Flicker Alley announces Marcel L'Herbier's L'Inhumaine

[Mike Gebert]

Note that you get a 25% discount and free shipping by ordering by 3 pm Friday

Announcing L'Inhumaine: Featuring Two Audacious New Scores from Aidje Tafial and the Alloy Orchestra

"On leaving the theatre one has the impression of having witnessed the birth of a new art." - Adolf Loos

Released to intense controversy in 1924 for its cinematic and technical innovations, L'Inhumaine (The Inhuman Woman) is a visual tour-de-force; a fantastical, science-fiction melodrama; and a momentous collaboration of legendary figures from the avant-garde movement.

In director Marcel L'Herbier's words, L'Inhumaine represents a "miscellany of modern art," bringing together some of the greatest artists from the time period, including painter Fernand Léger, architect Robert Mallet-Stevens, glassmaker René Lalique, fashion designer Paul Poiret, and directors Alberto Cavalcanti and Claude Autant-Lara, among others, to create a collaborative cinematic experience.

Flicker Alley, in association with Lobster Films, the Blackhawk Films® Collection, Le Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC), ARTE and SACEM (French Society of music authors, composers and publishers) are proud to bring Marcel L'Herbier's elaborate cinematic fantasy to Blu-ray in a brand-new restoration, made possible with the support of French luxury company Hermès.

L'Inhumaine Deluxe Blu-ray Edition
List Price: $39.95
Special Sale Price: $29.95
(You Save: 25%)
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Official Release Date: February 23, 2016

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About L'Inhumaine
Famous French opera singer Georgette Leblanc - who helped produce the film along with L'Herbier's company, Cinégraphic - plays the "Inhuman Woman" of the title, Claire Lescot, who lives on the outskirts of Paris, where she draws important men to her like moths to a flame. At her luxurious parties, she basks in the amorous attentions of her many admirers while always remaining aloof. When it appears she is the reason for a young devotee's suicide, however, her fans desert her. The filming of the concert where she's raucously booed is a renowned piece of cinema history: L'Herbier invited more than 2,000 people from the arts and fashionable society to attend the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and play the part of the unruly audience. Among the attendees were Pablo Picasso, Man Ray, Erik Satie, René Clair, James Joyce, and Ezra Pound (although none are actually visible).

For this brand-new restoration, Lobster Films - with the support of Marie-Ange L'Herbier (the director's daughter), the French CNC, SACEM and Maison Hermès - utilized the original nitrate negative, scanned at a pristine 4K resolution, and restored the original tints for the first time since the film's release. The Blu-ray features two audacious new scores, one from percussionist Aidje Tafial and the other by the Alloy Orchestra. With optional English subtitles to the original French intertitles, Flicker Alley and Lobster Films are proud to present L'Inhumaine in an edition that does justice to the dazzling beauty of L'Herbier's landmark vision.

Bonus Materials Include:
"Behind the Scenes of L'Inhumaine": A 15-minute featurette about the original production and making of L'Inhumaine.
"About the Recording of Aidje Tafial's Music": An exclusive look into the creation of the original score.
A booklet featuring rare, behind-the-scenes photographs and information about the film.

[Roseha]

Ordered!

I've been waiting to see this film on DVD for a really long time, that it's a Blu-ray makes it even more exciting. Thanks for the write-up Mike!

[Roscoe]

A blind Pre-Order -- I'd never even heard of this before it appeared on the SF Silent Film Festival schedule. I found a clip on youtube that makes me very excited to have this.

[Micromegas]

I'm in. I think this film is under-rated.

Looking forward to this release...big time.

Steve

[Salty Dog]

This film would've made my holiday wish list had I known it was coming out when I posted it.

[bigshot]

I ordered too

[Gaucho]

Absolutely love this film.
Will probably hang on to the laserdisc but gladly pre-ordered this.
February can't come soon enough for me.

I hope this is the beginning of a new year of new-to-BD silents from FA.

[Dan Oliver]

Like several other posters, this title was new to me. I blind-ordered with little hesitation because I love Flicker Alley and like to support them whenever possible.

[Rick Lanham]

A review by Justin Remer has been posted on DVD Talk:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/70375/linhumaine/" target="_blank

"Final Thoughts:
An unparalleled, unrelenting feast for the eyes. With a new 4K remaster, this landmark of art cinema has been reinvigorated and reborn. DVD Talk Collector Series."

[Mark Zimmer]

Got my copy the other day; looking forward to it.

[bigshot]

We screened this last night. The sets and camera work is outstanding. The story and acting was OK, but clearly this is a film to revel in the look of.

[jrcasey1960]

Watched this and WOMAN IN THE MOON over the weekend. What a double feature!

Like others, I really had not heard of this film before--and I consider myself at least reasonably knowledgeable about silent cinema! Thanks, Flicker Alley!

This is a film that invites multiple viewings.

[fredhedges]

I watched my old copy last night, and I'll admit I think it's a bad movie - a great big pretty piece of nothing, all paint and no content. But it's absolutely one of a kind, so I guess I'll have to shell out the $40 or whatever for the damn thing.

[Mike Gebert]

So a few people have watched L'Inhumaine but not much reaction to it. I was pretty wowed, so I hope I can whoop up a little more enthusiasm for Flicker Alley's release.

Not that I disagree with the basic premise of any comment that it's a visual feast and kind of preposterous otherwise. Unfortunately it starts off on a strange foot, with a party at The Inhuman Woman's home full of important men who are in thrall to her. The problem is not just that this is standard vamp stuff... it wouldn't be a party without someone threatening to kill himself for her... but that, well, Georgette Leclerc, the singing star who got it financed, had been Maeterlinck's mistress before director Marcel L'Herbier was born; she is plainly no spring chicken (just shy of 60) and looks a little like Bette Midler. So not the exotic beauty type we expect in such a role, to make us believe all these powerful men would go cuckoo and self-destructive for her.

Luckily, that's only the start— imagine a The Devil is a Woman that turns into Son of Frankenstein or Things to Come, with a little of a DEVO music video thrown in, and you have a better sense of what this movie is like. L'Herbier recruited all kinds of artists, from painters like Leger to future directors Alberto Cavalcanti and Claude Autant-Lara, to help design the film, and if he's only fitfully an inventive framer of shots, he proves to be a brilliant editor as the story grows more delirious, climaxing with a rapid cutting scene that for my money outdoes anything in Napoleon or La Roue (its obvious inspiration in that regard).

Anyway, there's really nothing like it and it's quite a feast of artistic ambition and avant-garde daring. I watched it with the Alloy Orchestra score, which fits well without hewing to any particular time period.

[Donald Binks]

I have to put this picture on my list as one of the worst pictures I've ever tried to sit through. I lasted as long as I could and eventually had to turn it off.

Whilst I have no problem with avant-garde cinema I do have a problem with those which persist in attenuating boredom. I could see nothing in this film that made me want to look at it.

As I also loathed "Seinfeld" (an American TV sit-com which admitted it was about absolutely nothing) it appears that at times I go against mainstream opinion and that my Teutonic blood regales against the concept of nothing?

[Jim Roots]

As I also loathed "Seinfeld" (an American TV sit-com which admitted it was about absolutely nothing) it appears that at times I go against mainstream opinion and that my Teutonic blood regales against the concept of nothing?

Neither your Teutonic blood nor anything else is capable of "regaling against" anything. "Regales" means fascinates, entertains, holds spellbound. Which doesn't exactly sound like your reaction to the movie.

You probably mean your blood revolts or rebels against this stuff.

And since when was Aussie blood Teutonic?

Jim
(grumpy because somebody stole two brand new portable DVD players from my car)

[Donald Binks]

As I also loathed "Seinfeld" (an American TV sit-com which admitted it was about absolutely nothing) it appears that at times I go against mainstream opinion and that my Teutonic blood regales against the concept of nothing?

Neither your Teutonic blood nor anything else is capable of "regaling against" anything. "Regales" means fascinates, entertains, holds spellbound. Which doesn't exactly sound like your reaction to the movie.

You probably mean your blood revolts or rebels against this stuff.

And since when was Aussie blood Teutonic?

Jim
(grumpy because somebody stole two brand new portable DVD players from my car)

I was wondering who would be the first to notice this!

I could proffer an excuse and say I was trying to be facetious and that my humour was lost on a citizen of my sister Dominion - but I won't! I have erred. I have made a dreadful mistake. A frightful blunder. I have been shamed before the entire school and will now sit in class wearing a dunce's cap. I will stay in and do a thousand lines in detention and promise to read ten pages of the dictionary nightly! I also promise never to have troubles with my worms again!

In reference to your other concern, my father was Austro-Hungarian.

(Grumpiness can often be cured by counting up to ten and then exploding with a word such as bu**er!)

[Jim Roots]

As I also loathed "Seinfeld" (an American TV sit-com which admitted it was about absolutely nothing) it appears that at times I go against mainstream opinion and that my Teutonic blood regales against the concept of nothing?

Neither your Teutonic blood nor anything else is capable of "regaling against" anything. "Regales" means fascinates, entertains, holds spellbound. Which doesn't exactly sound like your reaction to the movie.

You probably mean your blood revolts or rebels against this stuff.

And since when was Aussie blood Teutonic?

Jim
(grumpy because somebody stole two brand new portable DVD players from my car)

I was wondering who would be the first to notice this!

I could proffer an excuse and say I was trying to be facetious and that my humour was lost on a citizen of my sister Dominion - but I won't! I have erred. I have made a dreadful mistake. A frightful blunder. I have been shamed before the entire school and will now sit in class wearing a dunce's cap. I will stay in and do a thousand lines in detention and promise to read ten pages of the dictionary nightly! I also promise never to have troubles with my worms again!

In reference to your other concern, my father was Austro-Hungarian.

(Grumpiness can often be cured by counting up to ten and then exploding with a word such as bu**er!)

Don't forget to whack the erasers with a ruler. And shammy the blackboard clean! (We pronounced it "shammay" up here in Canada...)

Jim

[Donald Binks]

Don't forget to whack the erasers with a ruler. And shammy the blackboard clean! (We pronounced it "shammay" up here in Canada...)

Jim

[/quote]


Good heavens! Don't tell me there is a different brand of English in Canada! It has taken me a month of Sundays to work out what Americans are talking about. We in the Empire should stick together! - We here in Oz just say "wiping the blackboard clean!"

[Mike Gebert]

I pulled a post that even if it was in jest, seemed a bit mean-spirited in cold type, but in any case, certainly had nothing to do with the film at hand. Let's go back in that direction, please.

[Keatonesque]

Like Shiraz and other silents of such grandeur, what lacks in substance story- and acting-wise is more than made up by the strength of the film which is the collective imagery, dazzling and sublime, which is sometimes all that's necessary, as I'm reminded of the scenery of other epic silents filmed with such scale. One wishes there were more to the story and character development, but with something like this, one cannot ask for more, and the director made up for it later on with L'Argent. This film reminds one of the potential silents had if they'd been given another decade of life had sound, depression, fascism and war not gotten in the way. Alas, we must be grateful the 20s yielded as much inventiveness as it did, from Caligari to this to Frau im Mond. A rare case of a film release being worth the rather extravagant price.