A Cult Classic That Kept You on the Edge of Your Seat

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MOVIE REVIEW
Year of the Jellyfish (L'année des méduses)
(likely R) –

Genre: Drama
Year Released: 1984 (initial release,) 2022 (blu-ray from Kino Lorber)
Runtime: 1h 50m
Director(s): Christopher Frank
Writer(s): Christopher Frank
Cast: Valérie Kaprisky, Bernard Giraudeau, Caroline Cellier
Where To Watch: Available on kinolorber.com for pre-order (releases 5/10)

“Cohen Film Collection introduces this French Eurotrash cult classic.” That alone immediately drew my interest, but I stopped short of there when requesting the release to review. I don’t like to know more about a film than I have to before checking them out. You get a unique perspective going into movies blind that you can’t get otherwise.

I will say that the film might be a little much for the standard American audience. I don’t mean that in a judgemental way—no shame to the film itself, nor the American film watchers. America and France have two very different sets of standards for film and the content of their films as well. I’ve become accustomed to things like varying degrees of nudity in many movies, but I know it’s not for everyone and that ultimately is okay. Cinema is a very subjective art form, and people should only like what they like.

I appreciate what Cohen Film did with this preservation; there wasn’t an obnoxious amount of correction to remove the film grain; this looked like it should. It looked like a movie shot on film and made the entire experience that much better. The star of the film was Valérie Kaprisky, who you may recognize from 1983’s when she played opposite Richard Gere in BREATHLESS. She had such a unique charm about her, even when you find out everything there is to know about her character. Sometimes passion can make you do crazy things, and this is no exception to that rule.

One of the unique parts of the film is that it had a horror/thriller feel to it throughout; while it’s most definitely not, there was so much about the story, the look of the film, and even the dialogue that reminded me of other films in those genres from that period. The majority of the film takes place on the beaches of the French Riveria, so if you know anything about them, you’ll understand why this was such a unique viewing experience.

Something I wasn’t expecting was the cinematic views throughout the film; the cinematography, for the most part, took every opportunity to show off the tropical paradise-like setting.

I wanted to thank both Kino Lorber and Cohen Films for allowing me to screen this before its public release.

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