A survey of Central and Eastern European cinema
Saturday May 18th 2024

Archives

Walerian Borowczyk on DVD

Someone stumbled upon this site in quest of information about Walerian Borowczyk’s films on DVD. So just in case they return…

1957 – Once Upon a Time (Był sobie raz…, IMDB)

1957 – Standard of Youth (Sztandar Młodych)

1958 – House (Dom, IMDB)

1958 – School (Szkola, IMDB)

1960 – Les Astronautes (IMDB)

  • Included as an extra on Gaumont-Columbia TriStar’s La Bête, France, Region 2 PAL (no spoken dialogue)
  • Included as an extra on Columbia TriStar’s Goto, l’isola dell’amore, Italy, Region 2 PAL (no spoken dialogue)
  • Included as an extra on Cult Epics’ Goto, Island of Love, US, Region 0 NTSC (no spoken dialogue)
  • Included in Cult Epics’ The Walerian Borowczyk Collection, US, Region 0 NTSC (with the features Goto, Island of Love, The Beast and Love Rites)

1963 – Renaissance (IMDB)

  • Included as an extra on Gaumont-Columbia TriStar’s La Bête, France, Region 2 PAL (no spoken dialogue)

1964 – Les Jeux des Anges (IMDB)

  • Included as an extra on Gaumont-Columbia TriStar’s La Bête, France, Region 2 PAL (no spoken dialogue)

1966 – Rosalie (IMDB)

  • Included as an extra on Gaumont-Columbia TriStar’s La Bête, France, Region 2 PAL (French dialogue, no subtitles – though a translation of the original Guy de Maupassant story, which the film follows almost word-for-word, can be found here)

1968 – Goto, Island of Love (Goto, l’île d’amour, IMDB)

  • Contes immoraux/Goto, l’île d’amour, Gaumont-Columbia TriStar, France, PAL, Region 2 (French dialogue, no subtitles)
  • Goto, l’isola dell’amore, Columbia TriStar, Italy, PAL, Region 2 (French with fixed Italian subtitles, or dubbed Italian)
  • Goto, Island of Love, Cult Epics, US, NTSC, Region 0 (French with optional English subtitles)
  • Included in Cult Epics’ The Walerian Borowczyk Collection, US, Region 0 NTSC (with the features The Beast and Love Rites plus the short Les Astronautes)

1973 – Une Collection particulière (IMDB)

  • Included as an extra on Gaumont-Columbia TriStar’s La Bête, France, Region 2 PAL (French dialogue, no subtitles, shorter version)
  • Included as an extra on Columbia TriStar’s Goto, l’isola dell’amore, Italy, Region 2 PAL (French dialogue, Italian subtitles, shorter version)

1974 – Immoral Tales (Contes immoraux, IMDB)

  • Anchor Bay, US, Region 0 NTSC (French with English subtitles plus English dub)
  • Nouveaux Pictures, UK, Region 0 PAL (French with English subtitles)
  • Contes immoraux/Goto, l’île d’amour, Gaumont-Columbia TriStar, France, PAL, Region 2 (French dialogue, no subtitles)
  • Racconti immorali, Columbia TriStar, Italy, PAL, Region 2 (French with fixed Italian subtitles, or dubbed Italian)

1975 – The Story of Sin (Dzieje grzechu, IMDB)

1975 – The Beast (La Bête, IMDB)

  • Cult Epics, US, Region 0 NTSC (French with English subtitles plus English dub)
  • Nouveaux Pictures, UK, Region 0 PAL (French with English subtitles)
  • La Bête, Gaumont-Columbia TriStar, France, PAL, Region 2 (French dialogue, no subtitles)
  • La bestia, Columbia TriStar, Italy, PAL, Region 2 (French with fixed Italian subtitles, or dubbed Italian)

1975 – Escargot de Venus

  • Included as an extra on Columbia TriStar’s Racconti immorali, Italy, Region 2 PAL (French dialogue, Italian subtitles)

1976 – The Streetwalker (La Marge, IMDB)

  • Pioneer (Japan), Region 2 NTSC (French dialogue, Japanese subtitles only)

1977 – Behind Convent Walls (Interno di un convento, IMDB)

1977 – L’Amour monstre de tous les temps (IMDB)

  • Included as an extra on Columbia TriStar’s La bestia, Italy, Region 2 PAL (French dialogue, Italian subtitles)

1979 – Immoral Women (Les Héroïnes du mal, IMDB)

  • Severin Films, US, Region 0 NTSC (French with English subtitles or dubbed English)
  • Tre donne immorali?, Columbia TriStar, Italy, PAL, Region 2 (French with fixed Italian subtitles, or dubbed Italian)

1979 – L’Armoire (IMDB)

  • Included in Severin Films’ Private Collections, US, Region 0 NTSC (French with English subtitles or dubbed English)

1980 – Lulu (IMDB)

  • LCJ Editions, France, Region 2 PAL (French dialogue, no subtitles)

1983 – The Art of Love (Ars Amandi, IMDB)

  • Donut Films, Holland, Region 2 PAL (English dialogue, optional Dutch subtitles)
  • Millennium Storm, Italy, Region 2 PAL (Italian dialogue, no subtitles)

1984 – Scherzo Infernal (IMDB)

  • Included as an extra on Gaumont-Columbia TriStar’s La Bête, France, Region 2 PAL (French dialogue, no subtitles)
  • Included as an extra on Columbia TriStar’s Goto, l’isola dell’amore, Italy, Region 2 PAL (French dialogue, Italian subtitles)

1987 – Emmanuelle 5 (IMDB)

  • New Concorde, US, Region 0 NTSC (English, no subtitles)
  • UCA Catalogue, UK, Region 0 PAL (English, no subtitles)
  • Legocart, Italy, Region 2 PAL (dubbed Italian, no subtitles)

1988 – Love Rites (Cérémonie d’amour, IMDB)

  • Pagan, UK, Region 0 PAL (French with English subtitles)
  • Cult Epics, US, Region 0 NTSC (French with English subtitles)
  • Included in Cult Epics’ The Walerian Borowczyk Collection, US, Region 0 NTSC (with the features Goto, Island of Love and The Beast plus the short Les Astronautes)
  • Regina della notte, Legocart, Italy, Region 2 PAL (dubbed Italian, no subtitles)

Feature films not (yet?) available on DVD

1967 – The Theatre of Mr & Mrs Kabal (Le Théâtre de Monsieur et Madame Kabal, IMDB)
1971 – Blanche (IMDB)
1981 – The Blood of Dr Jekyll (Docteur Jekyll et les femmes, IMDB)

Any additions and/or corrections gratefully received.

Reader Feedback

6 Responses to “Walerian Borowczyk on DVD”

  1. Holger says:

    Wow – what a labour of love…

  2. Actually, I put most of this together about 18 months ago in the wake of Borowczyk’s death – I was writing his Sight & Sound obituary and wanted to track down copies of titles I’d either never seen (Lulu) or that I hadn’t seen since the 1980s (the shorts), and thought that others might like to know where to get hold of them.

    In fact, you can see the list being assembled during this discussion on Greencine, though there have been a few other releases (notably from Severin Films) since then.

  3. Arista says:

    LA MARGE was edited in 2003 by PIONEER Japan. French Audio, Japanese subtitles only. Unrate version.
    PRICE at CD JAPAN: 35.00 USD

    http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=PIBF-1498

    I was looking at the CULTEPICS site, and I found this: Coming soon, 7 FILMS BY WALERIAN BOROWZCYK (Animation). Someone know if “The Theatre of Mr & Mrs Kabal” is on
    this compilation?

    http://www.cultepics.com

  4. Thanks for that – I’ve updated the list.

    Cult Epics have been advertising the animation as “coming soon” since at least February 2006, when I researched his obituary for Sight & Sound – so I’ve no idea how imminent that is.

  5. Tom Foster says:

    Are you aware of the Dutch (Donut Films) release of ARS AMANDI? It is uncut but only features dubbed English audio with optional Dutch subtitles. I dearly wish someone would release DR JEKYLL ET LES FEMMES, it’s a wonderful film.

  6. Thanks for that – I’ll add it to the list, along with the two Borowczyk titles included in PWA’s just-released Anthology of Experimental Polish Animation.

    As for Dr Jekyll (which would be one of my all-time guilty pleasures, only there’s no guilt involved), my understanding is that there are horrendous rights and materials complications, which is why there hasn’t been a DVD release to date in any form.

Leave a Reply