Winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1963, Serge Bourguignon’s Sundays and Cybèle has finally been issued in an official North American digital video edition by Criterion. For decades Sundays and Cybèle was only available to Ntsc markets through imported discs of dodgy provenance and a few murky, widely scattered VHS copies. While half a century is certainly a significant delay, the high quality of the film and this superb pressing will make most cinephiles agree it was worth the wait.
Sundays and Cybèle is the story of Pierre (Hardy Krüger), a 30-ish former fighter pilot who now aimlessly wanders the quiet streets of Ville-d’Avray on the outskirts of Paris. Pierre suffers from a severe case of what would now be called Ptsd, squarely blaming himself for a tragic accident that occurred during the heat of battle in Vietnam. Reeling from amnesia and nightmarish visions, Pierre...
Sundays and Cybèle is the story of Pierre (Hardy Krüger), a 30-ish former fighter pilot who now aimlessly wanders the quiet streets of Ville-d’Avray on the outskirts of Paris. Pierre suffers from a severe case of what would now be called Ptsd, squarely blaming himself for a tragic accident that occurred during the heat of battle in Vietnam. Reeling from amnesia and nightmarish visions, Pierre...
- 9/30/2014
- by David Anderson
- IONCINEMA.com
Stars: Patricia Gozzi, Dean Stockwell, Melvyn Douglas, Gunnel Lindblom, Leslie Sands, Murray Evans, Sylvia Kay, Peter Sallis, Ellen Pollock | Written by Stanley Mann | Directed by John Guillermin
John Guillermin, the London-born director of the classic disaster film The Towering Inferno directed this moving drama set in France called Rapture in 1965. I am familiar with some of Guillermin’s catalogue, from the aforementioned Towering Inferno to his ’76 version of King Kong to his 60’s war film The Blue Max. I hadn’t seen this though, so it was a treat to see that Masters of Cinema, Eureka’s brilliant line of classic titles, was putting a new version of the film out.
The first thing that struck me upon watching the film was the cinematography. It is just beautiful, and with the new transfer it looks even better than I can imagine it did when it was released those many years ago.
John Guillermin, the London-born director of the classic disaster film The Towering Inferno directed this moving drama set in France called Rapture in 1965. I am familiar with some of Guillermin’s catalogue, from the aforementioned Towering Inferno to his ’76 version of King Kong to his 60’s war film The Blue Max. I hadn’t seen this though, so it was a treat to see that Masters of Cinema, Eureka’s brilliant line of classic titles, was putting a new version of the film out.
The first thing that struck me upon watching the film was the cinematography. It is just beautiful, and with the new transfer it looks even better than I can imagine it did when it was released those many years ago.
- 8/4/2014
- by Chris Cummings
- Nerdly
★★★★☆Another forgotten gem given new life on DVD and Blu-ray here in the UK, John Guillermin's Rapture (1965) is a beautifully-made and challenging oddity. It's a film which undoubtedly sent the top brass at Twentieth Century Fox (the studio who first brought it to screen) into a spin when it was first released, but there's a much more to chew on other than the sometimes risqué content. Agnes (Patricia Gozzi) is a confused and unhappy teenage girl on the cusp of adulthood, living in a coastal farmhouse in rural Brittany. She gets little love and reassurance from her emotionally aloof father (Melvyn Douglas), tuning instead to the sexually-active live-in housekeeper (Gunnel Lindblom) for womanly advice.
- 7/30/2014
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Sept. 30, 2014
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Hardy Kruger and Nicole Courcel in Sundays and Cybele.
In French director Serge Bourgignon’s provocative 1962 drama Sundays and Cybèle, a psychologically damaged war veteran (Hardy Kruger) and a neglected child (Nicole Courcel) begin a startlingly intimate friendship—one that ultimately ignites the suspicion and anger of his friends and neighbors in suburban Paris.
Bourguignon’s film makes thoughtful, humane drama out of potentially incendiary subject matter, and with the help of the sensitive cinematography of Henri Decaë (The 400 Blows) and a delicate score by Maurice Jarre (Lawrence of Arabia), Sundays and Cybèle becomes a stirring contemplation of an alliance between two troubled souls.
Presented in French with English subtitles, Criterion’s Blu-ray and DVD editions of the film include the following:
• New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New interviews with director Serge Bourguignon...
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Hardy Kruger and Nicole Courcel in Sundays and Cybele.
In French director Serge Bourgignon’s provocative 1962 drama Sundays and Cybèle, a psychologically damaged war veteran (Hardy Kruger) and a neglected child (Nicole Courcel) begin a startlingly intimate friendship—one that ultimately ignites the suspicion and anger of his friends and neighbors in suburban Paris.
Bourguignon’s film makes thoughtful, humane drama out of potentially incendiary subject matter, and with the help of the sensitive cinematography of Henri Decaë (The 400 Blows) and a delicate score by Maurice Jarre (Lawrence of Arabia), Sundays and Cybèle becomes a stirring contemplation of an alliance between two troubled souls.
Presented in French with English subtitles, Criterion’s Blu-ray and DVD editions of the film include the following:
• New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New interviews with director Serge Bourguignon...
- 6/25/2014
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
John Guillermin's forgotten Rapture is a complex gem of a film. Every piece of the film works masterfully, and yet it had mostly fallen off the face of the earth until Twilight Time licensed it for release on Blu-ray. There are a number of reasons that the film might have disappeared. It luxuriates in tricky morality. The main characters each ensconce themselves in unhealthy relationships, whether is is father-daughter, lovers, or otherwise. It seems to me that the film was simply so far ahead of its time that it had no place in 1965, but thank goodness it has reappeared and is ripe for critical rediscovery.The lead actress, Patricia Gozzi, plays an ephemeral woman-child searching for her place and discovering her sexuality a little bit...
- 1/27/2012
- Screen Anarchy
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.