Jean Renoir: 3-Disc Collector's Edition

Jean Renoir (1894-1979), son of the impressionist painter Auguste, had a long and distinguished directorial career both in France and in America, and is most known for his two masterpieces from the late 1930s, Grand Illusion and The Rules of the Game, both of which are regularly cited on lists of the best films of all time. This set offers a selection of Renoir's less familiar work, including four early silent pictures showcasing his former wife Catherine Hessling: his first two features—La Fille de l'Eau (1925), a rural romantic melodrama, and Nana (1926), a sumptuous version of Zola's novel about a manipulative prostitute—and two shorts, the surrealistic sci-fi dance piece Sur un Air de Charleston (1927) and the dreamlike La Petite Marchande d'Allumettes (1928), loosely based on the Hans Christian Andersen tale “The Little Match Girl.” From his golden period, the collection features La Marseillaise (1938), a series of tableaux on the first phase of the French Revolution made in support of the leftist Popular Front government—of more historical than artistic interest, perhaps, but impressive nonetheless. The final disc includes two of his last films, a starkly-photographed but rather disorganized Jekyll-and-Hyde tale, Le Testament du Docteur Cordelier (1959), notable for a virtuoso dual performance by Jean-Louis Barrault, and Le Caporal IpinglJ (1962), a World War II film with Jean-Pierre Cassel as a French officer determined to escape from a German POW camp—good but rather bland in comparison to either Stalag 17 or The Great Escape. Taken together the films—featuring excellent digital transfers—exhibit Renoir's strong visual sense, technical virtuosity, and emotional warmth. Unfortunately, the DVD extras are sparse, limited to the “Jean Renoir: An Auteur to Remember” featurette, hosted by filmmaker Martin Scorsese and featuring cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, Jean's son Alain, and others discussing the films—very favorably, of course. Regardless, this impressive collection is highly recommended. (F. Swietek)