Too often overlooked and undervalued, Claude Chabrol was the first of the Cahiers du Cinema critics to release a feature film and would be among the most prolific. The sneaky anarchist of the French New Wave, he embraced genre as a means of lifting the lid on human nature. Nothing is sacred and nothing is certain in the films of Claude Chabrol: anything can be corrupted, and usually will be.
The hidden meaness of provincial life is at the heart of Cop Au Vin (Poulet au vinaigre), as deaths and disappearances intersect around the attempt by a corrupt syndicate of property developers to force a disabled woman and her son from their home. Actor Jean Poiret would prove so compelling as the laconic Detective Inspector Lavardin – good cop/bad cop all in one – that the sequel would be titled after him. Inspector Lavardin sees the titular detective investigating the murder of a wealthy and respected catholic author, renowned for his outspoken views against indecency, whose body was found naked and dead on the beach. In Madame Bovary, Chabrol directs one of his greatest collaborators, actress Isabelle Huppert, in perhaps the definitive depiction of Flaubert’s classic heroine. Meanwhile Betty, adapted from the novel of the same name by Maigret author Georges Simenon, is a scathing attack on the upper-middle classes, featuring an extraordinary performance by Marie Trintignant as a woman spiraling into alcoholism, but fighting to redefine herself. Finally, in Torment (L’enfer) Chabrol picks up a project abandoned by Henri Georges Clouzot, in which a husband’s jealousy and suspicion of his wife drive him to appalling extremes. Francois Cluzet and Emmanuelle Beart give career best performances as the husband and wife tearing each other apart.
With brand new digital restorations, this inaugural Arrow Video collection of Claude Chabrol on Blu-ray brings together a wealth of passionate contributors and archival extras to shed fresh light on the films and the filmmaker. Dark, witty, ruthless, mischievous: if you’ve never seen Chabrol before, you’re in for a treat. If you have, they’ve never looked better.
LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
– High definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentations of all five films
– New 4K restorations of Madame Bovary, Betty, and Torment (L’enfer)
– Original lossless French PCM mono audio on Cop Au Vin (Poulet au vinaigre), Inspector Lavardin, Madame Bovary, and Betty
– Original lossless French PCM stereo audio on Torment (L’enfer)
– Optional English Subtitles
– Fully illustrated 80-page collector’s booklet of new writing on the films by film critics Martyn Conterio, Kat Ellinger, Philip Kemp, and Sam Wigley plus select archival material
– Limited edition packaging featuring newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
DISC ONE – COP AU VIN (POULET AU VINAIGRE)
– Brand new commentary by film critic Ben Sachs
– An Interview with Ian Christie, a brand new interview with film historian Ian Christie about the cinema of Claude Chabrol
– Claude Chabrol at the BFI, Chabrol discusses his career in this hour long archival interview conducted on-stage at the National Film Theatre in 1994
– Claude Chabrol, Jean Poiret & Stephane Audran in conversation, an archival Swiss TV episode in which the director and cast discuss Cop Au Vin (Poulet au vinaigre)
– Archive introduction by film scholar Joël Magny
– Select scene commentaries by Claude Chabrol
– Theatrical Trailer
– Image Gallery
DISC TWO – INSPECTOR LAVARDIN
– Brand new commentary by film critic Ben Sachs
– Why Chabrol?, a brand new interview with film critic Sam Wigley about why the films of Claude Chabrol remain essential viewing
– Archive introduction by film scholar Joël Magny
– Select scene commentaries by Claude Chabrol
– Theatrical Trailer
– Image Gallery
DISC THREE – MADAME BOVARY
– Brand new commentary by film critic Kat Ellinger
– Imagining Emma: Madame Bovary on screen, a brand new visual essay by film historian Pamela Hutchinson
– Archive introduction by film scholar Joël Magny
– Select scene commentaries by Claude Chabrol
– Theatrical Trailer
– Image Gallery
DISC FOUR – BETTY
– Brand new commentary by film critic Kat Ellinger
– Betty, from Simenon to Chabrol, a brand new visual essay by French Cinema historian Ginette Vincendeau
– An Interview with Ros Schwartz, a brand new interview with the English translator of the Georges Simenon novel on which the film is based
– Archive introduction by film scholar Joël Magny
– Select scene commentaries by Claude Chabrol
– Theatrical Trailer
– Image Gallery
DISC FIVE – TORMENT (L’ENFER)
– Brand new commentary by film critics Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson
– On Henri Georges Clouzot, an archival interview with Claude Chabrol in which he talks about fellow director Henri Georges Clouzot (Les diaboliques), whose original attempt to make L’enfer was abandoned, and how the project came to Chabrol
– An Interview with Marin Karmitz, an archival interview with Marin Karmitz, Chabrol’s most frequent producer
– Archive introduction by film scholar Joël Magny
– Select scene commentaries by Claude Chabrol
– Theatrical Trailer
– Image Gallery
