Quiet Days in Clichy (1970, Blu-ray Review) Blue Underground
a
aka Stille dage i Clichy
Director: Jens Jørgen Thorsen
Cast: Paul Valjean, Wayne Rodda, Ulla Koppel, Louise White
Blue Underground / All Regions / Unrated / 1:66.1 Widescreen / DTS Mono / B&W / 91 minutes / PURCHASE FROM AMAZON
Disk Extras: Interviews w/ Miller’s editor and publisher Barney Rosset, “Country” Joe McDonald
——————–
Henry Miller is one of the most infamous writers in history. His works are comprised of sexually explicit fiction and auto-biographical tales, often mixing the two. His books, including the well-known “Tropic of Cancer” and “Tropic of Capricorn”, were banned from the U.S. but Miller continued writing his cornucopia of social satire, travelogue and taboo-smashing sexual escapades until his death in 1980. Miller’s works are thought by many to be “un-filmable” because of the surreal and “obscene” content though some have tried, like Joseph Strick’s 1970 take on Tropic of Cancer starring Rip Torn as Henry Miller. Also in 1970, director Jens Jørgen Thorsen filmed the steamy art-house adaptation of Miller’s book from 1956 entitles Quiet Days in Clichy.
Joey (who is the character representing Miller) and his British roommate Carl are hanging out in Clichy (pronounced Clee-Shee), a northwestern suburb of Paris, France and aside from doing a little writing, they are bedding as many les femmes as possible. The two womanizers treat the women like shit and don’t really care if they give or receive venereal diseases. They live a freewheeling, hippie, bohemian lifestyle that allows them to act out in order to pacify their most basest of needs. Carl even goes as far as bringing home a cute, mentally deficient 15 year old runaway to have her clean the house and satisfy his sexual urges, but even that isn’t enough. The two men share women, sometimes at the same time and most of the time referring to them as “cunts”. In fact, my favorite line in the movie is when the narrator remarks “It has been a period when cunt is in the air”.
Quiet Days in Clichy is a bit of a spastic story, hopping from being a gorgeous travelogue to a search for true love to downright debaucherous sexploitation. I guess that kinda describes life, but for a film it can be a bit of a chore to follow and find any kind of rhythm. If it wasn’t for the beautifully shot scenes of Paris and Luxembourg along with the healthy doses of sex and skin, I don’t think I could have held out for the whole movie. Even those points got a little old after a while. The frolicking through the countryside and skipping through the streets went on way too long and the sexy time was marred by having to look at two very hairy and unattractive guys sashaying around nude as well. There’s even a hardcore furry scrotum shot at one point at the beginning of the film… ICK. Though the rest of the nudity and sex was pretty tame, the sexual themes were anything but.
Blue Underground put out Quiet Days a few years ago on DVD and has now given it the blu-ray treatment which looks fantastic. You can just sit back and enjoy the wonderful cinematography of the European scenery in high definition, if nothing else. From the comparisons I have seen, this disk is most certainly a worthy upgrade of the 2004 DVD. The digital mono soundtrack, which includes sometimes hilarious music by “Country” Joe McDonald, also sounds spot on. No hissing, popping or other shitty sounds to be heard. This release is one for the artsy-fartsy raincoat crowd that doesn’t mind the sometimes boring pretension.
