Landmark French documentary – CHRONIQUE D’UN ÉTÉ /CHRONICLE OF A SUMMER – released by the BFI as dual format dvd set

CHRONIQUE D’UN ÉTÉ /CHRONICLE OF A SUMMER (12) FRANCE 1961    ROUCH, JEAN/MORIN, EDGER    £19.99 This  documentary about Parisians in the summer of 1960 can lay claim to having  influential the course of cinema history. The filmmaker-anthropologist Jean Rouch and sociologist Edgar Morin, use the camera aggressively, often provoking his subjects to anger.

By simply interviewing a group of Paris residents in the summer of 1960-beginning with the provocative and eternal question “Are you happy?” and expanding to political issues, including the ongoing Algerian War, the film makers reveal the hopes and dreams of a wide array of people.

As an epilogue, he invites all the participants in the film to a special screening, filming their reactions as they watch the often unflattering portraits of themselves.

Chronicle of a Summer’s penetrative approach gives us a document of a time and place with extraordinary emotional depth.

•90 minutes | ratio: 1.66:1

Chronicle of a Summer Special features.

•Ratio :1 37:1

•Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition

•Brand new restoration

•Un été + 50 (Florence Daumon, 2011, 75 mins): documentary on the making of Chronicle of a Summer featuring new interviews with the participants including Edgar Morin and Régis Debray

•Jean Rouch at the NFT (1978, 55 mins): audio recording of a lecture delivered by Jean Rouch on Dziga Vertov and Robert Flaherty’s influence on his work and that of his peers

•Fully illustrated booklet with newly commissoned essay by Professor Ginette Vincendeau

Disc 1: BD50 | 1080p | 24fps |

PCM mono 2.0 audio (48k/16-bit)

Disc 2: DVD9 | PAL | Dolby Digital mono 2.0 audio (320kbps

In French with English subtitles

DVD available to buy at – http://www.worldonlinecinema.com/Home/french-dvds

The New Yorker review – http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2013/02/chronicle-of-a-summer-the-dvd.html