Criterion’s splendid box finally preserves Étaix’s cinema du Nouvelle Slapstick for the digital age.
Peter Scarlet is the Executive Director of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival.
An intriguing curio that would have played better as a condensed sketch in Luis Buñuel’s Phantom of Liberty.
A wry mix of King Kong and My Man Godfrey, it’s a potent premise that somehow never catches fire.
Save for the visible grain and unfortunate fluctuations in contrast, this is a sharp and clean transfer.
What is it about Bresson’s films that inspire such personal reactions and frank admissions from their admirers?