1181 Petite maman

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DarkImbecile
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1181 Petite maman

#1 Post by DarkImbecile » Sun Nov 01, 2020 11:49 pm

Petite maman

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Céline Sciamma's follow-up to Portrait of a Lady on Fire transcends time and space to weave a delicately emotional fable about grief, family, and connection across generations. In the wake of her grandmother's death, eight-year-old Nelly (Joséphine Sanz) accompanies her distraught mother (Nina Meurisse) to her childhood home. There, Nelly's encounter with another young girl (Gabrielle Sanz) brings mother and daughter together in a way neither could have ever imagined. Evoking childhood's perpetual state of wonder through luminous, richly textured images, Petite maman takes viewers on a journey inward for a quietly miraculous tale of emotional time travel.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• 4K digital master, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• New conversation between director Céline Sciamma and filmmaker Joachim Trier
My Life as a Zucchini (2016), an Oscar-nominated stop-motion animated film directed by Claude Barras and cowritten by Sciamma
• Trailers
• PLUS: An essay by author So Mayer

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Céline Sciamma

#2 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri Oct 01, 2021 12:09 am

DarkImbecile wrote:
Fri Sep 03, 2021 5:32 pm
Celine Sciamma’s Petit Maman is a quiet, small story that still manages to be surprisingly dense with mystery and observations about mother-daughter relationships. The less said about its conceit the better, but suffice it to say that this follow-up to Portrait of a Lady on Fire doesn’t try to reach for that film’s resonant heights and instead veers off in an unexpected direction with the quiet assurance and deceptive depth made possible by Sciamma’s confident direction and writing.
For Petite Maman, Sciamma inverts the intimate quietude lining the lavish powerhouse of Portrait of a Lady on Fire into a smaller-scale production that is anything but slight. Posturing as a children's film, Sciamma eclipses Pixar's greatest efforts by conveying piercing adult themes of impermanence, loss, discovery, and ubiquitous value from experiences of true interpersonal connection, through unexpectedly designed methods that creep up on you without ever feeling disingenuous. Nobody should enter this film with any knowledge of its narrative, but suffice to say this is a masterpiece of cinema for all adults who cherish unique cinematic exhibitions of youth- the same population that often sensitively shares the merits of a child's eye worldview, seasoned with a mixture of longing and peaceful remembrance via nostalgia in the present. Like Portrait, I found myself breaking into a soft cry twice, though these instances were less expected and did not seem quite as deliberately-sketched to pull at heartstrings. In some ways, I was reminded of Hopkins' poem Spring and Fall, only this film is far more cathartic in its optimistic reframe towards the power of social reprieve from life's uncertainty isolating pain.
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The final two scenes feature a certain opportunity taken, with Nelly finally able to tell her grandmother goodbye again (though significantly it's just as passive as her 'real' last goodbye at the start of the film, and not the more physical and engaging intervention acted-out with her mom, gesturing a shift in prioritization and movement into acceptance) followed by a subsequent scene where Nelly and her mother finally reconnect, cemented as her clear priority at this point. The contrast is so subtle yet immensely gratifying as a reminder for how magical wish-fulfillment and redirection of our desires onto the tangible in the present can coexist when they're cut from the same cloth.
I think Sciamma just keeps getting better. Portrait is excellent, but a revisit didn't impress me as much as the first viewing. Petite Maman, conversely, I expect to only improve with repeat returns. There are so many concentrated, enigmatic layers of emotion gratefully left as such without forced clarification of ambiguous existential primers. I can't wait to watch this again.

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Re: Céline Sciamma

#3 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri Oct 01, 2021 1:44 am

Never Cursed wrote:
Thu Sep 30, 2021 5:58 pm
Petit Maman/Moonrise Kingdom (in that order)
I'm very curious about your own reasons for this order, though I agree
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primarily because, as I mentioned above, Sciamma's narrative moves to a magical fantasy like out of Suzy's Stories (that she would use as an aid to escape from her troubled home environment, like Nelly does here around her fear of her mother's abandonment following the loss of her grandmother- though I do believe this is 'real' within the internal logic of Sciamma's film), significantly one born from time-manipulations to the past; and then, in the end, Nelly transitions into a confidently-directed focus on the reality of the present between her and her mother. Similarly, Suzy and Sam both rise from their routine isolations to go on an actual adventure, in real time, together. The fantasies, memories, and fleeting treasures of these fantastical catharses are permanently meaningful, but they become enhanced in meaning when we apply their energy in action, in the here and now. That's how we keep creating and recreating meaning, while never truly losing what we once had.
One last gush: Like Portrait, there are minimal music cues in this film, but an incredibly beautifully graceful track slips in during one sequence late in the film. The inclusion is not as fierce a conversion compared to the two in her previous film, but just as affecting. I've been listening to the track on repeat all morning and it just makes me want to reflect on what I've experienced, the losses associated with these memories coming from the past, and to reevaluate the impact of losses to find, discover, and find peace in the present.

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Finch
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Re: Petite maman (Céline Sciamma, 2021)

#4 Post by Finch » Sat Mar 12, 2022 6:19 pm

UK Blu-Ray on March 21 with Q&A and postcards

According to Zavvi, this is Region B locked. I have no idea what the encoding on MUBI's previous releases is like but hopefully this turns out to be a good option for non-French speakers since the French disc is not English-friendly (and Decal are handling the US disc which doesn't bode well given their shoddy encoding in the past). MUBI might actually warrant a boutique label thread of their own given they have several well-received and/or intriguing arthouse films in their catalogue.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Petite maman (Céline Sciamma, 2021)

#5 Post by therewillbeblus » Sat Mar 12, 2022 6:27 pm

As far as encodes go, their Ema blu looks fantastic, but unfortunately there’s only one supplement. Not sure how they fare as a boutique label in the extras dept on other releases

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colinr0380
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Re: Petite maman (Céline Sciamma, 2021)

#6 Post by colinr0380 » Sun Mar 13, 2022 5:57 am

If you want a list of their physical releases so far Finch I have been keeping a post updated on the catch-all Mubi thread for them. I'm updating as and when I can pick them up and confirm they exist so I have not listed Petite maman as yet.

Mubi seem like the modern day equivalent of Artificial Eye features-wise in that they only really include Q&As as supplements at the moment (Border, Beanpole, On Body and Soul, A Dog Called Money and Bacurau have no extras), at least up to Annette (though I have not picked up The Image Book, the 2018 Suspiria or First Cow due to having the US discs of those). In terms of region coding there are three of their releases that are all region A, B & C (Ema, Beanpole and Matthias & Maxime) but all the rest are region B locked. (EDIT: Since this post Azor and Great Freedom have been released and are also region free)

I'm just glad (as with Artificial Eye and New Wave back in the day) that a lot of these films are getting some sort of disc release, even if I would love another boutique label's level of supplements applied to them!

Whilst on the subject of Mubi releases, their other release of the month is going to be the Argentinian film Azor.
Last edited by colinr0380 on Sat Jun 11, 2022 2:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Finch
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Re: Petite maman (Céline Sciamma, 2021)

#7 Post by Finch » Tue Mar 29, 2022 1:23 pm

Thanks for creating the MUBI thread, Colin! I've now received my copy of the UK BD from Zavvi. I've not watched the film yet but it is on a BD50, and it comes in a Scanavo case. Six postcards were also included (whatever).

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Re: Forthcoming: Petite maman

#8 Post by swo17 » Wed Feb 15, 2023 2:08 pm


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therewillbeblus
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Re: 1181 Petite maman

#9 Post by therewillbeblus » Wed Feb 15, 2023 2:14 pm

I feel much better about picking up the Mubi blu now- Criterion really underdelivered on this one

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Pavel
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Re: 1181 Petite maman

#10 Post by Pavel » Wed Feb 15, 2023 2:25 pm

Wow, one special feature #-o

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yoloswegmaster
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Re: 1181 Petite maman

#11 Post by yoloswegmaster » Wed Feb 15, 2023 2:27 pm

They should have just made this one of their lower-priced titles considering the runtime and lack of extras. Can't say that I'm surprised at the lack of extras though since the MUBI release looks to have only 1 extra, which is just a Q&A, and it doesn't look like Celine Sciamma prefers to have on-disc scholary content judging by the numerous releases of Portrait that don't contain it (haven't looked at the releases of her other titles so I could be wrong about this).
Last edited by yoloswegmaster on Wed Feb 15, 2023 2:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: 1181 Petite maman

#12 Post by therewillbeblus » Wed Feb 15, 2023 2:31 pm

I don’t think they do the lower priced discs anymore for single films (though they have been applying this principle to multi-film/“box” sets lately), and I imagine manufacturing costs understandably prevent that from being a possibility

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Re: 1181 Petite maman

#13 Post by yoloswegmaster » Wed Feb 15, 2023 2:40 pm

therewillbeblus wrote:
Wed Feb 15, 2023 2:31 pm
I don’t think they do the lower priced discs anymore for single films (though they have been applying this principle to multi-film/“box” sets lately), and I imagine manufacturing costs understandably prevent that from being a possibility
The last time they did this was like 3 years ago for 'The Inland Sea', so maybe you're right. Then again, what was the last title they released that had a short runtime and only 1 extra? There is the possibility that they have to take into account the licensing costs, as I wouldn't be surprised if they were paying a lot to license from NEON.

EDIT: I just remembered that Criterion have the rights to Water Lillies, so I think it's a bit of a missed opportunity by not including it.

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Re: 1181 Petite maman

#14 Post by brundlefly » Wed Feb 15, 2023 2:55 pm

On one hand, this is a perfect little film and its intimacy isn't something that demands incredible amounts of explanation. Sciamma's talked about working with children before I think on the releases for Tomboy and Girlhood, and as she's willing to talk about her work I'm sure the Q&A will be a good listen.

But the treatment here does make it look slight, something it is not. Other than giving it a spine number and new artwork and pulling in another Criterion-approved director, this could have been a Lionsgate disc.

I'm assuming Water Lilies is getting some kind of restoration/tour and that "Pauline" will wind up on that disc. Criterion hasn't been pairing up releases a lot, lately. (Especially now that there are only 2-3 new titles/month.) Speaking of Trier, still waiting on Oslo, August 31st.

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Re: 1181 Petite maman

#15 Post by therewillbeblus » Wed Feb 15, 2023 3:23 pm

It certainly feels like a dis when released alongside the stacked Thelma and Louise, another film centered on the intimacy of a female dyad, even if that obviously wasn't the intention

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swo17
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Re: 1181 Petite maman

#16 Post by swo17 » Wed Feb 15, 2023 3:49 pm

I like this, it's petite. Maybe it'll come on one of those cute little mini-discs

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brundlefly
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Re: 1181 Petite maman

#17 Post by brundlefly » Wed Feb 15, 2023 4:03 pm

therewillbeblus wrote:
Wed Feb 15, 2023 3:23 pm
It certainly feels like a dis when released alongside the stacked Thelma and Louise, another film centered on the intimacy of a female dyad, even if that obviously wasn't the intention
Haha yes! But also it is pair-of-apples and pair-of-oranges. One has a history and box office and a very pretty Brad Pitt and that one gets ***exposion*** A VERY RIDLEY SCOTT AMOUNT OF (mostly pre-produced) EXTRAS ***explosion.***

The other gets a couple of girls wandering back and forth through the woods amount of extras.

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Re: 1181 Petite maman

#18 Post by jbeall » Sun Feb 26, 2023 12:24 am

Every Sciamma film I've watched has a scene that leaves me shaken. This time,
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"You didn't invent my sadness" is maybe the most beautiful absolution I've ever seen. It also helps explain the (perhaps) perfunctory "au revoir" Nelly exchanges with her grandmother.

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yoloswegmaster
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Re: 1181 Petite maman

#19 Post by yoloswegmaster » Sun Mar 12, 2023 6:16 am

My Life as a Zucchini has been added as an extra.

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Re: 1181 Petite maman

#20 Post by guyetgenevieve » Sun Mar 12, 2023 6:43 am

yoloswegmaster wrote:
Sun Mar 12, 2023 6:16 am
My Life as a Zucchini has been added as an extra.
Really surprising and excellent addition! Makes for a great double feature!

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CSM126
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Re: 1181 Petite maman

#21 Post by CSM126 » Sun Mar 12, 2023 10:31 am

An interesting addition but at the same time… it’s already on blu ray is it not? I guess for those who want it but haven’t gotten around to buying it yet this might be a nice bonus.

Personally, I like Zucchini well enough but not enough to be enticed into buying it.

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lzx
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Re: 1181 Petite maman

#22 Post by lzx » Sun Mar 12, 2023 10:35 am

Second the praise for Zucchini: an absolutely fantastic film full of Sciamma’s personal signatures, even though she didn’t direct it. In fact, this set now contains IMHO her two best films - and the total runtime is still shorter than many of this year’s BP nominees!

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: 1181 Petite maman

#23 Post by Michael Kerpan » Sun Mar 12, 2023 11:57 am

Zucchini is one of the only animated movies (of its sort) that I actually like a lot -- but I'm pretty sure I bought it long ago. Petite Maman was great even when watched in-flight (luckily I had brought my own headphones). I'll have to snag it when it is on maximal sale....

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Re: 1181 Petite maman

#24 Post by What A Disgrace » Sun Mar 12, 2023 12:43 pm

I'm glad this is coming as a supplement, because I probably wasn't going to see it outside of a release like this.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: 1181 Petite maman

#25 Post by therewillbeblus » Sun Mar 12, 2023 12:59 pm

It’s as good as the faith of this move by Criterion

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