NOTE: These Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Firstly, there was a 5 DVD set, out of Germany HERE by Absolut Medien that contained Out 1: Noli Me Tangere and Out 1: Spectre . It was in PAL but region FREE but not from the current restoration. I expect the compression would be quite poor.

While we have reviewed many Rivette films on disc (Histoire de Marie et Julien, Va Savoir, Le pont du Nord, La belle noiseuse, Céline et Julie vont en bateau, Paris Belongs to Us) few realize that the DVDBeaver Server is also the host to http://www.jacques-rivette.com/ (Order of the Exile) - it hasn't been updated in a while but is chock-full of information for the discerning Rivette aficionado or budding student. NOTE: Jonathan Rosenbaum's Introduction to Rivette essay, from 1977, is a great place to start for neophytes to the director's work.

2016 will be shaping up as the 'Year of Rivette on Blu-ray' what with Arrow in the UK, also, releasing their The Jacques Rivette Collection in 1080P. It will include - as this Carlotta set does - 2K restorations of the Out 1: Noli Me Tangere and Out 1: Spectre supervised by cinematographer Pierre-William Glenn plus Rivette's Duelle (une quarantaine), Noroît (une vengeance) and Merry-Go-Round. But that set will be region 'B'-locked.

Carlotta's impressive 6 Blu-ray/7 DVD boxset offers both the 13-hour, 1971, Out 1: Noli Me Tangere and, condensed, 4.5-hour, 1974, Out 1: Spectre from their 2015 digital 2K restorations plus a wonderful new feature-length documentary on its own single-layered BD disc. The main feature has the film's 8 episodes* (1) De Lili à Thomas - 2) De Thomas à Frédérique - 3) De Frédérique à Sarah - 4) De Sarah à Colin - 5) De Colin à Pauline - 6) De Pauline à Emilie - 7) D'Emilie à Lucie - 8) De Lucie à Marie) divided 2 per dual-layered Blu-ray disc (see stats below).

*Each of the episodes begins with a title in the form of "from person to person" (usually indicating the first and last characters seen in each episode), followed by a handful of black and white still photos recapitulating the scenes of the prior episode, then concluded by showing the final minute or so (in black and white) of the last episode before cutting into the new episode itself (which is entirely in color). (ht Wikipedia)

This is Region FREE but being released in both North America - Carlotta USA distributed by Kino Lorber - and in Europe via Carlotta France. It is the exact same package on both sides of the Atlantic beyond minor cosmetic differences in language of the package text, disc labels etc. .

Each disc starts with the option of choosing English or French and the menus and subtitles are decided from that option although changeable on the fly via the remote button.

NOTE: We see a screen that this is restored by 'Technicolor' via 'Sunshine' supervised by cinematographer Pierre-William Glenn.

The original 16mm appearance is, predictably, very thick and looks wonderfully textured via HD. It's exceptionally clean - colors are bright and rich. The 1080P appearance is far in advance of what I was expecting. It is in 1.37:1 and looks exceptionally pleasing in-motion with bitrates around 30 Mbps for the first four Blu-rays that house the eight episodes of Out 1: Noli Me Tangere. The grain support is the major attribute - I think it looks fabulous.

The 4.5 hour Out 1: Spectre, on one lone Blu-ray (#5), looks quite similar to the Noli Me Tangere transfers - looking slight less robust (a comparative screen capture sample is below.)

All audio transfers are linear PCM mono with the option of standard Dolby - both in original French. This also sounds better (crisper, tighter and deeper) than I would nave anticipated. There is no score but self-created music by the rehearsing theatre groups or Colin (Jean-Pierre Léaud) annoyingly blasting on the harmonica.  There are optional English or French subtitles and, as stated, the 6 Blu-ray discs are region FREE.

The final Blu-ray disc is single-layered and has Fiction Factory's new documentary The Mysteries of Paris: Jacques Rivette's Out 1 Revisited. It is directed by Robert Fischer and Wilfried Reichart running an hour and 3/4 in color, 1.78:1 - made in 2015 It is described as "Forty-five years after Out 1 was made, documentary filmmakers Robert Fischer and Wilfried Reichart interviewed cast and crew members and revisited some of the film s most significant locations. The Mysteries of Paris features new contributions from actors Bulle Ogier, Michael Lonsdale and Hermine Karagheuz, cinematographer Pierre-William Glenn, assistant director Jean-François Stévenin and producer Stéphane Tchal Gadjieff, rare archival interviews with actors Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and Michel Delahaye and, most prominently, illuminating statements by director Jacques Rivette himself."

Also included is an impressive 120-page book - Out 1 and it's Double (the text is bilingual in both English and French) and it features a new essay by Jonathan Rosenbaum, illustrations, original stills by photographer Pierre Zucca and much more.

What can we say? So few people have been able to see Out 1 with its limited theatrical runs and the logistics of 13 hours of cinema viewing. I understand many screenings were over two days with 15-minute intermissions between episodes. I decided to take my time viewing this Blu-ray set. It was challenging and I was not always embracing what I was watching. But after my fledgling 'initiation' I began to accept the pacing and 'unusualness'. I don't think I have seen anything like it in my life. I struggled through the first half of the premier episode 'From Lili to Thomas' but after that I was content and appreciation grew in the characters, story fragments etc..

This is advertised as 'limited edition' but I don't know how many will be produced but the Arrow's region 'B' The Jacques Rivette Collection is only 3,000 copies. I think this Carlotta Out 1, Spectre and supplement Fischer documentary give this, almost, priceless value for those, especially in North America, who have not had the opportunity to see this in any venue. Certainly not to all tastes but still - our highest recommendation! 

Gary W. Tooze