Jean-Luc Godard Box Set
New from Lionsgate
A box set of four classic films by Jean Luc-Godard
with a special documentary, "Jean-Luc Godard: A Riddle Wrapped in an Enigma" featuring critics Kent Jones, David Sterritt and Wheeler Winston Dixon
Directed by Gidion Phillips
Four classic films from one of the most famous French directors in history, Jean-Luc Godard, are being released together for the first time in one unique DVD box set. The fourth release in The Director's Series, following Alfred Hitchcock, Jean Renoir and Luis Buñuel, The Director's Series: Jean-Luc Godard features four key films from the filmmaker's 80s and 90s period, one of his most resonant and important periods of work. The box set also features a special documentary "Jean-Luc Godard: A Riddle Wrapped in an Enigma," created exclusively for the collection. One of the most influential directors in the history of the medium, Godard received six Golden Palm nominations from the Cannes Film Festival during his illustrious career.
Includes the films:
Passion
Prénom Carmen
Détective
Hélas pour moi
Jerzy Radziwilowicz stars as a director determined to make the ultimate film, but his "Passion" (1982) for two women leads him astray. Isabelle Huppert, Michel Piccoli co-star. Godard's irreverent satire "Prénom Carmen" (1983) stars Maruschka Detmers as a femme fatale who plans to rob a bank while pretending to film a movie. Jacques Bonnaffe, Myriem Roussel co-star; Godard himself appears as a once-great director confined to a madhouse. Presented in a nonlinear style, "Détective" (1985) intertwines two tales of money, murder, prizefighting, and gangsters, all set in a French resort hotel. Nathalie Baye, Claude Brasseur, Johnny Hallyday star. Godard's "Hélas pour moi" (1993) is set in a Swiss village where a fisherman (Gerard Depardieu) claims his body was possessed by the spirit of the Greek god Zeus, who sought to seduce Depardieu's wife (Laurence Masliah). Bernard Verley, Aude Amiot co-star. 5 3/4 hrs. total. Standard; Soundtrack: French Dolby Digital stereo; Subtitles: English, Spanish. In French with English subtitles.
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"There's only one special extra feature [in the set], but it's the kind of thing you wish were on every DVD or at least every DVD for serious films like there. A documentary, "Jean-Luc Godard: A Riddle Wrapped in an Enigma," was created exclusively for this collection, and presents an excellent look at the six-time Golden Palm nominated director's illustrious career. I recommend watching one of the films presented, then viewing the documentary before moving on to the others; it practically guarantees an incredible film experience, and is something every film fan owes him, or herself." -- Jason Salzenstein, The Edge, February 17, 2008
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"This new Lionsgate package is the DVD of the Year for Godard fans." -- Eric Cotenas, DVD Beaver.com
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" . . . there is an excellent, short-but-sweet documentary [in the set] which serves to introduce the viewer to the filmmaker's singular sensibility and his personal philosophies. There are some great quotes from Godard himself, and refreshing observations from a handful of film historians focusing on these movies in particular. It's very well-done . . ." -- Staci L. Wilson
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"Why must there always be a story?" asks a director (Jerzy Radziwilowicz) attempting to create a film of beautiful images, modeled on the masterpieces of western art, in Jean-Luc Godard's Passion (1982). Of course he's speaking for Godard, who returned from his self-imposed video exile with this lush production. Perhaps the most physically beautiful of all of Godard's films, he uses cranes, dollies, an elaborate set, and a vivid palette of rich colors to suggest the styles of the great European directors. But there must be a story, so the fictional director flits between his rich lover (Hanna Schygulla) and a working class protester (Isabelle Huppert) while agonizing over his film. This framework seems like an afterthought, but perhaps that's the point: who needs a story when you have these amazing images?
Passion, perhaps his most physically beautiful film to date, launched a whole new phase in his career, where he played with ideas of human relationships and cinematic representation with the tools and techniques of his video work. This new three-disc set features four films making their respective DVD debuts.
The other three features are First Name: Carmen (1983), Detective (1984), and Helas Pour Moi (aka Oh, Woe Is Me, 1993), and the disc features the half-hour documentary "Jean-Luc Godard: A Riddle Wrapped in an Enigma," with film critics and historians Kent Jones, Winston Wheeler Dixon and David Sterritt. -- Sean Axmaker
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[The set also features] a new half-hour featurette called "Jean-Luc Godard: A Riddle Wrapped in an Enigma." It's an engaging piece, with three different film scholars digging into this set of movies, placing them in Godard's history and dissecting the techniques by which the auteur chased after his philosophical and aesthetic ideas. -- Jamie S. Rich, DVD Talk
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"[also included is] the enlightening 30-minute documentary "Jean-Luc Godard: A Riddle Wrapped in an Enigma" included on the [third] disc of the set . . . This original featurette goes a long way to making rational sense of Godard's more revolutionary devices -- or, at the very least, supplying context for appreciation." -- Peter Debruge, Variety
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DVD Box Set of the Month, Film Comment (Jan/Feb 2008)
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Region Code: 1
UPC: 031398218449
Catalog #: DV2606902
Studio: Lions Gate Films
Languages: French Dolby Digital 2.0 (Primary), English Subtitles, Spanish Subtitles
Aspect Ratio: Full-Frame
Special Features: Documentary ("Jean-Luc Godard: A Riddle Wrapped in an Enigma")
Release date: February 5, 2008.