Eve — Eve(Blu Ray)
Eve (aka Eva, or Eva, the Devil's Woman) appearing in 1962. It was directed by respected & versatile Wisconsin born writer/ producer/ director Joseph Losey- who between the years 1939 & 1985 helmed thirty-three feature-length projects- going from odd family fantasy films like The Boy With Green Hair, Noir thrillers like M and The Prowler, onto The Dammed- the 1962 Hammer released film that blended together sci-fi, creeping dread horror and punchy 1960’s drama. Through to unsettling and grimly moody 1968 psychological thriller Secret Ceremony- which also got reissue on Powerhouse last year, and is well worth picking up.
The film is set in both Venice, and Rome- with trips out into the countryside around both cites. The Eve (Jeanne Moreau) of the title is decidedly mysterious, sensual, and devious French women- who gets her hooks into up & coming welsh author Tyvian Jones (Stanley Baker). The film follows Jones growing infatuation with Eve, as he tries to keep the rest of his life balanced- his relationship with his timid & bland fiancée Francesca(Virna Lisi), & getting a new script done for an upcoming film. The films tone, soundtrack & atmosphere often shifts & switches- moving between more angular artiness with an avant jazz soundtrack. Onto playful romantic drama with smoky & mellow female jazz singing background, through to playful & floaty travel-log footage. Onto more dramatic & darkly passionate moments. The whole film is decidedly seesawing in it’s unfold- and of course, this is what makes the whole thing difficult to peg, as well making it a film that had difficulty finding it’s audience.
The two leads of Moreau & Baker are well picked- with each managing to work well together in passioned & emotional way, though Baxter fairly pronounced welsh accent does slip from time-to-time. The supporting cast again is well picked too, with particular mention been made to Alan McCormick Jones screenwriter buddy- played in a wonderfully over the top posh Brit manner by James Villiers. In summing up I’d say Eve won’t be a film for everyone- but if you interesting in 1960's drama that's decidedly flipping 'n' flopping tonally, I feel you'll enjoy what we have here.
Moving onto this new Blu Ray-and we get four versions of the film- two longer one hundred and twenty-minute versions- one of these with an extended ending, these both have a new 2K scans. Next, we get European theatrical version- this runs one hundred and nine-minute version, and the one hundred and eight-minute US print entitled The Devil’s Women- both of these feature high definition scans. I watched the first longer version- and the 2K scan looks great and crisp, some of the cuts are a little jarring between the different language versions, but on the whole, I enjoyed films trip. Moving onto the extras, and we get a good selection of stuff- first we get a new nineteen-minute onscreen interview Joseph Losey's son Gavrik- this finds him giving his take on the film, on-set stories, and discussing the different cuts of the film. Next, we get a twenty-four-minute appreciation from author and film historian Neil Sinyard- and as usual with Mr Sinyard led extras it's very insightful, informative, and most worthy- he goes from talking about the book that the film was based on which was seemingly rather different from the film, as it was set in NYC. He moves onto discuss the films casting, what the studio was expecting & what it got, the films different cuts, and how Eve sits with the rest Losey filmography. Next we get a sixteen-minute featurette discussing the different versions. On the archive side, we get short French language interviews with both Losey & Moreau- these are from the late ’60s/ early ’70s. We get an audio-only interview from 1987 with the film editor Reginald Beck- this runs at one hundred and twenty-six minutes. We get image gallery, French trailer, and with the finished release coming with a Thirty six-page booklet.
With the release of Eve Powerhouse has put out another highly distinctive & difficult to label film- with the label giving there normal great selection of worthy extra and wonderful print.