Twisting the Knife is the next collection of films from filmmaker Claude Chabrol and includes The Swindle, The Color of Lies, Nightcap and The Flower of Evil and has a plethora of bonus features for each film.
Twisting the Knight: Four Films by Claude Chabrol
(The Swerve/The Color of Lies/Nightcap/The Flower of Evil)
(1997-2003)
Genre(s): Various
Arrow Video| NR – 419 min. – $99.95 | April 26, 2022
Date Published: 05/06/2022 | Author: The Movieman
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Arrow Video provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIES |
THE SWINDLE (1997) — Small-time crooks Victor (MICHELE SERRAULT) and Betty (ISABELLE HUPPERT) live their lives on the road, conning money out of businessmen but staying under the radar by taking no more than their victims can afford. Until the day when Betty hooks a big fish (FRANCOIS CLUZET) linked to international money trafficking, and they find themselves in over their heads. Who is scamming who and who do you trust in a life built on so many lies?
THE COLOR OF LIES (1999) — In the small coastal town of St. Malo, Brittany, the body of a 10-year-old girl is found murdered. Suspicion falls on the dour Rene Sterne (JACQUES GAMBLIN) a once famous painter, now art treacher, who was the last person to see her alive. His marriage to the buoyant Vivianne (SANDRINE BONNAIRE), already under strain beneath the weight of gossip and rumour, is further tested when shallow but successful novelist, journalist, and TV host German-Roland Desmot (ANTOINE DE CAUNES) arrives, a flamboyant ladies’ man with a vacation home in St. Malo and an interest in Vivianne.
NIGHTCAP (2000) — The spider at the center of a murderous web of deception, Huppert stars as Mika, wife of virtuoso pianist André Polonski (JACQUES DUTRONIC) and stepmother to his son, Guillaume, whose mother died in a car wreck on his sixth birthday. When a young pianist, Jeanne (ANNA MOUGLALIST), learns that she and Guillaume were almost exchanged at birth, she takes the opportunity to introduce herself, believing she might in fact be Andre’s daughter. Welcomed into the Polonski home, André makes her his pupil. But behind the facade of perfection, something is not quite right. Jeanne becomes suspicious of the seemingly benevolent Mika and the hot chocolate that she prepares each night for the whole family.
THE FLOWER OF EVIL (2003) — Anne Charpin-Vasseur (ANTHALIE BAYE), matriarch of an outwardly perfect upper-class family in Bordeaux decides to run for Mayor. But in the midst of her campaign a leaflet appears, accusing her family of collaboration with the Nazis, profiteering, adultery, and more. One by one skeletons begin to emerge from the closet, sowing discord and distrust as the family begins to unravel. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 4½/5 |
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This four-disc set, each movie is in its own cardboard case which side-slides into a sturdy outercase. Included is a nice bound-perfect book containing essays on Chabrol. THE SWINDLE
THE COLOR OF LIES
NIGHTCAP
THE FLOWER OF EVIL
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VIDEO – 5/5 |
| Arrow Video releases Twisting the Knife set of four films by Claude Chabrol which includes The Swindle, The Color of Lies, Nightcap and The Flower of Evil. All of these except The Color of Lies received new 1080p high-definition transfers, all presented in the original 1.66 widescreen aspect ratio. Viewing each of these, they all look pretty phenomenal, detail is sharp and well defined while colors are well balanced, with a couple of the movies having some vibrancy, most notably The Swindle and the lead’s red dress for example. The transfers of all four films were restored and provided by MK2. |
AUDIO – 4¾/5 |
| Every movie here comes with French-language PCM 2.0 tracks which sound good across the board providing clear dialogue and some okay depth for ambient noises or off-camera action. Meanwhile, Nightcap and Flower of Evil also includes French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.