The Angel Lands

It's arrived! Dirty Like an Angel (Sale comme un ange) is now out on DVD from Pathfinder Pictures, meaning all of the films Catherine Breillat are now available on English language DVD. Of course, that still leaves plenty that she just wrote or co-wrote (one of which, Bilitis, will hopefully also be on its way from Pathfinder), and the 36 Fillette picture on the US DVD is just awful and in serious need of a respectable reissue. But now all of her major works are available on DVD and in English; and that's pretty awesome. Dirty Like an Angel is presented here in a nice, 16x9 widescreen presentation with optional subs - it looks great (click above to see the screenshot at full size). Pathfinder has also topped themselves by including an all new interview with Catherine Breillat, as well as the trailer (plus trailers for other Pathfinder discs, including Night After Night). Considering how rare extras are on Breillat's films (at least outside of France, where they're untranslated), this chance to hear the filmmaker discuss her work is a very welcome addition - especially since Breillat's films are often the sort where many people may feel a little explanation of intent would be a big help.

Dirty Like an Angel Coming To US DVD!

Thanks to Joseph, who commented on my last Night After Night/Nocturnal Uproar post, I contacted Pathfinder and can confirm what he reported: they DO plan to release Dirty Like an Angel (Sale comme un ange) on US DVD! They plan to release the DVD this fall, and if their recent disc is anything to go by, I think we can count on a nice, widescreen image with optional English subs. This will mean, while the quality may vary (36 Fillette, I'm looking at you), we will then have every film Breillat has ever directed on US, English language DVD.

And if that's not enough exciting news, Pathfinder also informs me that they're working on a Bilitis disc (which Breillat didn't direct but co-wrote... see my post on that film). They're currently looking for a proper quality source to master their transfer, so if anybody has any lines on proper film elements, drop by their site and let them know. =)
Update 7/20/11: Added the cover art. The link to pre-order it is now up on Amazon. Looks like another anamorphic (not that anybody does non-anamorphic anymore, do they?) widescreen, which is nice. Here's the description they give: "Georges Deblache (Claude Brasseur) is a police inspector who is past middle age and who is so despondent about his life that he refuses to have a medical check-up, even though he suspects he has cancer. His partner is Didier Theron (Nils Tavernier), who has recently married a woman whom he has worshipful feelings for -- feelings which don't stop him from routinely bedding the many women of color he encounters while doing his job. Georges takes a keen interest in his partner's unrealistically appreciated wife and pushes his way into her not entirely unwilling arms."

Spanish Dirty Like an Angel DVD

I've just found a Region 4 DVD for Breillat's Dirty Like an Angel (see my original post on the film here), under the Spanish title: Sucia Como un Angel. It's from the DVD company Film House, and apparently has a nice, widescreen print. Unfortunately, however, most reports say they have only added Spanish language options.

At least one website (http://www.mixup.com.mx/) does claim it also has English subtitles, however. I'm trying to find out (I've just sent an e-mail to Film House), but if anybody knows or can beat me to the punch in finding out, please let me know!

Update 11/28/08: No word back from Film House, but I talked to someone who sells these discs online and he assures me there are no English subs. Oh well. :(

Dirty Like an Angel (1991)

So, there's one other film Breillat wrote and directed that's not on DVD: 1991's Dirty Like an Angel (Sale comme un ange)... Filmreference.com says the film, "chronicles the relationship between the wife of a young cop and her husband's partner, a self-hating, fifty-year-old police inspector. The sex scenes between the two are as fiercely candid as those in 36 fillette." While filmsdefrance.com offers a slightly more detailed synopsis: "A fifty-something police inspector Georges Deblache appears to have had enough of life. A confirmed bachelor, who has grown used to dinners-for-one and nights with prostitutes, he envies his young partner, Didier Theron, who has recently married an attractive woman, Barbara. Deblache realises that he is intensely drawn to Barbara and she, although disgusted by her feelings, gives into the desire she also has to sleep with him…" There's also a review of the film which states, "What is most striking about this film is its sense of realism and the totally unromantic way in which a romantic liaison is portrayed. ...This is not an easy film to watch – the austere realist style and limp policier backstory drains the film of surface emotion, making it a hard film to engage with. Yet it is the unusual, convention-breaking style of the film which ultimately makes it so appealing, which allows us to be drawn into the brittle lives of its protagonists and to appreciate their torn inner feelings." (Click the link to read the review in its entirety.)

But, as with Nocturnal Uproar, we can't see it for ourselves to make our own opinions, because it's only ever been released on video as an untranslated, French PAL VHS... no DVD at all. Hopefully, eventually, whichever studio owns the rights to this film will change finally that.