342-348 Six Moral Tales

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rrenault
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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#251 Post by rrenault » Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:32 am

What I find interesting is the progression of relationship stages starting with My Night at Maud's and ending with Love in the Afternoon. In Maud, the'absent' woman is just a crush. In La Collectionneuse she's a girlfriend. In Claire's Knee she's a fiance, and in Love in the Afternoon she's a wife with whom he has two kids. With that said, La Collectionneuse was the only one where I actually found the 'absent' woman to be more appealing than the 'substitute' woman. In Love in the Afternoon I felt both women had their virtues as different as they were from each other. And the fact that the wife is played by Bernard Verley's real life wife makes things even more interesting. In Claire's Knee we never actually meet the 'absent' woman, although I definitely preferred Beatrice Romand to Claire.

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Black Hat
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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#252 Post by Black Hat » Mon Jan 28, 2013 1:57 am

Mr Sausage wrote:It's something of an ambiguous film.
I wouldn't say it's something of an ambiguous film. I'd say it is an ambiguous film. Much in the same vein as life. These ambiguities are what give Rohmer's films the realism that engages us with his characters despite their, for the most part, lack of resolution. In life our issues usually aren't resolved, they are fluid and ongoing. They may take on different faces but they're always with us to some degree. Most films take issues to extremes where without resolution you won't have a film. He gives us a glimpse into these character's lives, people experiencing feelings that can easily be our own, we engage with them from within our own shoes but when Rohmer closes that window we're left to examine the reasons behind the choices that were made. Naturally, this happens through our individual world's prism. Which is what made the ambiguities of Love in the Afternoon reverberate in our minds.

My impression was the husband was taken with himself to such an extent that everything he claimed he desired, right down to the fashion of it, Chloe eventually offered but he was so enamored with himself, with his 'work' that it lift him impotent. I also found the film's final scene fascinating, where Chloe was shown to be prophetic about Frederic's wife's affair yet even then he was absolutely oblivious despite believing himself to be omniscient.
Mr Sausage wrote:But it's clear that only Chloe is sure of her own desires and what life she wants.
I'm not sure if it's that clear. I saw Chloe as a mirror of Frederic in this regard. Talking one game but living out another. The only aspect where I felt she was clear in was with her desire for Frederic, her control and manipulation of him. This is what differentiated the two within their relationship. I've always seen Frederic's meek departure from her apartment not as some suddenly realized loyalty to his wife, that line was long crossed but rather as him finally realizing that Chloe was in control and his ego couldn't handle it. Especially not from a girl like Chloe.

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Mr Sausage
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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#253 Post by Mr Sausage » Mon Jan 28, 2013 7:58 am

Black Hat wrote:I'm not sure if it's that clear. I saw Chloe as a mirror of Frederic in this regard. Talking one game but living out another. The only aspect where I felt she was clear in was with her desire for Frederic, her control and manipulation of him.
Chole stands rather in contrast to everyone else in her ability not only to state exactly what she wants, but pursue it as well.
Black Hat wrote:I wouldn't say it's something of an ambiguous film. I'd say it is an ambiguous film.
I don't know if it's that ambiguous a film. There's a lot of ambivalence in it, but the sides are always very clear, and for the most part if things in the movie fail to resolve you get the sense it's because the characters themselves don't know how to resolve them, either, so the mental state of the piece can be apprehended easily enough. The main ambiguity is in the the actual merits of the choices offered. Is Chloe the love of his life or not; is married life his real avenue to happiness or not? Is there even a right choice, here, or will both be unsatisfactory in some way.

Tangential thought: maybe there's something to the fact that Chloe offers fertility without family, ie. she wants to procreate but without drawing him into a social unit at the same time. Does that attract Frederic, does its implied transience finally frighten him off, or a bit of both? What role does her implied motive of using Frederic as a glorified sperm donor play in Frederic's desires? That's an interesting part of that main ambiguity, if a fleeting but more highly pitched happiness is worth pursuing over a (potentially) more stable, if more subdued, one.

rrenault
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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#254 Post by rrenault » Mon Jan 28, 2013 11:11 am

It's never thoroughly confirmed that Frederic's wife is actually having an affair. All Chloe was implying was that if his wife was seen in public with an unidentified member of the opposite sex he shouldn't feel so self-conscious about being so himself.

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Mr Sausage
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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#255 Post by Mr Sausage » Mon Jan 28, 2013 11:37 am

rrenault wrote:It's never thoroughly confirmed that Frederic's wife is actually having an affair. All Chloe was implying was that if his wife was seen in public with an unidentified member of the opposite sex he shouldn't feel so self-conscious about being so himself.
Yeah, her reaction in the final scene is not in keeping with someone having an affair. She seems genuinely relieved at the idea that her husband isn't cheating, and we get a glimpse of all the worry and torment she must've been suffering while the camera was focused on our would-be lovers.

On the other hand, people carrying on affairs are generally relieved when they find out their spouses have also been cheating.


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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#257 Post by djproject » Wed Aug 10, 2016 1:50 pm

I can imagine a future Blu-ray configuration will be three discs with two of the tales each. Most, if not all, of the supplements will be on the first disc given the short duration of the first two tales. There is also no reason why the book should not be a part of the package, unless they allow access for a digital copy.

Just my take on it given the precedent for these things. Of course what will be missing is the individual packages for each of the tales. But I'm sure there will be a clever design configuration for it.

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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#258 Post by Robespierre » Fri Feb 02, 2018 8:28 pm

So with the DVD edition OOP is it safe to say that we should be expecting a blu ray upgrade at some point?

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movielocke
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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#259 Post by movielocke » Mon Apr 15, 2019 6:09 pm

I rewatched Bakery Girl last week while exploring the criterion channel, and the re-release of BRD made me wonder if this is a rumored upgrade, I know there was a bunch of hullaballoo about nonregion 1/A releases of Rohmer a few years ago, and it seems like if criterion is in a mood to upgrade box sets in 2019, this (and Varda) might be pretty likely candidates if there are improved transfers available since the DVD sets were released.

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mfunk9786
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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#260 Post by mfunk9786 » Fri Feb 14, 2020 2:26 pm


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domino harvey
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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#261 Post by domino harvey » Fri Feb 14, 2020 2:27 pm

However, it looks like the DVD edition is still OOP?

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Ribs
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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#262 Post by Ribs » Fri Feb 14, 2020 2:32 pm

Three discs 👀

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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#263 Post by mfunk9786 » Fri Feb 14, 2020 2:33 pm

Should have been a dual format - anyway in all seriousness I think I remember that most if not all of the discs on the DVD set were single layer, so it shouldn't be tough to stuff all this onto three Blu-rays

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domino harvey
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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#264 Post by domino harvey » Fri Feb 14, 2020 2:36 pm

The MSRP is cheaper for the Blu set as well, and unless they carried it over in error, it’ll still contain the book of short stories

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movielocke
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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#265 Post by movielocke » Fri Feb 14, 2020 3:29 pm

domino harvey wrote:The MSRP is cheaper for the Blu set as well, and unless they carried it over in error, it’ll still contain the book of short stories
I think the MSRP is the same as the dvd, which was 99.95 iirc

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domino harvey
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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#266 Post by domino harvey » Fri Feb 14, 2020 3:33 pm

I could have sworn it was 125, but you may be right

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TMDaines
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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#267 Post by TMDaines » Fri Feb 14, 2020 3:46 pm

Be interesting to see if we get these in the UK. They seem an obvious release from someone at some point.

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domino harvey
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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#268 Post by domino harvey » Fri Feb 14, 2020 3:47 pm

Arrow may still have the rights to the last one

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movielocke
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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#269 Post by movielocke » Fri Feb 14, 2020 3:48 pm

I’m pretty sure it was 99.95 because I think Berlin alexanderplatz was the first 124.95 title.

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swo17
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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#270 Post by swo17 » Fri Feb 14, 2020 3:49 pm

filmaf.com says MSRP for the DVD set was $99.95

EDIT: Oh, and also, see the second post of this very thread

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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#271 Post by Rupert Pupkin » Fri Feb 14, 2020 11:19 pm

Do we know if this Criterion box set will be released in the UK (Criterion UK) - or could Arrow release it ?

this is a sweet surprise, since it's been years that I'm waiting for Criterion upgrade to blue, especially with the BD rot affecting the Potemkine box set.

Do we know if the color grading or restoration will be different than the Potemkine version ? (that said, "La Collectionneuse" by Potemkine looked amazing; I had only a few problems with "Ma Nuit Chez Maud" (black levels and compression; perhaps some very slight DNR)
I don't know if Criterion could start with his material he had from the time of the DVD box set. So far I did see no info about the transfer which would indicate a Potemkine source or another source. (After all all transfer from the Arrow Rohmer box set turned out to be different than the Potemkine box set)
This Criterion box set was awesome since they even interviewed Eric Rohmer especially for the Criterion release.

Mind you, it seems - with the upcoming Agnès Varda box set by Criterion (I remember a tweet about it), that perhaps we could hope another color grading (more accurate for some Agnès Varda movies like "Sans Toit Ni Loi" or especially "Le Bonheur" which - in comparison to the Criterion DVD - looks like it has been greenish by Eclair)

"La Collectionneuse" (as well as "Le Genou de Claire" (one of J-C Brialy best acting IMHO - a kind of revisitation of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses") is one of my favorite Rohmer ever. I'm still trying to learn by heart Daniel "killing" speeches to Haydé (a kind of pre-"Brice de Nice" - casse) - this scene "de la charentaise" is one of the highlight of the movie - I also like a lot the "magenta" color quote for the glasses.

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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#272 Post by MichaelB » Sat Feb 15, 2020 5:47 am

domino harvey wrote:Arrow may still have the rights to the last one
Yes, I’m not sure any one UK label has the rights to all six, unless Artificial Eye or Arrow have let them lapse. Of course, if both have, then Criterion UK could easily step in.

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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#273 Post by barryconvex » Thu Feb 20, 2020 4:00 am

This is probably my favorite Criterion release ever, definitely my favorite box set, the packaging is gorgeous, the films look amazing (even on dvd) and it's the one I always advise people buy when random conversations spring up in the CC section during B&N sales. I've had a notion to revisit Rohmer as it's been way too long since I've seen anything other than Pauline...so this is coming around at the perfect time.

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#274 Post by Michael Kerpan » Thu Feb 20, 2020 10:53 am

Nice set indeed -- but I much prefer Rohmer's later films overall.

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FrauBlucher
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Re: 342-348 Six Moral Tales

#275 Post by FrauBlucher » Tue Apr 21, 2020 7:06 pm


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