Walerian Borowczyk (Short Films & Animation Collection) ( Le concert de M. et Mme. Kabal (Concert of Mr. & Mrs. Kabal) / L'encyclopedie de grand-maman en 13 volumes (Grandmother's Encyclopaedia) / Les jeux des anges (The Games of Angels) / Le dictionnaire de Joachim (Joachim's Dictionary) / Scherzo infernal ) ( Renaissance / Rosalie / Gavotte / Diptyque (Diptych) / Le phonographe (Phonograph) / L'amour monstre de tous les temps (Greatest Love of All Times) / Théâtre de Monsieur & Madame Kabal (Mr. & Mrs. Kabal's Theatre) / Les astronautes (Astronauts) )

Walerian Borowczyk (Short Films & Animation Collection) (Blu-Ray) (*)

$27.99

Original Title: Le concert de M. et Mme. Kabal (Concert of Mr. & Mrs. Kabal) / L'encyclopedie de grand-maman en 13 volumes (Grandmother's Encyclopaedia) / Les jeux des anges (The Games of Angels) / Le dictionnaire de Joachim (Joachim's Dictionary) / Scherzo infernal
Alternate Title: Renaissance / Rosalie / Gavotte / Diptyque (Diptych) / Le phonographe (Phonograph) / L'amour monstre de tous les temps (Greatest Love of All Times) / Théâtre de Monsieur & Madame Kabal (Mr. & Mrs. Kabal's Theatre) / Les astronautes (Astronauts)
Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
French ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
French ( Dolby Linear PCM )
French ( Mono )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( Blu-Ray/Region A/B/C )

Running Time:
190 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
2-DVD Set
Documentary
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Black & White
Booklet
Remastered
Blu-Ray & DVD Combo

Movie filmed in 1959 - 1984 and produced in:
France ( France, Benelux )

Directed By:
Walerian Borowczyk
Chris Marker

Written By:
Walerian Borowczyk
Chris Marker
Guy de Maupassant

Actors:
Michel Boschet ..... the Astronaut
Ligia Branice ..... Woman at the window
Anatole Dauman ..... the Chauffeur
Philippe Lifchitz ..... the Tyrant
Walerian Borowczyk
Ligia Branice ..... Rosalie
Léon Boyer ..... Himself
Ljubomir Popovic ..... Himself
Yves Robert ..... Voix (voice)
Louisette Rousseau ..... Mme Kabal (voice)
Pierre Collet ..... M. Kabal (voice)
Louis Jojot
Renata Astruc
Jacqueline Boivin
Edith Catry
Yvonne Landry
Kathy Luc
Maïté Mansoura
Mei-Chen

Synopsis:

For the first decade of his career, Walerian Borowczyk exclusively made short films, initially in his native Poland, but then mostly in France, where he settled permanently in the late 1950s. This disc includes the vast majority of the shorts that he made between 1959 and 1984, apart from ones that were originally intended to accompany specific features. Far from being prentice work or optional extras, the shorts include many of his greatest films, such as the cut-out Astronauts, the reverse-motion Renaissance and the extraordinary Angels Games, a one-off masterpiece of the macabre that would alone establish Borowczyk as one of the cinema s most innovative artists. In 1967, Borowczyk made his feature debut, a grotesque and surreal fantasy about the physically and temperamentally mismatched couple Mr & Mrs Kabal. Made with a tiny production team at a time when animated feature films were far scarcer than they are now, it s almost the polar opposite of a Disney film, with angular, mainly monochrome graphics bringing the Kabals universe to startlingly vivid life. Both this and all the short films are presented in brand new high-definition restorations from original 35mm elements.

Theatre of Mr. and Mrs. Kabal (1967 - 77:05)
This may sound a little woolly and evasive, but it's hard to know where to start with a film like Theatre of Mr. and Mrs. Kabal [Théâtre de Monsieur & Madame Kabal]. It's not that I'm new to surrealist cinema or even surrealistic animated features, but in some respects this is surrealist film in its purest form. Like Buñuel and Dali's ground-breaking 1929 short Un Chien Andalou, there is no overriding plot to hang your appreciation on, and thus no immediately obvious subtext to analyse and debate. So what is it that makes Theatre of Mr. and Mrs. Kabal such oddly compulsive viewing?

The Astronauts (1959) (12:37)
One of Borowczyk's most celebrated early short films follows the adventures of a do-it-yourself astronaut, whose first move after constructing his cardboard spaceship is to use it to spy on a girl in a state of partial undress. Blending animated photographs with engravings and paintings, it's a sprightly, comical and inventive work with a surrealistic edge and a dash of the space race politics to come, and makes terrific use of sound effects and music. An influence on the work of Belgian animator Raoul Servais (Harpya) is certainly evident here. Chris Marker is credited for a role that he later claimed involved little work on his behalf - he agreed to let his name be put on the film because as a Polish national, Borowczyk would not be granted his first director credit without it.

The Concert (1962) (7:01)
The first appearance of Mr. and Mrs. Kabal is a blackly comic piece in which a piano recital by Mrs. Kabal takes a dark turn when her husband foolishly snores through her performance. The design of the couple as they appear in the feature is fully in place here, and the cut-out style of the animation is a delight. As with the feature, the use of sound is an essential part of the film's fabric.

Grandma's Encyclopaedia (1963) (6:51)
Cut-outs and etchings are employed to joyously bring to life three modes of transport from the encyclopaedia of the title - Automobile, Balloon and Railway. Automobile consists of a manically paced vintage car race, while Railway economically compresses the development of the railways as a mode of transporting people, livestock and goods into a couple of minutes of waste-free screen time. It ends with the promise of more volumes to come, but as far as I'm aware these never appeared.

Renaissance (1963) (9:18)
The destruction of a room and its contents undergoes a process of gradual reversal in a beautifully devised and animated work that just has to have been an influence on the work of Jan Svankmajer and the Brothers Quay - it even features one of those creepy dolls with the top of its head missing that the Quays are so fond of. The use of sound effects is once again remarkable and sometimes unexpected, with the clack of typewriter keys accompanying the staccato regrowth of grapes on a previously dead vine. Just superb.

Angels' Games (1964) (12:01)
Angels are dismembered and recreated in a grim and featureless factory in a semi-abstract and surrealistic allegory of Nazi concentration camps and Soviet post-war industrialisation. Deeply unsettling in its suggestion and dark atmosphere, and with an extraordinary impressionist opening train ride, it again makes evocative use of sound effects and music.

Joachim's Dictionary (1965) (9:26)
Twenty-six dictionary words, one for each letter of the alphabet, are illustrated using the same simple drawing of a man, one based on a design by Laurence Demaria (actually Ligia Browczyk, the director's wife). Borowczyk has some real fun with this, with 'Realism' represented by the appearance on the figure of a meticulously drawn ear (and a clearly recorded sound for it to listen to), and 'Marriage' by the figure saying simply, "No, I refuse." The fact that the action used to illustrate 'Man' is exactly the same as the one used for 'Boy' will doubtless prompt a nod of agreement from female viewers.

Rosalie (1966) (15:07)
Based on Rosalie Prudent by Guy de Maupassant, this is the story of a maid who, having kept her pregnancy secret from her employers, gave birth without their knowledge and killed and buried the baby. In this haunting, Silver Bear winning live action short, these events are recalled by Rosalie herself from the dock at her trial. Emotionally performed in a single unwavering mid shot by Borowczyk's wife Ligia against a plain white background, her tale is underscored by a superb use of one-second cutaways of objects that have been presented as evidence, including the cloth-wrapped body of her child. At one point the exposure is lightened to the point where it almost isolates Rosalie's head in a frame of pure white, giving her an spellbinding angelic quality.

Gavotte (1967) (10:41)
At a harpsichord performance somewhere in 18th century France, a bored and costumed dwarf has his attempts to find somewhere comfortable to sit repeatedly frustrated, often by a mischievous second dwarf. Playing out in real time at a single location, this intermittently feels like a costumed circus clown routine, but it is rather funny and it looks and sounds lovely in its restored form. It's photographed head on against a wall in a manner that would become something of a Borowczyk visual trademark.

Diptych (1967) (8:41)
As the title suggests, this is a film of two distinct and very different halves, or panels as they are labelled here in reference to the title. The first is a documentary piece that observes a typical morning for Leon Boyer, who despite being almost 100 years old still farms the land, drives a vintage car, and plays with his two dogs. In the second panel we are invited to appreciate the colour and form of cut flowers and a small fluffy kitten to the accompaniment of the musical piece Nadir's Romance. Almost a gallery work that appears to be largely about oppositions, signalled by the stark difference between the steely monochrome and natural sound of the first panel and the vibrant Eastmancolor and composed music of the second. Even two viewings in, I was left with the sense that the up-front symbolism is exactly what it purports to be and that deeper meanings are being left for the viewer to provide. Intriguing nonetheless, and it's hard to believe that the sprightly Boyer is almost as old as the vines that he harvests.

The Phonograph (1969) (5:41)
Wax cylinders make their way onto an antique phonograph, which winds up and plays them in precision-framed stop-motion. The camera lingers on aspects of the mechanism like an eager engineering student, and repeatedly returns to the portrait of a young girl that is hanging on the wall, who may or may not be the audience for the music. Towards the end a socio-political strand is weaved in as La Marseillaise is gradually drowned out by military fanfares and gunfire, and the portrait and wax discs are rapidly destroyed. I'll bet Jan Švankmajer loved this one.

The Greatest Love of All Time (1978) (9:38)
An impressionist portrait of Serbian born French surrealist painter Ljubomir Popovi?, known more widely as Ljuba, who is observed in the street and working in his studio, sometimes in macro close-up. Very much a film made by an artist about one of his peers, there's an intimacy and subtle reverence here that is quietly intoxicating, and despite the lack of commentary and natural sound (the music of Richard Wagner washes over the soundtrack), we learn a surprising amount about Ljuba's working methods and technique.

Scherzo Infernal (1984) (5:14)
Definitely not one for the prudes or the religiously devout. When a beautiful young angel named Puréa comes of age, she shocks her heavenly father by revealing that she wishes to become a prostitute. Down in Hell, meanwhile, a young devil named Mastro can't quite get the hang of how to torture humans without killing them all off. What do you think might happen if these two were to meet? Sexually explicit and energetically paced and animated, the artwork is delicious, with the clean lines of Heaven giving way to the rough edged splashes of the fires of Hell.

This product was added to our catalog on Friday 06 March, 2015.

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