7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Claude Sauter's (Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud, Un Coeur en Hiver) romantic comedy follows Rosalie (Romy Schneider), a divorcee who is happily involved with Cesar (Yves Montand), an older man. Their relationship takes a sudden turn when David (Sami Frey), Rosalies old flame shows up determined to win her back. After years of changing dynamics between the three, Rosalie is finally forced to question her feelings towards both men and make her ultimate decision.
Starring: Yves Montand, Romy Schneider, Sami Frey, Bernard Le Coq, Eva Maria MeinekeForeign | 100% |
Drama | 79% |
Romance | 31% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
French: LPCM 2.0 Mono
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Note: This film is available as part of Claude Sautet and Romy Schneider Duo.
According to the
IMDb, Romy Schneider had 64 credits as an actress, though that list includes several
television appearances, including (rather incredibly) two guest shots made on two consecutive weeks in 1969 on the then insanely popular Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
(note that the link points to a DVD set, currently the only way that show is available on disc). While Schneider’s career lasted around thirty years,
before her untimely death in 1982 at the tender age of 43, for those who are only prone to attending “American” movies (whether or not that
appellation is completely appropriate in all instances), Schneider may be known due to only a relative handful of performances in films like The Trial, The
Victors, The Cardinal, Good Neighbor Sam and perhaps especially What's New Pussycat?. Those films were all released over the course of just three years between
1962 and 1965, meaning Schneider’s “impact” on more cloistered American audiences watching only “native” films was relatively brief. While world
cinema aficionados are probably no doubt aware of at least some (and quite possibly many) of Schneider’s many other performances, including in
Luchino Visconti’s Ludwig, there are still a glut of international properties featuring
Schneider that probably aren’t generally that well known on this side of the pond. Film Movement’s Film Movement Classics imprint has been
coming to film lovers' aid in that regard with an increasing number of releases that have featured Schneider, including The Sissi Collection from a couple of years ago, and the newly released (and
recently reviewed) L'important c'est d'aimer.
Coming out at the same time as that last named film, this new two-fer aggregates a double feature of Schneider films that offer her in what
became one of her more notable collaborations in the 1970s, with co-writer and director Claude Sautet.
César and Rosalie is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Movement Classics, an imprint of Film Movement, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. Unfortunately, Film Movement only tends to offer generic "new digital restoration" verbiage in their insert booklets without providing any further information, but I was not able to dredge up any information online (including on StudioCanal's own site) about any even relatively recent restoration, and in fact about the only data point I could find mentioned several Sautet films having been "remastered", albeit in 2014, so I'm at a loss to provide much authoritative commentary on the provenance of the master. That said, this looks very much like the release Svet reviewed years ago, and which is linked to above. Things look generally good here, though as with some other Film Movement releases (including the other offering in this set), I'm not always completely convinced by the color timing, which seems a bit on the cool side. There's also a tendency for some blacks to look a little hazy and even milky at times. That said, detail levels are generally very pleasing throughout the presentation and some of the outdoor material in particular pops quite well. I noticed no major compression issues.
César et Rosalie features a nice sounding LPCM 2.0 Mono track in the original French (with optional English subtitles). The film benefits from a beautiful score by Philippe Sarde, which sounds warm and full bodied throughout. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly as well, and I noticed no age related issues whatsoever.
César & Rosalie has subtext galore, including some not very subtle digs at bourgeois sensibilities and "keeping up appearances" (to quote a famous show title from across the English Channel), but the basic storyline is pretty old hat (beret?). Still, the film is undeniably charming and even breezy at times, and it offers a trio of really winning focal performances. Technical merits are generally solid, and the accompanying featurette is quite interesting as well. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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