A Day in the Country Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

A Day in the Country Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 16, 2015

Jean Renoir's "A Day in the Country" a.k.a. "Partie de campagne" (1936) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an archival introduction by the French director; new video interview with scholar scholar Christopher Faulkner; archival interview with producer Pierre Braunberger; video essay; screen tests; the documentary film "Un tournage a la campagne" (1994); and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring Gilberto Perez's essay "Jean Renoir's Sunday Outing". In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Henriette and Henri

Jean Renoir’s A Day in the Country is based on a story by Guy de Maupassant and, according to the French director himself, it was always meant to be a short film. Renoir began shooting it in 1936, but abruptly abandoned it to focus on The Lower Depths. The film was eventually completed with bits of the remaining raw footage and released theatrically in 1946.

The story is simple: A young Parisian girl (Sylvia Bataille) and her family arrive in the countryside hoping to have a delightful weekend. As they enjoy the beautiful weather, the girl and her mother (Jeanne Marken) are approached by two local bachelors, Henri (Georges D'Arnoux) and Rodolphe (Jacques Brunius), who are determined to prove that the women cannot resist their charms. The four then go boating, but the game surprises the players.

The beauty and charm of this film come from its seemingly casual attitude and Renoir’s ability to transform nature into a central character without shifting the focus of attention away from the game. Indeed, the river, the trees, the flowers, the birds and the sun are filmed in ways suggesting that much like the women nature also has a way of expressing emotions that reveal how it feels.

Though Renoir never completed A Day in the Country, its technical construction is impossible not to admire. For example, the locations where Renoir shot the film -- all of which were frequently visited by impressionist painters but were not the ones featured in Maupassant’s story -- were very carefully chosen and as a result many of the shots in which nature looks almost uncharacteristically beautiful very much remind of the works of the great impressionist masters. A closer examination of the manner in which natural light is captured also reveals a striking awareness of the different techniques the impressionist masters used to imitate the fleeting effects of natural light and color. (The correlation is especially obvious during the second half where the heavy rain interrupts the game).

Renoir shot A Day in the Country with his nephew, Claude Renoir. He was also assisted by a very young Luchino Visconti (The Leopard, Senso), Jacques Becker (Casque d'Or, Modigliani of Montparnasse), Yves Allegret (The Proud and the Beautiful, Such a Pretty Little Beach), and Claude Heymann.

The soundtrack was created by Joseph Kosma (with portions of the soundtrack sung by Germaine Montero). During the years, Renoir and Kosma frequently collaborated on many of the French director’s greatest films, including La Grande Illusion, La Bête Humaine, and Elena and Her Men.

Note: In 1962, the Cinematheque francaise was given approximately four and a half hours of outtakes from A Day in the Country. In 1994, portions of these outtakes were edited by filmmaker Alain Fleischer and the Cinematheque francaise and included in the documentary Un tournage a la campagne. The documentary is included in its entirety on this Blu-ray release.

A Day in the Country Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.38:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jean Renoir's A Day in the Country arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"This new digital transfer was created in 2K resolution from a composite fine-grain at Digimage in Montrouge, France. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the optical soundtrack positive at L.E. Diapason in Epinay-sur-Seine, France. Further restoration was performed by the Criterion Collection, including the manual removal of clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle using Pro Tools HD, AudioCube's integrated workstation, and iZotope RX 4.

The restoration was undertaken by Les Films du Jeudi and the Cinematheque francaise, with the support of CNC and the contribution of the Franco-American Cultural Fund DGA-MPA-SACEM-WGAW.

Transfer supervisors: Herve Pichard/Cinematheque francaise, Paris; Laurence Braunberger, Frederique Ros/Les Films du Jeudi, Paris; Thierry Delannoy/Digimage, Montrouge, France.
Colorist: Jerome Bigueur/Digimage, Montrouge."

The film looks healthy and vibrant. Because there is an abundance of natural light, the majority of the close-ups and panoramic shots boast equally impressive depth (see screencaptures #3 and 5). Viewers with projection screens will also be pleased with the terrific fluidity. From start to finish the blacks, whites and the variety of grays remain beautifully balanced (see the wide range of nuanced whites, grays and blacks in screencapture #5). There are no problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments. Overall image stability is outstanding. Finally, there are no damage marks, debris, cuts, stains, or scratches report in this review. All in all, the recent restoration of A Day in the Country has produced marvelous results, and I am convinced that it will remain the definitive presentation of the film on the home video market. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

A Day in the Country Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 1.0. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

Depth and clarity are good, but dynamic intensity is limited. The music is well balanced -- there are no sudden spikes or drops in dynamic movement -- and the strings, in particular, are quite well rounded (listen to the long solo around the 00.37.22 mark). There is no problematic background hiss, though some very mild unevenness is present in the high-frequencies. The dialog is stable and easy to follow. There are no pops, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in this review.

A Day in the Country Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Introduction by Jean Renoir - in this archival filmed introduction, director Jean Renoir explains how A Day in the Country came to exist and why he favors plagiarism in art. In French, with optional English subtitles. (6 min, 1080p).

• The Road to A Day in the Country - in this brand new video interview, Jean Renoir scholar Christopher Faulkner discusses the production history of A Day in the Country, the French director's political activities during the early '30s and his difficult relationship with his father, etc. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in 2014. In English, not subtitled. (25 min, 1080p).

• Pierre Braunberger on Jean Renoir - in this archival interview, producer Pierre Braunberger discusses his professional relationship with Jean Renoir and the production history of A Day in the Country. The interview, which was conducted in 1979, initially appeared in Robert Rea's documentary Portrait d'in producteur: Pierre Braunberger. In French, with optional English subtitles. (6 min, 1080p).

• Renoir at Work - this video essay takes a closer look at select outtakes from A Day in the Country and the working methods of Jean Renoir. The essay was written and narrated by Christopher Faulkner. In English, not subtitled. (17 min, 1080p).

• Un tournage a la campagne - in 1962, four and a half hours of outtakes from A Day in the Country were given to the Cinematheque francaise. In celebration of the centenary of director Jean Renoir's birth in 1994, filmmaker Alain Fleischer helped the Cinematheque edit select portions -- including audio of Jean Renoir directing the action on-screen -- into the eighty-nine-minute documentary Un tornage a la campagne. The documentary is presented here in its entirety. In French, with optional English subtitles. (90 min, 1080p).
  
  1. On the road
  2. Arrival of the Dufours
  3. Ordering lunch
  4. Henriette on the swings
  5. Henri and Rudolphe discuss love
  6. Parisians exploring the country
  7. Laying the bait
  8. Picnic
  9. The invitation
  10. In the skiffs
  11. Coming home
  12. The seduction
  13. Epilogue
  

• Screen Tests - a collection of screen tests for A Day in the Country shot on June 25 and 26, 1936, which are presented courtesy of the Cinematheque francaise. In French, with optional English subtitles. (10 min, 1080p).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring Gilberto Perez's essay "Jean Renoir's Sunday Outing". (Gilberto Perez holds the Noble Foundation Chair in Art and Cultural History at Sarah Lawrence College and is the author of The Material Ghost and the forthcoming The Eloquent Screen).

A Day in the Country Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I am very pleased with Criterion's decision to release Jean Renoir's A Day in the Country individually. The great selection of supplemental features, and specifically the inclusion of the excellent documentary Un tournage a la campagne, makes this exactly the type of release the film deserves. Do not hesitate to add it to your collections, folks. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.