(aka "The Man Who Sleeps" )
directed by Georges Perec, Bernard Queysanne
France 1974
A hypnotic solo by its mute hero, a young man who decides to withdraw from the world and whose mental journal of his experience is confided to us by a girl's voice off-screen, "Un homme qui dort" is an astonishing tour de force. What distinguishes it from all those ventures in spiritual navel-gazing is that his decision to not-be is purely practical, and the parabola he traces from boredom to terror - as he gradually detaches himself to float free within an indefinable menace - is brilliantly conveyed by the other leading character in the film: the city of Paris. The influence of Franju is unmistakable, and wholly beneficial. |
Theatrical Release: 24 April 1974
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DVD Review: La Vie est Belle Films - Region 2 - PAL
DVD Box Cover |
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Distribution |
La Vie est Belle Films Region 2 - PAL |
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Runtime | 1:17:45 (4% PAL speedup) | |
Video |
1.33 Original Aspect Ratio |
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Audio | French, English, German, Spanish | |
Subtitles | none | |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: La Vie est Belle Films Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 8 |
Comments: |
In
1999, the Franco-German TV channel Arte devoted a night of programming
to the writer Georges Perec, who died in 1982. The centrepiece of that
evening was a new restoration of the cult film Un homme qui dort, a
study in alienation, adapted by Perec and his friend Bernard Queysanne
from Perec's book. The restored version is now presented in this 2-DVD
set, along with two documentaries on Perec, made by Queysanne for Arte.
The two documentaries on the bonus
disc are about Perec rather than the film. The longer is a profile of
the writer through interviews with his friends and colleagues; the other
is about the problems of translating his books. These are interesting
inclusions, particularly for the archive clips of Perec in TV
interviews; but, as already mentioned, these are in French with no
subtitles. A 52-page booklet (also in French) includes the full text of
the film voiceover, along with production stills and contributions from
Queysanne, Perec and Georges Franju. |
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Distribution |
La Vie est Belle Films Region 2 - PAL |