Blu-ray, DVD Release: La Promesse and Rosetta

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Aug. 14, 2012
Price: DVD $29.95 each, Blu-ray $39.95 each
Studio: Criterion

A teenager comes to understand the implications of his father's crafty ways in La Promesse.

Brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, the Belgian filmmaking team that emerged on the international cinema stage in the late 1990s, earn the Criterion imprimatur with the release of two of their breakthrough works, La Promesse and Rosetta.

La Promesse (1996) brought the brothers’ renowned eye for detail and compassion for those on society’s lowest rungs to the eyes of the arthouse circuit. It’s a drama that follows a teenager (Summer Hours’ Jérémie Renier) as he gradually comes to understand the implications of his father’s making a living off of illegal alien workers. Filmed in the Dardennes’ industrial hometown of Seraing, Belgium, it’s been lauded as a fine and observant tale of a boy’s troubled moral awakening.

The DVD and Blu-ray editions of La Promesse contain the following features:

· New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Alain Marcoen, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
· Conversation between film critic Scott Foundas and filmmakers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
· New interviews with actors Jérémie Renier and Olivier Gourmet
· Trailer
· New English subtitle translation
· A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Kent Jones

Émilie Dequenne is Rosetta.

The Dardennes’ Rosetta (1999) is a vérité drama that closely follows a poor young woman (Émilie Dequenne, The Girl on the Train) as she struggles to hold on to a job to support herself and her alcoholic mother. The swift and simple film won big at Cannes in 2000, earning the Palme d’Or for the filmmakers and the best actress prize for the indomitable Ms. Dequenne.

The DVD and Blu-ray editions of Rosetta offer the following features:

· New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Alain Marcoen, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
· Conversation between film critic Scott Foundas and filmmakers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
· New interview with actors Émilie Dequenne and Olivier Gourmet
· Trailer
· New English subtitle translation
· A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Kent Jones

Both Rosetta and La Promesse are presented in French with English subtitles.

Buy or Rent La Promesse
DVD | Blu-ray	DVD | Blu-ray	DVD | Blu-ray

Buy or Rent Rosetta
DVD | Blu-ray	DVD | Blu-ray	DVD | Blu-ray