A Nous la Liberte [Criterion Collection]

Director: Rene Clair Rene Clair

Overview

"Rene Clair's comedy A Nous La Liberte comes to DVD with a standard full-frame transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The French soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Mono. English subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include the Clair short Entr'acte, interviews, and deleted scenes. Criterion has done a fabulous job with this title, as has come to be expected from them. Anyone with an interest in film history should see this DVD."

Product Details

Release Date:	03/21/2010
UPC:	0037429147726
Original Release:	1931
Source:	Criterion Collection
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:23:00
Sales rank:	23,481

Special Features

New digital transfer; Deleted scenes; "Entr'acte" (1924), the classic Surrealist short by Clair and artist Francis Picabia; 1998 video interview with Madame Bronja Clair; Film historian David Robinson on the plagiarism lawsuit against Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times"; New and improved English subtitle translation; Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Raymond Cordy	Louis
Henri Marchand	Emile
Rolla France	Jeanne
Paul Olivier	Paul Imaque
Jacques Shelly	Paul
Germaine Aussey	Maud
Andre Michaud	Foreman
Alex D'Arcy	Gigolo
William Burke	Old Convict
Vincent Hyspa	Old Orator
Leon Lorin	Deaf Old Man
Paul Ollivier	Actor
Georges Auric	Composer

Technical Credits

Rene Clair

Rene Clair

Director,Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

What's the point of escaping from a real prison if you only wind up trapped in, say, a factory job, or a loveless marriage, or the strictures of high society? That's the question René Clair poses in this oddly paced but totally winning comedy. Emile (Henri Marchand) is the con who makes good on his escape, leaving his pal Louis (Raymond Cordy) behind to fill out his sentence. By chance, persistence, and talent, Emile turns from a slob to a potential snob, a successful manufacturer of phonographs. Marchand, who looks like the young Jackie Gleason, thus accomplishes the transformation, in Gleason character terms, from the Poor Soul to Reginald Van Gleason III. But Emile is no ordinary captain of industry; he actually wants his workers to enjoy more freedom, and to that end, he's looking to mechanize his factory without downsizing his work force. A blackmail plot almost spoils his plans, but a well-timed wind storm saves the day. At the end, the two pals are almost back where they started but happier than ever. Clair's sound effects and musical interludes may feel dated to contemporary audiences, but they mark this film not as a quaint artifact but a forward-looking historical document. The factory scenes may be reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times, but Clair's work preceded Chaplin's by several years. Among the extras on the DVD edition is an essay by Chaplin scholar David Robinson on the plagiarism lawsuit brought against Chaplin by the producers of À Nous la Liberté, a suit of which Clair wanted no part. He said he would have been honored if Chaplin had used his film as inspiration, acknowledging his colleague's unmatched virtuosity.