Combining stylish sixties modernism with silent-cinema touches and even a few unexpected sci-fi accents, JUDEX is a delightful bit of pulp fiction and a testament to the art of illusion. Considering how rare coverage of Georges Franju appears to be, we're also pleased by the wealth of extras obtained by Criterion producer Abbey Lustgarten. Most people think that composer Maurice Jarre's career began with Lawrence of Arabia but his music for Franju is just as distinctive and beautiful. The same sorts of nocturnal prowling and devilish mayhem occurred, but this time the fantasy hero was righting wrongs instead of fomenting chaos. 3. Copyright © 1995-2020 eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved. Unknown to all, Alice's prim governess Marie Verdier (Francine Bergé) is actually Diana Monti, a cat burglar and ruthless cutthroat. Criterion's Dual-format Blu-ray + DVD of Judex is the first official Region 1 / A disc release of this refined, rarely screened gem. Judex was another matter, something of an atonement on Feuillade’s part for the unredeemed criminality he had evoked with such gusto in Fantômas. Various Fantomas remakes and adaptations were produced, and the character was also kept current in comic books. Or rather, the drama is in the relation of Franju to the patterns he is creating with his found materials, and, beyond that, in the relation of the spectator to a spectacle that seems always like the ghost of something already experienced. Fritz Lang will take the baton from Feuillade and run with it for five decades, inventing most every new paranoid twist for crime movies, adventure thrillers and espionage tales, right up to the surveillance hysteria of his prophetic The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse. He did not make a feature film until Head Against the Wall, in 1958, thus finding himself grouped with the fledgling New Wave filmmakers. The inner drama in Judex is really played out between the two women, with the hero a more or less helpful onlooker. 'Judex' comes from Criterion numbered 710 in the collection. Georges Franju put the sting back into horror with his Eyes without a Face; in Judex he celebrates the innocent, elegant thrills of forgotten silent movie serials. An emotionally disturbed director tries to re-visualize Louis Feuillade's Les vampires but has no idea of what to do beyond restaging the original's scenes. His conspiring criminals, masters of disguise who perversely manipulate social conventions toward their own nihilistic ends, are like underground artists staging bizarre spectacles in the midst of drawing rooms, hotel lobbies, railroad stations, and opera houses. This Criterion edition even features a cover by artist Ronald Wimberly, himself channeling a little Eduardo Risso, bringing lurid life to Judex’s stonefaced crimefighter and his masked archnemesis. This effortlessly cool crime caper, directed by Georges Franju, is a marvel of dexterous plotting and visual invention. I bought the dual-format edition, so all details following below refer to that edition, but a one-disc DVD edition is available. Featuring interviews with Franju and clips from some of his better-known films, it was originally broadcast on September 2, 1998, as part of the French television series “Cinéma de notre temps.”. Price: $31.95. In this interview from 2007, JUDEX cowriter Jacques Champreux recalls collaborating with director Georges Franju on his 1963 film, which was a remake of the 1916 serial of the same name, directed by Champreux’s grandfather Louis Feuillade. Has any film successfully re-created the 'innocent' thrills of an earlier era, without resorting to satire or spoofery? This 1952 short by Georges Franju is a biographical film about the cinematic illusionist Georges Méliès. Two little boys become frightened when his entire head is suddenly replaced with flowers. Criterion's sparkling Blu-ray has beautiful original French audio with an uncompressed monaural soundtrack. The lovers walk on the beach beneath a title that reminds us that their happiness will be cut short by events in Sarajevo. A hidden grief is allowed to escape, and the fragility of the pleasures we have been savoring is made even more achingly apparent. If you have any questions related to the pricing and/or discount offered in a particular listing, please contact the seller for that listing. Directed by Georges Franju • 1963 • France He talks at length about B&W versus Color, panchromatic versus orthochromatic film, the nature of screen terror and the necessity for realism in fantastic films. ***Judex was yet another highly personal, entirely unpredictable move. By the 1920s the harsh realities of war will have left any notion of innocence far behind. The cynicism of contemporary thrillers only makes us more desirous of long-absent virtuous values. Jacqueline Favraux can certainly be called passive, in the sense that, half the time we see her, she is being carried, either by abductors or rescuers, if she is not lying unconscious on a pathway guarded by watchdogs. Judex: The Criterion Collection (Blu-ray + DVD Combo) This effortlessly cool crime caper, directed by Georges Franju (Eyes Without a Face), is a marvel of dexterous plotting and visual invention. Overproduced and over-designed, it seems a project completely unsuited to the director's strengths. On another level, however, we feel the yearning of a child to make real a cherished fantasy, to use fantasy as a conduit for the fulfillment of inarticulate desires. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Judex (Blu-ray Disc, 2014, 3-Disc Set, Criterion Collection) at the best online prices at eBay! Judex (Criterion Collection) Blu-ray Qty: Add to Cart. Although events move at a steady pace, the movie's main feeling is that of a vivid dream. Let's hope that more Franju pictures become available for Criterion import -- La tête contre le murs, Thérèse Desqueyroux, Thomas l'mposteur. Conceived as an homage to Louis Feuillade’s 1916 cult silent serial of the same name, Judex kicks off with the mysterious kidnapping of a corrupt banker by a shadowy crime fighter (American magician Channing Pollock) and spins out into a thrillingly complex web of deceptions. It's a magical scene suspended between realism (nothing impossible happens) and something more mysterious. His diminutive 'kid' sidekick Réglisse is more of a take-charge guy than he is. Even more joyful is a preposterous coincidence that takes place in the street below. Price Match Guarantee. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Equally quaint is 1912's idea of a dizzying pace. That he certainly becomes in the scene that most viewers remember most vividly: his sudden entry, wearing a gigantic bird headdress and resembling a Max Ernst painting come to life, walking silently, with a seemingly dead pigeon in his outstretched hand, through a ballroom full of masqueraders, many of whom also sport bird heads. Starring Channing Pollock, Francine Bergé, Edith Scob. The rest was a meretricious, unfunny children's tale in very good 3D. Durgnat made note of TV's Batman, in which the prudish Caped Crusader routinely spurned the lustful advances of highly sexualized foes like Catwoman. Private detective Alfred Cocantin (Jacques Jouanneau) is hired to keep a lookout at an elaborate party to announce the engagement of Favraux's widowed daughter Jacqueline Aubry (Edith Scob of Franju's Les yeux sans visage). Georges Franju was one of the founders of the Cinémathèque Française. his way of telling simple or crazy stories that are made still more extraordinary by the familiar natural settings whose reality—the truth—always makes them beautiful.” It was the Cinémathèque’s promotion of Feuillade that caught the attention of the young generation of future New Wave filmmakers, making Feuillade’s epic fantasias of crime and conspiracy—also including Fantômas (1913–14), Les vampires (1915–16), Tih Minh (1918), and Barrabas (1919)—once again, as they had been for the surrealists, symbols of an art capable of fusing the bizarre with the everyday. ***The plot of Judex was for Franju the least important component—he was much more interested in the dark and cluttered furniture, the ceremonially elaborate costumes, the solemnly observed social rituals, the harsh tonal contrasts of the orthochromatic cinematography—­yet he did a brilliant job of reducing Feuillade’s convoluted narrative to starker proportions, in collaboration with his screenwriters, Lacassin (a film scholar specializing in Feuillade) and Jacques Champreux (Feuillade’s grandson). In order to best cover Georges Franju ‘s Judex (1963) for the Criterion Collection blogathon, I’m reviewing not only the film, but also its packaging and bonus features. It was certainly not the sort of thing that a serious filmmaker was expected to do. 3 Diana's criminal consort Morales at first seems to be a generic thug, but eventually becomes part of the story's sentimental finish. Favraux is committed to maintaining his lofty social position, even if it means killing an old man. Conceived as an homage to Louis Feuillade’s 1916 cult silent serial of the same name, JUDEX kicks off with the mysterious kidnapping of a corrupt banker by a shadowy crime fighter (American magician Channing Pollock) and spins out into a thrillingly complex web of deceptions. Packaging & General Contents - Judex (Blu-ray Disc, 2014, 3-Disc Set, Criterion Collection), item 1 CRITERION JUDEX 1963(BLU-RAY/DVD COMBO)1 Bluray/ 2 DVD - Info Booklet included!! A long-form 1998 show called Franju le visionnaire was fashioned from six director interviews spread over twenty years. Buy Judex (Criterion Collection) (DVD) at Walmart.com Pollock’s inexpressiveness is actually appropriate, since Franju has no interest in giving the character any psy­chological motivation, and has no admiration for the kind of pulp hero he embodies. He excitedly explains how the addition of a brief pause helped to introduce a notion of dread to an innocuous scene in Eyes without a Face. Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on DVDs & Blu-ray Discs, Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- You may also like, {"modules":["unloadOptimization","bandwidthDetection"],"unloadOptimization":{"browsers":{"Firefox":true,"Chrome":true}},"bandwidthDetection":{"url":"https://ir.ebaystatic.com/cr/v/c1/thirtysevens.jpg","maxViews":4,"imgSize":37,"expiry":300000,"timeout":250}}. 1 -, item 2 Judex (Criterion Collection) [New Blu-ray] 2 -, item 3 Judex (Criterion Collection) [Used Very Good Blu-ray] 3 -, item 5 JUDEX - CRITERION COLLECTION DUAL FORMAT EDITION BLU-RAY/DVD SET [BRAND NEW] 5 -, item 7 CRITERION DISTRIBUTION S BRCC2365 JUDEX (BLU-RAY/DVD COMBO/2 DISC/WS 1.66/ENG... 7 -, 4.0 out of 5 stars based on 1 product rating, We have ratings, but no written reviews for this, yet. In order to best cover Georges Franju‘s Judex (1963) for the Criterion Collection blogathon, I’m reviewing not only the film, but also its packaging and bonus features. Packaging: One Blu-ray and two DVD discs in keep case People speak words, but it all feels like a silent movie; they undergo fearful and inexplicable adventures, yet we eavesdrop on these happenings in a state of calm and pleasurable inviolability. Be the first to, 5.0 out of 5 stars based on 78 product ratings, 5.0 out of 5 stars based on 56 product ratings, 4.9 out of 5 stars based on 65 product ratings, 4.6 out of 5 stars based on 124 product ratings, 4.9 out of 5 stars based on 187 product ratings, 4.8 out of 5 stars based on 246 product ratings, 4.7 out of 5 stars based on 107 product ratings. Deaf and Hearing-impaired Friendly? Discussing his extensive work in documentaries, Franju also laments (in 1966) that French directors have dropped docu filmmaking in favor of 'art' films.