HARDBOILED:
THREE PULP THRILLERS BY ALAIN CORNEAU (1976-1981)
POLICE PYTHON 357 (1976)
SERIE NOIRE (1979)
CHOICE OF ARMS (1981)
Synopsis: As their popularity waned in the US, the hardboiled genre remained hugely popular and relevant throughout the 1960s and 70s in France, thanks to the successful Serie Noire imprint and a succession of new translations. In Alain Corneau's early films, he sought to continue the noir tradition in his native France, and was both directly and indirectly inspired by titans of hardboiled genre, including Kenneth Fearing and Jim Thompson. A heady combination of classic noir and 70s grit, these three darkly thrilling films are vastly underrated and important works in the canon of crime cinema.
POLICE PYTHON 357 (1976)
Label: Radiance Films
Region Code: A,B
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 126 Minutes 25 Seconds
Audio: French PCM with 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1)
Director: Alain Corneau
Cast: Yves Montand, François Périer, Simone Signoret, Stefania Sandrelli, Mathieu Carrière, Vadim Glowna, Claude Bertrand, Serge Marquand
In Police Python 357 (1976), an French adaptation of Kenneth Fearing's 1946 novel The Big Clock, Yves Montand (The Wages of Fear) plays a tough cop Inspector Marc Ferrot who is implicated in the death his lover, Sylvia Leopardi (Stefania Sandrelli, Black belly of the Tarantula). We are aware that its a frame job, my none other than his friend and boss Police Commissioner Ganay (François Périer, Z) who was also her lover. He proves quite adept at shifting the blame away from himself and onto Ferrot. It's a bit of a slow-burn but deftly executed, the tension mounts as we wonder how the heck is Ferrot going to get himself out of this sticky situation, The film feels like it owes a tip of the the hat to Dirty Harry as well, with Ferrot's titular Python 357 hand-cannon being his choice of weapon, as well as the explosive finale which was potent but felt at odds with the rest of the film which was more subtley sinewy, but still proving to be an engaging crime thriller, with a terrific cast, including Les Diaboliques' Simone Signoret
SERIE NOIRE (1979)
Label: Radiance Films
Region Code: A,B
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 115 Minutes 54 Seconds
Audio: French PCM 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1)
Director: Alain Corneau
Cast: Patrick Dewaere, Myriam Boyer, Marie Trintignant as Mona, Bernard Blier, Jeanne Herviale, Andreas Katsulas
French neo-noir Serie Noire (1979) adapts Jim Thompson's novel A Hell of A Woman, changing the setting to Paris where down-on-his-luck and utter fuck-up of a travelling door-to-door salesman Franck Poupart (Patrick Dewaere, Themroc) finds himself trying to see a dress to an old woman (Jeanne Herviale, Violette Nozière), who says she cannot pay but she's willing to let him have sex with her 16-year-old niece Mona (Marie Trintignant). While he doe go to the girls room he doesn't actually have sex with her. He returns home to his squalid apartment and he and his wife (Myriam Boyer, Born For Hell), where they argue, with Frank shoving her fully clothed into the bathtub. Afterward he leaves to go get drunk and finds himself arrested for theft by the cops after his boss, tired of Frank skimming cash from his sales, has him arrested. The next day is is sprung from jail after his bail is paid by Mona, who explains that her aunt has a secret stash of cash, and from this point on Frank and her come up with a plan to steal her cash, with Frank convincing himself that he is doing so to save a young girl from prostitution, but really he is just a fuck-up looking for some quick cash so that he can get out of town. What follows is a series of fuck-ups, with Frank enlisting his pal Tikides (Andreas Katsulas, The Fugitive) to assist with the poorly conceived plan, resulting in death and tragedy. This melancholic neo-noir is hypnotic, like watching a slow-motion train wreck unfold right in front of your eyes, with a twisted sense of black humor that has a Coen Bros. vibe about it with Patrick Dewaere's character just making one bad decisions after the other.
CHOICE OF ARMS (1981)
Label: Radiance Films
Region Code: A,B
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 135 Minutes 46 Seconds
Audio: French PCM 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Alain Corneau
Cast: Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Catherine Deneuve, Michel Galabru, Jean-Claude Dauphin, Gérard Lanvin, Christian Marquand, Étienne Chicot, Richard Anconina
In crime-thriller Choice of Arms (1981), Yves Montand (Police Python 357) portrays a retired gangster Noel who seem quite content to breed gorse with his lovely wife Nicole (Catherine Deneuve, The Hunger) in the countryside outside of Paris. That life is disturbed when two prison escapees, one an old accomplice named Serge (Pierre Forget, Three Colors: Blue), the other a brutish and violent cop-killer named Mickey (Gerard Depardieu, Cyrano de Bergerac). The fatally shot Serge succumbs to his wounds and Mickey takes off to stay with his friend Dany (Richard Anconina), but when the cops come looking for him he assumes that Noel is the one who dropped the dime on him and he goes after the retired gangster in retaliation. What ensues is an examination of old world and new world French criminals, Noel is duty-bound with a strict moral code, while Mickey is unhinging and always quick to resort to violence, oftentimes unnecessarily. As with the other Corneau flicks on this set there's atmosphere to spare, it's melancholic, the setting often dreary, and the slowly unfurling tension is relentless. Even in the face of a deeply personal tragedy Noel in the films final moments does something so inexplicably noble, it really is quite touching and says a lot about him as a man of honor, even though he comes from the criminal world.
Audio/Video: All three films arrive on Blu-ray from Radiance Films in 1080p HD, the first two films framed in 1.66:1 widescreen with the third in 2.35:1. They all look quite pleasing, the source elements are in terrific shape. Some of the cold, somewhat muted colors of the original cinematography can be a bit soft looking, but textures and fine detail come through very nicely, with solid black levels. The third film looks the most crisp of the three, but6 all three look terrific. Audio comes by way of French PCM with 2.0 with optional English subtitles. The tracks are clean and well-balanced, dialogue sounds flawless and fidelity is top-notch.
Radiance pack this release with a wealth of extras, both new and archival. Supplemental materials for Police Python 357 start off with a fantastic Audio commentary by Mike White of the Projection Booth Podcast, and if you're a fan of the pod you'll appreciate White's in-depth dissection peppered with his usual wit. Next up is the 15-min Maxim Jakubowski on Police Python 357’s source novel and adaptation (2024) that examine crime fiction in France, plus we get a 6-min
Archival Interview with Alain Corneau and François Périer about Police Python 357 from Belgian Television (1976).
For Série noire we several archival interview segments and a documentary, including the 11-min Série noire set interviews with Alain Corneau, Patrick Dewaere and Miriam Boyer from Belgian Television (1981); 29-min Archival interview with Alain Corneau and Marie Trintignant about Série noire (2002); and the 54-min Série Noire: The Darkness of the Soul - An archival documentary featuring cast and crew on the making of the film (2013), the 30-min Visual essay about Jim Thompson adaptations for the screen (2024) including notable entries like Stanley Kubrick's The Killing, Walter Hill's The Getaway, and Stephen Frears' The Grifters, getting into why his noir-tinged crime fiction is so popular with filmmakers, plus the 2-min Trailer.
For Choice of Arms we get a new 3-min Introduction by documentary filmmaker Jérôme Wybon (2024); an archival 22-min Shooting Choice of Arms - Interviews with the cast and crew including behind-the-scenes footage (1981); an 22-min archival set of Interviews with Deneuve, Montand and Depardieu from the set (1981); 24-min Interview with Manuela Lazic on Yves Montand in the 1970s (2024), plus the 3-min Trailer.
The Limited Edition (of 3000) 3-film, 3-disc set arrives in a sturdy Rigid Slipbox with a Removable Obi Strip on the spine, inside there is a clear full-height keepcase with a Reversible Sleeve of Artwork featuring artwork for all three films. Each of the three films gets it's own dedicated Blu-ray disc, all are yellow backgrounds with black title logos for each film. Tucked away inside the keepcase is a 80-page Limited Edition Illustrated Booklet featuring new writing by Charlie Brigden, Andrew Male, Nick Pinkerton, Travis Woods, and Newly Translated Archival interviews with Alain Corneau, as well as information about the cast and crew, transfer notes and Blu-ray acknowledgement. It's another knockout looking package from Radiance Films.
Special Features:
Disc 1: Police Python 357
- Audio Commentary by Mike White on Police Python 357
- Maxim Jakubowski on Police Python 357’s source novel and adaptation (2024) (15:11)
- Archival interview with Alain Corneau and François Périer about Police Python 357 from Belgian Television (1976) (5:37)
Disc 2: Série noire
- Série noire set interviews with Alain Corneau, Patrick Dewaere and Miriam Boyer from Belgian Television (1981) (10:57)
- Série noire: The Darkness of the Soul - An archival documentary featuring cast and crew on the making of the film (2013) (53:34)
- Archival interview with Alain Corneau and Marie Trintignant about Série noire (2002) (28:52)
- A Hollyhock in a Cornfield: A visual essay about Jim Thompson adaptations for the screen (2024) (29:39)
- Trailer (2:21)
Disc 3: Choice of Arms
- Introduction by documentary filmmaker Jérôme Wybon (2024) (3:14)
- Shooting Choice of Arms - interviews with the cast and crew including behind-the-scenes footage (1981) (21:48)
- Interviews with Deneuve, Montand and Depardieu from the set (1981) (21:48)
- Interview with Manuela Lazic on Yves Montand in the 1970s (2024) (23:57)
- Trailer (2:42)
Limited Edition Packaging:
- Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters
- Limited edition 80-page booklet featuring new writing by Charlie Brigden, Andrew Male, Nick Pinkerton, Travis Woods, and newly translated archival interviews with Alain Corneau
Limited edition of 2500 copies, presented in a rigid box with full-height Scanavo cases and removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings.
Hardboiled: Three Pulp Thrillers by Alain Corneau (1976-1981) is a truly terrific box set of French crime-thrillers from Radiance Films - all three films are pulpy, melancholic crime-thrillers that are well-deserving of the deluxe treatment bestowed up them here, this is a wonderful set that comes highly recommended if you enjoyed Radiance's release of Tchao Pantin or the Seeing Red: 3 French Vigilante Thrillers box set from Fun City Editions. I would also take this opportunity to remind you that Corneau's Love Crime (2010) is getting an IFC Films Blu-ray in May, so keep an eye out for that as well!
Screenshots from the Radiance Films Blu-ray:
POLICE PYTHON 357 (1976)
SERIE NOIRE (1979)
CHOICE OF ARMS (1981)
Buy it!
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