Le beau Serge
Of the hallowed group of Cahiers du cinéma critics turned filmmakers who transformed French film history, Claude Chabrol was the first to direct his own feature. His absorbing landmark debut, Le beau Serge, follows a successful yet sickly young man (Jean‑Claude Brialy) who returns home to the small village where he grew up. There, he finds himself at odds with his former close friend (Gérard Blain)—now unhappily married and a wretched alcoholic—and the provincial life he represents. The remarkable and stark Le beau Serge heralded the arrival of a cinematic titan who would go on to craft provocative, entertaining films for five more decades.
Special Features
- New digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- New audio commentary featuring Guy Austin, author of Claude Chabrol
- Claude Chabrol: Mon premier film, a documentary by Francis Girod on the making of Le beau Serge, featuring interviews with Chabrol and actor Jean-Claude Brialy
- Segment from a 1969 episode of the French television series L’invité du dimanche in which Chabrol revisits Sardent, the town he grew up in and Le beau Serge’s location
- Theatrical trailer
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A new essay by film critic Terrence Rafferty
New cover by F. Ron Miller
Special Features
- New digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- New audio commentary featuring Guy Austin, author of Claude Chabrol
- Claude Chabrol: Mon premier film, a documentary by Francis Girod on the making of Le beau Serge, featuring interviews with Chabrol and actor Jean-Claude Brialy
- Segment from a 1969 episode of the French television series L’invité du dimanche in which Chabrol revisits Sardent, the town he grew up in and Le beau Serge’s location
- Theatrical trailer
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A new essay by film critic Terrence Rafferty
New cover by F. Ron Miller
Cast
- Gérard Blain
- Serge
- Jean-Claude Brialy
- François Bayon
- Michèle Méritz
- Yvonne
- Bernadette Lafont
- Marie
- Claude Cerval
- Priest
- Jeanne Pérez
- Madame Chaunier
- André Dino
- Doctor
- Michel Creuze
- Michel, the baker
- Edmond Beauchamp
- Glomaud
Credits
- Director
- Claude Chabrol
- Produced and written by
- Claude Chabrol
- Photography
- Henri Decaë
- Sound
- Jean-Claude Marchetti
- Music
- Émile Delpierre
- Editing
- Jacques Gaillard
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