Casque d'Or Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.5

Casque d'Or Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 26, 2012

Winner of Silver Ribbon Award for Best Director granted by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists, Jacques Becker's "Casque d'Or" a.k.a. "Golden Marie" (1952) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal. The only supplemental feature on the disc is the documentary "At the Heart of Emotions - The Legend of Golden Marie". In French, with optional English, German, and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Marie 'Casque d'Or'

In a bistro somewhere on the outskirts of Paris, former gangster-turned-carpenter Georges Manda a.k.a. Jo (Serge Reggiani, La Ronde, Army of Shadows) meets Marie (Simone Signoret, Les diaboliques, César et Rosalie), a stunningly beautiful blonde. The two are instantly attracted to each other - and this is something that Marie’s man, Roland (William Sabatier), who is in Felix Leca's gang, immediately notices. Barely able to contain his anger, Roland vows to get rid of Jo before the night is over. Felix (Claude Dauphin, Le Plaisir, The Tenant), who wants Marie for himself, senses that this might be the perfect opportunity for him to eliminate Roland.

A few drinks later, Jo and Roland agree to have a duel in the back of the bistro. Felix and the rest of his men surround them and they begin fighting. Jo quickly kills Roland. Then, shortly after a group of cops storms the bistro, Jo, Felix, and his men disappear into the night.

In the days that follow Jo and Marie spend plenty of time together. They walk around the city, visit the countryside and make love, and talk about their lives. Jo feels that Marie is the first woman his heart has truly desired, while Marie feels that Jo is the first man to treat her like a real woman. Eventually, the two come to realize that they were meant for each other.

Meanwhile, Felix, who has been hoping to win Marie’s heart, tells a corrupt police inspector that Raymond (Raymond Bussières, Le Gang), one of his no so bright men, is responsible for Roland’s death. Felix knows that when Raymond is arrested and the news reaches the countryside, Jo will return to the city to claim responsibility and free the innocent gangster. With Jo behind bars, Felix will have all the time in the world to make Marie fall in love with him.

Widely considered to be Jacques Becker’s masterpiece, Casque d’Or was inspired by true events -- very similar to the ones chronicled in the film -- that involved Manda and Leca. The project was initially offered to the great French director Julien Duvivier (Pépé Le Moko, Anna Karenina), but eventually ended up with Becker, who agreed to complete it in eight weeks.

The beauty and power of Casque d’Or are in its simplicity. This is a film that never attempts to play with the viewer’s imagination -- its story is notably transparent and the main characters are very much real people with real feelings and emotions.

Set in Paris at the beginning of the century, the film has an elegant period look. Many of the scenes where Jo and Marie are seen together remind of the work of the French impressionists -- they are bright, lush, and full of beautiful reflections. The camera work is very precise -- throughout the entire film, Becker treats natural light and shadows with the same attention the main protagonists get. The result is a very poetic yet at the same time firmly grounded in reality film that lingers long after the final credits roll.

Signoret is terrific as the determined to stay with her new lover Marie. It is difficult to explain precisely why, but when she is around Reggiani she does look like a woman who has found her soul mate. There are no dramatic confessions meant to reveal how she feels. When she looks at Reggiani and tells him that she loves him, it is easy to believe her because her eyes reveal that she means it.

Reggiani is perfect as Jo. His reformed gangster is an ordinary man who has chosen to live his life like a real man. He looks calm, relaxed, and ready to accept the hand fate has dealt him.

*In 1953, Casque d’Or won BAFTA Award for Best Actress (Simone Signoret).

Casque d'Or Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jacques Becker's Casque d'Or arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal.

Aside from some extremely light banding present very early into the film, the presentation is enormously impressive. From start to finish detail is excellent. Even during the darker sequences where shadows have prominent roles, detail and clarity are very pleasing. The daylight sequences look particularly strong. Color grading does not disappoint either -- the blacks are lush and stable, while the variety of grays and whites are balanced very well. Furthermore, there are no traces of excessive degraining. Sharpening corrections have not been applied either. Needless to say, the film has a very solid and very stable organic look. Viewers with large screen should be especially pleased with the excellent depth and overall image stability. Lastly, there are no serious damage marks, large cuts, debris, stains, and warps. To sum it all up, StudioCanal's presentation of Casque d'Or represents a dramatic improvement in visual quality over the R1 DVD release of the film, which Criterion produced back in 2005. (This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Note: The disc's main menu can be set in English, French, or German. Naturally, this means that the French and German releases are identical to this release, which is meant to be sold in the United Kingdom.

Casque d'Or Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. For the record, StudioCanal have provided optional English, German, and French SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The lossless French track serves the film very well. Dynamic movement for a film of this age is quite good and the dialog is always crisp, stable, and easy to follow. There is no problematic background hiss (however there is some on the German dub). Also, there there are no problematic pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or high-frequency distortions. The English translation is outstanding.

Casque d'Or Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• At the Heart of Emotions - The Legend of Golden Marie - in this documentary, writer and director Alain Jessua (The Killing Game), writer Valerie Vignaux ("Jacques Becker ou l'exercice de la liberte"), and Jacques Becker's daughter Sophie Vaneck discuss the unique qualities of Casque d'Or and its production history. Also included is an excerpt from an archival interview with Jean Renoir in which he talk about his admiration for Jacques Becker and his work. In French, with optional English and German subtitles. (33 min, 1080/50i).

Casque d'Or Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

One of French Cinema's great masterpieces, Jacques Becker's Casque d'Or has transitioned to Blu-ray in spectacular fashion. The film looks fresh and vibrant, very healthy and very natural. I don't know why it was not included in StudioCanal's Classic Collection, but I really cannot be any happier to have it on Blu-ray and looking this good. If you could play Region-B "locked" discs, I urge you to consider adding it to your collections as soon as possible. And let's hope that a Region-A release will be made available for North American film aficionados. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.