6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A French woman mourning over the death of her husband three years prior is courted by a Swedish co-worker.
Starring: Audrey Tautou, Audrey Fleurot, François Damiens, Mélanie Bernier, Pio MarmaïRomance | 100% |
Foreign | 67% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
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
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Delicacy is an appropriately delicate examination of what happens when “happily ever after” suddenly takes a detour into unexpected tragedy. The winsome Audrey Tautou portrays Nathalie, a woman we initially meet in a Paris bistro as she peruses a menu and a François (Pio Marmai), a young man who is narrating the film (at least in the beginning), wonders what she’ll order. He correctly guesses apricot juice, and then we segue into a celebration of the burgeoning relationship between the two. Everything seems to be going swimmingly for the pair, who quickly marry and settle into a life of domestic bliss, a rose colored reality that is suddenly shattered when François is killed by a car while out jogging one afternoon. The opening few minutes of Delicacy are therefore a breathless trek through emotional territory that some films take their entire lengths developing. The film trades on a sort of Amélie-esque ambience (obviously no coincidence, considering Tatou’s involvement), with playful camera moves and a montage that features a series of photos from around the world (where that “roaming gnome” when you really need him?), and culminating in a little set piece when Nathalie finds herself at her young husband’s grave. Some prescient (and/or overly cynical) viewers may be wondering, “Is Delicacy going to be ‘Jean-Pierre Jeunet lite’?” But Stéphane Foenkinos, co-directing a screenplay written by his brother David (culled from his novel), who joins his brother in the directorial duties as well, tones down the tricks after this opening gambit and instead settles on the aftermath of Nathalie’s devastating loss. Will this beautiful young widow allow herself to love again? Once that question is answered, a perhaps more salient question arises: is Nathalie out of her ever loving mind?
Delicacy is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Media Group, Studio Canal and Entertainment One with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. This is a very nice looking film, one that is often beautifully lit and quite redolent of the sun dappled ambience of the French countryside, strangely even in its urban setting. Judging by a cursory look at the screencaps, my hunch is this is the same transfer that was featured on the British release of Delicacy by Studio Canal which was reviewed by my colleague Dr. Svet Atanasov. As Svet noted, this release boasts some very nice colors, with the outdoor photography looking especially lush. Contrast and black levels are consistent and solid and fine object detail is very pleasing, especially since the co-directors tend to favor midrange and close-ups throughout much of the film. Some of the interior footage struggles to achieve really convincing shadow detail (the main reason my score is just a little less laudatory than Svet's was), but there aren't any major compression artifacts of any concern.
Delicacy features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix in the original French. (For the record, a standard Dolby Digital 5.1 French mix is also available.) This is a charming soundtrack that is aided immeasurably by a beautiful score by Emilie Simon, who contributes a number of sweet little songs, and (one assumes—the credits aren't entirely clear) a repeated use of a percussive theme that is one part childhood music box and one part gamelan orchestra. The music spills delightfully through the surrounds repeatedly in the film, and there's also some good use of ambient environmental effects which open up this somewhat claustrophobic film quite well. Dialogue is very cleanly presented and the overall mix is very well prioritized.
Delicacy may be a bit too melancholic for American audiences who want their romantic comedies to be brash, raucous and—predictable. Delicacy is rather quiet, and the laughs are similarly often interior ones rather than outright guffaws. But this film has a very appealing emotional tenor, one that subtly creates a very unique mood. Tautou is her usual radiant self, the eternal gamine, but she also exhibits some real range here as well, especially in the film's early going as Nathalie struggles to overcome the death of François. François Damiens, the actor playing Markus, must have had some qualms about appearing in the same film as the preternaturally handsome Pio Marmai, but he has a wonderfully goofy, awkward quality to his characterization that is indeed lovable, warts (and hair and crooked teeth) and all. Like its title hints at, Delicacy is a sweet little morsel of a film, perfectly suited to those with an appetite for something a little different. Recommended.
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