Simone Barbes or Virtue Blu-ray Radiance 1980 Barbès Ingrid Bourgoin Simone Barbès ou la Vertu

A post-post-New Wave gem capturing the thrills and absurdities of nighttime Paris!

Introducing Radiance Film's Limited Edition Blu-ray for 1980's Simone Barbès or Virtue. Produced by Paul Vecchiali’s Diagonale (Rosa la rose, fille publique), Marie-Claude Treilhou’s mercurial triptych is rich in style, funny detail, and heady atmosphere.

Working as an usherette at a porn cinema, Simone (Ingrid Bourgoin) squabbles with her colleague as they welcome their peculiar clientele. After her shift, she waits for her girlfriend at a lesbian nightclub full of eccentric characters, before sharing a slow drive home with a stranger.

Queer for the marginal stories it tells and for its offbeat, aesthetic blend of irony and sincerity, Simone Barbès or Virtue is a gem of the post-post-New Wave, capturing both the thrilling possibilities and compelling absurdities of nighttime Paris.

Limited Edition Features: 

• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
• Booklet featuring writing by Erika Balsom and archival writing
• Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

Features: 

• 4K scan and restoration by Cosmodigital
• Uncompressed mono PCM audio
• Lourdes l’hiver - short film by Marie-Claude Treilhou (1981, 9 mins)
• New visual essay by film critic Lillian Crawford (2026)
• New interview with film scholar Elena Gorfinkel (2026)
• Archival French TV interview with star Ingrid Bourgoin (1980)
• Newly improved English subtitle translation

Technical Specs:

• Year: 1980
• Region Code: ABC
• Picture: 1.66:1
• Runtime: 77
• Language: French 
• Subtitles: English