Finally, at long last, Warner Home Video is releasing a DVD of Richard Lester's sublime and underseen Petulia on Tuesday, 6.20. Marshall Fine's blurb on Petulia's Amazon page is a little square-ish, but a pretty good sum-up: "This Richard Lester film will tell you more about how confusing the '60s were than any hackneyed NBC miniseries ever could. In this fragmented love story, told in a nonlinear fashion that bounces back and forth in time, George C. Scott plays a newly divorced surgeon who meets a charming if scattered young woman, Petulia (Julie Christie). He falls into an affair with her, only to discover that she is married to a seemingly normal guy (Richard Chamberlain) -- who also happens to be extremely abusive. But Scott's efforts to extricate Petulia from the marriage, set against the flower-power scene in San Francisco, only frustrate him with her indecisiveness. The film features performances by the Grateful Dead and Big Brother and the Holding Company, and captures a sense of the confusion caused by the youthquake that swept the nation."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on June 14, 2006 at 1:11 PM

comment #1

richard crawford says ...

Not a v. good movie. However, Julie Christie! You can't take your eyes off 'er.

Posted by richard crawford at June 14, 2006 2:19 PM

comment #2

Spam Dooley says ...

Petulia is awesome.....Crawford is a turd.

Posted by Spam Dooley at June 14, 2006 3:12 PM

comment #3

Matt Reichl says ...

Brilliant film that improves with subsequent viewings. Scott and Christie may carry it, but Shirley Knight has never been better; the scene in which she brings her ex-husband homemade cookies is one of the most emotionally kinetic of the '60s.

Posted by Matt Reichl at June 14, 2006 4:59 PM

comment #4

Alonso Duralde says ...

One of Richard Lester's finest films! This DVD is long overdue -- pity there's no Steven Soderbergh-Lester commentary track, since the former's book on the latter ("Getting Away With It") is such great reading.

Posted by Alonso Duralde at June 14, 2006 5:00 PM

comment #5

richard crawford says ...

hard days night is lester's best. Spam Dooley, I may be what you called me.....however, read Pauline Kael's review....I agree with her take. It may be in DEEPER INTO MOVIES. I will look it up and post tomorrow. Cheers.

Posted by richard crawford at June 15, 2006 7:19 AM

comment #6

Spam Dooley says ...

I prefer to think for myself... I am not part of the turd mentality... Petulia is taught in many schools and was maybe just too smart for a turd.

Posted by Spam Dooley at June 15, 2006 8:05 AM

comment #7

richard crawford says ...

I am sorry Spam Dooley. We disagree. Use your head and love it--out of nothing comes nothing. Lots of bad movies are "taught" in schools...colleges. Best. Richard

Posted by richard crawford at June 15, 2006 10:13 AM

comment #8

Harvey says ...

I didn't learn "Petulia" in school. While channel surfing at 2 a.m. I stumbled onto the opening scene -- the aristocrats being brought into the benefit in wheelchairs -- and thought, "What the hell is this thing?" a sentiment I repeated several times during the course of watching it.

I think it's great but it's also not for everybody (and, honestly, I think Christie is hotter in "Shampoo" than here, but that's just a preference).

And, yes, after Soderbergh's excellent commentaries on "Catch-22" and "Point Blank" (another delayed WB disk) and especially given his enthusiasm for Lester and the film, I was crushed that they somehow failed to get one.

Posted by Harvey at June 15, 2006 3:01 PM

comment #9