Muriel, or The Time of Return

Stars: Delphine Seyrig (Last Year at Marienbad, I Sent a Letter to My Love, Stolen Kisses), Jean-Pierre Kerien. Two major movements happened in the Sixties: 1) we all went searching for our inner child and became a nation of brats, and 2) possibly induced by the controlled substances available because of the first movement, a number of American critics got the idea that a handful of French directors walked on water. Alain Resnais, the director (nay, auteur) of Muriel, was one of those lucky ones deemed to be waterproof. Delphine Seyrig stars as Helene, a widowed art dealer living with her adult son Bernard. She invites Alphonse, an old beau, to visit, and the latter arrives with a young girl whom he claims is his niece but she's actually his mistress. Over the inevitable meal scenes, the quartet talk in stilted dialogue while the music occasionally blares out an ominous tone (sounding very much like what you'd hear in a 50s horror flick). More than anything, the not so nouveau style of the film kills any possibility of serious viewer involvement. Only once does Muriel come alive, when Bernard eerily recounts--while watching grainy military home movie footage--the death of an Algerian girl that haunts his conscience. Otherwise, this is tough slogging. Audience: People who can watch Last Year at Marienbad today without using the fast-forward on their remote. (R. Pitman)[DVD Review—Mar. 20, 2007—Koch Lorber, 112 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, $24.98—Making its first appearance on DVD, 1963's Muriel features a mediocre transfer. DVD extras include a 14-minute interview with Francois Thomas (director of L'atelier d' Alain Resnais) and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for a disappointing film.][Blu-ray/DVD Review—July 26, 2016—Criterion, 116 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $29.95, Blu-ray: $39.95—Making its first appearance on DVD and Blu-ray, 1963's Muriel, or The Time of Return features a great transfer and an uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray release. Extras include a new interview with film scholar François Thomas (27 min.), an excerpt from the 1980 documentary “Une approche d'Alain Resnais, révolutionnaire discret” on the director (5 min.), an excerpt from a 1969 interview with star Delphine Seyrig (5 min.), a 1963 interview with composer Hans Werner Henze (5 min.), trailers, and an essay by film scholar James Quandt. Bottom line: an excellent extras package for this highly regarded film by New Wave auteur Resnais.]