Criterion has announced the next two additions to their growing Blu-ray Disc Collection both hail from France and share François Truffaut as their director.
On March 24, Criterion will release the 1959 classic The 400 Blows and 1980’s The Last Metro on Blu-ray in new special edition packages.
The 400 Blows will be presented in a newly remastered widescreen 2.35:1 1080p video transfer with French audio and newly reworked English subtitles. Bonus features are as follows.
- New digital transfer of The 400 Blows, enhanced for widescreen televisions
- New digital transfer of Antoine and Colette (BOX-SET VERSION ONLY)
- Two audio commentaries: one by cinema professor Brian Stonehill and another by François Truffaut’s lifelong friend Robert Lachenay
- Rare audition footage of Jean-Pierre Léaud, Patrick Auffay, and Richard Kanayan
- Newsreel footage of Jean-Pierre Léaud in Cannes for the showing of The 400 Blows
- Excerpt from a French TV program with Truffaut discussing his youth, critical writings, and the origins of Antoine Doinel in The 400 Blows and Antoine and Colette
- Television interview with Truffaut about the global reception of The 400 Blows and his own critical impression of the film
- Theatrical trailer for The 400 Blows
- New and improved English subtitle translations
The Last Metro, starring Gérard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve, will be presented in a newly remastered widescreen 1.66:1 1080p transfer with an uncompressed monaural soundtrack. Its bonus features include the following.
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer (uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- Two audio commentaries: one featuring Annette Insdorf, author of François Truffaut, and one with actor Gérard Depardieu, historian Jean-Pierre Azéma, and Truffat biographer Serge Toubiana
- Deleted scene
- French television excerpts of interviews with Truffaut, and actors Catherine Deneuve, Depardieu, and Jean Poiret
- New video interviews with actresses Andréa Ferréol, Sabine Haudepin, and Paulette Dubost, assistant director Alain Tasma, and camera assistants Florent Bazin and Tessa Racine
- Une histoire d’eau, Truffaut’s 1958 short film co-directed by Jean-Luc Godard
- Theatrical trailer
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A new essay by Armond White
Both films will retail for $39.95 on Blu-ray Disc. Trailers and cover art below, and Amazon pre-order information will be added in the near future.
