Hôtel du Nord

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DarkImbecile
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Hôtel du Nord

#1 Post by DarkImbecile » Fri Nov 15, 2019 1:12 pm

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Directed by Marcel Carné, the master of poetic realism, Hôtel du Nord is a haunting, fatalistic melodrama which sits alongside Le Quai des brumes and Le Jour se lève as one of the auteur’s greatest pre-war works.

Adapted from an acclaimed novel by Eugène Dabit, the son the proprietors of the real Hôtel du Nord (situated on the banks of the Canal St. Martin in Paris), Carné’s film tells of Renée (Annabella) and Pierre (Jean-Pierre Aumont, Day for Night), doomed lovers who plan to end their lives at the humble guesthouse. When Pierre shoots Renée but can’t pull the trigger on himself, he flees with help of a seedy criminal, Edmond (Louis Jouvet, Quai des Orfèvres) and his mistress Raymonde (Arletty, Les Enfants du paradis). Renée makes a surprise recovery and returns to the hotel to work as a maid, but when Edmond falls in love with her and Pierre returns from prison, the stage is set for tragedy.

Hôtel du Nord is noteworthy for its assured ensemble performances, remarkably authentic studio sets and compelling Bastille Day street-celebration finale. Now, looking and sounding better than ever before.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
• High Definition Blu-rayTM (1080p) presentation
• Original 1.0 mono audio
• Optional English subtitles
• Au cinéma ce soir: Marcel Carné on Hôtel du Nord, an in-depth archival interview with the legendary director from 1972 in which he talks at length about the film
• Introduction to Hôtel du Nord by Paul Ryan, the film historian revisits Carné’s classic film
• Image gallery
• Original trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Peter Strain

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Florinaldo
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Re: Hôtel du Nord

#2 Post by Florinaldo » Fri Nov 15, 2019 5:22 pm

The Jeanson dialogue is cracking on this one, and not only for the often quoted "atmosphère" exchange. It must quite a challenge to do it justice in the subtitles.

As I recall the Trauner piece on the old DVD is very short, which means it does not meander as so many of such pieces do and it makes you yearn to learn more about the set designer's work.

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tenia
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Re: Hôtel du Nord

#3 Post by tenia » Tue Nov 19, 2019 2:36 am

I don't recall a Trauner doc on the 2008 2-DVD MK2 release of Hotel du Nord. There are however 2 half-hours program (one about Carné, the other on the movie) and a 53 min doc about Carné (again).

I second David on Drôle de drame's new restoration : it's a disgrace. It reminded me of Pathé's Le samourai mixed at times with Criterion's Madame de and Children of Paradise, with a completely bonkers color-grading on top of that.

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Florinaldo
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Re: Hôtel du Nord

#4 Post by Florinaldo » Wed Nov 27, 2019 2:00 pm

tenia wrote:
Tue Nov 19, 2019 2:36 am
I don't recall a Trauner doc on the 2008 2-DVD MK2 release of Hotel du Nord. There are however 2 half-hours program (one about Carné, the other on the movie) and a 53 min doc about Carné (again).
The short Trauner piece is on the first DVD, which is actually the repackaged single-disc version issued previously; MK2 often reissued titles under slightly different physical packaging, but with the exact same digital content. The second disc of that edition has the three documentaries on Carné totalling about 2 hours. They are made up of extensive interviews with him, some of his actors and collaborators, film critics, etc. The longest one with Carné devotes much time to Hôtel du Nord, but it also covers many of his other films, including his last unfinished project.

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Florinaldo
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Re: Hôtel du Nord

#5 Post by Florinaldo » Wed Nov 27, 2019 4:13 pm

I know of 2 or 3 different single disc MK2 editions for Hôtel du Nord, the covers being slightly different in each case. They did the same thing with other titles like Mon Oncle d'Amérique.

Surprisingly, the MK2 BD for the Carné film ports only one of the DVDs digital supplements, the short Toubiana introduction. So the Arrow will not only have, presumably, a better quality image as compared to the DVD but also more supplementary material than the French BD.

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