78 Sous le soleil de satan

Discuss releases by Eureka and Masters of Cinema and the films on them.
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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#51 Post by knives » Tue Apr 26, 2011 10:35 pm

Not to be an ass, but I'm going through this great disc now and I'm watching the hour doc on disc two and they just showed the satan scene and I must say that the darkness here is much more evocative than in the film as is. I can only see their blue heads and it's frightening where as in the movie it came across as thought filled looking in the movie. That said this is still an other great disc that I'm glad to have.

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#52 Post by zedz » Mon Apr 08, 2013 3:46 pm

You know that scene in the middle of the film where the colour timing was completely fucked up? The one MoC thought wasn't a problem? Well, it's been corrected on the gorgeous Gaumont BluRay. The difference is night and day, literally.

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#53 Post by knives » Mon Apr 08, 2013 4:52 pm

Is the Blu region free? Just for that very important difference I'd totally double dip.

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#54 Post by zedz » Mon Apr 08, 2013 7:56 pm

I believe the Pialat Blus are indeed region free (marked A,B,C on the back), but I'll double check when I get home. They all seem to be new restorations / transfers, and what I sampled of Sous le soleil was a big improvement in terms of clarity on the old Gaumont / MoC SD transfer.

(Just checked: Amazon.fr confirms the Pialat Blus are all-region.)

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Murdoch
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:59 pm
Location: Upstate NY

Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#55 Post by Murdoch » Mon Apr 08, 2013 10:15 pm

Is the Amazon page correct in its listing that there are English subtitles?

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#56 Post by zedz » Tue Apr 09, 2013 12:21 am

Yes, but only on the feature. The (hours of) extras are unsubbed - and not all of them are available on the MoC editions, since they've added new stuff for the restorations - including, for example, a new hour-long doc on the making of A nos amours. And Artificial Eye didn't port over all the original extras for Loulou or Van Gogh, so those discs are filled to the brim with riches inaccessible to the tonguelocked.

The basic format of each two-disc set is:
Disc One - BluRay featuring new HD transfer of the feature, with English subs, plus new extras, unsubbed.
Disc Two - DVD of supplements from previous edition of the film, all unsubbed.

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EddieLarkin
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2012 10:25 am

Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#57 Post by EddieLarkin » Tue Apr 09, 2013 6:53 am

How are the English subs in terms of accuracy of translation? I'm always a bit wary of English subs that originate from a non-English speaking country.

Zot!
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 12:09 am

Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#58 Post by Zot! » Tue Apr 09, 2013 10:04 am

zedz wrote:tonguelocked
So good.

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NABOB OF NOWHERE
Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 12:30 pm
Location: Brandywine River

Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#59 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Tue Apr 09, 2013 11:33 am

EddieLarkin wrote:How are the English subs in terms of accuracy of translation? I'm always a bit wary of English subs that originate from a non-English speaking country.
They are having been subbed excellentive

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Murdoch
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:59 pm
Location: Upstate NY

Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#60 Post by Murdoch » Tue Apr 09, 2013 1:50 pm

That's a shame about the supplements not being subbed, but I'd be buying the blu for the feature anyway since I already own the MoC. Thanks for the information, zedz!

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#61 Post by zedz » Tue Apr 09, 2013 3:51 pm

And they're definitely region-free. My player was set to Region A when I watched the disc.

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FerdinandGriffon
Joined: Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:16 am

Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#62 Post by FerdinandGriffon » Thu May 09, 2013 8:01 pm

Just saw the film in 35mm at BAM. It was a lovely print, with a little wear, so I'm not sure if it was from a period closer to the original release or a new one struck since the Gaumont DVDs. But the night scene was far from inky black, very blue, very lovely, but not at all what zedz described earlier in the thread. Dunno if that throws any light (*devilish snigger*) on the controversy.

I don't feel that I have the strength to say much about the film so soon after viewing, beyond that it's an awe inspiring experience, but I do have a question about MoC's DVD. Someone earlier in the thread described one of the special features as a Bernanos doc. It's not listed as such in MoC's notes, but I'd be very curious to know more about this, as I'm a great lover of Bernanos' work and haven't been able to find much on him in English. Does anyone have any thoughts to offer on the doc?

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#63 Post by zedz » Thu May 09, 2013 10:32 pm

Checking it out again on the BluRay recently, the night scenes with sky are indeed very blue. The 'inky blackness' I was remembering was more in the shots where the two figures are pressed against the earth and it looks like the film has been dipped in indigo.

I don't remember the night / sky shots being quite so blue when I saw it in 35mm, but I'm assuming that the effect was achieved in the lab on the original prints and on a computer with the transfer for the BluRay, since the transfer on the MoC disc strongly suggests that the dark blue filter wasn't applied during the original shooting and isn't there on the raw negative.

Actually, I should probably just try out my new phone and take some shots to show people what we've been talking about all this time!

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: 78 Sous le soleil de satan

#64 Post by therewillbeblus » Tue Dec 10, 2019 9:00 am

I watched this on the advice of barryconvex, as a response to his viewing of The Flowers of St. Francis, and was shaken by how intense this film is compared to other spiritual films from which it was born. The conversation with the high priest at the start where he basically tells Depardieu to accept his holiness/status as a Saint, and bring his will to face the discomfort that comes with self-respect and participating in life only highlights how humility can be the opposite, an ego-induced fear trap of cowardice in remaining in comfortable self-pity and stagnation; and vice versa, where taking risks and accepting one’s worth, becoming uncomfortable through perceived non-humble acts is actually humble in the eyes of god.

This is basically the answer to those who seek to question the priest’s psychological profile in Diary of a Country Priest, but while that is an existential film that wants to remain on the outskirts of the priest’s psychology to highlight his humanness and demonstrate that actions themselves beget spirituality - whether real or imagined, believed or not - and are his savior, this film pierces the psychological vulnerabilities and contradictions that the former releases to god as an act of grace. This film meditates on them in the dense mud of their humanity (to flex Bonnaire’s analogy early on), unwilling or unable to release the pains of fear, doubt, insecurity, worthiness, and the acts of self-flagellation are as metaphorical as they are real. Sandrinne Bonnaire seeks the opposite as him, actively working towards a place of fearlessness - even declaring that she is rarely scared, though not something I believe - but the point is that she is actively pursuing a goal that is uncomfortable in order to work through the pain to get to comfort with that discomfort. However, she is relying solely on her will, draining herself of all sanity and strength in the process, taking an overdrive of action out of fear to let god in, while Depardieu takes a lack of action for the same reasons. The film depicts both main characters as equally lost because they refuse to let god in to their psychologies, and thus are castrated spiritually. Fear and pride, humility and ego, all drive them but these qualities are intangible to them in as a hazy whirlwind of internal dysregulation as they don’t possess the tools or lenses to make them tangible and work towards self-actualization and reprieve. Death says as much to Depardieu, telling him that he is unable to access the entire scope of vision that will provide him with serenity, only focusing on one thought at a time and thus fearful, blind, and doomed. Because he doesn’t have a blueprint or even willingness to give any of this fear up to god, Depardieu becomes the devil’s prophecy as a self-fulfilling one of his own, at least until he encounters Bonnaire...

How this fits with St Francis I think is in breaking down those moments like the leper scene where we are left wondering the meaning behind Francis’ actions, but it’s the inverse of that ambiguity, honing in on each complicated feeling and thought to unbearable degrees of rawness rather than bypassing such analyses for spiritual growth. There is no growth until the two leads encounter each other, where there is a ferocious explosion of participation that is unprecedented. Depardieu can hypocritically tell Bonnaire the truth about her facade, her unoriginality, stripping her of any false pride and allowing her to be freed of such anchors to misery, by using his holy ‘power,’ embracing it for the first time - but towards someone whose morals should but don’t reduce her worth at receiving his attention and thus muddle the judgment of the eyes of the church, but keep with a Franciscan humanist perspective and actions.

Depardieu mimics the priest in Bresson’s film now, attempting to do for another what he cannot do for himself. His disabled psyche is momentarily reprieved through the act of helping others, the core principle of the spiritual way of life- whether through religion, 12-step self-help groups, or any other alternative program of growth. Bonnaire is not helped in the traditional sense though, and Depardieu is tested just as he finally embraces his calling, reverting back to his self-destructive self-concept as he interprets his actions of confrontation as harmful rather than helpful, but were they? Did they not propel Bonnaire into a state of facing life head on and if so, is he responsible for the result? Would it not have been in line with Satan’s view to continue to do or say nothing and stay hiding from his power? And if so, did Depardieu act in accordance with God?

Depardieu‘s grapple with faith and journey in this film is reminiscent of The Young Pope and yet it’s far more esoteric than that already obscure film. Both films deal with a similar idea but this one offers little opportunity for audience reprieve from the entanglements of psychology and philosophy regarding an unknowable force both in the mind and of the spirit, borderlining on horror in its relentless pull, like that of Satan, the only mystical presence made corporeal here. While the ending is somewhat ambiguous as to the Big Questions at play, I’m ready to call this one of the most unsettling movie experiences ever, and will likely be a contender for my horror list. Not even because I see the film as cynical, as it’s very possibly not in its totality, but because the process is so assaultive and forces analysis while barring spiritual release that it exhausted me to my limits, and is probably the closest I can imagine to a nightmare of what hell would be like if it were a psychological prison.

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