Éric Rohmer on DVD and BD

[zedz]

I guess The Tree, The Mayor and The Mediatheque is not going to be in any of the separate boxes then?

Nope. The features that fall outside the three (separately boxed) series should be:
Le signe du Lion
La Marquise d'O
Perceval le Gallois
4 aventures de Reinette et Mirabelle
L'arbre, le maire et la mediatheque
Les rendez-vous de Paris
L'Anglaise et le Duc
Triple Agent
Les amours d'Astree et de Celadon

Plus lots and lots of shorts, some documentaries, and the play adaptation he made for TV, Catherine de Heilbronn, none of which have subs in the set, as far as I can tell.

EDIT: What he said!

[Zot!]

the play adaptation he made for TV, Catherine de Heilbronn, none of which have subs in the set, as far as I can tell.

Yup that's missing too, as it's on the Marquis d'O disc. Nothing in the set, beyond the marquee features, have subs.

[zedz]

I am torn on the prospect of an Eric Rohmer-flavoured cuppa, and will probably err on the side of conservatism and watch the old bags slowly disintegrate in their cellophane shroud. Considering the irrelevant and ugly shit that the US studios cram into their deluxe packages, I cherish the whimsy of this inclusion (though is pales in comparison to the utterly delightful box of tat that Agnes Varda came up with for her integrale).

[domino harvey]

Wait, this set really comes with tea?!

[swo17]

That tastes like Rohmer?

[zedz]

Wait, this set really comes with tea?!

Two Eric Rohmer-branded teabags.

Why? I have not the remotest idea!

And swo: the really classy thing would have been to blend Rohmer's ashes in with the tea. Since I'm never going to taste it, I'll just carrying on assuming that this is the case.

[domino harvey]

Would you know ashes if you were to taste it?

[zedz]

Would you know ashes if you were to taste it?

I presume they would taste like defeat.

And I have tasted defeat.

[swo17]

In my experience, cremation takes all of the flavor out.

[Zot!]

Two Eric Rohmer-branded teabags.

Why? I have not the remotest idea!

They are actually My Night with Maud tea-bags, at least that's what appears on the tag.
I think it's meant to be a reference to the protagonist of My Night with Maud bragging about his tea-making prowess.
Yet he makes loose tea, so I suppose it loses all meaning again. I don't dare open mine, I can't risk my set losing it's "mojo". If David Lynch can sell coffee, I guess, why not.

[tenia]

There are also the collectible postcards. Very nice idea. If you're willing to buy several 200€ boxsets...
Or maybe you can trade 1 Signe du lion for 1 Ma nuit chez Maud.

Silly goodies, for such a serious filmmaker.

[zedz]

Okay, here's what an Eric Rohmer teabag looks like:

Fabric bag, stitched, not your cheap paper nonsense.

And here's some more photos.

Rohmer swag:


Versus Varda swag:

[Zot!]

Somebody review the tea already.

[cinemartin]

That's great - especially the photos of young Rohmer, Godard, and Brialy that was mentioned earlier in the thread. Plus, the tea bags are breathtaking to behold.

[StevenJ0001]

zedz, you're making it really difficult to resist spending money!

[StevenJ0001]

You're making a very convincing case, damn it!

[zedz]

zedz I curse you for that Varda pussy porn.

I have now gone and ordered the damn Varda coffret. Im afraid a few frames of 35mm film and pussycat paraphenalia are too much for this (queer) man. And I already have everything anyway, natch.

Steven J there are life lessons in this somewhere. Don't follow the behavior of maniacs on web boards.

David, I think the Varda set is even more impressive than the Rohmer. The copious extras are all subtitled (with a couple of exceptions I'll get to), and Varda's quirky, individual thumbprints are all over them - the whole production has a delightful cottage industry vibe to it, which triples when you open up that amazing 'pochette'. She's used existing transfers where available, so some films are more recently transferred than others, but everything looks good.

The two DVDs in the pochette collect rare and unreleased material, including a couple of features (and a Tupperware ad, if I recall correctly!). Unfortunately they're not subbed in English. The suppressed TV film Nausicaa suffers the most from this, since it's dense and completely unavailable elsewhere (and looks fascinating). The very moving Quelques veuves de Noirmoutier documentary (repurposed from a gallery installation) does contain French subs because of the strong regional accents, so that's pretty easy to follow and well worth the effort even for somebody whose French is as halting as mine.

[Zot!]

I was tempted to do the same...though was put off that it is not HD, and that the latter 1/2 of her output doesn't interest me. Still...very tempting, especially considering the Second Run release of Kung Fu Master seems to be stalled indefinitely.

[StevenJ0001]

You're merciless!

I've reached my quota for this month (a bunch of Hong Sang Soo Blu-rays and more did me in) but I've decided to buy the Rohmer in February. I hope it hangs around until then. That Gun Crazy set would be nice too, and I really want the French Night of the Demon release... no, this has to stop!

[rwaits]

Hold up... is the Rohmer a limited run? If so I missed that. I've been on the fence but the teabags have pushed me over the edge.

[knives]

I have never been happier to be region locked or at least my wallet hasn't been.

[StevenJ0001]

Hold up... is the Rohmer a limited run? If so I missed that. I've been on the fence but the teabags have pushed me over the edge.

I was under the impression it is a numbered, limited release, but perhaps one of the lucky owners of this set can confirm.

[zedz]

Okay, I have to ask (since we're already decidedly off-topic): pourquoi le point d'interrogation apres "Un film de Joseph H. Lewis"?

[zedz]

I was tempted to do the same...though was put off that it is not HD, and that the latter 1/2 of her output doesn't interest me. Still...very tempting, especially considering the Second Run release of Kung Fu Master seems to be stalled indefinitely.

After watching everything, I think latter Varda still has a lot to recommend it. Jacquot de Nantes is a really lovely film and Kung-fu Master is deeply odd and quite amazing in how utterly committed it is to its disturbing premise. The late documentaries are primarily delightful as windows on Varda's inquisitive personality. Nobody's ever going to mistake Agnes de ci de la Varda for an auteurist masterpiece, but I could happily watch a fresh episode of that series every week for the rest of my life.

[knives]

I was tempted to do the same...though was put off that it is not HD, and that the latter 1/2 of her output doesn't interest me. Still...very tempting, especially considering the Second Run release of Kung Fu Master seems to be stalled indefinitely.

After watching everything, I think latter Varda still has a lot to recommend it. Jacquot de Nantes is a really lovely film and Kung-fu Master is deeply odd and quite amazing in how utterly committed it is to its disturbing premise. The late documentaries are primarily delightful as windows on Varda's inquisitive personality. Nobody's ever going to mistake Agnes de ci de la Varda for an auteurist masterpiece, but I could happily watch a fresh episode of that series every week for the rest of my life.

I guess I'm the lone gunman to think that Varda has only gotten better with age (though I'm also the same nut who thinks her A work is in documentaries with only a handful of fictions making the grade).