COHEN FILM COLLECTION
TO RELEASE ‘QUARTET,’ STARRING
ISABELLE ADJANI AND MAGGIE SMITH,
ON BLU-RAY, DVD & DIGITAL
“a taut, tense and breathtaking tale of deception and power”
– Joshua Brunsting, The CriterionCast
Charles S. Cohen, Chairman and CEO of Cohen Media Group, has announced that Cohen Film Collection will release QUARTET, Merchant Ivory’s classic drama of sexual intrigue starring Isabelle Adjani, Alan Bates and Maggie Smith, on Blu-ray and DVD, as well as digital platforms, on September 24, 2019.
QUARTET, originally released in 1981 and now restored for Cohen Film Collection’s deluxe home video release, is based on the novel by acclaimed author Jean Rhys. Isabelle Adjani (The Story of Adele H., Possession) won the 1981 Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award for her performance as the vulnerable but complicated West Indian Marya, who, after her shady husband Stephan (Anthony Higgins, The Draughtsman’s Contract, Malice in Wonderland) is imprisoned, finds shelter in the home of a manipulative and lecherous English art patron (Alan Bates, King of Hearts, Women in Love) and his painter wife (Oscar winner Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie).
The twisted dynamic that develops between this trio plays out against a stunning re-creation of the golden age of 1920s Paris and its café culture and extravagant nightlife. In adapting Jean Rhys’ 1928 autobiographical novel, producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory – working with their longtime screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and César-winning cinematographer Pierre Lhomme – achieved an artistic breakthrough that remains one of the finest works of the team behind such acclaimed and distinguished films as Howard End, The Remains of the Day, A Room with a View and The Bostonians.
Andrew Sarris, the dean of American film critics, wrote in The Village Voice, “QUARTET is a brilliantly articulated expression and a lively entertainment to boot.” “Powerhouse acting infuses [the film] with depth and meaning,” wrote Life magazine. “The direction, intimate yet retaining a sense of distance, is true both to Rhys and to Ivory,” said Time Out London. The New York Post’s Archer Winsten, raved, “QUARTET must be ranked as one of the few excellent movies of this year.”
The QUARTET Blu-ray and DVD both contain a wealth of bonus material, including “The Making of QUARTET: A Conversation with James Ivory and Pierre Lhomme,” two new interviews with director James Ivory, conversations with the filmmakers, the film’s original trailer and the restoration trailer.
QUARTET
Street date: September 24, 2019
SRP: $30.99 (Blu-ray), $25.99 (DVD)
Running time: 173 minutes (including extras)
In English and French, with English subtitles
Rated R
