SIX IN PARIS (1965) – Blu-ray Review

Chabrol, Rohmer, and Godard Feature Among Barbet Schroeder’s Classic French New Wave Anthology, now on Blu-ray

DIRECTED BY CLAUDE CHABROL, JEAN DOUCHET, JEAN-LUC GODARD, JEAN-DANIEL POLLET, ERIC ROHMER, JEAN ROUCH

BLU-RAY STREET DATE: JULY 30, 2024/ICARUS FILMS

In January of 2021, I was given the opportunity to review the then-new DVD release the 1965 French New Wave anthology film, Six in Paris. Now, over three years later, the same label that released said DVD, Icarus Films, has rereleased the film as a high-definition Blu-ray edition.

As Icarus was kind enough to provide a review copy of the Blu-ray, I’ve taken the opportunity to revisit Six in Paris, as well as my 2021 review. As I largely stand by my observations on the six individual shorts that comprise the whole, I’ve opted to re-print that text, supplemented with new comments on the Blu-ray’s presentation of the restored 2K transfer, the packaging, and lone bonus feature.

*****

A woman. A man. Their problems. And the Eiffel Tower. Such is the apparent formula for each of the short films comprising 1965’s anthology Six in Paris. Barbet Schroeder, then a relative newcomer to the thriving French filmmaking world, functioned as producer in assembling six of the country’s most notable directors to contribute individual short films to the project. To Schroeder’s certain advantage, such anthology films seem to have been particularly en vogue in that time and place.

The films’ Parisian setting and uneasy romantic dynamics are the only major through-lines of Six in Paris. Luminaries Claude Chabrol (The Champagne Murders), Eric Rohmer (The Aviator’s Wife), Jean Rouch (Chronicle of a Summer), and Jean-Luc Godard (Breathless) each contribute reasonably satisfying tales that are concise and compact (each average about fifteen minutes in length). The same can be said of the contributions of lesser-known filmmakers Jean Douchet and Jean-Daniel Pollet.

At the same time, none are particularly challenging; certainly not in the way that the best of the movement of which this anthology is a part of was (and still is). That movement, the French New Wave, stands as one of the most resonant cinema revolutions in the history of the medium. With a number of monumental films under its provincial umbrella, it can be afforded a lightweight here and there.

That said, Douchet’s “Saint-Germain-des-Prés”, is among the anthology’s best. Something of a twist on Billy Wilder’s The Apartment, it also has the benefit of being the first in this little wave unto itself. In it, an American female student comes to realize the true motives of the young male occupants of a modest flat. Rohmer’s “Place de l’Etoile” is also noteworthy for its darkly comedic nature amid its director’s own typically dramatic oeuvre. It sees its main character grappling with the realization that his sudden skirmish with a stranger near the Arc de Triomphe may’ve been deathly. Shot by the great Nestor Almendros (Days of Heaven), it might be the finest looking of the half-dozen.

Godard’s entry, “Montparnasse-Levallois”, though criticized as inane, is perhaps something of a piffle, but not bad. The notorious director has certainly turned in far inferior contributions to other such collections. (It seemed that even into the 1980s, Godard never turned down an invite to participate in an anthology). In this case, he takes the opportunity to actualize a news story described by Jean-Paul Belmondo to Anna Karina in his 1961 feature A Woman is a Woman. Shot by famed documentarian Albert Maysles, it details a young woman’s plight to smooth over a potentially disastrous mix-up of telegrams she’s sent to two separate lovers.

The final short film of Six in Paris, “La Muette”, is directed by and stars Claude Chabrol. He plays the husband opposite his real-life wife, Stéphane Audran, constantly arguing and fighting in their stately upper-class home. Their son has taken to blocking it all out with earplugs, resulting in unexpected experimentation with the film’s own audio track. Mischievous silence, it seems, sees us out of Schroeder’s collective humble odyssey.

*****

In 2021, I said about the DVD release: “This new DVD edition of Six in Paris sports what is likely as tidy of a transfer as is possible”. That’s obviously no longer true, as we now have the very Blu-ray upgrade I lamented not existing in that earlier review. More to the point, the Blu-ray takes substantial advantage of the film’s 2K restoration, demonstrating an enhanced vibrancy and patina when compared to the already acceptable DVD’s picture quality. The film is said to be the first French feature to be shot completely on 16mm film and blown up to 35mm for its theatrical run. The 16mm aesthetic is most definitely apparent, lending Six in Paris a certain handmade and roughhewn effect. In such, the Blu-ray’s image absolutely compliments it.

Further sweetening the deal, Icarus has added three interesting vintage interviews with various creatives involved in the project. These clips are short black and white chats hosted by RTS Radio Television suisse, having aired August 10, 1965 on Cinéma-vif. In the first, the very confident but also very deep in debt producer Barbet Schroeder discusses with Patrick Bauchau how he hopes Six in Paris will help launch a directorial career for him. Mission accomplished there. Participating directors Jean Rouch and Éric Rohmer are the other two individual interviews. Respectively, they run seven minutes, five minutes, and six minutes, and are fully worthy of inclusion.

Icarus Films has recently become a partner label under the OCN umbrella, meaning that this release, like all OCN titles, is available through Vinegar Syndrome with an exclusive slipcover with variant artwork while supplies last. For those content with a slip-less clear plastic Blu-ray case, that version can be had in wider release. The same handsome cover illustration that adorned the DVD is also the standard Blu-ray art.

Though no overall or even individual brilliance shines through in Six in Paris, cinephiles should not turn up their noses at this admirable Blu-ray upgrade from the venerable Icarus Films. Thanks to this fine physical release, collectors can always have Paris.