Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

Bande à part Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 22, 2016

Jean-Luc Godard's "Bande a part" a.k.a. "Band of Outsiders" (1964) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of the British Film Institute. The supplemental features on the disc include video introduction to the film by Professor Ginette Vincendeau; video interviews with actress Anna Karina and legendary cinematographer Raoul Coutard; Agnes Varda's comedy "Les fiancés du pont Mac Donald"; audio commentary by film critic Adrian Martin; original British release opening and closing titles; and more. The release also arrives with a 16-page illustrated booklet featuring Andy Miller's essay "Bande a part: Jean-Luc Godard's playtime", archival review of the film, and technical credits. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The amateurs

Two young men in love with American gangster films decide to approach a beautiful girl to help them commit a robbery. Franz (Sami Frey, César et Rosalie, Mortelle randonnée), the taller and quieter one, has met the girl in his English class and determined that she would be easy to manipulate. Arthur (Claude Brasseur, The Mad Dog, A Simple Story), the louder and more direct one, trusts Franz and hopes that they will score enough so that he could finally pay back the money he owes to his obnoxious uncle.

Odile (Anna Karina, Vivre Sa Vie, Pierrot le fou), who is still single, is ready to help. But there is something about Franz and Arthur’s plan that worries her -- they are planning to rob her aunt (Louisa Colpeyn, Boomerang), with whom she lives on the outskirts of Paris. Odile also can’t decide if after the robbery she should stay with her aunt or hit the road with the guys.

While working on the details, Franz and Arthur also entertain Odile. Franz tries to kiss her, but she warms up to Arthur, possibly because he seems more like a guy that can be trusted. The three even go dancing and then visit the Louvre -- not to marvel its art collections but to run through it as fast as they can and break the previous record set by an American visitor.

Franz and Arthur also show Odile how real men drive real cars -- like the tough men in those great American gangster films they like. But Odile does not understand what the big deal is. To her everything looks a little crazy, a little boring.

Eventually, Franz and Arthur agree that the right time for the robbery has come and instruct Odile exactly what to do when they appear in her aunt’s lavish house. Odile tries to play her role as best as she can, but when the two friends arrive, both with stockings covering their faces, she panics. Odile’s aunt also reacts in a way that surprises everyone -- she can’t figure out if the boys are serious about robbing her or playing a silly game. Then one of them stuffs a handkerchief in her mouth.

Loosely based on a novel by Dolores Hitchens called Fool’s Gold, Band of Outsiders is arguably Jean-Luc Godard’s most straightforward film. It tells a very simple story with a certain style and does not satirize as much as some of the French director’s other films from the same period do.

The three characters in the film are deeply flawed. Some of their flaws are linked to the environment they share and the culture that sustains it. For example, Franz and Arthur are fixated on money and led to believe that success -- in this case, a successful robbery -- will exonerate their foolish actions. Odile is too naïve and unaware, possibly because of the closeted bourgeois-esque life she has led, that the real world is like a dangerous labyrinth, a place with plenty of slippery roads where one could easily get lost.

The film’s greatest moment is the famous Madison dance. Franz, Arthur, and Odile end up in a small bistro and give a dance number that is both casual and unusually stylish. This is the only time when the three are in sync. Elsewhere in the film they are complete amateurs trying to be a team (or as the film’s French title, Bande a part, suggests a band). Because they constantly fail Godard often cuts the music or silences the dialogue and quickly explains what their intentions are, how they feel, what they think about each other.

Godard and the great cinematographer Raoul Coutard (Shoot the Piano Player, Le mépris, Z) shot Band of Outsiders over twenty-five days. The dialog was almost completely improvised. Only the dance sequence required multiple rehearsals at various bars across Paris.

Bande à part Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jean-Luc Godard's Band of Outsiders arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of the British Film Institute.

The release appears to have been sourced from the same master which Criterion licensed from Gaumont for the U.S. release of Band of Outsiders. This is good news because the French release is sourced from a different master (also produced by Gaumont) with plenty of distracting denoising corrections. Unsurprisingly, depth and clarity are quite good. Contrast levels are also stable. The blacks, grays, and whites are well balanced, but I noticed some unusual chroma-like effects that affect the gamma during a couple of different sequences. Typically, they appear as light greeninsh/purpleish blocks and tend to affect fine detail or clarity (see the skirt in screencapture #9). My feeling is that these are actually on the French master as similar anomalies can be spotted on various black-and-white films that have been remastered by Gaumont. On the Criterion release these effects are not visible, which leads me to believe that additional corrections have been performed. Overall image stability is excellent. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Bande à part Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The film has a distinctive organic sound design with a modest range of nuances. There are a few segments where Michel Legrand's soundtrack makes an impression, but the dialog and the narration have a much bigger impact on the desired atmosphere. (For example, there are some unusual sound cuts). There are no audio dropouts, pops, or digital distortions to report in our review.

Bande à part Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Introduction - new video introduction to Bande a part by Professor Ginette Vincendeau. In English, not subtitled. (21 min).

• Trailer - original trailer for Bande a part. (2 min).

• The Outsiders - original British release opening and closing credits. (3 min).

• Commentary - audio commentary by film critic Adrian Martin.

• Anna Karina - presented here is a new interview with Anna Karina which was conducted onstage at the BFI Southbank on January 16, 2016. In English, not subtitled. (32 min).

• Anna Karina on Jean-Luc Godard - new video interview with Anna Karina. In English, not subtitled. (10 min).

• Interview with Raoul Coutard - video interview with legendary cinematographer Raoul Coutard (Band of Outsiders, Pierrot le fou) conducted by Criterion in 2002. The same interview also appears on Criterion's DVD release of Band of Outsiders. In French, with imposed English subtitles. (12 min).

• Interviews - a gallery of interviews conducted by Pierre-Henri Gibert in 2010 and 2012. The same interviews are also included on Gaumont's release of Bande a part. In French, with optional English subtitles.
  
  1. Anna Karina (41 min).
  2. Director Claude Chabrol. (27 min).
  3. Writer and critic Antoine de Baecque. (17 min).
  4. Writer and film historian Denitza Bantcheva. (23 min).
  5. Critic and director Alexandre Astruc (20 min).

• Les fiancés du pont Mac Donald (1961) - silent short directed by Agnes Varda, which also appears in the French director's classic New Wave film Cleo From 5 to 7. Jean-Luc Godard, Anna Karina, Sami Frey, and Daniele Girard appear in the film. With French intertitles and optional English subtitles. (3 min, 1080i).

• Booklet - 16-page illustrated booklet featuring Andy Miller's essay "Bande a part: Jean-Luc Godard's playtime", archival review of the film from 1964, and technical credits.

Bande à part Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you reside in a Region-B country and would like to own a copy of Jean-Luc Godard's Bande a part, this is the Blu-ray release you should consider for your collection. It is sourced from Gaumont's better master, which was also used by Criterion for the U.S. release of the film, and it has all of the supplemental features found on the French release, plus some new and exclusive content. RECOMMENDED.