Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno Coming To Blu-ray In March 2011, Thanks To Flicker Alley

One of the great, unfinished works of film history is Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno. Last year director Serge Bromberg pieced together the available footage, and created a semi-documentary, telling the story of the film.

Some information about the film:

The story of Inferno, the unfinished film by the auteur of Diabolique and The Wages of Fear, is legend. An audaciously experimental film with a virtually unlimited budget, it might have been Clouzot’s greatest achievement. But after only three weeks, the project was stopped, and the images, rumored to be incredible, were shelved. Recently unearthed, the surviving footage proves even more breathtaking than expected; now fleshed out with rediscovered storyboards, photographs and production records, plus interviews with crew members (including Costa-Gavras), the tests and rushes reveal the outlines of a lost treasure.

– From The IFC Center‘s description of the film.

I still haven’t had a chance to see the film, but hopefully in March I’ll be able to check out the Blu-ray, thanks to the folks over at Flicker Alley. I have word from the company that they are currently working on the 5.1 mix for the audio, and the Blu-ray is tentatively scheduled for March 2011. According to Flicker Alley, the official press release announcement will be sent out in the coming weeks. I’m assuming that there will be a DVD release alongside the Blu-ray.

I’m including the artwork below, which is slightly different than the posters that have been produced for the film.

I am a huge fan of Clouzot’s Wages Of Fear and Le Corbeau, and cannot wait to see how this documentary plays out.

About Flicker Alley:

Flicker Alley was born out of a passion for cinematic history and a desire to bring filmmakers and films from out of the past to new audiences and renewed recognition. The company was founded in 2002 by Jeffery Masino who drew on a lifelong enthusiasm and fascination with silent, classic, and independent cinema as well as on many years of experience in film and television production and post-production.

A goal of Flicker Alley is to contribute to the on-going interest in our film heritage through the creation of new, high-quality digital editions for broadcast and through home video distribution. Each Flicker Alley publication is the culmination of hundreds of hours of research, digital restoration, graphic design, music composition and scoring. Collectively, they reflect the creativity, expertise, and shared passion of many talented collaborators.

The Flicker Alley brand has grown to enjoy national and international critical acclaim and is regularly featured in annual “Best Of” lists. The company is a 2009 National Society of Film Critics Film Heritage Award recipient for publishing ‘rare early U.S. and foreign silent film.”

The name ‘Flicker Alley’ was the nickname of Cecil Court, London W.C.2., the business center of the British film industry during the silent film era.