in the 1970s, French director Alain Corneau showed an affinity for multiple genres and 
proved he could deliver an art house hit with his most famous feature in the U.S., 1991's Tous les Matins du Monde. However, he first made his mark at home with a string of exceptional crime films made between 1976 and 1986, three of which were collected into a very worthy 2025 Blu-ray set from Radiance Films in the U.K. and U.S., Hardboiled: Three Pulp Thrillers by Alain Corneau. Whether you've seen these films before or know nothing about them until now, this is easily the best way to experience them at home. 
possibly complicit wife, and Georges Delerue contributes a sparse but interesting score that marks a bit of a departure for him.
and on home video, the French policiers like this had a tougher time despite being quite commercial and usually packed with stars. Actors like Montand and Jean-Paul Belmondo were hugely popular at home and in countries like Japan, but for whatever reason their films generally proved to be a tougher sell in areas where dubbed was considered the norm for something outside the art house realm. That proved to be the case with this film which had to be imported on French VHS or DVD for years by curious fans since you couldn't even stumble across these subtitled on TV. The Radiance set will likely be the first opportunity most viewers have to watch this subtitled outside the gray market, and it's taken from a solid master provided by Studiocanal previously seen on French Blu-ray (not English friendly) as part of the label's "Make My Day" boutique line. The usual French LPCM mono track sounds fine here, and the optional English subtitles are excellent. The Projection Booth's Mike White delivers a thorough new audio commentary covering Corneau's early career, the differences from the source novel, the backgrounds of the actors, and the genre crossovers happening around the time. Just be forgiving of his basic French pronunciation which is... unique, and extra points for Creepshow shout out. A new video interview with Maxim Jakubowski (15m11s) focuses on Coreanu's connections to the Série noire French crime publisher, Jim Thompson's career at the time dealing with French filmmakers, and this film in particular as part of a noir literary resurgence during the decade. Finally you get an archival 1976 interview for Belgian TV with Corneau and Périer (5m31s) chatting about the making of the film, the seemingly tangential nature of the title, the intimidating but rewarding process of working with 
Signoret, and the 
trepidation about casting Montand in this role. 
Serie Noire earned a heftier international release than usual at the time including a U.S. run but became hard to see subtitled for decades after that. Eventually a much-touted restoration debuted in France in 2019 and was given a limited U.S. theatrical run from Rialto Pictures, though the presentation left a lot to be desired with the color timing sporting that icky yellow tinge all too common among French-based "restorations" in recent years. That was also the case with the French Blu-ray 
release as well as the first U.S. Blu-ray from Film Movement, which came with a new essay by Nick Pinkerton and "The Darkness of the Soul" (52m33s), an archival documentary from 2013 featuring producer Maurice Bernat, director of photography Pierre William-Glenn, actress Miriam Boyer, and Nadine Trintignant. In keeping with its welcome past track recording of fixing flawed masters, Radiance presents its disc with some significant adjustments to the color grading to restore the intended cooler appearance of the film with those hideous lemon-lime skies finally gone. The LPCM 2.0 French mono track sounds excellent, with optional English subtitles provided. The "Darkness of the Soul" doc is ported over here and you also get a 2002 interview combining separate comments from Corneau and (briefly) Trintignant (2002, 28m52s) including Patrick's reaction to the film compared to the production process, perspectives on Thompson's role in noir fiction, the improvisatory elements of the film, and their thoughts looking back on what they feel is a "sweet" film. The visual essay "A Hollyhock in a Cornfield" (29m41s) about Jim Thompson adaptations for the screen by Paul Martinovic covers the challenges of adapting the writer's voice to film, Coup de Torchon, The Getaway, The Grifters, 
After Dark, My Sweet, the multiple disparate versions of The Killer Inside Me, and the necessity of casting the right actor here for the unorthodox nature of the protagonist in this film. 
A trailer is also included. 
At an indulgent 135 minutes, this could have easily lost half an hour and benefiting from tighter pacing -- but when you're in this kind of company, you can't complain too much. For some reason despite its pedigree, this has been treated as less of a prestige film on home video in France than you'd expect; it was streamed in HD for a few years on various European Netflix options (with English subs) but wasn't issued on Blu-ray until a 2024 Studiocanal Blu-ray appeared as part of the label's no-frills '80s line. The Radiance disc treats it with a lot more respect; the same scan is ported over here and looks fine, capturing the overcast and drab aesthetic as well as the the wide scope framing (with this 
being the only one shot in Panavision). This was also the director's first film presented in Dolby Stereo, and it's an aggressive mix with lots of dramatic channel separate throughout that also makes for a nice showcase for Philippe Sarde's score. An intro by documentarian Jérôme Wybon (3m14s) contextualizes the film among a shift in French thrillers around this time as multiple generations were wrapping up their collaborations together, while a vintage making-of for French TV (21m48s) mixes EPK-style interviews with the cast and crew with behind-the-scenes footage. More substantive is a separate interview session with Deneuve, Montand and Depardieu together on the set (18m12s), touching on some issues of the day like feminism and including a funny bit with Deneuve talking about swearing. Finally you get the trailer and a new interview with Manuela Lazic (23m57s) about Yves Montand in the '70s including his cultural importance as a working class symbol, his background as both an actor and singer, and the significance he held for the population that lingers today. The set also comes with a limited edition 80-page insert booklet with essays by Andrew Male, Nick Pinkerton, and Charlie Brigden, plus newly translated appraisals of Corneau's work.SERIE NOIRE: Radiance (Blu-ray)
SERIE NOIRE: Film Movement (Blu-ray)
