50 L'amour fou

[Finch]

Radiance direct order

Sebastian (Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Weekend) is staging an adaptation of Racine’s tragedy, Andromaque while a film crew captures their rehearsals on handheld 16mm. The production’s star and Sebastian’s girlfriend, Claire (Bulle Ogier, Out 1), cannot take the pressure and removes herself. Life imitates art, creating a tragedy for the couple when Sebastian recasts the role with his ex. L’amour fou is a hypnotic study of tempestuous love, told with director Jacques Rivette’s signature reflexivity and containing striking examinations of performance, art, theatre and life. A classic of the French New Wave and one of Rivette’s most radical works, L’amour fou was unavailable for years, with the original elements tragically burned in a fire. Now meticulously restored, Radiance Films is proud to present this masterpiece from a new 4K restoration.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

4K restoration from materials kept at Les Archives du Film and in Éclair-Preservation, under the supervision of Caroline Champetier
Uncompressed mono PCM audio
A newly filmed feature-length documentary featuring new interviews with star Jean-Pierre Kalfon; writer/director and Rivette collaborator Pascal Bonitzer; Rivette biographer Antoine de Baecque; critic/historian Sylvie Pierre; and archival footage of Jacques Rivette (Robert Fischer, 2024, 95 mins)
New interview with Caroline Champetier, renowned cinematographer and restoration supervisor (2024)
The Third Eye - A video essay by film critics Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin (2024)
Newly translated English subtitles
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Jessica Felrice and archival writings by Véronique Manniez-Rivette, an archival interview with Jacques Rivette and images of the director’s notes
Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

Cert: TBC
Format: Blu-ray
Region: B
RAD050BDLE
EAN: 5060974680948
Release date: 29/04/24

Press:

“In my opinion—and I think it will be shared by many—this is one of the five or six best films of the New Wave.” - François Truffaut

L’amour fou is still my favourite film.” - Bulle Ogier

“The work of a rebel, of an artist seeking to smash the codes and clichés of the ‘normal’ productions of the time.” - Jean-Pierre Kalfon

“L’amour fou, is cinema without formal precedent. As with all great films, it feels like watching the birth of cinema, seeing the first ever film, and also the last.” - André S. Labarthe

“A filmmaker sets up his camera and, above all, watches the actors, with no concern for characters or respect for a preestablished scenario. I'd like to draw inspiration from this. I'd like to grasp the personality of my actors and make cinéma vérité.” - Bernardo Bertolucci

“L'amour Fou speaks to those who are madly in love with cinema. ” Jean De Baroncelli, Le Monde, 1969

“One of Rivette's best films.” Serge Daney, Libération, 1991

[TMDaines]

Over 4 hours... looking forward to this buddying up with the rest of my unwatched Rivettes on the shelves.

[pzadvance]

Audibly gasped at this announcement… incredible get for radiance

[Peacock]

Can’t wait for this, and looks like some great extras! Hopefully it’s a two disc set to compensate.

[pzadvance]

It’s a couple pounds more than the usual disc price so I’m assuming it will be?

[soundchaser]

Thrilled that Pascal Bonitzer is finally getting a look in here -- he was one of Rivette's best collaborators and led to what is, for me, the filmmaker's most fruitful period.

[furbicide]

What a dream come true – getting L’amour fou on disc has been my own personal holy grail for nigh on a decade now. So wonderful that it’s not only finally coming out but with such evident attention going into the presentation. Really couldn’t have asked for more.

[brundlefly]

Is Janus just the theatrical distributor in the States, or is this expected from Criterion? And if so, what are the odds of shared supplements?

[ikms]

is this expected from Criterion? And if so, what are the odds of shared supplements?

With Criterion odds are pretty high supplements get shared... on the feature disc. It's B&W right, so how challenging could the encode be?!?

[Petty Bourgeoisie]

Region B locked. But I'll probably still purchase.

3,000 copies is strange. Arrow called their Rivette Collection "limited" to 1,500 and you can still buy copies. Unfortunately, there just doesn't seem to be many of us Rivette fans.

[Petty Bourgeoisie]

Region B locked. But I'll probably still purchase.

3,000 copies is strange. Arrow called their Rivette Collection "limited" to 1,500 and you can still buy copies. Unfortunately, there just doesn't seem to be many of us Rivette fans.

[zedz]

Is Janus just the theatrical distributor in the States, or is this expected from Criterion? And if so, what are the odds of shared supplements?

Legendary arthouse film from a major filmmaker that's been hard to see for decades coming from Criterion. . .

. . . and you're expecting supplements?

[brundlefly]

Foolish, I know. But I was thinking that, maybe if they didn't have to make the supplements (or hire back all the people who used to do such a thing) they might port 'em over and load 'em on.

When they finally release it in 2031.

[rapta]

They'll probably do it on 4K UHD now just to get the upper hand (apparently the new way for US labels to try to make UK releases seem irrelevant).

Region B locked. But I'll probably still purchase.

3,000 copies is strange. Arrow called their Rivette Collection "limited" to 1,500 and you can still buy copies. Unfortunately, there just doesn't seem to be many of us Rivette fans.

Arrow's initial Rivette LE set from 2016 is OOP, and has been so for years (not to mention their 2019 reissue of Out 1 is OOP too). Yes you can buy copies, but for a huge mark-up of £150-200+ from third party sellers (and scalpers). New, at least (some used copies have sold for £70-80).

[therewillbeblus]

I feel like that's happened just as much in the reverse too - I always think of US companies phoning in a BD when there's a UHD elsewhere, or doing SDR instead of HDR, or whatever the softer choice is

[rrenault]

They'll probably do it on 4K UHD now just to get the upper hand (apparently the new way for US labels to try to make UK releases seem irrelevant).

When I first started buying 4Ks I didn’t think much of getting a £30 LE release here or there, assuming “only a manageable amount of titles will make it to the format anyway”, but here we are I guess. I’d have chuckled had someone said two years ago Werckmeister Harmonies would be announced on the format this shortly into the decade. So I now really have to pick and choose what I actually buy on 4K for the sake of my wallet. In some cases, since I’m in France I’ll just have to make do with a David M-encoded 1080p Blu-ray over the pixelogic 4K SDR disc, but I’ll still go Criterion 4K for stuff like After Hours and Blow Out.

I preordered the Radiance release of L’Amour Fou so probably wouldn’t bother with a 4K SDR release from Criterion were it to be announced.

P.S. The French Blu-ray of Werckmeister Harmonies that was released in I think November is David M.

[rrenault]

I feel like that's happened just as much in the reverse too - I always think of US companies phoning in a BD when there's a UHD elsewhere, or doing SDR instead of HDR, or whatever the softer choice is

I think The Servant is the only time Criterion have done this since they actually started releasing UHDs, but there’s also Kino with The Conformist and Millennium Mambo.

However, it’s a bit odd in retrospect that Criterion went Blu-ray-only on the Infernal Affairs trilogy.

[tenia]

However, it’s a bit odd in retrospect that Criterion went Blu-ray-only on the Infernal Affairs trilogy.

It technically makes sense considering how the restorations look, though.

[dwk]

I am sure that if Criterion were to release the Infernal Affairs trilogy now, they probably would do a UHD even with the overly processed masters (see The Heroic Trio/Executioners.)

[nicolas]

I wouldn't be so sure about Criterion going 4K UHD on this one just because they did Wreckmeister.
I think that Tarr is more widely discussed than Rivette. I have a hard time thinking about any of the recent Sight and Sound list that mentioned a Rivette.
This seems to be the no. 1 factor for Criterion when they decide for UHD - the masters are secondary.

I'd obviously be very happy to see any Rivette hitting UHD (the format is made for his lengthy films) but don't hold my breath for now.

[rrenault]

At least with arthouse films, I’d say anything within the top 250 on TSPDT or the top 50 of their 21st century list for that matter that also has an IMDb rating of at least 7.7 or so is game for a 4K if the elements support it. Or at least game for a 4K from a company like Criterion where any old nominally 4K scan will do.

That said, some people may hold off on films that already have serviceable 1080p discs, which was very much not the case with Werckmeister Harmonies. Also, there are a few canonical names that don’t seem to be huge sellers for Criterion, such as Bresson and Antonioni. Tarkovsky seems to be more popular, but none of the Soviet films has a 4K scan, except for maybe Roublev. I’m not sure.

[dave1]

Is this release going to be single disc? There's no mention of a second disc anywhere.
The Potemkine release spreads the film (and the extras) across two blu-rays.

[GoodOldNeon]

Does David M. / Fidelity in Motion encode all of the Radiance Films releases? I'm trying to decide whether to pick up the Potemkine release or wait for the Radiance one.

[dave1]

I believe he does, but still, over 6 hours of content in a single disc is a bit worrying (specially since the restoration itself has darker areas - sometimes not so dark - lacking detail/grain).
Keep in mind that the disc change of the Potemkine doesn't quite match the film's intended intermission (which happens at 3:20 into the 2nd disc).

[dadaistnun]

Just speculating here, but I'm guessing it will be two discs -- one for the film, one for the extras -- based on the price point (comparable to Trenque Laquen).