Hardboiled - Three Pulp Thrillers By Alain Corneau Limited Edition Blu-Ray

The hard-boiled genre of crime fiction developed from early 20th-century detective stories—closely associated with American pulp magazines. these cynical and unsentimental tales of desperate criminals and social corruption both influenced and were influenced by the golden age of film noir.

While its popularity waned in the US, the hard-boiled genre remained extremely popular and relevant throughout the 1960s and 70s in France, thanks to the successful Serie Noire publishing house and a series of new translations. In his early films, Alain Corneau sought to continue the noir tradition in his native France and was inspired both directly and indirectly by titles in the hard-boiled genre, including Kenneth Fearing and Jim Thompson. These three darkly thrilling films are an intoxicating combination of classic noir and 1970s grit, and they are hugely underrated and important works in the crime film canon. In Police Python 357, Yves Montand (The Wages of Fear) plays a tough cop who, when his lover is found murdered, finds himself involved in her death and in a battle with a powerful rival, in the second film adaptation of Kenneth Fearing's The Big Clock.

Série noire adapts Jim Thompson's A Hell of A Woman to the Paris banlieues: in an astonishing performance, Patrick Dewaere (Themroc) attempts to save a young girl from prostitution, with murder as the only solution.

In Choice of Arms, Yves Montand leads a star-studded cast, including Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu, as a former crook who is pulled out of retirement when a fugitive turns to him for protection after escaping from prison. on the run turns to him for protection after escaping from prison.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

4K restorations from the original negatives by Studio Canal, presented on three discs

Uncompressed mono PCM audio for each film

Audio commentary by Mike White on Police Python 357 (2024)

Maxim Jakubowski on the source novel and film adaptation of Police Python 357 (2024)

Archival interview with Alain Corneau and François Périer on Police Python 357 from Belgian Television (1976)

Série noire: interviews with Alain Corneau, Patrick Dewaere, and Miriam Boyer from Belgian TV (1981)

Série noire: The Darkness of the Soul - An archive documentary with actors and film crew about the making of the film (2013, 53 min)

Archive interview with Alain Corneau and Marie Trintignant about Série noire (2002, 30 min)

A visual essay on Jim Thompson adaptations for the silver screen (2024)

Introduction by documentary filmmaker Jérôme Wybon (2024)

The filming of Choice of Arms - interviews with the actors and film crew, including behind-the-scenes footage (1981)

Interviews with Deneuve, Montand, and Depardieu from the filming (1981)

Interview with Manuela Lazic about Yves Montand in the 1970s (2024)

Trailers

Optional English subtitles for each film

Reversible sleeve with design based on original posters

80-page limited edition booklet with newly written texts by Andrew Male, Nick Pinkerton, Charlie Brigden and newly translated archive texts

Limited edition of 2,500 copies, presented in a rigid box with full-height Scanavo sleeve and removable OBI strip, leaving the packaging free of certificates and markings