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

Technically, this new Arrow has virtually the exact same technical transfer as the Carlotta for Out 1 and Spectre - reviewed HERE. The image captures for those two films are likewise - the same. I've compared ones from each episode myself and our software cannot produce a different image - same French 2K transfers, these are a duplicate with the exact same bitrates, same subtitle font (slightly larger - see sample), same chapter stops, and running times down to the 1/1000th of a second. Any intrepid techno-philes can see I have included new bitrate graphs and new file sizes that only vary marginally from the opposing release (respective company logos etc.). So, for the case of expediency, I've left the captures from Carlotta's Out 1 and Spectre, removing a few to add more for Duelle (une quarantaine), Noroît (une vengeance) - both comparisons with the Les films de ma vie - PAL DVD (see below) and Merry-Go-Round.

The Arrow does only offer optional English subtitles (for the French dialogue - not the English dialogue in Merry-Go-Round) not the choice of French subtitles nor a simply Dolby audio track as well.

In summation: This The Jacques Rivette Collection from Arrow Academy differs in a few ways. It includes - as the Carlotta set does - 2K restorations of the Out 1: Noli Me Tangere and Out 1: Spectre - on four dual-layered and one dual-layered Blu-ray respectively - supervised by cinematographer Pierre-William Glenn but it adds Rivette's Duelle (une quarantaine), Noroît (une vengeance) and Merry-Go-Round on separate BDs. *But those three Blu-rays are Region FREE where the Out 1 and Spectre, on the Arrow, are region 'B'-locked. The Arrow Collection is limited to 3,000 copies.

NOTE: 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.

Incidental: At DVDBeaver 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.

Okay, like the Carlotta, Arrow's larger The Jacques Rivette Collection is comprised of 8 Blu-rays and 8 DVDs offering 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 the same new feature-length documentary from Fiction Factory, entitled The Mysteries of Paris: Jacques Rivette’s Out 1 Revisited, but it is housed on the 4th Out 1 Blu-ray disc shared with Episodes 7 + 8 of Out 1 but a significantly smaller size (7 Gig) for the supplement. 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 - virtually the same as the Carlotta).

*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)

The Arrow Collection set adds Rivette's Duelle (une quarantaine), Noroît (une vengeance) and Merry-Go-Round on their own dual-layered Blu-ray discs.

Most have only one menu screen with the on-the-fly-option to turn 'on or 'off subtitles (see below.)

We see the same screen that this is restored by 'Technicolor' via 'Sunshine' supervised by cinematographer Pierre-William Glenn - that appears on the Carlotta:

I repeat the comments about the Carlotta:

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 for Out 1: Noli Me Tangere and Out 1: Spectre are also the same as The Carlotta with linear PCM mono in original French (no simple Dolby option). I can determine no difference between the two - it also sounds as strong and flat (crisper, tighter and deeper) as I would have anticipated from watching the Carlotta. 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 subtitles and, as stated, the 5 Out 1: Noli Me Tangere and Out 1: Spectre Arrow Blu-ray discs are region 'B'-locked.

So we've compared Duelle (une quarantaine) and Noroît (une vengeance) with their 'Les films de ma vie' - PAL DVD (no subtitles) counterparts. You can clearly see the vast improvement in the higher resolution. There is more information in the frame, the visuals are crisper with both richer and more realistic colors. The SD transfers can tend to look green. Merry-Go-Round looks the best of the three but each is very strong on their own dual-layered Blu-ray with a very high bitrate. Colors are vivid and the image is tight with texture. Impressive. These three particular Arrow Blu-ray discs have optional English subtitles (only for the French dialogue on Merry-Go-Round) and they have original, lossless audio, linear PCM mono at 24-bit - and these 3 discs are region FREE.

Supplements: Included on the the final Out 1 Blu-ray disc (share with Episodes 7 + 8)  is 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."

On the Duelle Blu-ray  is an 11-minute Fiction Factory piece Remembering Duelle - which continues an interview with Bulle Oglier and Hermine Karagheuz about Rivette's 1976 film and their recollections of the production and their participation. On the Merry-Go-Round Blu-ray  we get Scenes from a Parallel Life: Jacques Rivette Remembers - a two-part archival interview with the director with a combined running time of 50 minutes, in which he discusses Duelle (une quarantaine), Noroît (une vengeance), Merry-Go-Round and the (unfinished) tetralogy "scenes from parallel lives". Part 1 (22 min) was conducted on May 4th, 1990 in Paris by Karlheinz Oplustil, part 2 (28 min) in 2004 by Wilfried Reichart. Also coming from Fiction Factory, these have a 2008 copyright and were first included on this long out-of-print (and not English-friendly) German Rivette box.  There is also an brand-new 23-minute interview with critic Jonathan Rosenbaum, who reported from the sets of both Duelle (une quarantaine) and Noroît (une vengeance) and provides some wonderful background and interpretations on the productions. Also included in the Limited Edition (3,000) Arrow package is an exclusive perfect-bound book containing new writing on the films by Mary M. Wiles, Brad Stevens, Ginette Vincendeau and Nick Pinkerton.

With this package we are offered the further cache of Rivette's Duelle (une quarantaine), Noroît (une vengeance) and Merry-Go-Round , over the Carlotta set, with accessibility to the rarely seen Out 1 with its limited theatrical runs and the logistics of 13 hours of cinema viewing (many screenings were over two days with 15-minute intermissions between episodes), as well as, the condensed, Spectre. There are also the extras - repeating Carlotta's The Mysteries of Paris: Jacques Rivette's Out 1 Revisited plus more with the Oglier and Karagheuz bonus interview, Scenes from a Parallel Life: Jacques Rivette Remembers  and the rewarding Rosenbaum piece as well as the DVDs with the same content and the impressive book.

Arrow's region 'B' The Jacques Rivette Collection is only 3,000 copies. It will surely escalate in value and, if you were keen, I wouldn't wait too long. This is such a keepsake - it took me 2.5 days to watch - and if it was available last year (2015) would definitely have made a formidable showing in our year-end poll. Our highest recommendation!

Gary W. Tooze