Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974)

[Scottie]

[dirtnoise1]

Synopsis:

Whiling away a summer in Paris, director Jacques Rivette, working in close collaboration with his stars and coconspirators Juliet Berto and Dominique Labourier, set out to rewrite the rules of cinema in the spirit of pure play—moviemaking as an anything-goes romp through the labyrinths of imagination. The result is one of the most exuberantly inventive and utterly enchanting films of the French New Wave, in which Julie (Labourier), a daydreaming librarian, meets Céline (Berto), an enigmatic magician, and together they become the heroines of a time-warping adventure involving a haunted house, psychotropic candy, and a murder-mystery melodrama. Incorporating allusions to everything from Lewis Carroll to Louis Feuillade, Céline and Julie Go Boating is both one of the all-time-great hangout comedies and a totally unique, enveloping cinematic dream space that delights in the endless pleasures and possibilities of stories.

Details:

New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray

Audio commentary from 2017 featuring critic Adrian Martin

Jacques Rivette: Le veilleur, a 1994 two-part feature documentary by Claire Denis, featuring an extensive interview with Rivette by film critic Serge Daney

New interviews with actor Bulle Ogier and producer and actor Barbet Schroeder

New conversation between critic Pacôme Thiellement and Hélène Frappat, author of Jacques Rivette, secret compris

Archival interviews with Rivette, Ogier, and actors Juliet Berto, Dominique Labourier, and Marie-France Pisier

New English subtitle translation

PLUS: An essay by critic Beatrice Loayza and a 1974 piece by Berto

[bergman864]

Excellent. I hope this is 2 disc. Be a shame to shove all those extras on the same disc as this 3+ hour film.

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by bergman864

Excellent. I hope this is 2 disc. Be a shame to shove all those extras on the same disc as this 3+ hour film.

Criterion’s site lists it as two discs.

[bergman864]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

Criterion’s site lists it as two discs.

I checked the website and didn't even think of looking. Thanks.

[javi92]

Great, a release that’s been out in Region B for years and will probably be less capably encoded.

[Invisible_YXR]

Does anyone know if the source of this disc is the same as BFI's blu-ray?

[bergman864]

Review up on DVDBeaver.com

Looks to be a success and betters the BFI release.

[rolf2056]

Two other reviews:

https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/re...erion-blu-ray/

https://www.filminquiry.com/celine-and-julie-criterion/

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by bergman864

Review up on DVDBeaver.com

Looks to be a success and betters the BFI release.

The screenshots don't to me reflect that opinion unambiguously. The brightness and contrast are higher on the Criterion release which makes the image look a little brittle/harsh in certain details compared to the BFI blu, like the hat in this shot or the gold and blue bottle atop the bathroom mirror here.

[bergman864]

Originally Posted by ravenus

The screenshots don't to me reflect that opinion unambiguously. The brightness and contrast are higher on the Criterion release which makes the image look a little brittle/harsh in certain details compared to the BFI blu, like the hat in this shot or the gold and blue bottle atop the bathroom mirror here.

The hat, I'd maybe agree. I think the bottle looks fine.

[Warm Gun]

Originally Posted by bergman864

Review up on DVDBeaver.com

Looks to be a success and betters the BFI release.

The Criterion has better subtitle font and bordering.

[Ruined]

While overall a good transfer was surprised to see a big thick hair at the bottom of the frame persisting from 52:50-54:09.

The movie is a bit too long as much of Rivette, but if you like his other stuff you will like this.