Artificial Eye have announced the August release of four films from one of the leading lights of the Nouvelle Vague, François Truffaut, on UK Blu-ray and DVD: The 400 Blows (1959), The Soft Skin (1964), Stolen Kisses (1968) and Bed & Board.
The 400 Blows [Les quatre cents coups] – 11th August 2014 | DVD £15.99 | Blu-ray £19.99
Director Francois Truffaut's first feature film is a landmark in French cinema. Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud) is a 13-year-old boy who can't seem to do anything right. His parents yell at him and then bribe him for his love and his promises to work harder in school. Meanwhile, his schoolteacher is out to get him and blames Antoine for everything – turning him into the class clown. As a result, Antoine runs away from school and his difficult family, living on the streets of Paris and committing petty crimes. While his life on the street is tough, it's much better than dealing with his preoccupied parents and his accusatory teacher. Nonetheless, things only go downhill for Antoine, descending to a simultaneously painful and beautiful conclusion. The 400 Blows is also the beginning of Truffaut's Antoine Doinel cycle, which follows Leaud as Antoine in four additional films over the course of 20 years.
Special features:
- Intro by Serge Toubiana
- Commentary with Robert Lachenay
- Screen Tests
The Soft Skin [La peau douce] – 11th August 2014 | DVD £15.99 | Blu-ray £19.99
The Soft Skin is a classic work of the Novelle Vague replete with intrigue, emotion, and stunning imagery. This dissection of an affair between successful publisher and novelist Pierre Lachenay (Jean Desailly), and airline stewardess Nicole (Francoise Dorleac), begins on Lachenay's trip to Lisbon for a lecture, On the airplane he watches, enraptured, as Nicole changes out of her work shoes and into sexy, sling-back pumps. From there, his lust for her only grows, and he begins a deeply involved affair with her that continues back in Paris. Meanwhile Lachenay's perfect bourgeoise wife, Franca (Nelly Benedetti) is entertaining friends and playing with their cute five-year-old daughter, Sabine (Sabine Haudepin), seemingly unaware of her husband's strange behaviour. But when Franca discovers that he's been cheating and may even be in love, she reacts irrationally. The Soft Skin's surprising finale is one of the most memorable in film history.
Special features:
- Intro by Serge Toubiana
- Commentary with Jean-Louis Richard
Stolen Kisses [Baisers volés] – 25th August 2014 | DVD £15.99 | Blu-ray £19.99
Filmed in 1968 during political turbulence in France which culminated in the Paris riots, this is ironically one of Truffaut's most playful and lighthearted films. The third in a series featuring Truffaut's cinematic alter-ego Antoine Doinel, which began with Les Quatre Cents Coups, it follows Antoine (Jean-Pierre Léaud) who, having received a dishonourable discharge from the army at the age of 20, works his way through a series of unsatisfactory jobs, as well as a number of transient relationships.
Special features:
- Intro by Serge Toubiana
- Commentary with Claude Jade and Claude de Givray
Bed & Board [Domicile conjugal] – 25th August 2014 | DVD £15.99 | Blu-ray £19.99
Antoine Doinel has married Christine Daron. He's working for a florist, tinting flowers in the courtyard of the building where they live. Their neighbours are an eccentric bunch, including an opera singer and his wife, a man in voluntary confinement, a waitress in love, and a mysterious man nicknamed "the strangler". Antoine begins working for an American company and shortly afterwards finds that Christine is to have a baby. But here Antoine and Christine's happiness subsides as Antoine becomes obsessed with Kyoko a beautiful, exciting Japanese girl he meets at work, and becomes increasingly distant from Christine.
Special features:
- Intro by Serge Toubiana
- Commentary with Claude Jade and Claude de Givray
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