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Released by: Blue Underground
Released on: October 25th, 2022.
Director: Jens Jorgen Thorsen
Cast: Wayne Rodda, Paul Valjean
Year: 1973
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Quiet Days In Clichy – Movie Review:
Quiet Days In Clichy, based on two of Henry 'Tropic of Cancer' Miller's more risqué (and at one time, banned) works, is the story of Joey (Paul Valjean), a writer with no money and no real job prospects. Joey lives with Carl (Wayne Rodda), his roommate, a bit of a sex maniac with a thing for younger women.
That's really all you need to know, going in. Once we're introduced to the characters, Joey and Carl basically screw their way through a pre-WWII Paris and indulge in a whole lot of wanton sex with pretty much any woman willing. Alone, in groups, or whatever, they don't really seem to care - they're just out to get as laid as they can as frequently as they can, and they're pretty successful at it.
While the film isn't really a hardcore film per se, it comes pretty close at times and essentially the entire film is made up of one sex scene after another. There's not a lot to the story at all, and the performances are average at best (though some of that could be due to the dubbing), but there is still much to take in on a visual level (and no, I don't mean the gratuitous nudity - at least not just the gratuitous nudity). The framing and composition of the film is consistently very well done, and it maintains a fluid sense of graceful movement throughout its duration. There are random exceptions to this, close up shots during the sex scenes being a prime example, as they look like they may have been done with a handheld camera, but generally Quiet Days In Clichy's high contrast black and white cinematography is moody, atmospheric and pleasing to look at.
More structure to the storyline probably would have allowed a bigger audience to warm to it but then, it probably wouldn't have been as in keeping with Miller's original source material as it is. A fairly non-linear piece of film, it skips around in tone and structure just as its two central protagonists hop from one pair of open legs to the next. The acting is occasionally stilted but the characters look the part well enough and if no one is going to take home any awards for their performance here, they're appropriately skuzzy and burnt out looking - in short, the various European performers employed here suit their roles.
Charged with obscenity in May of 1970 though cleared shortly after in Federal Court, Quiet Days In Clichy has been suspiciously absent of any legitimate release since then - until Blue Underground rescued it from obscurity with a DVD release a few years ago. It now finds an unlikely new life on Blu-ray, something very few fans probably ever thought would happen given the deluge of mainstream pap available on the format compared to only the slight trickle of arthouse and cult titles making their way down the pipeline. This isn't the classic some have made it out to be, it's too flawed and too disjointed even if it does definitely feel like Miller's material, but it's certainly an interesting cult item and curio piece worth seeking out for fans of the late scribe's work.
Quiet Days In Clichy – UHD Review:
Quiet Days In Clichy comes to UHD in an HEVC encoded 2160p 4k transfer with HDR10 from a new 4k master and framed in its original 1.66.1 widescreen aspect ratio with HDR and Dolby Vision. Scanned in 16-bit from its original fine grain negative, the black and white image looks excellent. It’s plenty grainy in pretty much every frame but never to the point that it distracts from the detail on display. There’s a surprising amount of depth in many of the scenes, and we get nice, deep black levels throughout. There’s virtually no print damage here at all and contrast looks excellent from start to finish. This is quite a nice upgrade over the Blu-ray release that came out back in 2010.
The only audio option for the feature is a 24-bit DTS-HD 1.0 Mono track, in English, with optional subtitles offered up in English SDH, French and Spanish. Audio quality is fine. The track isn’t the most robust you’ll ever here, range is limited by the original source, but it sounds clean and clear and is properly balanced, without any hiss or distortion to complain about.
The only extra on the UHD is a single deleted scene and a theatrical trailer. The rest of the extras for this release, many of which originated on the DVD edition from years back, are found on the included Blu-ray disc, which includes a 1080p version of the same new transfer.
First up is 'Dirty Books, Dirty Movies: Barney Rosset on Henry Miller' which is a seventeen minute interview with Henry Miller's editor and publisher at the time the books were written and who did much to get them into print and even helped get the film made. Miller fans will appreciate the insight that Rosset is able to offer here and if it's not always specific to the story told in the feature, it doesn't matter. He's got some interesting stories about what it was like working with the controversial writer.
Country Joe McDonald is likewise interviewed in the eleven minute 'Songs of Clichy' and he seems to have had a good time working on the songs for the film and talks about his thoughts behind some of it here. Since his soundtrack plays such a major part in the mood and atmosphere that director Thorsen captures and maintains, fans of the picture will take some interest in this.
Also included on this release is a Midnight Blue Interview with Rosset conducted by Al Goldstein that runs for twenty-five minutes and goes into some detail about Rosset's work and how it has tangled with the FBI and obscenity laws over the years, his theories on publishing what you believe in and how that mixes with politics, getting arrested and fighting the charges in the Supreme Court for importing a Swedish sex film, and quite a bit more.
Not included on the past edition but found on this new issue is a poster and stills gallery, a book cover gallery and a very interesting court documents gallery. The single deleted scene and the theatrical trailer from the UHD are also included on this Blu-ray disc.
Quiet Days In Clichy - The Final Word:
Quiet Days In Clichy is definitely not for everyone, but Blue Underground has done a commendable job on its new 4k definition presentation of this cinematic oddity, and that’s a very good thing in deed, particularly if you're a fan of Miller, whose books are usually softened down when adapted for the big screen.
Click on the images below, or right click and open in a new window, for full sized Quiet Days In Clichy Blu-ray screen caps!
