7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
When patriarch Slimane acts on his wish to open a portside restaurant specializing in his ex-wife's couscous and fish, the extended clan's passions and problems explode.
Starring: Habib Boufares, Hafsia Herzi, Faridah Benkhetache, Abdelhamid Aktouche, Alice HouriDrama | 100% |
Foreign | 98% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
French: LPCM 2.0
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region B (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Winner of multiple awards at the Venice Film Festival, Abdellatif Kechiche's "Couscous" a.k.a. "The Secret of the Grain" (2007) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; extended reedit of the final scene in the film; video interviews with director Abdellatif Kechiche and actors Hafsia Herzi and Bouraouïa Marzouk; and discussion with the professional musicians from the film. In French, Arabic, and Russian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
The boat
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Abdellatif Kechiche's Couscous arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye.
The high-definition transfer is not identical to the one Criterion used for their Blu-ray release of Couscous in the United States, but it has been sourced from the same digital master the French director approved a few years ago. Unsurprisingly, depth and clarity are very good. Contrast levels also remain stable. Colors are solid and natural, never looking boosted. There are some extremely minor discrepancies between the brightness settings -- the Criterion release occasionally looks slightly darker -- but they should be credited to the different encodes. Most of the nighttime footage here also looks a bit soft and the same native light digital noise occasionally sneaks in, but the film does look wonderful in high-definition. Finally, there are no serious stability issues to report in this review. (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 are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French LPCM 2.0 (with portions of Arabic and Russian). For the record, Artificial Eye have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.
There is a serious gap in quality between the lossy track from the old R2 DVD release of Couscous and the lossless 5.1 track on this new Blu-ray release. Not only is clarity substantially better, but there is an entirely new range of dynamics. If you still own the DVD release, watch the finale where Rym dances for the guests -- because of the improved depth and dynamic intensity, the long sequence has a very different atmosphere. The dialog is crisp, stable, and always easy to follow. Also there are no pops, cracks, audio dropouts or distortions to report in this review. The English translation is excellent.
Director Abdellatif Kechiche's Blue Is the Warmest Colour has enjoyed tremendous success at prestigious film festivals around the world, but I think that his Couscous and Games of Love and Chance are better films. The later has not yet been released on Blu-ray in an English-speaking territory, but the former has been available in North America for quite some time. Thanks to British distributors Artificial Eye now there is also an English-friendly Region-B release. If you don't know much about Couscous, I encourage you to avoid reading reviews and just see it. I promise you will experience a very special film. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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