6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A wealthy industrialist discovers his wife is having an affair and decides to exact revenge by blackmailing her under an assumed identity.
Starring: Jeanne Moreau, Gérard Oury, Philippe Nicaud (I), Claire Maurier, Gérard BuhrForeign | 100% |
Film-Noir | 87% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Edouard Molinaro's "Back to the Wall" a.k.a. "Le dos au mur" (1958) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy if Kino Lorber. The only bonus feature on the release is a vintage French trailer for the film. In French, with optional English subtitles. Region-A "locked".
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Back to the Wall arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.
Back to the Wall was fully restored a while ago by French label Gaumont and looks healthy. The master that was prepared is better than the one that was created for Wittiness in the City too, but it is far from immaculate. For example, the gamma levels are managed better and as a result the overall quality of the visuals is more pleasing. However, the gamma levels are again not set right, which is why in certain areas the dynamic range of the visuals is off. This is unfortunate because when the effect becomes obvious it looks as if a filter has been applied and native detail removed. You can see an example highlighting the improper gamma levels in screencapture #15 (bottom right). Still, throughout most of the film, delineation, clarity, and depth remain pleasing. The grayscale is fine, but the issue with the gamma levels clearly impacts it. Image stability is very good. Lastly, in a couple of darker areas macroblocking is on the verge of sneaking in. I was able to make small adjustments on my system that were very effective, but there will be trained eyes that spot this issue as well. See screencaptures #9, 16, and 18. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.
The lossless track is very healthy. All exchanges are very clear, sharp, and easy to follow. There are no stability issues either. Some small clarity and dynamic fluctuations are present, but they are not introduced by remastering/encoding anomalies. All fluctuations are part of the film's original soundtrack.
In Edouard Molinaro's Back to the Wall another perfect plan falls apart and produces all sorts of different surprises for its creator, a very jealous husband determined to teach his cheating wife a lesson but keep her in his life. I think that it is a lovely French film noir that quite easily could have been made in America. While I was viewing it the other night, I could not stop thinking how much more stylish it could have been with a couple of sultry jazz tracks composed and recorded for it by the great Chet Baker. Back to the Wall is included in Kino Lorber's French Noir Collection, a two-disc set. RECOMMENDED.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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