Second Sight have announced the release of two highly regarded world cinema works for September on UK DVD, Alain Robbe-Grillet's 1983 La Belle Captive and Michelangelo Antonioni's 1995 Beyond the Clouds (Al di là delle nuvole).

La Belle Captive

Walter (Daniel Mesguich) and Sara (Cyrielle Claire) are a married couple who have just moved into a new home together. Everything seems to be going well, despite Walter's fascination with a mysterious woman named Marie-Ange (Gabrielle Lazure) in a nightclub. Then one night, running an errand for Sara, Walter finds Marie-Ange tied up in the middle of the road. He takes her to the nearest villa, hoping to contact a doctor, but he only ends up locked in a bedroom with her. In the midst of their inevitable passion, visions of Magritte paintings dance in Walter's head, for some reason. In the morning, Marie-Ange is gone and Walter's neck is bleeding.

A writer, a filmmaker, and a member of the Academie francaise, Alain Robbe-Grillet was a one of the most controversial filmmakers in the history of French cinema. Now for the first time ever a brand new restored version of the erotic, surreal cult classic La Belle Captive will be available on DVD, remastered from the original 35mm negative. La Belle Captive, one of Robbe-Grille's most controversial films, was a precursor to David Lynch's world of enigmatic and dreamlike encounters.

Beyond the Clouds

The many ways in which men are fascinated, compelled, and confused by their attraction to women are explored in this four part drama. As a filmmaker (John Malkovich) tries to sort out his plans for his next film, he considers several stories about women and the men who love them. Silvano (Kim Rossi Stuart) meets Carmen (Ines Sastre) and immediately asks her for a date, but despite his attraction, he can't follow through on his feelings for her. The director spies a woman on the streets (Sophie Marceau) and follows her obsessively, but when he finally meets her, he's disappointed, despite their mutual physical attraction. Roberto (Peter Weller) and his wife Patricia (Fanny Ardant) have to deal with their anger about each other's infidelities, as well as their problems with their lovers, Olga (Chiara Caselli) and Carlo (Jean Reno). And Niccolo (Vincent Perez) falls in love at first sight with a young woman (Irene Jacob), unaware that she is studying to become a nun.

Near the end of his professional career, one of the most mesmeric directors in the history of cinema, Michelangelo Antonioni (L'Avventura, The Passenger), produced one his finest works, Beyond The Clouds, in collaboration with fellow director Wim Wenders. The first feature length film to come out of the master's studio almost a decade after the stroke that derailed his career, it is widely regarded to be a film of considerable beauty, gorgeous camera shots and moving performances.

La Belle Captive and Beyond the Clouds will be released seperately by Second Sight Films on 14th September 2009 at the RRP of £19.99 each. Details of extra features, if any, have yet to be confirmed.