 8 film set at that price by ANY director is worth taking a chance on.
Me too! Already shipped even! Thanks for the heads up, Gary!

iangj
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#8 Post by iangj » Sun Jun 05, 2005 8:37 am

zedz wrote:As for the Tales of the Four Seasons, it's only a matter of time before somebody (Criterion?) gives them the deluxe treatment they deserve. They're all great, but Winter and Summer are peak form.
Coming from Artificial Eye soon, n'est-ce pas? (But maybe not very "deluxe".)

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jorencain
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#9 Post by jorencain » Sat Jun 11, 2005 6:01 pm

I just got mine today. The packaging is simple, but looks nice (although it's pretty flimsy cardboard). The picture quality on these seems alright (I haven't yet watched anything from beginning to end), and there seems to be comments from Rohmer on each film.

A word of warning, however: I got nervous when I first put in these discs, as my DVD player (Toshiba SD-4900) froze up continuously during the 30 second "Arrow Films" logo. It took about 4 minutes to get through the logo, but then everything seemed to work normally once it got to the menu screen. I've just checked 3 of the 8 discs, but they're all the same. As long as the movies play, I'm fine with it. I was worried at first, though.

kazantzakis
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#10 Post by kazantzakis » Sat Jun 11, 2005 6:20 pm

I have had no problems , freezing or otherwise with 4 discs thus far. Could it be due to your player?

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#11 Post by unclehulot » Sat Jun 11, 2005 8:39 pm

I have a Toshiba 3900, and have no problems with them. I suggest that you enable the "auto play" feature on the setup menu (in the "others" section at the bottom). This forces the player to start playing the beginning of the longest "title" on the disc, which is usually the film. For me, this bypasses the logo screens, and starts the films right up.

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jorencain
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#12 Post by jorencain » Sat Jun 11, 2005 9:12 pm

Thanks; I just fixed it, and it worked in bypassing the logos. Don't know why it's a problem in the first place, though.

artfilmfan
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#13 Post by artfilmfan » Sun Jun 12, 2005 10:46 am

jorencain wrote:Thanks; I just fixed it, and it worked in bypassing the logos. Don't know why it's a problem in the first place, though.
I have the same DVD player as yours and I discovered some months ago that the Arrow Films discs freeze up just like you described. Thanks for the reports on the problem and the fix.

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jorencain
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#14 Post by jorencain » Thu Aug 11, 2005 10:23 pm

I've finally made my way through all 8 films in this set (the 6 Comedies and Proverbs, "The Marquise Of O", and "Chloe in the Afternoon"). They are all enjoyable, the transfer on "Marquise of O" looks VERY good, while the rest are adequate, and there's an early short film on the "Chloe" disc.

If "Chloe in the Afternoon" is an indicator of the rest of the "Moral Tales", then I've got my fingers crossed to see them all on DVD. That was my favorite film of the set, although that may be because it was different in tone than the "lighter" Comedies and Proverbs. For me, it was best not to watch these immediately one right after another, since they are all so dialogue heavy and have so many similarities. I enjoy that each film presents a single compact and complete story, dealing with only a few characters. Yes, they're very talk-y, but every one of the actors in these films is great and comes across very realistically. This set is definitely worth the price, and now I can't wait for more Rohmer to make it onto DVD.

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kieslowski_67
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#15 Post by kieslowski_67 » Fri Aug 12, 2005 8:40 am

jbross wrote:Thanks for the info...its $50 US at amazon uk, so i think im gonna go for it...
You can save an extra $10 for getting it from Bensons world.

This is a good set for Rohmer beginners. If you are a Rohmer fanatic like I am, you either go for the three French release Rohmer box set, or wait until Criterion or someone else puts up a boxset in Region 1 coding.

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denti alligator
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#16 Post by denti alligator » Tue Jan 10, 2006 2:58 pm

Got this today. No sign of the "exclusive 4-page booklet." Am I alone in not getting this with my set?

Can't wait to dive into these. On which disc(s) will I find the short films?

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glueman
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#17 Post by glueman » Tue Jan 10, 2006 3:32 pm

I got an exclusive sheet of 'Film Notes' by Paul Richard Scott - exclusive, I suppose, in the sense that it doesn't include very much.
The short films are: 'Veronique et son cancre' on L'amour l'apres-midi & 'Metamorphoses du paysage' on L'ami de mon amie.
Incidentally, all the discs are Region 0.

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#18 Post by unclehulot » Thu Oct 25, 2007 8:35 pm

I just compared the HD broadcast (on "World Cinema", one of the "Voom" networks carried by Dish Network) of "The Marquise Of O" to this DVD, and aside from the resolution issue, the HD broadcast master is WAY better. By comparison the DVD is grimy and very overly greenish. There was no video distribution credit at the start, but it's certainly not the same as this set, or (of course) the crappy old Fox Lorber edition. Very much worth checking out for fans of the film.

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Matt
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Re: Eric Rohmer on DVD and BD

#19 Post by Matt » Wed Jul 03, 2013 5:27 pm

Potemkine to Bring Eric Rohmer Films to Blu-ray
Blu-ray.com wrote:French label Potemkine has revealed that it plans to bring to Blu-ray a number of films by acclaimed French director Eric Rohmer. The films will be grouped in three limited edition box sets, the first of which is expected to arrive on the market in November.

The three box sets will group films from three different cycles of Rohmer's career: Contes moraux (Moral Tales), Comédies et proverbes (Comedies and Proverbs), and Contes des quatre saisons (Tales of the Four Seasons).

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GaryC
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Re: Eric Rohmer on DVD and BD

#20 Post by GaryC » Wed Jul 03, 2013 6:03 pm

I bet they aren't English-friendly though and may well not even have French HOH subtitles. I've seen all those films and I'm particularly famiilar with several of those, but my French was never good enough and is now far too rusty to even try to follow a Rohmer film without English subtitles, though I could manage French HOHs.

Of his other films, The Marquise of O... will have French subtitles as it's German-language.

The lack of any English-friendly edition (as far as I'm aware) is the reason why I haven't seen the two Rohmer features I haven't seen - The Tree, The Mayor and the Mediatheque and the TV movie Catherine of Heilbronn, which was an extra on the French DVD of The Marquise of O...

Rupert Pupkin
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Re: Eric Rohmer on DVD and BD

#21 Post by Rupert Pupkin » Thu Jul 04, 2013 1:02 am

do Criterion still has the rights for the Contes Moraux (Morale Tales) box set ?
perhaps we could have a blu-ray upgrade in the next months... (film transfer were stunning)

did someone try to buy the Japanese blu-ray ? they have already release "conte des quatre saisons"...

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repeat
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Re: Eric Rohmer on DVD and BD

#22 Post by repeat » Thu Jul 04, 2013 1:23 am

GaryC wrote:I bet they aren't English-friendly though and may well not even have French HOH subtitles
Don't bet your house on it - Potemkine is one of the few French labels who have put out English-friendly boxsets of French films (their Ossang and Rozier sets) and even foreign films (their Lisandro Alonso set). My layman's guess is that unless Losange are planning to or have already licensed these out to AE to be released with forced English subs (which indeed would be less of an issue in this case), they might well have English subs. So optimistically thinking we could have English-friendly Blu-rays on the market soon in either case.

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knives
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Re: Eric Rohmer on DVD and BD

#23 Post by knives » Thu Jul 04, 2013 1:54 am

And they tend to be region free which makes things extra neat. Having The Green Ray on Blu is a dream come true. I hope as extras they can sneak in a few of the television films.

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Yojimbo
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Re: Eric Rohmer on DVD and BD

#24 Post by Yojimbo » Thu Jul 04, 2013 10:06 am

Fiunny, I had just decided its time to rewatch one of my fave Rohmer's, 'The Aviator's Wife', and it got me thinking wouldn't it be great if those old Arrow DVDs were cleaned up/remastered

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MichaelB
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Re: Eric Rohmer on DVD and BD

#25 Post by MichaelB » Thu Jul 04, 2013 10:11 am

I'm pretty sure that Arrow have plans for at least one Rohmer BD in the not too distant future, almost certainly as part of their relaunched Academy lineup, but all I know is that it'll be "one of the popular ones".

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