Eclipse's Delirious Fictions of William Klein.

"Like a missing-link hominid stepping out of the jungle, famous photographer William Klein emerges on 21st century DVD as the great bullgoose Art Film-era satirist we never knew we had," writes Michael Atkinson for the IFC. "The movies in the new Criterion Eclipse set are a revelation (arguably, they're the most astute left-wing mockeries of their day), but more than that, they appear to be timeless, and their blitzkrieg critiques are just as pertinent now as they were then."

"If the French New Wave had a Frank Tashlin equivalent, it was William Klein," counters Eric Henderson in Slant. "Erratic and undisciplined, the three films collected in Eclipse's box set reflect the director trying as hard as he can to be French, but never quite shedding his background as an American blowhard."

"I was always interested to see some of the 'cool' French crowd involved (like Serge Gainsbourg, Jean Rochefort and Philippe Noiret)," notes DVD Beaver Gary W Tooze.

Earlier: "William Klein @ 80."

Posted by dwhudson at May 27, 2008 10:16 AM