Blu-ray, DVD Release: The Hedgehog

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: June 26, 2012, video-on-demand June 12, 2012
Price: DVD $29.98, Blu-ray $34.98
Studio: NeoClassics Films


The Hedgehog movie scene

Josiane Balasko ponders Tolstoy as she lounges with her cat in The Hedgehog.

Josiane Balasko (French Twist) and young Garance Le Guillemic star in the acclaimed 2009 French drama film The Hedgehog, based on Muriel Barbery‘s international best-selling novel, The Elegance of the Hedgehog.

Adapted for the screen and directed by first-time feature helmer Mona Achache, The Hedgehog tells the coming-of-age story of Paloma (Le Guillemic), a gifted young girl bent ending it all on her upcoming twelfth birthday. Using her father’s old camcorder to chronicle the hypocrisy she sees in adults, Paloma begins to learn about life from her stuffy building concierge, Renée (Balasko ). When Paloma’s camera reveals an extensive secret library in Renée’s back room, and that the usually gruff matron reads Tolstoy to her cat, Paloma begins to understand that there are allies to be found beneath the prickliest of exteriors.

Following its festival run, The Hedgehog had a limited run in New York theaters in August, 2011, picking up solid reviews from Stateside critics.

The unrated film is presented in French with English subtitles on the DVD and Blu-ray, which include the following bonus features:

  • Deleted scenes
  • Photo gallery
  • Behind-the-scenes documentary (Blu-ray only)


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About Laurence

Founder and editor Laurence Lerman saw Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest when he was 13 years old and that’s all it took. He has been writing about film and video for more than a quarter of a century for magazines, anthologies, websites and most recently, Video Business magazine, where he served as the Reviews Editor for 15 years.