The British Film Institute has officially announced that it will release on Blu-ray Jacques Rivette's film
Paris nous appartient a.k.a.
/Paris Belongs To Us (1961), starring Betty Schneider, Giani Esposito, Françoise Prévost, Daniel Crohem, and Francois Maistre. The release will be available for purchase on September 24.
Synopsis: Jacques Rivette (Celine and Julie Go Boating), the great cinematic visionary, although the least known of the major French New Wave directors, started Paris nous appartient – his first feature – in 1957 and completed it over a two-year period.
Anne, a student in Paris, becomes involved with her brother's artsy friends – US expat Philip, self-destructive femme fatale Terry, theatre director Gérard – and gets sucked into a mystery surrounding the death of Spanish activist Juan. When Philip warns that Gérard is in danger from the forces that killed Juan, Anne takes a part in his production of Shakespeare's Pericles in an attempt to discover the truth.
Paris nous appartientincludes cameos from directors Claude Chabrol, Jean-Luc Godard and Jacques Demy, as well as a striking musique concrète experimental score to accompany Charles Bitsch's stunning black and white photography.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- Presented in High Definition
- Newly commissioned feature-length commentary by film scholar Adrian Martin (2018)
- Filmed introduction by Jonathan Romney on Rivette and Paris nous appartient (2006, 18 mins)
- Le Coup du berger (Jacques Rivette, 1957, 29 mins)
- Illustrated booklet with a new essay by So Mayer, Tom Milne's 1962 review and a preview by Louis Marcorelles looking forward to the film's release