Kino Lorber to Release Alain Robbe-Grillet’s L’IMMORTELLE the 1963 directorial debut of the acclaimed French writer-filmmaker in new HD transfer from original 35mm elements
Available on Blu-ray and DVD on April 1, 2014 as a Kino Classics/Redemption offering with special features including an interview with Alain Robbe-Grillet
Kino Lorber and Redemption are proud to announce the Blu-ray and DVD release of Alain Robbe-Grillet’s L’IMMORTELLE (1963), starring François Brion and Jacques Doniol-Valcroze. The film marks Robbe-Grillet’s directorial debut, following the acclaim he received for his Academy Award®-nominated screenplay for Alain Resnais’ Last Year at Marienbad the previous year. L’IMMORTELLE won the Prix Louis Delluc and was nominated for the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival when it was released in 1963.
This is the third release in The Cinema of Alain Robbe-Grillet, a collection from Kino Lorber and Redemption that will consist of six films by the acclaimed French writer and filmmaker, restored and remastered in HD from original 35mm elements.
L’IMMORTELLE will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on April 1st, with a SRP of $34.95 for the Blu-ray and $29.95 for the DVD. It is presented in the original French language soundtrack with optional English subtitles. Special features include an interview with Alain Robbe-Grillet (32 min.), three trailers for the films of Alain Robbe-Grillet, and a 2014 promotional short for The Cinema of Alain Robbe-Grillet Collection.
With his talent for intricate, experimental narratives, and his penchant for sado-masochism as a recurring theme in his work, Robbe-Grillet used film to explore his own sexual desires, resulting in a highly personal and sometimes disturbing body of work that is equally characteristic of European art cinema and the exploitation cinema of the 1960s.
For years, Robbe-Grillet’s films have been unavailable in the United States in any form. It is with great pride that Kino Lorber and Redemption Films bring these films to American viewers, in exquisite HD editions, aiding in the rediscovery of one of European cinema’s most eclectic and highly original filmmakers.
With its highly stylized camerawork and fragmented narrative structure, Alain Robbe-Grillet’s L’IMMORTELLE is a cinematic arabesque that teases the eye with visual delights, yet sadistically confounds the viewer’s expectations. Not dissimilar to Alain Resnais’s Last Year at Marienbad, which he had written two years earlier, L’IMMORTELLE involves a Frenchman, traveling in Istanbul, who is fascinated by the city’s language, architecture, and exotic culture. He soon becomes entranced by a mysterious woman (Françoise Brion) who seems to encourage his attentions but remains, maddeningly, just beyond his reach. His erotic pursuit of her leads him into the criminal underworld…with deadly consequences.
About Redemption:
Established in 1992 and rebooted by Kino Lorber in 2012, Redemption Films is dedicated to resurrecting classics of the European cult and horror film — both the celebrated and the undiscovered — in deluxe Blu-ray and DVD editions, remastered from the original 35mm elements.
About Kino Lorber:
With a library of 800 titles, Kino Lorber Inc. has been a leader in independent art house distribution for over 30 years, releasing over 25 films per year theatrically under its Kino Lorber, Kino Classics, and Alive Mind Cinema banners, including four Academy Award® nominated films in the last six years. In addition, the company brings over 70 titles each year to the home entertainment market with DVD and Blu-ray releases under its 5 house brands, distributes a growing number of third party labels, and is a direct digital distributor to all major platforms including iTunes, Netflix, HULU, Amazon and others.
