The Love of a Woman
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- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
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The Love of a Woman
The Love of a Woman (L'amour d'une femme) was the final feature of the great French filmmaker Jean Grémillon, concluding a string of classics that included such greats as Remorques, Lumiere d'eteand Pattes blanches.
Marie, a young doctor, arrives on the island of Ushant to replace its retiring physician. She experiences prejudice from the mostly male population, but also love in the form of engineer André.
Starring Micheline Presle, whose impressive career has encompassed French, Italian and Hollywood cinema, and Massimo Girotti, best-known for his performance in Luchino Visconti's Ossessione, The Love of a Woman is a sad, beautiful, romantic masterpiece.
Special Features:
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition presentations of the feature, from materials supplied by Gaumont
• Original French mono audio (uncompressed LPCM on the Blu-ray)
• Optional English subtitles
• In Search of Jean Gremillon, a feature-length documentary on the filmmaker from 1969, containing interviews with director Rene Clair, archivist Henri Langlois, actors Micheline Presle and Pierre Brasseur, and others
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jennifer Dionisio
• First pressing only:Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic Ginette Vincendeau
U.S. STREET DATE: AUGUST 22.
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- not waving but frowning
- Joined: Tue Dec 09, 2008 1:18 pm
Re: The Love of a Woman
Genuinely surprised at the lack of response to this release given the frustration this board had with Criterion's delay in releasing any Gremillon. Any Gremillon release is a major event and Arrow deserve a lot of respect in delivering a Blu and with what appears to be an excellent extra.
- NABOB OF NOWHERE
- Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 12:30 pm
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Re: The Love of a Woman
90 % of Le Grem's output is worthy of a mighty Hurrah but I think the forum would have erupted had Maldone, Les Gardiens des Phares or La petite Lise been slated.
- Rayon Vert
- Green is the Rayest Color
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Re: The Love of a Woman
Mediocre script and all-around lacklustre film. Grémillon's last two films fell well below his usual standard.alacal2 wrote:Genuinely surprised at the lack of response to this release given the frustration this board had with Criterion's delay in releasing any Gremillon. Any Gremillon release is a major event and Arrow deserve a lot of respect in delivering a Blu and with what appears to be an excellent extra.
- swo17
- Bloodthirsty Butcher
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Re: The Love of a Woman
I mostly bought this to support Arrow releasing more Grémillon. It may not boast much of the visual inventiveness of his earlier work (a point driven home in clips featured in the lengthy documentary included as an extra) but it's still a fine film. Thematically, I suppose this is somewhat tied to Le ciel est à vous in terms of its female protagonist's drive to succeed in her career, though where that lead was able to fall back on a loving marriage for strength, here the love interest discourages her pursuits. I found the situation relatable, the acting moving, and the whole mise-en-scène rather romantic. I also really liked the score. Now bring on Pattes blanches! (And Daïnah la métisse, La Petite Lise, Maldone, Gardiens de phare, etc.)
- swo17
- Bloodthirsty Butcher
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Re: The Love of a Woman
A much better review than mine. I think I agree the doc is actually a bigger selling point than the feature.
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- not waving but frowning
- Joined: Tue Dec 09, 2008 1:18 pm
Re: The Love of a Woman
Swo there's a French Bluray with English subs. I've not seen any reviews and have yet to watch my copy. I've just read David's fine review and I see he's already covered Pattes Blanche. Love David's historical background references too. The Bfi played a selection of Gremillon from the Edinburgh Film Festival of which I managed to see four or five - usually with the same growing band of excited Gremillon supporters. I too hope the Arrow release gives his work a jump-start.
- NABOB OF NOWHERE
- Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 12:30 pm
- Location: Brandywine River
Re: The Love of a Woman
Dainah has been restored by Gaumont but unfortunately is still only the butchered 48 min version. God knows what Pathé are doing with the restored Lise. Maldone was shown on Arte some years back and is perfectly serviceable as is the Tokyo based print of Gardiens which I saw at the Edinburgh Grem retrospective. These 4 would make a magnificent set but I think we would be more likely to see either Remorques or Gueule first given the Gabin connection. There are docs on the french edition of Pattes, Lumiere d'Ete and Remorques that easily be ported with english subs as well as the Gremillon episode from the series Opera Intime that looks more at Gremillon's use of music. We live in hopeswo17 wrote: Now bring on Pattes blanches! (And Daïnah la métisse, La Petite Lise, Maldone, Gardiens de phare, etc.)
- swo17
- Bloodthirsty Butcher
- Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
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Re: The Love of a Woman
I know, I actually own it. It could use a wider release though, and I assume it would be a logical next step as long as rights aren't an issue.alacal2 wrote:Swo there's a French Bluray with English subs.
- Jean-Luc Garbo
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Re: The Love of a Woman
Could you expand on this comment: "Sensualist and theological thinker, hetero and homo, tough shell and fragile artiste"? Are you saying Grem was a bisexual? Or a particularly religious man? Knowing little of his life but loving his films, I find this comment especially intriguing.david hare wrote:Review here:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php? ... 9909642657" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
- Big Ben
- Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2016 12:54 pm
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Re: The Love of a Woman
A quick Google search states that Grémillon was Bisexual and that his 1937 film Lady Killer contained LGBT content. However it was all incredibly vague. So take that as you will.
- knives
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm
Re: The Love of a Woman
If Lady Killer has homoerotic content it's buried pretty deep in the closet.
- NABOB OF NOWHERE
- Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 12:30 pm
- Location: Brandywine River
Re: The Love of a Woman
I think the reference is between the charged relationship between Lucien and René which comes to a head when they are arguing about who deserves the Mireille Balin character more and Gabin utters the ambiguous line " I loved her as much as you" Also it could be argued that the final farewell is a lover's wave.
- knives
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm
Re: The Love of a Woman
I still take that for a stretch. Certainly the film contrasts masculine friendship with female romance in a way that prefers the masculine, but that in and of itself is not homoerotic though I suppose it is homo something.
- NABOB OF NOWHERE
- Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 12:30 pm
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Re: The Love of a Woman
I will consult with my avatar if there is a suitable epithet.
- Jean-Luc Garbo
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Re: The Love of a Woman
I certainly wouldn't have caught any of that on first glance. Thanks for the head's up!
- NABOB OF NOWHERE
- Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 12:30 pm
- Location: Brandywine River
Re: The Love of a Woman
OK lads, my avatar suggests eyes down for a re-watch with Gaydar turned to 11david hare wrote:. If the kiss and the patting and stroking of hair and the fussing about don't suggest to you that Rene's "hero worship" and his penultimate need to "impress" Lucien with a proposed marriage to the trophy Madeleine is a barely disguised homoerotic fixation I wont' try to convince anyone either.
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