La Vie de Boheme (1992) Criterion 1080p BluRay x265 HEVC AAC-SARTRE

This is a well-regarded contemporary dramatic retelling of the story most familiar to audiences from Puccini's great opera La Bohème and was made by the noted Finnish film director Aki Kaurismaki. Like the opera, it is based on the novel Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger. Rodolfo (Matti Pellonpää), an Albanian refugee and painter; Marcel (André Wilms), a playwright; and Schaunard (Kari Väänänen), an avant-garde composer, become friends and allies in contemporary Paris. They maintain a genteel manner of relating to one another while constantly scrambling for money and risking starvation. After falling in love with a barmaid (Evelyne Didi), Rodolfo is deported. When he succeeds in re-entering the country, he and his friends try to revive their friendship.

Extras

• Andre Wilms - In this video interview, French actor Andre Wilms recalls his work with the Finnish director on La Vie de Boheme. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in 2012. In English, not subtitled. (12 min, 720p).

• Where is Musette? - This documentary film was produced during the shooting of La Vie de Boheme in the suburbs of Paris. It features raw footage from the shooting of different sequences as well as various cast and crew interviews. In Finnish, Portuguese, French, and English, with optional English subtitles where necessary. (52 min, 720p).