7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Expecting his first child and still struggling to find steady employment, Antoine Doinel involves himself in a relationship with a beautiful Japanese woman that threatens to destroy his marriage.
Starring: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claude Jade, Hiroko Berghauer, Barbara Laage, Danièle GirardForeign | 100% |
Drama | 77% |
Romance | 22% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.67:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
French: LPCM 2.0 Mono
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region B (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
François Truffaut's "Bed and Board" a.k.a. "Domicile conjugal" (1962) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye. The supplemental features on the disc include an introduction by Serge Toubiana, president of Cinémathèque française; audio commentary with actress Claude Jade and scenarist Claude de Givray; the short film "Antoine and Colette" (1962); audio commentary by actress Marie-France Pisier; and more. In French, with optional English subtitles for the two features. Region-B "locked".
"One's bigger than the other..."
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, François Truffaut's Bed and Board arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye.
The screencaptures included with our review appear in the following order:
1. Screencaptures #1-19: Bed and Board.
2. Screencaptures #21-26: Antoine and Colette.
Light surface sharpening can be seen throughout the entire film. While it is not overly distracting there are side effects associated with it that affect image depth and clarity. For example, close-ups with plenty of natural light could look quite harsh (see screencapture #11). Occasionally, the sharpening can also overwhelm the natural grain and affect definition (see screencapture #14). During quick zooms, very sensitive viewers will likely notice some extremely light smearing as well. Color reproduction is good. There is a nice range of nuanced reds, blues, greens, browns, and grays. Overall image stability is outstanding. Lastly, there are no large debris, stains, cuts, damage marks, or scratches to report in this review. To sum it all up, viewers with small to medium size screens (up to 55') most likely will not be bothered by the issues mentioned above. However, viewers with large screens (60'+) and projectors will notice them.
The high-definition transfer for Antoine and Colette has been struck from a pre-existing master. There are some light scratches and specks as well as a few frame jumps, but the film has a much more pleasing organic look. More importantly, there are no traces of recent lab corrections (filtering/sharpening/color boosting).
(Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 2.0. For the record, Artificial Eye have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.
Antoine Duhamel's score is effectively used in select areas, but it does not have a prominent role in the film. Unsurprisingly, the most notable dynamic movement comes from areas where random sounds and noises are easy to identify. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable and easy to follow. There are no audio dropouts or digital distortions to report in this review. The English translation is very good.
While there is no doubt that both Bed and Board and Antoine and Colette can look better, I think that this Blu-ray release is very easy to recommend as it has two audio commentaries -- one with Claude Jade and another with Marie-France Pisier, both produced by MK2 -- that are unlikely to appear on a possible North American release of the film. This is also the case with the rest of the Francois Truffaut films which Artificial Eye have already released on Blu-ray. For example, Shoot the Pianist has an audio commentary with the legendary cinematographer Raoul Coutard, again produced by MK2, which I consider to be one of the best ever done for a home video release. RECOMMENDED.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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