Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.5

Deadly Circuit Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 10, 2024

Claude Miller's "Deadly Circuit" a.k.a. "Mortelle Randonnee" (1983) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new audio commentary recorded by critic and filmmaker Daniel Kremer and vintage trailer. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The Eye

His boss (Genevieve Page) and competitors in the business call him The Eye (Michel Serrault). He is in his late fifties, but when feeling exhausted appears older. He is French and so are the cases he takes, but if needed, he would travel across Europe and other parts of the world.

After meeting his trendy boss at her office, The Eye is dispatched to track down a mysterious girl who has begun an affair with the free-spirited son of a wealthy couple. Soon after, The Eye identifies Catherine Leiris (Isabelle Adjani), a young, stunningly beautiful chameleon who empties the safes and bank accounts of her lovers just as easily as she kills them. However, instead of immediately revealing her game to the police, The Eye begins observing her work from afar, feeling inexplicably drawn to her, and the more time he spends in her orbit, the stronger their odd bond becomes. While managing his memories, The Eye’s mind then routinely begins replacing his missing daughter with Catherine, adjusting old and creating new ones that melt his heart.

As The Eye grows bolder and gradually shortens the distance between them Catherine becomes aware of his presence. But she does not terminate her game. She adjusts her game to ensure that it is as effective with The Eye as it is with her targets. Or at least this is how The Eye interprets Catherine’s behavior while she continues juggling different identities and discarding wealthy targets across Europe.

The Eye’s odd bond with Catherine is broken when a pair of loopy lovers-turned-blackmailers (Guy Marchand and Stephane Audran) attempt to beat the latter at her game and, in the process, force her to go on the run. Feeling a fatherly urge to protect Catherine, The Eye steps out of the shadows, but the police, having identified and linked her to several unsolved murder cases, dispatch a large SWAT team to prevent her from leaving France or take her out.

In 1999, Hollywood produced a remake of Claude Miller’s classic film titled Eye of the Beholder that, perhaps unsurprisingly, failed to reveal even a partial understanding of what makes The Eye’s relationship with the chameleon intriguing. To be clear, Eye of the Beholder is not an utter disaster, but it is not a proper remake. So, here’s why Miller's film is special:

It is a chameleon, too. It begins as a crime thriller with heavy noirish overtones and as The Eye’s obsession with Catherine grows and evolves it enters an area that cinematic mind-benders love visiting. However, it continues to expand the noirish overtones, so for a long period of time, it genuinely looks and feels like it wants to trick its audience into misjudging it. This ongoing playfulness, masterfully channeled through a unique atmosphere, makes Miller’s film special. Eye of the Beholder is constructed differently. In it, The Eye (played by a young Ewan McGregor) closely follows a miserable killer (played by Ashley Judd) across the United States until she is cornered and neutralized. It is a conventional action thriller.

There is something else in Miller’s film that is most unusual but very effective. Its two leads share tremendous chemistry even though they establish direct contact only in the final act. Before that, Serrault does his monologues and a great deal of observing, while Adjani disables the minds of her targets before killing them. Obviously, Miller deserves a lot of credit because all of the footage is carefully and wonderfully shot to convince that somehow The Eye and the chameleon have established an odd bond, but the tremendous chemistry between Serrault and Adjani is impossible to disregard.

In the past, Miller’s film has been presented in two different versions, one of them significantly shorter. Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray release introduces a recent 2K restoration of Miller’s original version of the film, which is approximately 122 minutes long. In the United States, many years ago, the defunct label Wellspring released on DVD the shorter version, which is approximately 100 minutes long.

Deadly Circuit Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Deadly Circuit arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The Blu-ray release introduces a recent 2K restoration of the complete 122-minute version of Deadly Circuit completed on behalf of TF1 in France. In the United States, many years ago, the defunct label Wellspring released on DVD the shorter 100-minute version of the film. (On the DVD, this version has an even shorter running time because of an incorrect PAL to NTSC conversion). have this DVD release in my library, but did not do any direct comparisons with it because it offers a pretty mediocre presentation of the film and I had already seen the 2K restoration several years earlier. In France, TF1 introduced it with this Blu-ray release in 2016.

The 2K restoration is wonderful. It gives the entire film a very healthy and convincing period appearance that makes it a real treat to revisit it. Delineation, clarity, and depth are either very good or excellent, while density levels are wonderful. There are no traces of any problematic digital corrections. Grain is very healthy and nicely exposed, never appearing too loose or mushy. However, I would say that the encoding could have been slightly more convincing in a couple of darker areas. (One such area is around the 0:26.00 mark). The most important news is that the film is properly graded. All primaries and supporting nuances are set and balanced correctly, so the entire film has the right period look. Image stability is outstanding. Finally, there are absolutely no retained surface imperfections, such as cuts, debris, damage marks, stains, etc. All in all, it is very easy to declare that the 2K restoration has delivered the all-time best presentation of this classic film. My score is 4.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Deadly Circuit Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless track is excellent. The Eye's monologues and all exchanges are very clear and easy to follow. Carla Bley's score leaves a lasting impression, but not because it creates great contrasts. Also, the film does not have any big action scenes could test the muscles of your audio system. The English translation is excellent, but the size of the English subtitles is way too small.

Deadly Circuit Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - presented here is a remastered vintage trailer for Deadly Circuit. In French, with English subtitles. (3 min).

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critic and filmmaker Daniel Kremer.

Deadly Circuit Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is such a relief to see a major French color film properly restored and looking gorgeous on Blu-ray. It is an even bigger deal that French studio TF1 restored in 2K the original long version of Claude Miller's Deadly Circuit, not the shorter version that years ago appeared on DVD in the United States. If you have not seen it before, you are in for a treat because it is a very interesting and attractive chameleon. I will be placing this release on my Top Ten list at the end of the year. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.