Coup de Tête Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Coup de Tête Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 5, 2015

Jean-Jacques Annaud's "Coup de tete" a.k.a. "Hothead" (1979) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Gaumont. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; audio commentary with the French director; documentary film produced by François-Régis Jeanne; and archival interviews. In French, with optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

"Your breakfast..."

Handsome soccer player François Perrin (Patrick Dewaere, Going Places, Série Noire) becomes the most unpopular man in town when he compromises the star of the local soccer club. The club’s chairman, who also happens to be the owner of the factory where Francois works, immediately fires him, and later on a young and beautiful woman tells the authorities that he raped her. Francois is promptly thrown in jail and told to keep quiet until the local judge, also a big supporter of the soccer club, decides what to do with him.

But the town’s beloved star is seriously injured right before a decisive clash with another club from the area and Francois is given a chance to redeem himself. Determined to win the soccer match, the mayor, the police chief, his trusted associates and the judge agree to let Francois out of jail so that he can replace the striker.

Francois scores two goals and his team wins the match. The town then goes berserk and Francois becomes its hero. Shortly after, the mayor, the police chief and the judge decide to drop the charges against Francois and let him go home.

At first Francois enjoys the benefits of his newly acquired star status, but then decides to teach the town’s most prominent residents a lesson they would never forget. Francois’ lesson begins with a surprising speech during a lavish diner they have organized to celebrate his historic goals.

The late Patrick Dewaere is excellent in this charming and surprisingly thought provoking comedy directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. Initially, one is led to believe that Dewaere’s character is a troublemaker who deserves absolutely everything that comes his way, but the more one learns about the people around him and the system they are a part of, the clearer it becomes that he is in fact the only sane person that sees and understands the true nature of the hypocrisy the system breeds. Dewaere’s transformation after the important soccer match is so effective that it single-handedly alters one’s initial impressions of the good people.

There is a heavy dose of satire in the film, but its casual tone and terrific sense of humor prevent it from becoming an unbearable political lecture. More importantly, Alain Godard (The Name of the Rose) and Francis Veber’s (La Cage aux Folles) script does not waste any time insulting one’s intelligence.

A small romantic subplot leads to a happy ending that looks and feels right. However, one can easily question whether it is actually believable.

Annaud shot Hothead with cinematographer Claude Agostini, who also collaborated with him on the period epic Quest for Fire. There is no groundbreaking material here, but the simple visuals actually work to its advantage.

The laidback soundtrack was created by French singer/songwriter Pierre Bachelet, who is probably best known for his contribution to Just Jaeckin’s classic erotic film Emmanuelle.

Coup de Tête Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jean-Jacques Annaud's Hothead arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Gaumont.

It is pretty obvious now that for the most part the titles from Gaumont's vast catalog that transition to Blu-ray will have a fairly stable organic appearance. From time to time I still see some small traces of light denoising adjustments, but they are applied quite carefully and usually the end result is quite pleasing. My one and only concern with these releases pertains to the color grading and the black levels settings. To be perfectly clear, it appears that the majority of the catalog releases basically arrive with very similar color schemes and with the black levels slightly elevated. (This is the reason why these release typically have a rather warm appearance). As far as image depth and detail are concerned, the upgrades in quality are quite impressive, This recent restoration of Jean-Jacques Annaud's Hothead is not an exception. Indeed, close-ups and the larger panoramic shots look very good. Contrast and sharpness levels also remain stable throughout the entire film. Some minor degraining adjustments have been applied, but grain is retained and rather well resolved. Colors are stable and looking natural, but once again the blacks are slightly elevated and the film looks a bit too warm to me. Finally, there are absolutely no stability issues to report in this review. All in all, while there is clearly some room for improvement, I have to say that Gaumont's new presentation of Hothead is quite pleasing. I also believe that it will remain the film's definitive English-friendly presentation. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Coup de Tête Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. For the record, Gaumont have provided optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The lossless track is excellent. Depth and clarity are very good and Pierre Bachelet's score is wonderfully balanced with the narration and the dialog. Dynamic intensity is very good, but there are obvious production limitations. There are no pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in this review. The English translation is excellent,

Coup de Tête Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• La revanche du primate - this documentary film focuses on the production history of Coup de tete. Included in it are archival interviews with director Jean-Jacques Annaud, writers Alain Godard and Francis Veber, and composer Pierre Bachelet. It was produced by François-Régis Jeanne. In French, not subtitled. (51 min).

• La methode Veber - presented here is an archival video interview with writer Francis Veber. In French, not subtitled. (9 min).

• Les fiches de Jean-Jacques Annaud - presented here is an archival video interview with director Jean-Jacques Annaud. In French, not subtitled. (17 min).

• La meilleure facon de siffler - presented here is an archival interview with composer Pierre Bachelet. In French, not subtitled. (6 min).

• Guy Roux, l'entraineur - presented here is a video interview with soccer coach and technical advisor Guy Roux. In French, not subtitled. (11 min).

• Lucien Denis, la doublure - presented here is a video interview with technical assistant Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu. In French, not subtitled. (6 min).

• Noel Le Graet, le president - presented here is a video interview with soccer club president Noel Le Graet. In French, not subtitled. (6 min).

• France Dougnac, la mascotte - presented here is an archival interview with actress France Dougnac (Stéphanie). In French, not subtitled. (6 min).

• Bande-annonce - original French theatrical trailer for Hothead. In French, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Audio Commentary - audio commentary with director Jean-Jacques Annaud. In French, without optional English subtitles.

Coup de Tête Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is very unfortunate that Patrick Dewaere died so young. Had he lived longer, today his legacy would have been as impressive as that of Gerard Depardieu. The overwhelming majority of Dewaere's films are virtually impossible to see on this side of the Atlantic. Bertrand Blier's Going Places is out on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Video, but Alain Corneau's Thriller Story is only available in France. Dewaere is also terrific in Blier's Beau Pere, Claude Sautet's Bad Son, and André Téchiné's Hotel America, but at the moment no one seems interested in bringing these films to Blu-ray. Maybe Criterion will eventually step up again and license at least the few films that were previously available on DVD in North America. Gaumont's release of Jean-Jacques Annaud's Hotehead is very easy to recommend, as more than likely it will remain the one and only English-friendly release of the film on the home video market. RECOMMENDED.