Bed and Board 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		2.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		2.5

Bed and Board 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 11, 2025

François Truffaut's "Bed and Board" (1962) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include archival program with co-writers Claude de Givray and Bernard Revon; archival programs with Francois Truffaut; archival program with Jean-Pierre Leaud; vintage trailer; and more. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud) has married the love of his life, Christine Darbon (the beautiful Claude Jade, Stolen Kisses), and found a job with a local florist. Christine has also started giving private violin lessons in their tiny apartment to help the family budget. Both are genuinely happy and enjoy their lives.

One day, Christine reveals to Antoine that very soon he is going to be a father. Realizing that they will have new expenses, Antoine applies for a new job. Due to a misunderstanding, he gets the job and shortly after meets Kyoko (Hiroko Berghauer), a stunningly beautiful Japanese girl, who invites him to her place. They fall in love for different reasons.

Meanwhile, Christine gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. Then she accidentally discovers that Antoine has been cheating on her and promptly informs him that he must pack up his bags and leave. They continue seeing each other while Antoine gradually realizes that Kyoko isn’t the girl he wants to spend the rest of his life with. Eventually, he returns to Christine, determined to be the father his son deserves.

Henri Langlois, the founder and director of Cinematheque francaise, whom Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard defended during the shooting of Stolen Kisses (after he was unceremoniously sacked by the then-current French Minister of Culture Andre Malraux), is directly responsible for the existence of Bed and Board. Langlois liked Stolen Kisses so much that he asked Truffaut to consider reuniting Antoine and Christine in a new film. Two years after Stolen Kisses -- and after completing Mississippi Mermaid and The Wild Child -- Truffaut did precisely that.

Though not as effective as the rest of the films in the Antoine Doinel series, Bed and Board still has plenty of charm. In it there are several beautiful and quite witty sequences in which Truffaut pays homage to Alfred Hitchcock and Ernst Lubitsch, and one in which he even finds a way to bring back in front of the camera Jacques Tati’s iconic Monsieur Hulot.

The two leads are excellent together. While their characters have matured and their relationship evolved dramatically, the chemistry between Leaud and Jade is every bit as good as it is in Stolen Kisses. Jade, who made her acting debut in Stolen Kisses, is far more relaxed as well, and as a result a number of sequences during the second half where Truffaut blends comedy and drama look and feel very authentic.

Also leaving a lasting impression is Berghauer, who plays the elegant Japanese girl. She has a limited arsenal of lines to work with, but her facial expressions are outstanding. Berghauer is also incredibly convincing in creating the impression that her character’s exotic personality is completely incompatible with that of Leaud’s outsider. During their initial exchanges, some truly awkward moments are amongst the best in the entire film.

Truffaut shot Bed and Board with the great Spanish cinematographer Nestor Almendros (The Valley, Maitresse). It was the second film they collaborated on after The Wild Child.

Bed and Board 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Criterion's release of Bed and Board is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

Please note that some of the screencaptures included with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

Screencaptures #1-30 are from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #34-39 are from the 4K Blu-ray.

The release introduces the recent 4K restoration of Bed and Board that was completed at the French lab Hiventy on behalf of MK2. In native 4K, the 4K restoration can be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR grades. I chose to view it with Dolby Vision. Later, I spent time with its 1080p presentation on the Blu-ray.

It is impossible to accurately describe how poor the 4K restoration is, as well as how bad the film looks in native 4K and 1080p. There are a couple of big problems that produce a range of smaller problems. The first big problem is that the entire film is regraded and made to look like a contemporary production. Very large parts of it are covered by a prominent yellowish/greenish tint like the one present on Hiventy's 4K restoration of Stolen Kisses. The second big problem is that the awkward tinting severely compromises the dynamic range of many areas with darker nuances and unique shadows. In some places, the effects are so bad that it begins to look like a strong filter has been applied. You can see examples of these anomalies here, here, and here. These anomalies are very similar to the ones that are present on the awful 4K restoration of Rene Clement's classic film Purple Noon. (By the way, it is not a coincidence that this 4K restoration made Purple Noon look similarly yellow). In native 4K, the Dolby Vision grade tends to exacerbate the effects of the two big problems described above. Also, in many darker areas, it further flattens some visuals and even compromises existing detail. Unsurprisingly, various transitions reveal unnatural drops in sharpness and definition. Image stability is excellent. The surface of the visuals is very healthy as well.

I have only one other Blu-ray release of Bed and Board in my library, which is this Region-B release, produced by Artificial Eye in 2014. It is sourced from an even older and, regretably, not very healthy master. However, despite various obvious limitations, including some that again affect color reproduction -- but primarily because the master was created a long time ago with different technology -- I think that Bed and Board has a much more balanced period appearance there. .

Bed and Board 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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

The audio is very healthy. All exchanges are clear, sharp, and easy to follow. Antoine Duhamel's score is effectively used in select areas, but you should not expect many memorable dynamic contrasts. Like the other films in The Adventures of Antoine Doinel box set, Bed and Roses prioritizes many organic sounds and noises. The English translation is excellent.

Bed and Board 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Bonus Features - there are no bonus features on the disc.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Working with Francois Truffaut - this archival program features co-writers Claude de Givray and Bernard Revon recalling their collaboration with Francois Truffaut on Bed and Board. The program was produced in 1986 by Westdeutscher Rundfunk and edited for Criterion in 2003. In French, with English subtitles. (44 min).

• On Location - presented here is behind the scenes footage with Francois Truffaut and actress Claude Jade, which was excerpted from the Midi Magazine episode "Le dernier film de Truffaut". The episode aired on French TV on March 23, 1970. In French, with English subtitles. (4 min).

• Truffaut and Revon - presented here is an excerpt from the 1970 Cineaste de notre temps episode "Francois Truffaut, dix and dix films" in which Truffaut and co-writer Bernard Revon discuss their collaboration. In French, with English subtitles. (5 min).

• Leaud Speaks - presented here is an excerpt from Le dernier des cinq in which Jean-Pierre Leaud discusses his work with Francois Truffaut and relationship with the character of Antoine Doinel. The episode aired on French TV on June 10, 1973. In French, with English subtitles. (5 min).

• Who is Anotine Doinel? - presented here is an excerpt from an episode of Approches di cinema in which Francois Truffaut doscusses Antoine Doinel. The episode aired on French TV in 1972. In French, with English subtitles. (2 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage theatrical trailer for Bed and Board. In French, with English subtitles. (4 min).

ADDITIONAL CONTENT

• Booklet - 50-page illustrated booklet featuring essays by Annette Insdorf, Kent Jones, Andrew Sarris, Noah Baumbach, and Chris Fujiwara, and a 1971 piece by Francois Truffaut, as well as technical credits.

Bed and Board 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is hardly surprising that the 4K restoration of Bed and Board is as disappointing as the 4K restoration of Stolen Kisses. Both restorations were completed at the French lab Hiventy, which is a place where a lot of older films lose their native appearance. Bed and Board is inlcuded in Criterion's The Adventures of Antoine Doinel eight-disc box set.