Rent Chronicle of a Summer (1961)

3.7 of 5 from 67 ratings
1h 30min
Rent Chronicle of a Summer (aka Chronique d'un été (Paris 1960)) Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
  • General info
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Synopsis:
In the summer of 1960 anthropologist filmmaker Jean Rouch (Moi, un noir, Lcs maitres fous) and sociologist Edgar Morin set out to chronicle the everyday lives of Parisians using a mixture of intimate interviews, debates and observation. Artists, factory workers, office employees, students and others open up to the camera to share their experiences, fears and aspirations. The result became one of the most influential films of the sixties, and redefined the documentary form.
Rouch, whose work inspired the likes of Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette and Roberto Rossellini, trained his ethnographic lens on the metropolis, recording a series of extraordinary sequences, including a French survivor's Holocaust testimony, to reveal the political underlying the personal in a society struggling into the post-colonial era.
Actors:
, , , , Landry, , , , ,
Directors:
,
Producers:
Anatole Dauman
Aka:
Chronique d'un été (Paris 1960)
Studio:
BFI Video
Genres:
Documentary
Countries:
France
Awards:

1961 Cannes International Award

BBFC:
Release Date:
27/05/2013
Run Time:
90 minutes
Languages:
French Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Subtitles:
English
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen 1.37:1
Colour:
B & W
Bonus:
  • Un ete + 50 (Florence Daumon, 2011,75 mins): documentary on the making of Chronicle of a Summer featuring new interviews with the participants including Edgar Morin and Regis Debray
  • Jean Rouch at the NFT (1978,55 mins): audio recording of a lecture delivered by Jean Rouch on Dziga Vertov and Robert Flaherty's influence on his work and that of his peers
BBFC:
Release Date:
27/05/2013
Run Time:
90 minutes
Languages:
French LPCM Mono
Subtitles:
English
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen 1.37:1
Colour:
B & W
BLU-RAY Regions:
B
Bonus:
  • Un ete + 50 (Florence Daumon, 2011,75 mins): documentary on the making of Chronicle of a Summer featuring new interviews with the participants including Edgar Morin and Regis Debray
  • Jean Rouch at the NFT (1978,55 mins): audio recording of a lecture delivered by Jean Rouch on Dziga Vertov and Robert Flaherty's influence on his work and that of his peers

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Reviews (1) of Chronicle of a Summer

Paris talks. - Chronicle of a Summer review by RhysH

Spoiler Alert
09/05/2017

A film that documents what Parisians are very good at, talking about themselves. A cross section of Paris society from factory workers to African students. It has all the ingredients for a "watching paint dry" movie but is strangely engaging. There is, of course, no plot but one becomes involved with the characters and in their development as the film progresses.

A defining moment is when the two young black students are asked about the tattooed number on Marceline's (one of the interviewers) arm and then follows her reflections on her family and her father's death in Auschwitz. This filmed as she walks through the Place de la Concorde is the apogee of cinema vérité.

2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.

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