baracine

Way before there was Quentin You-know-who, Michel Audiard made a name for himself by writing and directing countless underworld drama-comedies (without gore) whose Damon Runyonesque dialog really sparkled. The French have recently paid tribute by putting out this (Region 2) deluxe limited edition DVD boxset:


This is what the ordinary boxset looks like:


The set includes "Les Tontons flingueurs" (1963) and "Les Barbouzes"(1964), both THX certified.

The set comes with the original 90 min documentary (2002): "Michel Audiard et le mystère du triangle des Bermudes" (Michel Audiard and the Bermuda Triangle mystery - the title is a put-on). It has the following cast:
in credits order)
André G. Brunelin .... Himself (as André Brunelin)
Paul Cadéac .... Himself
Mireille Darc .... Herself
Philippe de Broca .... Himself
Denys de La Patellière .... Himself
Roger Dumas .... Himself
Rémo Forlani .... Himself
José Giovanni .... Himself
Annie Girardot .... Herself
Pierre Granier-Deferre .... Himself
Marlène Jobert .... Herself
Marcel Jullian .... Himself
Georges Lautner .... Himself
Edouard Molinaro .... Himself
Claude Pinoteau .... Himself
André Pousse .... Himself
France Roche .... Herself
Norbert Saada .... Himself
Jean-Claude Sussfeld .... Himself
Jean Herman .... Himself (as Jean Vautrin)
Dominique Zardi .... Himself
Jean Yanne .... Récitant/Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically
Jacques Anquetil .... Himself (archive footage)
Michel Audiard .... Himself (archive footage)
Charles Aznavour .... Himself (archive footage)
Jean Becker .... Himself (archive footage)
Jean-Paul Belmondo .... Himself (archive footage)
Maurice Biraud .... Himself (archive footage)
Jane Birkin .... Herself (archive footage)
Bernard Blier .... Himself (archive footage)
Pierre Brasseur .... Himself (archive footage)
Max Favalelli .... Himself (archive footage)
Jean Gabin .... Himself (archive footage)
Georges Géret .... Himself (archive footage)
Gilles Grangier .... Himself (archive footage)
Marie Laforêt .... Herself (archive footage)
Paul Meurisse .... Himself (archive footage)
Françoise Rosay .... Herself (archive footage)
Michel Serrault .... Himself (archive footage)
Albert Simonin .... Himself (archive footage)
Lino Ventura .... Himself (archive footage)


Directed by
François-Régis Jeanne
Stéphane Roux

It also includes two smaller documentaries on Audiard and the art of tough-guy dialog.

How cool would it be to have a Region 1 version!

Michel Audiard's IMDb chart of 129 films (none of which are available on DVD on this side of the pond):
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002192/

pro-bassoonist

this could be found in the International section...in a certain thread.

Pro-B

baracine

I thought about that but I figured: It's not really available internationally, is it? It's only available in Region 2. But it's worth noting what they're doing these days to honour their great filmmakers in Europe. And it's worth hopîng that more titles like this one will be made available to Region 1 consumers. Michel Audiard-written movies are the very best this planet has to offer.

pro-bassoonist

That's fine but I think that the mods will lock this thread/move as it is about a R2 product.

Pro-B

baracine

I hold the opinion that occasional exposure to foreign languages, cultures, artifacts or opinions should have no serious, permanent or irreversibly deleterious effect on the participants in this forum.

Furthermore, I am simply expressing the wish that a wider variety of European DVD issues be made available in North America, an opinion I could not express in the International section, partly because I haven't seen the set itself, just its packaging, and I have no way of playing it on my present equipment.