Pickpocket/The Trial of Joan of Arc/L'Argent

[j99]

I love Trial of Joan of Arc. It’s not among the very best of Bresson, but it’s remarkably intense and cut to the bone, with the master’s control of rhythm, imagery, and space on full display. Following the lead of its central character, it’s a film based around plainness, discourse, and repetition, kind of like if Bresson adapted Paradise Regained and intentionally on the opposite end of the spectrum from Dreyer’s film. How appealing that sounds to you is probably all you need to know.

On the other hand, if you don’t need English subtitles the Potemkine release has the best supplements.

I was very impressed with it, and surprised it’s had some lukewarm reviews. Clearly a mistake to compare it with Dreyer’s as they are completely different films. After I read your post, I decided to get it. I think it’s an essential addition to any Bresson collection. I would like to see A Man Escaped released next, if the rights are available.

[rapta]

I was very impressed with it, and surprised it’s had some lukewarm reviews. Clearly a mistake to compare it with Dreyer’s as they are completely different films. After I read your post, I decided to get it. I think it’s an essential addition to any Bresson collection. I would like to see A Man Escaped released next, if the rights are available.

If you're talking UK rights, Curzon Artificial Eye have already released A Man Escaped and it's still available (they also did Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne a couple of years later, also still available).

[MichaelB]

The current Region B state of play:

• Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (Curzon Artificial Eye)
• Diary of a Country Priest (StudioCanal, not English-friendly)
• A Man Escaped (Curzon Artificial Eye)
• Pickpocket (BFI)
• The Trial of Joan of Arc (BFI)
• Au hasard, Balthazar (Criterion)
• Mouchette (Curzon Artificial Eye)
• Lancelot du Lac (Gaumont, with English subs on main feature)
• The Devil, Probably (Gaumont, ditto)
• L'Argent (BFI)

With regard to the other three, Gaumont's DVD of Les Anges du péché isn't English-friendly, but there are in-sync SRT subtitles floating around online. To the best of my knowledge there are no decent releases of Une Femme douce or Four Nights of a Dreamer, but TV rips pop up here and there.

[Marwood]

The current Region B state of play:

• Mouchette (Curzon Artificial Eye)

The Mouchette AE is OOP and has been replaced by a Criterion UK RB release.

[Calvin]

With regards to Les Anges du péché, hopefully that one gets its dues before too long. It hasn't been restored, and I know Gaumont don't have any plans for it this year.

The home video situation for Une femme douce and Four Nights of a Dreamer baffles me. The former has been restored by Paramount and even received a brief, limited UK theatrical release a few years ago but there has been no sign of a physical release from the studio and I know that labels have enquired with Paramount to no avail.

Four Nights of a Dreamer has been released on Blu-Ray in Japan (without English subtitles, naturally); I remember reading that Bresson's widow has the rights and wants his entire oeuvre to be under one label, which is obviously never going to happen in the short or medium term. The current best option for owning it seems to be an English-friendly Italian DVD from the same restored source as the Japanese Blu-Ray.

[MichaelB]

I remember reading that Bresson's widow has the rights and wants his entire oeuvre to be under one label, which is obviously never going to happen in the short or medium term.

She got closer to that situation a decade ago, when the bulk of UK releases were from Artificial Eye. Ironically, one of the exceptions, the then BFI-released Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne, is now with Artificial Eye, while some of AE's former titles are now with the BFI.

But this kind of situation is logistically very hard to engineer if the films weren't produced by the same company from the start, which is incredibly rare. And even with things like Eric Rohmer's back catalogue, where this did happen, it was only feasible to release a complete edition in France - in the UK, the video rights are carved up between Artificial Eye and Arrow.

The Mouchette AE is OOP and has been replaced by a Criterion UK RB release.

Thanks for that - I have the old Artificial Eye BD, so didn't really register the Criterion.

[GaryC]

Four Nights of a Dreamer has been released on Blu-Ray in Japan (without English subtitles, naturally); I remember reading that Bresson's widow has the rights and wants his entire oeuvre to be under one label

For what it's worth, Le Cinéma Club has just streamed Four Nights, finishing today. Their copy opens with a caption, "This online screening was granted on a very exceptional basis by Mrs. Mylène Bresson," which bears out what you say.

Meanwhile, Four Nights is available to stream on Amazon Prime in the UK, but it's a "Freevee" version, so with commercial breaks. Although it says it's HD it appears to be speeded up, as it runs 79 minutes. Le Cinéma Club's is 82, which is the correct 24fps running time.

[MichaelB]

For what it's worth, Le Cinéma Club has just streamed Four Nights, finishing today. Their copy opens with a caption, "This online screening was granted on a very exceptional basis by Mrs. Mylène Bresson," which bears out what you say.

Subscribers to Sight & Sound's weekly newsletter will be annoyed to find that their access to it has already ended - they wouldn't have received the link until the last hour or so.