Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.5

Coeur Fidèle Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 26, 2011

Featuring a superb new score composed and performed by French pianist Maxence Cyrin, Jean Epstein's "Coeur fidele" a.k.a "The Faithful Heart" (1923) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment. The only supplemental feature on the disc is a gallery of rare photography from Cinematheque Francaise. With French intertitles and optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The heartbroken Marie

Marie (Gina Manès, Abel Gance's Napoleon, Jacques Feyder's Thérèse Raquin) has been seeing Jean (Léon Mathot, Yasmina), a kind and sensitive man who wants to spend the rest of his life with her. But Marie’s foster parents (Claude Benedict and Madame Maufroy) insist that she marries Petit Paul (Edmond Van Daële, The Mystery of the Yellow Room), a violent alcoholic. Marie attempts to question their decision but her father immediately makes it perfectly clear that the matter is already settled.

Marie and Jean see each other again, on the docks. When she reveals to him that her parents have decided to hand her over to Petit Paul, he heads to their bistro and attempts to speak to her father. Petit Paul and his friends, who also happen to be in the bistro, immediately confront Jean, and he walks away.

Shortly after, Petit Paul and Marie leave. In a nearby amusement park, he declares that soon he is going to marry her. The heartbroken Marie can barely stay on her feet.

Meanwhile, Jean heads back the docks, hoping that Marie would meet him there. After a while, however, he realizes that something has happened and returns to the bistro. An old woman informs him that Petit Paul and Marie have left together.

Not too far away from the amusement park, Jean spots Petit Paul. He confronts him and the two begin fighting. A cop attempts to separate them, but Petit Paul stabs him with his knife. Later on, he dodges the charges, while Jean is found guilty and sent to prison. A year later, after he is released, Jean begins looking for Marie. A crippled girl (Marie Epstein) reveals to him that the love of his life has become a mother.

Jean Epstein’s Cour fidele a.k.a Faithful Heart is a simple film, sort of a silent melodrama that impresses with its beautiful visuals and surprisingly delicate rhythm. It is fractured into various segments, some of which culminate with smart visual experiments.

The camera moves freely, looking for specific objects that can evoke certain moods and feelings. It also spends a great deal of time studying the faces of the main protagonists. Naturally, the joy, pain, disappointment and elation they experience are incredibly easy to feel.

The film’s greatest strength, however, is its unique treatment of time and space. Through a series of impeccably filmed sequences - such as the one where Jean is seen pondering whether Marie will manage to escape Petit Paul and then suddenly making a crucial decision - it maintains a flexible rhythm that is quite unusual for a silent film from the early 1920s. In other words, it effectively slows down and then speeds up again as moods and feelings change.

Recently restored by French distributors Pathe, Coeur fidele is complimented by an impressive new score composed and performed by French pianist Maxence Cyrin (who has also done some truly fabulous covers of popular songs by such legendary groups as Depeche Mode, Cocteau Twins, Daft Punk, Nirvana, Arcade Fire, The Pixies, and Justice amongst others). The simple but lush piano themes enhance the film wonderfully well.

Coeur Fidèle 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 Epstein's Coeur fidele arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment.

Because of the often heated debates that arise when silent films are presented on Blu-ray, or SDVD for that matter, I have decided to include the following extremely detailed description of the technical adjustments that were performed in order to bring Coeur fidele to Blu-ray. The text appears in the lavish booklet provided with the Blu-ray disc:

"For Coeur fidèle, a 25p HDCAM SR master was created in 2007 by Pathé in France for their DVD edition. In order to render the film in 25psf (progressively scanned frames, per second) for PAL format DVD, an algorithm of repeat frames had been used to "pad out" the unique frames so that their combination totalled 25 per second. Thankfully, interlacing had not been applied, but our research revealed a unique-frame-to-repeat-frame ratio other than that required for 18fps, resulting in a longer running time than expected but with all of the original frames intact within the newly extrapolated 25p master.

We were presented with a number of options whilst authoring this 2011 Blu-ray and DVD edition of Coeur fidèle. We wanted to avoid interlacing at all costs (where a unique frame is split into two fields across two frames, and pausing a frame reveals only one of the fields, with multiple horizontal lines in place of the missing field). Our aim was to render the film progressively at 24fps, and there are several ways of doing this: i.) to randomly remove one frame per second to reduce 25fps to 24fps, detrimentally altering the 25p motion algorithm and deleting unique frames in the process, or ii.) slow down the 25fps master to 24fps, with the side-effect of increasing the length of the film by 4% and needlessly retaining more repeat frames than necessary. We opted for a third, more laborious option, but one much more faithful to the original filming and projection.

In order to best present Epstein's film on Blu-ray and DVD, we removed all of the repeat frames from the 25p HDCAM SR master, leaving us with only original, unique frames, 18 per second (exactly like a 1923 Coeur fidèle 35mm print). Then, we applied our own algorithm of repeat frames (the absolute minimum necessary, presented in a mathematically pure way to retain the smoothest possible motion), 6 per second, to allow for progressive 24fps playback. In this form, the film can now be seen with all of its original frames intact, with the best obtainable motion rendering for 24fps, and with the correct running time for its original film speed (ie. a process akin to step-frame optical printing). It is a minor tragedy that Blu-ray and DVD formats do not natively support all framerates — especially for fans of silent and avant-garde films — but we are happy to have avoided interlacing, slowdown, and the removal of unique frames."

Coeur fidele looks astonishing on Blu-ray. Frankly, it is hard to believe that a film that was produced in 1923 could look this good - detail and especially clarity are simply incredible. This must have been a top priority project for Pathe because the enormous amount of work that has gone into the restoration shows everywhere, from the shockingly good detail to the consistent color reproduction. Various stability enhancements have been performed as well - aside from a few frame skips, there are absolutely no problematic transitions whatsoever. Occasionally, small scratches and damage marks pop up here and there, but again, clearly every effort has been made to eliminate as many of them as possible without affecting the integrity of the film. Lastly, the contrast enhancements are very good. There are only a few scenes where some stronger than usual sharpening is present (see screencapture #18). All in all, this is a remarkable presentation of a classic silent French film that deserves to be applauded. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Coeur Fidèle Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. For the record, Eureka Entertainment have provided optional English subtitles for the original French intertitles.

Maxence Cyrin's beautiful piano score literally transforms the entire film. Especially during the final third of the film, the melancholic solos sound quite incredible - they won't test the muscles of your audio system, but it will undoubtedly impress you with their subtle dynamics. The depth and vibrancy the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track offers are indeed outstanding. The English translation is excellent.

Coeur Fidèle Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Photography Gallery - the gallery contains thirty screens of rare 1923 photography. (1080p).

• Booklet - a 44-page illustrated booklet containing rare production photography, and writings about the film by Jean Epstein, Henri Langlois, Rene Clair, Jean Cocteau, Abel Gance, and Marcel L'Herbier.

Coeur Fidèle Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Jean Epstein's Coeur fidele is a wonderful silent film complimented by a truly superb new score by French pianist Maxence Cyrin. The presentation is excellent, easily transforming this into one of the year's very best Blu-ray releases. Bravo Eureka Entertainment. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.