Hardboiled: Three Pulp Thrillers by Alain Corneau (US Limited Edition)

Hardboiled: Three Pulp Thrillers by Alain Corneau

The hardboiled genre of crime fiction evolved from the mystery crime novels of the early 20th century – closely associated with the US pulp magazines, these cynical and unsentimental stories of desperate criminals and social corruption were both influenced by and an influence on the golden era offilm noir.

As their popularity waned in the US, the hardboiled genre remained hugely popular and relevant throughout the 1960s and 70s in France, thanks to the successful Serie Noire imprint and a succession of new translations. In Alain Corneaus early films, he sought to continue thenoirtradition in his native France, and was both directly and indirectly inspired by titans of hardboiled genre, including Kenneth Fearing and Jim Thompson. A heady combination of classic noir and 70s grit, these three darkly thrilling films are vastly underrated and important works in the canon of crime cinema.

InPolice Python 357,Yves Montand (The Wages of Fear)plays a tough cop who, when his lover is found murdered, finds himself implicated in her death and in a battle of wits with a powerful rival, in the second screen adaptation of Kenneth FearingsThe Big Clock.

Srie noireadapts Jim ThompsonsA Hell of A Womanto the banlieues of Paris: in an astonishing performance, Patrick Dewaere (Themroc) attempts to save a young girl from prostitution, with murder the only solution.

InChoice of Arms, Yves Montand heads an all-star cast, including Catherine Denueve and Gerard Depardieu, as a former crook pulled out of retirement when a gang on the run turn to him for shelter after a prison break.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

• High-Definition digital transfers, presented on three discs

• Uncompressed mono PCM audio for each film

• Audio commentary by Mike White onPolice Python 357(2024)

• Maxim Jakubowski onPolice Python 357s source novel and adaptation (2024)

• Archival interview with Alain Corneau andFranois Prier aboutPolice Python 357from Belgian Television (1976)

• Srie noireset interviews with Alain Corneau, Patrick Dewaere and Miriam Boyer from Belgian Television (1981)

• Srie noire: The Darkness of the Soul–An archival documentary featuring cast and crew on the making of the film (2013, 53 mins)

• Archival interview with Alain Corneau and Marie Trintignant aboutSrie noire(2002, 30 mins)

• A visual essay about Jim Thompson adaptations for the screen by Paul Martinovic (2024)

• Introduction by documentary filmmakerJrmeWybon (2024)

• Shooting Choice of Arms– interviews with the cast and crew including behind-the-scenes footage (1981)

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

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

• Trailers

• Optional English subtitles for each film

• Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters

• Limited edition 80-page booklet featuring new writing by Andrew Male, Nick Pinkerton, Charlie Brigden, and newly translated archival writing

• Limited edition of 2500 copies, presented in a rigid box with full-height Scanavo cases and removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and marking