L'Argent [1928] [Masters of Cinema] [DVD]

Adapted from Émile Zola's novel of the same name, Marcel L'Herbier's L'Argent [Money] is an opulent classic of late-silent era cinema. Filmed in part on location at the Paris stock exchange, it reveals a world of intrigue, greed, decadence, and ultimately corruption and scandal when business dealings and amorous deceit combine. Business tycoons Saccard and Gunderman lock horns when the former attempts to raise capital for his faltering bank. To inflate the price of his stock, Saccard concocts a duplicitous publicity stunt involving the unwitting aviator Hamelin and a flight across the Atlantic to drill for oil, much to the dismay of his wife Line. While Hamelin is away, the lascivious Saccard attempts to seduce Line, whose own temptation by the allure of money puts herself and her husband in danger pawns in a high-stakes chess game played out by unscrupulous speculators. With an all-star cast (Brigitte Helm and Alfred Abel, fresh from Fritz Lang's Metropolis, alongside Pierre Alcover, Yvette Guilbert, and luminary of the French avant-garde Antonin Artaud) and a mammoth budget, L'Argent is comparable in period and scale with other celebrated epics of the silent era, such as Abel Gance's Napoléon. With its use of portable cameras that literally descend into the Bourse and revolve around its lavish contours, L'Argent represents a type of cinematic Impressionism distinctive to the silent art a poetry that would change forever with the coming of sound. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present for the very first time on home video in the UK this crowning moment of silent cinema. ***SPECIAL 2-DISC EDITION including:*** A pristine transfer from a fine grain print struck from the original negative, featuring the director's cut fought for by L'Herbier over many years, the film speed as projected in the late 1920s, and the entirety of each frame fully displayed **New and improved English subtitles **Newly improvised musical accompaniment by French composer and pianist Jean-François Zygel, who also provides a video introduction to the film and a documentary about accompanying silent cinema **ABOUT L'ARGENT [AUTOUR DE L'ARGENT ] (1928) Jean Dréville's 40 minute making of documentary **Archival footage of star Brigitte Helm (fresh from Fritz Lang's Metropolis) arriving in Paris for the shooting of L'Herbier's film **Archival screen-tests of the L'Argent actors **MARCEL L'HERBIER: POET OF THE SILENT ART [MARCEL L'HERBIER: POÈTE DE L'ART SILENCIEUX] (2007) a 54 minute documentary profiling the director **A demonstration of L'Herbier's innovative sound techniques, which used 78rpm records during key scenes of L'Argent **A lavish 80-page perfectly-bound booklet with archival publicity stills, a long essay by noted professor of French film Richard Abel (French Cinema: The First Wave, 1915 1929; French Film Theory and Criticism: A History/Anthology, 1907 1939; The Ciné Goes to Town: French Cinema, 1896 1914), newly translated interviews with L'Herbier, and newly translated extracts from the director's biography

United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: Silent ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), Silent ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), English ( Subtitles ), SPECIAL FEATURES: 2-DVD Set, Black & White, Booklet, Documentary, Interactive Menu, Making Of, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Adapted from Émile Zola's novel of the same name, Marcel L'Herbier's L'Argent [Money] is an opulent classic of late-silent era cinema. Filmed in part on location at the Paris stock exchange, it reveals a world of intrigue, greed, decadence, and ultimately corruption and scandal when business dealings and amorous deceit combine. Business tycoons Saccard and Gunderman lock horns when the former attempts to raise capital for his faltering bank. To inflate the price of his stock, Saccard concocts a duplicitous publicity stunt involving the unwitting aviator Hamelin and a flight across the Atlantic to drill for oil, much to the dismay of his wife Line. While Hamelin is away, the lascivious Saccard attempts to seduce Line, whose own temptation by the allure of money puts herself and her husband in danger pawns in a high-stakes chess game played out by unscrupulous speculators. With an all-star cast (Brigitte Helm and Alfred Abel, fresh from Fritz Lang's Metropolis, alongside Pierre Alcover, Yvette Guilbert, and luminary of the French avant-garde Antonin Artaud) and a mammoth budget, L'Argent is comparable in period and scale with other celebrated epics of the silent era, such as Abel Gance's Napoléon. With its use of portable cameras that literally descend into the Bourse and revolve around its lavish contours, L'Argent represents a type of cinematic Impressionism distinctive to the silent art a poetry that would change forever with the coming of sound. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present for the very first time on home video in the UK this crowning moment of silent cinema. ...Money (1928) ( L'argent ) ( Jazz-Bank )