Product Description

Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 02/05/2008 Run time: 354 minutes Rating: Nr

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #58355 in DVD
• Brand: LIONSGATE ENT.
• Released on: 2008-02-05
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 354 minutes

Features

• Experience four films from one of the most influential and well-known French filmakers, Jean-Luc Godard. This pioneer of the "New Wave" cinematic movement enjoys a prolific career that has already spanned over 5 decades. This collection features four works from the 1980s and 1990s phase of his career. The films include PASSION (1982), FIRST NAME: CARMEN (Winner of the Golden Lion Award at

Customer Reviews

4 movies and a mini doc
Give me a cinematic film over a naturalistic one any day. I'm an unapologetic fan of pretty pictures, and auteur Jean-Luc Godard made some of the most beautiful, ever.

If you're like me, you will want to see Lionsgate's new collection, entitled simply: The Jean-Luc Godard Boxed Set. While these later films in the famous French New Wave director's oeuvre are not his most popular, they are certainly right up there with the rest of his work as far as good looks go.

Passion
First Name: Carmen
Détective
Oh Woe is Me

I watched Détective (1985) for the first time, mainly because it seems to be singled out as one of his "worst" and "most commercial" movies, done "just for the money." It is supposed to be a film noir farce, but it's hardly a send up of a genre ala the films of Edgar Wright. In this one, you have to look pretty hard for the satire. But that's OK - it's gorgeous, and the characters are quirky.

More about mis-en-scene than the mystery at hand, Détective ostensibly follows the intersecting - but not necessarily connected - stories of a collected group of people ensconced in the Hotel Concorde St. Lazare in Paris. Watching them all is the titled detective, Isidore (Jean-Pierre Léaud), his uncle (Laurent Terzieff) and their luscious young love interest, Arielle (Aurelle Doazan).

As the detective himself says, "To sum up: Lots of stories here, ours and other people's. Something is bound to happen." A lot does happen, but in a very languid, roundabout manner - this is definitely the kind of movie you watch for love of art, not for mindless popcorn-munching.

The DVD is fairly skimpy on the extras, nevertheless there is an excellent, short-but-sweet documentary which serves to introduce the viewer to the filmmaker's singular sensibility and his personal philosophies. There are some great quotes from Godard himself, and refreshing observations from a handful of film historians focusing on these movies in particular. It's very well-done. Recommended. [Buzzine]

mind and senses
A great product for aficionados of art film. These aren't the easiest films to get your mind around. However, the product has useful helps - a brief but incisive summary of each film on the back of the case, "chapter" headings, and a discussion featurette concerning the cinema of Godard. Discussion points in the featurette are supported by scenes from the four films in this package. ..The aim of this type of cinema is to stimulate thinking and to educate, but these films are sensual, erotic, comical and poetic as well. Lots of slapstick, film genre-hopping and beautiful actors and actresses.

Disc information
Being that the titles do not seem to be provided as of 1/11/2008, this DVD has the following movies on three discs:

Passion
First Name: Carmen
The Detective
Oh Woe is Me

These movies were made in the 1980s and 1990s. Although lesser known, they are supposedly interesting, if not spectacular, films for Godard fans.