Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.5

Deux hommes dans la ville Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 20, 2015

Jose Giovanni's "Two Men in Town" a.k.a. "Deux hommes dans la ville" (1973) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Pathe. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; footage from the presentation of the new 4K restoration of the film at the Lumière Film Festival; new featurette produced by Jerome Wybon; and new video interview with composer Philippe Sarde. In French, with optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

A man with a past

Former gang leader Gino Strabliggi (Alain Delon, Le Samouraï) is released early from prison after social worker Germain Cazeneuve (Jean Gabin, Le Jour se Lève) convinces the authorities that he has become a different man. Gino vows to begin a new life with his girlfriend (Ilaria Occhini, Loose Cannons), but a terrible tragedy forces him to reevaluate his plan. Cazeneuve then suggests that he moves to the south of France and start from scratch.

While working for a small printing company Gino meets Lucie (Mimsy Farmer, More), an elegant bank clerk, and the two begin seeing each other. For a while life seems beautiful and the owner of the printing company even confesses to Cazeneuve that he likes Gino so much that he is planning to make him a partner.

But the ruthless Inspector Goitreau (Michel Bouquet, The Unfaithful Wife) begins harassing Gino, convinced that it is only a matter of time before he and his former associates rob another bank. Initially Gino ignores him, but when Goitreau attempts to convince Lucie to walk away from him he confronts him. Around the same time, Gino’s former associates go to work without him.

Deux hommes dans la ville a.k.a. Two Men in Town was written and directed by Jose Giovanni, an incredibly knowledgeable man who spent a good portion of his life behind bars. Between the early 1960s and the late 1970s, as a writer Giovanni contributed to such classic French gangster films as Claude Sautet’s Classe Tous Risques, Jacques Becker’s Le Trou, Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Deuxième Souffle, and Henri Verneuil’s The Sicilian Clan, and eventually stepped behind the camera to direct crime hits such as Scoumone, The Gypsy, and Boomerang.

Arguably Giovanni’s best work, Two Men in Town is as much of a crime film as it is a political film. Delon’s character is a man who has spent the best years of his life in prison and after he is released vows to respect the law. Gabin’s social worker is next to him and truly believes that a good man has been given a second chance.

What the film argues, however, is that the French legal system isn’t helping former prisoners rebuild their lives. Even after they are released, they forever remain targets whose integration back into society is essentially doomed. The film also sees Bouquet’s inspector as the real dangerous figure that can legally destroy anyone whose profile he deems suspicious.

While some of the contrasts in the film are somewhat exaggerated, its key points are certainly valid. Recently, Vincent Garenq's excellent film Presumed Guilty, which chronicles true events that were described by President Jacques Chirac as "judicial disaster", effectively showed that the French legal system remains capable of creating monsters and then destroying them in the name of justice. Giovanni and Garenq’s films were made nearly 40 years apart from each other, but it is difficult not to agree that they were inspired by a very similar frustration.

Delon and Gabin are brilliant together. Bouquet’s time in front of the camera is limited, but without him the film likely would have had a very different resonance with plenty of viewers. Farmer looks stunningly beautiful.

The film is lensed by cinematographer Jean-Jacques Tarbès, who began his career as an assistant to Edgar Morin and Jean Rouch during the shooting of their influential documentary Chronicle of a Summer.

The very beautiful soundtrack was created by award-winning composer Philippe Sarde (Tess, Hotel America).

Deux hommes dans la ville Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jose Giovanni's Two Men in Town arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Pathe.

Pathe restored Two Men in Town in 4K in 2014. The label entrusted the work to Eclair Group for the image and L.E. Diapason for the sound. The restoration was made possible with the support of CNC.

There are massive improvements in every single area we typically address in our reviews. In fact, when comparing the Blu-ray release and the R1 DVD release of Two Men in Town it literally feels like the film has been given a new life. Detail and image depth are enormously impressive and one could see all sorts of small details and even objects that are lost on the DVD release. There a couple of sequences where some minor density fluctuations are present, but fluidity is outstanding (you can see the fluctuation in screencapture #10). Contrast levels remain stable. Grain is very well resolved and distributed, giving the film a wonderful healthy appearance. Also, there are absolutely no traces of compromising sharpening adjustments. There is a wide range of warm and well saturated colors, which also appear well balanced. Debris, cuts, stains, and damage marks have been carefully removed and as a result the film now looks spotless. Finally, the encoding is excellent. All in all, the 4K restoration is very impressive and I feel very confident stating that Pathe have produced the definitive home video release of Two Men in Town. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your Blu-ray player regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/05i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Deux hommes dans la ville Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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

The newly remastered audio track is a good enough reason to strongly recommend this Blu-ray release. L.E. Diapason have done an absolutely superb job -- yet again -- and Philippe Sarde's beautiful soundtrack now sounds terrific. On the old R1 DVD release the beauty of the soundtrack is lost, but here the music gives the film an entirely different vibe. The dialog is crystal clear, clean, stable, and very easy to follow. The English translation is outstanding.

Deux hommes dans la ville Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Le Film Annonce - restored original trailer for Two Men in Town. In French, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Presentation de Sophie Seydoux au Festival de Lyon - Sophie Seydoux, President of Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathe, introduces the new 4K restoration of Jose Giovanni's Two Men in Town at the Lumière Film Festival. In French, not subtitled. (5 min).

• Documentaire: "Deux Hommes Dans la Ville - in this new featurette, journalist Olivier Rajchman discusses the production history of Two Men in Town. Also included in it are clips from archival interviews with director Jose Giovanni and Madame Jose Giovanni, and Alain Delon. The featurette was produced by Jerome Wybon. In French, not subtitled. (23 min).

• Entretien avec Philippe Sarde - presented here is a brand new interview with composer Philippe Sarde. In French, not subtitled. (10 min).

Deux hommes dans la ville Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I think that Two Men in Town is Jose Giovanni's best film and I was hoping that one day we would see it on Blu-ray. I really could not be happier with Pathe's new 4K restoration of the film. It is tremendous, every bit as impressive as the label's recent restoration of Patrice Chereau's La Reine Margot. The new 4K restoration is currently available on Blu-ray only in France, but I expect to see Cohen Media announce a local release soon. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.