THEATRE OF MR. AND MRS. KABAL (1967)
PIERRE COLLET
(Greed in the Sun, Le Cercle Rouge, French Connection II)
LOUISETTE ROUSSEAU
(War of the Buttons, A Horse for Two, Run for Your Wife)
Directed by
WALERIAN BOROWCZYK
(Blanche; Immoral Tales; Goto, Isle of Love)
Walerian Borowczyk, the director of the controversial live action films Blanche, Immoral Tales and Lulu, would show his more playful side with his animated feature Theatre of Mr. & Mrs. Kabal.
GENRE: ANIMATION COMEDY
LANGUAGE: FRENCH (with optional English subtitles)
LABEL: OLIVE FILMS
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 78 mins
RATING: N/R
VIDEO: 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio; COLOR and B/W
AUDIO: MONO
Walerian Borowczyk’s (Blanche) Theatre of Mr. & Mrs. Kabal is a glimpse inside the weird and wonderful world of the theatrical Kabals. The henpecked Mr. Kabal, prone to ogling young females through his binoculars, is never quite beyond the reach of the statuesque and domineering Mrs. Kabal who flutters about (quite literally when butterflies appear inside of her stomach) in a connubial reign of terror. Although it may not always be le beau mariage, Mr. and Mrs. Kabal are nonetheless made for each other.
The years-in-the-making feature length animated film from the controversial director of Goto, Isle of Love and Immoral Tales, featuring the voice talents of Pierre Collet (Greed in the Sun) and Louisette Rousseau (War of the Buttons), is akin to other Borowczyk animated works such as The Astronauts, Renaissance and Angels’ Games.
GOTO, ISLE OF LOVE (1968)
PIERRE BRASSEUR
(Port of Shadows, Eyes Without a Face, King of Hearts)
LIGIA BRANICE
(Blanche, La Jetée, Interno di un convento)
GUY SAINT-JEAN
(The Killing Game, Kiss Me General, Life Upside Down)
JEAN-PIERRE ANDREANI
(The Story of O, Carré blanc, A Kid)
Directed by
WALERIAN BOROWCZYK
(Blanche, Immoral Tales, The Beast)
Goto, Isle of Love is one of several collaborations (including Blanche and Interno di un convento) between director Walerian Borowczyk and leading actress and wife, Ligia Branice.
GENRE: DRAMA
LANGUAGE: FRENCH (with English subtitles)
LABEL: OLIVE FILMS
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 94 mins
RATING: N/R
ASPECT RATIO: 1.66:1 Aspect Ratio; COLOR / B/W
AUDIO: MONO
EXTRAS
- Introduction by artist and Turner Prize nominee Craigie Horsfield
- The Concentration Universe: Goto, Isle of Love – Interview program featuring actor Jean-Pierre Andréani, co-writer Dominique Duvergé-Ségrétin, cameraman Noël Véry and camera assistant Jean-Pierre Platel
With Goto, Isle of Love, director Walerian Borowczyk (Blanche) would cement his status as a visual stylist, weaver of erotic tales, and a filmmaker whose work would both confront and celebrate society’s taboos.
Goto, Isle of Love is a tale of infidelity, revenge, and repressed love, both chaste and illicit, starring Pierre Brasseur (Port of Shadows) as Goto III, an unstable and jealous dictator married to the beautiful Glossia (Ligia Branice, Blanche). Unbeknownst to Goto III, Glossia is carrying on an affair with one of his guards, the handsome Lieutenant Gono (Jean-Pierre Andreani, The Story of O). Also lusting after the dictator’s wife is Grozo (Guy Saint-Jean, The Killing Game), a petty thief who, by winning the confidence of Goto III, plans to win Glossia for himself. Simmering passions will boil over on the isle, leading to a surprising denouement.
Shot in haunting shades of black & white and color by cinematographer Guy Durban (Immoral Tales), Goto, Isle of Love is written for the screen by director Borowczyk with additional dialogue by Dominique Duvergé.
BLANCHE (1971)
MICHEL SIMON
(L’Atalante, Port of Shadows, Bouda Saved from Drowning)
GEORGES WILSON
(The Three Musketeers, Not Here to be Loved, Les destinées)
LIGIA BRANICE
(Goto, Isle of Love; La Jetee; Interno di un convento)
JACQUES PERRIN
(Cinema Paradiso, Z, Brotherhood of the Wolf)
Directed by
WALERIAN BOROWCZYK
(The Beast, Immoral Tales, Love Rites)
Walerian Borowczyk’s Blanche, the winner of the Berlin International Film Festival’s Interfilm Grand Prix Award (1972) features actress and frequent collaborator Ligia Branice (Goto, Island of Love) in the lead role.
GENRE: DRAMA
LANGUAGE: FRENCH (with English subtitles)
LABEL: OLIVE FILMS
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 94 mins
RATING: N/R
VIDEO: 1.66:1 Aspect Ratio; COLOR
AUDIO: MONO
EXTRAS
- Introduction by director Leslie Megahey
- Ballad of Imprisonment: Blanche – Interview program featuring producer Dominique Duvergé-Ségrétin, assistant director André Heinrich, camera operator Noël Véry and assistant Patrice Leconte
Set in medieval France, an elderly noble baron (Michel Simon, L’Atalante) and his much younger bride, the beautiful Blanche (Ligia Branice, Goto, Isle of Love) welcome a visiting King (George Wilson, Les destinées) and his handsome page, Bartolomeo (Jacques Perrin, Cinema Paradiso) to their castle, and sets in motion accusations of disloyalty and marital infidelity, turning what should be a fairytale into a nightmare.
Walerian Borowczyk (The Beast), whose stylized vision of a bygone world, is key to the overall look and feel of Blanche, which despite its period surroundings, embraces very modern sensibilities.
Blanche, written and directed by Walerian Borowczyk (based on the poem Mazepa by Juliusz Slowacki), features performances by Jacques Perrin (Cinema Paradiso), Denise Péronne (Forbidden Games) and Lawrence Trimble (Meetings in the Forest).
WALERIAN BOROWCZYK – SHORT FILMS COLLECTION (1959-1984)
Directed by
WALERIAN BOROWCZYK
(Theatre of Mr. & Mrs. Kabal, Blanche)
Borowcyzk’s The Concert (Le Concert de M. et Mme. Kabal) was the Special Jury Prize winner in 1963 at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
GENRE: DRAMA
LANGUAGE: FRENCH (with English subtitles)
LABEL: OLIVE FILMS
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 152 mins.
RATING: N/R
ASPECT RATIO: 1.33 and 1.66 Aspect Ratios; COLOR / B/W
AUDIO: MONO
EXTRAS
- Introduction by filmmaker Terry Gilliam
- Film is not a Sausage: Borowczyk’s Short Films – Interview program featuring Borowczyk, producer Dominique Duvergé-Ségrétin, assistant André Heinrich and composer Bernard Parmegiani
SYNOPSIS:
Featuring fifteen of Walerian Borowczyk’s (Theatre de Monsieur & Madame Kabal) short films and animated treasures, the Short Films Collection includes:
The Concert (1962) aka Le Concert de M. et Mme. Kabal
The Astronauts (1959) aka Les Astronautes
Angels’ Games (1964) aka Les Jeux des Anges
Renaissance (1963)
Joachim’s Dictionary (1965) aka Le Dictionnaire de Joachim
The Greatest Love of All Time (1978) aka L’Amour Monstre de tous les temps
Diptyque (1967)
Grandma’s Encyclopedia (1963) aka L’encyclopedie de Grand-Maman
Venus on the Half-Shell (1975) aka Escargot de Venus
Gavotte (1967)
The Phonograph (1969) aka Le Phonograph
Rosalie (1966)
Scherzo Infernal (1984)
A Private Collection Long Version Censored aka Une Collection Particulière – Version Longue Censored (1973)
A Private Collection Short Version aka Une Collection Particulière – Short Version (1973)
