We noted a while ago that some press releases are getting seriously thin on detail, but the latest one from Artificial Eye contains only the titles, the release date and the extra features. No plot details, nothing about the reputation of the films or even their celebrated director. Of course, they could be working on the assumption that just about every member of its target audience knows these films well. Yeah, let's go with that.
And these are good looking titles, being two of François Truffaut's most celebrated films, Shoot the Pianist and Jules and Jim, which will be released individually on UK Blu-ray and DVD on 28th July 2014 by Artificial Eye at the RRP of £15.99 for the DVD, and £19.99 for the Blu-ray.
In Truffaut's second feature, Shoot the Pianist [Tirez sur le pianiste, also known as Shoot the Piano Player] (1960), singer Charles Aznavour stars as Charlie Kohler, a bar room piano player with a secret past who is pulled into the world of organised crime when he helps his crooked brother Chico escape to gangsters. It's a terrific work, wonderfully described by the Onion A.V. Club thus: "A movie-lover's movie, Shoot The Piano Player found a young director drunk on cinema and buying for the bar."
Extra features will include:
The 1962 Jules and Jim [Jules et Jim] is regarded by some as Truffaut's finest film. In pre-WW1 Paris, close friends Jules (Oskar Werner) and Jim (Henri Serre) both fall in love with the beautiful Catherine (Jeanne Moreau). Catherine marries Jules, but after the war the three meet up again and she finds herself drawn to Jim instead. Based on the autobiographical novel by Henri-Pierre Roché, Jules and Jimwas described by critic John Powers as "a movie that enters viewers’ lives like a lover – a masterpiece you can really get a crush on."
Extra features will include:
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Presentation of the film by Serge Toubiana
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Commentary with Marie Dubois
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Commentary with Raoul Coutard
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Marie Dubois's screen tests
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