78 Sous le soleil de satan

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What A Disgrace
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78 Sous le soleil de satan

#1 Post by What A Disgrace » Wed Jan 20, 2010 1:32 pm

Sous le soleil de satan

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Positioned somewhere between Bresson's immortal Journal d'un curé de campagne and Dieterle's The Devil and Daniel Webster, Maurice Pialat's staggering Sous le soleil de Satan [Under the Sun of Satan] addresses the torrent of spiritual and intellectual turmoil unloosed among the denizens of a little country parish. It is a film by turns calm and violent, buoyant upon the tears of mercy and gurgling with the blood of the Lamb.

Gérard Depardieu (Loulou, Le Garçu) is the self-abasing curate tortured by questions about his role in God's plan — before an encounter with a material Satan touches off a powerful revelation. At the crux of his vision is Sandrine Bonnaire (A nos amours., Police), the madly profligate sylph whose fate ruptures in a blast of gunpowder and the slash of a razor. As events unfurl, Maurice Pialat himself provides witness as the seasoned cleric who pronounces the words: "God wears us down."

One of the great films of faith made by a non-believer, Sous le soleil de Satan left an indelible mark on spectators from the very moment of its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 1987 — where it won the Palme d'Or for Best Film. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Maurice Pialat's soul-shaking Sous le soleil de Satan on DVD in the UK for the first time.

2-DISC EDITION:

• Gorgeous new anamorphic transfer of the film in its original aspect ratio
• New and improved English subtitle translations
Isabelle aux Dombes [Isabelle in La Dombes] — Maurice Pialat's first film, an 8-minute silent work from 1951
Congrès eucharistique diocésain. [Diocesan Eucharistic Congress.] — an 8-minute silent film by Maurice Pialat from 1953
• 11-minute 2003 interview with star Gérard Depardieu, conducted by former Cahiers du cinéma editor-in-chief, and current director of the Cinémathèque Française, Serge Toubiana
• 13 minutes of footage from the press conference for the film with Pialat and cast, directly following its debut at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival
• 7-minute interview with Pialat and Depardieu, directly after receiving the Palme d’Or award for Best Film at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival
• 54-minute 1983 television programme dedicated to the film, featuring lengthy interviews with Pialat (speaking about the film and his career) and esteemed Catholic writer André Frossard
• 14 minutes of footage shot on the set of Sous le soleil de Satan
• 55-minute featurette containing excised scenes and alternative versions of sequences from the film, commented upon by editor Yann Dedet, apprentice editor and future director Cédric Kahn, and screenwriter and assistant Sylvie Pialat
• Original theatrical trailer for Sous le soleil de Satan, along with trailers for the six other Maurice Pialat films released by The Masters of Cinema Series
• 28-page booklet containing a new essay by writer Gabe Klinger, and excerpts from a 1987 interview with Pialat accompanied by remarks from Sandrine Bonnaire one week after the director’s death in 2003, newly translated into English

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TMDaines
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
Location: Stretford, Manchester

Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#2 Post by TMDaines » Wed Jan 20, 2010 2:10 pm

That's pretty stacked. Is it a two disker?

peerpee
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Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#3 Post by peerpee » Wed Jan 20, 2010 2:19 pm

Both SOUS LE SOLEIL DE SATAN and A NOS AMOURS. will be 2 x DVD.

Gabe Klinger essay on SOUS, and Dan Salitt on A NOS AMOURS.

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foggy eyes
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 9:58 am
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Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#4 Post by foggy eyes » Wed Jan 20, 2010 6:11 pm

peerpee wrote:Both SOUS LE SOLEIL DE SATAN and A NOS AMOURS. will be 2 x DVD.

Gabe Klinger essay on SOUS, and Dan Salitt on A NOS AMOURS.
Nice. You guys know how to pick 'em.

peerpee
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Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:41 pm

Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#5 Post by peerpee » Wed Jan 20, 2010 9:25 pm

Sorry - that's Dan Sallitt.

evillights
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Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#6 Post by evillights » Fri Feb 05, 2010 11:00 pm

The Sous le soleil de Satan page is now live at the MoC site.

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Der Spieler
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 11:05 am

Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#7 Post by Der Spieler » Sun Feb 07, 2010 2:08 pm

This will be a blind buy for me.

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TheGodfather
Joined: Sun Sep 17, 2006 4:39 pm
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Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#8 Post by TheGodfather » Sun Feb 14, 2010 6:16 pm

Der Spieler wrote:This will be a blind buy for me.
Seconded. Looking forward to it a lot, as I loved all other MoC`s Pialat releases.

Nothing
Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2006 4:04 am

Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#9 Post by Nothing » Wed Feb 24, 2010 2:57 am

Caught this at the memorial screening in Cannes in '03. Wonderful film.

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Der Spieler
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Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#10 Post by Der Spieler » Thu Feb 25, 2010 9:32 pm

Will this and "À nos amours" be region-free?

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MichaelB
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Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#11 Post by MichaelB » Fri Feb 26, 2010 2:29 am

Well, the last two Pialats were Region 2, and they're presumably licensed from the same source - so I'd assume R2 unless otherwise advised.

But Nick can give a definitive answer.

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GaryC
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Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#12 Post by GaryC » Fri Feb 26, 2010 3:53 am

I have review checkdiscs here of Sous le soleil de Satan - it's region-free.

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Der Spieler
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Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#13 Post by Der Spieler » Tue Mar 16, 2010 4:53 pm

Received the DVD yesterday and watched it a few moments ago. While the transfer is flawless and the movie excellent, I thought for the first time with an MoC product that the presentation left a little to be desired. Don't want to criticize too much though 'cause I'm pretty happy to even be able to see and own that film.

I just thought that the covert art was somewhat ugly and that the overall presentation seemed a little botched. Don't get me wrong, I still highly recommend a buy, but just don't expect too much. The menus were not very pretty either. I really don't mean to be disrespectful since I love MoC so much, but could it be possible that the job was a little rushed on this one?

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swo17
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Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#14 Post by swo17 » Tue Mar 16, 2010 5:00 pm

Re: the cover art, see here.

doc mccoy
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Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#15 Post by doc mccoy » Tue Mar 16, 2010 5:36 pm

I just thought that the covert art was somewhat ugly and that the overall presentation seemed a little botched. Don't get me wrong, I still highly recommend a buy, but just don't expect too much. The menus were not very pretty either. I really don't mean to be disrespectful since I love MoC so much, but could it be possible that the job was a little rushed on this one?
I certainly don't agree that it's a rushed job.

To each his own as to what constitutes good cover art, but I think that MoC's cover is certainly better than other posters that I've seen for Sous le soleil de satan - for instance, the cover on wikipedia, where it's just Depardieu's face in confessional, which does not mean much and the French dvd artwork is even worse; this does a better job of reflecting his character's struggle with faith and being open to exploitation.

I did not have any problem with the menus; I suspect that MoC's main focus was on the abundance of extra material - it's a complete smorgasboard! And this is where I think it deserves total props - I have not watched all the features yet, but I loved the interview with Depardieu - you can tell that he was really fond of Pialat and he shows a degree of honesty and self-deprecation you don't get to see actors admit to that often in these sort of interviews.

Plus, the hour long Bernanos documentary - it's amazing to see how much Pialat as a person has changed and has not changed over time, with the 30 minute french interview on L'enfance nue; he has mellowed out so much since then and seems to be more at ease doing interviews, being much more expressive in caring for his actors, but he still criticizes and comes down hard on himself. Without MoC's dedication to securing and exhibiting these extra materials on all their films, we would not be able to appreciate these details.

Brilliant film, brilliant package MoC!

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Der Spieler
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Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#16 Post by Der Spieler » Tue Mar 16, 2010 5:56 pm

Why are you telling me all this? I've never questioned the quality and abundance of extra features.

I understand there may have been trouble finding good quality pictures, maybe that is the reason.

And before this gets blown out of proportion, I DO love and respect the work done by MoC. I'm just talking about the presentation which I found a notch under their usual standards. I didn't say it was downright atrocious, for God's sake...

peerpee
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Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#17 Post by peerpee » Tue Mar 16, 2010 6:00 pm

Der Spieler, sorry you thought it was "ugly" and "botched". It took us as long to put together as all the others and we're very proud of it.

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Der Spieler
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Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#18 Post by Der Spieler » Tue Mar 16, 2010 6:07 pm

Well good for you.

I've alway been very supportive of MoC and I own about 20 of their DVDs. Sad to see how you can't make a small criticism without sounding like an ass. I also said this, remember:
While the transfer is flawless and the movie excellent
Don't want to criticize too much though 'cause I'm pretty happy to even be able to see and own that film.
Don't get me wrong, I still highly recommend a buy
I really don't mean to be disrespectful since I love MoC so much
I DO love and respect the work done by MoC

peerpee
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Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#19 Post by peerpee » Tue Mar 16, 2010 6:16 pm

I said I'm sorry you thought it was "ugly" and "botched".

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Der Spieler
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Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#20 Post by Der Spieler » Tue Mar 16, 2010 7:13 pm

It sounded bitter, which I can understand, but please note that I'm French and that I sometimes use words that are too harsh for what I'm trying to say.

peerpee
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Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#21 Post by peerpee » Tue Mar 16, 2010 7:15 pm

No worries.

Nothing
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Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#22 Post by Nothing » Tue Mar 23, 2010 3:33 am

Very much enjoyed this again today. An excellent release (packaging included). This remains perhaps my favourite Pialat, next to A nos amours - ie. a no brainer.

One small question: Overall the look of the film appears to be very accurate, and I may be off on this, but I seem to recall that the sequence where Depardieu encounters the devil was much darker theatrically; to the point where one can barely see what is going on for a good 10 minutes or so. Can anyone else confirm/deny/comment? I do know that most post houses have a tendency, if unchecked, to lighten transfers intended for home release.

evillights
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Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#23 Post by evillights » Tue Mar 23, 2010 1:35 pm

Nothing wrote:One small question: Overall the look of the film appears to be very accurate, and I may be off on this, but I seem to recall that the sequence where Depardieu encounters the devil was much darker theatrically; to the point where one can barely see what is going on for a good 10 minutes or so. Can anyone else confirm/deny/comment? I do know that most post houses have a tendency, if unchecked, to lighten transfers intended for home release.
A 1998 Les Inrocks interview with Rivette would seem to point toward the fact that the scene didn't originally appear as ten minutes of near-total indistinctness —

"But I really believe that Bernanos is unfilmable. Diary of a Country Priest remains an exception. In Under the Sun of Satan, I like everything concerning Mouchette [Sandrine Bonnaire's character], and Pialat acquits himself honorably. But it was insane to adapt the book in the first place since the core of the narrative, the encounter with Satan, happens at night — black night, absolute night. Only Duras could have filmed that."

Zot!
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Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#24 Post by Zot! » Tue Mar 23, 2010 2:11 pm

Well if you want to watch it "indistinctly" the old VHS of this renders this scene a murky black Satanic soup.

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Der Spieler
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Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#25 Post by Der Spieler » Tue Mar 23, 2010 2:23 pm

Maybe I've been too harsh in my initial commentaries, sorry.

Watched the extras this morning and they're all very interesting.

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