Time to Play: Films by Jacques Rozier (LE)

One of the most original, self-assured, yet undersung voices of the French New Wave, Jacques Rozier crafted across a career spanning five decades a cinema attuned to the beauty and heartbreak of chance encounters, improvised days and spontaneous play. This box set presents the UK Blu-ray premiere of his five feature films and several of his short films across five discs.

In Adieu Philippine (1962), two girls and a young man spend an idyllic few days in Corsica, his upcoming military service in Algeria looming on the horizon. Also abandoning Paris for the seaside, three girlfriends enjoy a languorous late summer break in Near Orouët (1971). A promised Robinson Crusoe experience in the Caribbean turns into something much more chaotic in The Castaways of Turtle Island (1976). Maine-Ocean Express (1986) follows strangers on a wild adventure across the language barrier. In the backstage comedy Fifi Martingale (2001), a superstitious theatre director makes catastrophic changes to a successful play. 

BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION BOX SET SPECIAL FEATURES

• 4K restorations of Near Orouët and Maine-Ocean Express
• 2K restorations of Adieu Philippine, The Castaways of Turtle Island, and Fifi Martingale
• 2K restorations of the short films Blue Jeans (1958, 24 mins), Paparazzi (1963, 22 mins), and Le parti des choses (1963, 11 mins)
• Uncompressed mono PCM audio for each film
• New interview with celebrated arthouse distributor Robert Beeson about the reception of the French New Wave in the UK (2026)
• Archival trailer for Adieu Philippine (1962, 7 mins)
• Interview with Adieu Philippine star Yveline Céry (2024, 11 mins)
• Interview with Jean-François Stévenin, assistant director on Near Orouët (2008, 9 mins)
• Interview with frequent Rozier collaborator, actor Bernard Ménez (2008, 19 mins)
• Interview with The Castaways of Turtle Island star Jacques Villeret (2008, 7 mins)
• Jacques Rozier: From One Wave to Another - a feature length documentary by Emmanuel Barnault tracing Rozier’s unusual career and his lasting influence, rich in interviews and footage of the director at work; exclusive to this Limited Edition
• Newly improved English subtitle translation for each film
• Reversible sleeves featuring newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
• Limited edition 80-page book featuring new writing by Caitlin Quinlan, plus writing by and interviews with Rozier
• More TBC
• Limited Edition of 3000 copies, presented in a rigid box with full-height Scanavo cases and removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings