{"id":11716,"date":"2015-07-02T00:16:55","date_gmt":"2015-07-02T04:16:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=11716"},"modified":"2015-07-02T00:36:16","modified_gmt":"2015-07-02T04:36:16","slug":"le-giallo-francaise-the-bride-wore-black-1968-le-boucher-1970","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=11716","title":{"rendered":"Le giallo francaise: The Bride Wore Black (1968) + Le Boucher (1970)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"BrideWoreBlack_Fr_poster\"<\/a>


This is called a movie poster, not a Photoshopped big actor head thingy that’s sadly become the norm among studios.<\/p><\/div>\n

Paired together in this update are two films often cited as Hitchcockian homages by pioneers of the French New Wage, both of whom authored seminal books on the career of the esteemed Master of Suspense.<\/p>\n

In 1962, Francois Truffaut began a series of interviews that resulted in the 1967 book Hitchcock Truffaut<\/strong>, which presented lengthy discussions \u00a0(further details and download links here<\/a>), whereas Claude Chabrol and Eric Rohmer authored Hitchcock<\/strong> in 1957, often regarded as the first serious attempt to analyze the oeuvre of a single filmmaker.<\/p>\n

Truffaut\u2019s homage, <\/span>The Bride Wore Black<\/a><\/strong> (1968), is based on a story by Cornell Woolrich, whose prose also formed the basis of Hitchcock\u2019s <\/span>Rear Window<\/strong> (1956), whereas Chabrol\u2019s <\/span>Le Boucher <\/strong>\/ The Butcher<\/strong><\/a> (1970) has Hitchcockian elements which Chabrol has reportedly explored in prior work (which I\u2019ll dig into from time to time).<\/span><\/p>\n

Both filmmakers applied their own sensibilities to their respective homages, and yet while Truffaut\u2019s Bride<\/strong> may follow more closely the Hitchcock formula of murder, suspicion, and dramatic action, Chabrol\u2019s film owes more to the Italian giallo, especially in its use of secluded locations (an insular village), and a tone and pacing far different from Truffaut\u2019s brisker approach. It also helps that Pierre Jansen\u2019 Boucher<\/strong> score is very Morriconesque, in terms of instrumentation and experimental sounds (although unlike Morricone, Jansen offers no lullaby or sweet theme; everything is abstract, profane, and sometimes grungy).<\/p>\n

Twilight Time\u2019s Blu-ray of Bride<\/strong> features two dub versions of the film (apparently the music edits differ), and a bonus CD featuring a 79 min. interview with Bernard Herrmann from 1970 that\u2019s been branded \u2018an unvarnished chat\u2019, which it most certainly is.<\/p>\n

I think I face-palmed about 10 times during this amazing gem that comes from the archives at The Film Music Society<\/a>. The CD alone is worth the purchase, and makes for a great tribute, especially since Herrmann would\u2019ve been 104 on June 29th.\u00a0One can only imagine what he would\u2019ve thought of the state of film music and films at that age.<\/p>\n

\"Boucher_Le_Fr_poster\"<\/a>Le Boucher <\/strong>is a film need of a proper transfer, period.<\/p>\n

Pathfinder\u2019s Chabrol releases are generally well-produced, but the transfers are often from less than ideal PAL sources. This one\u2019s better than expected, but this conversion \/ transfer is circa 2003, and we\u2019ve advanced a heck of a lot since then. A HD version of Boucher<\/strong> would look sumptuous, but there\u2019s a sense Chabrol\u2019s canon has been marginalized or forgotten, especially when formal Italian gialli are being remastered and released by class indie labels.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it’s time for Chabrol to be rediscovered?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Quick notes before the next imminent update:<\/p>\n

1) Twilight Time just announced their web portal (website<\/a>)\u00a0\u2013 yes, there\u2019s finally a site that gathers everything under one roof \u2013 and I suspect a message board might be in the works, which will enable fans and critics to address assorted topics as done at Criterion\u2019s site<\/a>. If such a extension comes to fruition, maybe it\u2019ll put further focus on film music, since the label in most cases manages to come through with isolated score tracks, and commentary tracks that emphasize the contributions and careers of many great composers.<\/p>\n

2) Toronto\u2019s tally of local video stores has shrunk yet again, with 2Q Video<\/a> shuttering their Bloor Street location June 2nd<\/a>. Not good news, as it means there\u2019s maybe 10 stores left in the city<\/a>, most in the west end.<\/p>\n

3) Happy Canada Day! We\u2019re older, bigger, more diverse, and deserve better government. Try and see through the loathsome attack ads that have dropped questionable taste to new levels; be amused by the weird ones<\/a> that seem directed by 3 year olds; and remember to keep your bullshit meter plugged in, because this election\u2019s going to be nasty. In past elections one might vote for the lesser hypocrite, but this time it\u2019s to give the most ideological, destructive, arrogant, and smug figure his pink slip.<\/p>\n

Coming next:<\/em> reviews of the SOV shocker Spine<\/strong> (1986) from Massacre Video, and Mary Dore\u2019s documentary on the women\u2019s movement She\u2019s Beautiful When She\u2019s Angry <\/strong>(2014), playing July 4-9 at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mark R. Hasan<\/strong>, Editor
\nKQEK.com<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviews of what could be termed two entries in the French giallo genre: Francois Truffaut’s The Bride Wore Black (1968), new on Blu from Twilight Time, and Claude Chabrol’s Le Boucher (1970) on DVD from Pathfinder Home Entertainment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11719,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[96,97,3739,2562,858,2563,3740,3746,3747,3741],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/BrideWoreBlack_featured.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-32Y","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11716"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11716"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11733,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11716\/revisions\/11733"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}