Diabolically Yours Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Diabolically Yours Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 8, 2020

Julien Duvivier's "Diabolically Yours" (1967) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include an exclusive new audio commentary by by critics Nathaniel Thompson and Howard S. Berger as well as vintage trailer. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

His wife

A single viewing of Lovers of the Arctic Circle in the late ‘90s instantly had me convinced that Julio Medem is a very special director worth keeping an eye on, so immediately after that I started tracking down the rest of his films. He had done three more -- Cows, The Red Squirrel and Earth -- but they were unavailable on DVD in the U.S and I had to consider importing them. It took me a while, but by the time Sex and Lucía had its North American debut, I already had all of them in my library. Out of these four films, the one I thought was just as good as Lovers of the Arctic Circle was The Red Squirrel, a very twisty thriller with a genuine Hitchcockian atmosphere.

So, why am I mentioning Medem and his early films in an article about Julien Duvivier’s Diabolically Yours?

Because I have an old theory that The Red Squirrel was part of a very interesting ‘90s trend that produced a few quite good remakes and copycats of classic films with Alain Delon. Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, for instance, came out in 1999 and is a remake of René Clément’s Purple Noon in which Delon plays a dangerous chameleon on a mission. Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai was released during the same year, and while not a remake, it very clearly attempts to reproduce the ambience of another classic film with Delon, Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samouraï. Now, The Red Squirrel was released a few years earlier, but also appears to be borrowing plenty from Diabolically Yours. A coincidence? I don’t know if Medem was a fan of Louis C. Thomas’ novel or just Duvivier’s film and therefore was paying a homage of some sort, but to me the connection between The Red Squirrel and Diabolically Yours is as obvious and undeniable as the one that exists between Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai and Le Samourai.

In both films, the main protagonists wake up in a medical facility with their memories completely wiped out and a total stranger then begins helping them reconstruct their past. However, Delon’s amnesiac is promptly isolated in an incredible property, which his ‘wife’ (Senta Berger) assures him has always been their dream home. Surrounded by striking luxury and closely followed by an exotic servant (Peter Mosbacher), the amnesiac then slowly begins regaining his identity, but the more progress he makes, the more suspicious he becomes of the people around him that are helping him get back on his feet.

Duvivier’s film works just fine, but it is the more simplistic of the two and, as sacrilegious as it may sound, the rougher one as well. In the second half, where Delon’s amnesiac begins investigating his condition and the cage he is placed in, Duvivier spends too much time preparing a revelation that eventually only confirms what has been made obvious a lot earlier. Needless to say, the suspense does not flourish as it should have. Medem’s film has the same starting point but produces a seemingly endless string of twists that make it extremely difficult to predict its progression. On top of this, it builds and manages a strong atmosphere that does miracles for its suspense.

I enjoy both films and since acquiring them I have revisited them multiple times over the years. But I think that a direct comparison, regardless of whether it is entirely justified, produces a clear winner. Yes, they come from different eras and have different stylistic identities, but I think that one of them is just an all-around better film.

Duvivier collaborated with cinematographer Henry Decae, who lensed some of the all-time greatest French films, including The 400 Blows, Bob le Flambeur, Le Samourai, and The Sucker.

Diabolically Yours Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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

The release is sourced from an older remaster that was supplied by StudioCanal. I did a few quick comparisons with my DVD release of the film from the Alain Delon - Five Film Collection box set, and my guess is that the same remaster was utilized for it as well. This is good news. Indeed, even though there is room for improvement this is a very healthy remaster with pretty strong organic qualities, so on a larger screen the film looks very nice. The two areas where the age of the remaster shows the most are depth and shadow definition. For example, while most close-ups look very nicely detailed and sharp -- not sharpened -- some of the wider panoramic shots exhibit mild softness that affects depth (see screencapture #18). Then in darker footage, mild black crush usually sneaks in and collapses native nuances (see screencaptures #5 and 13). Both limitations, however, are fairly small, and in most cases actually very easy to ignore because the rest of the technical characteristics are either good or very good. Of course, the lack of digital anomalies is the remaster's greatest strength, but even fluidity is really, really good. The color grading is convincing, but as noted above, the crushing does impact some existing ranges of nuances. There are no large distracting debris, cuts, damage marks, stains, warped or torn frames to report. My score is 4.25/5.00. (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).

Diabolically Yours 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.

There are no technical issues to report in our review. I assume that when the current remaster was prepared the audio was remixed as well. It must have been because it does not reveal any signs of aging even in the upper register, where usually older audio tracks are most vulnerable. Clarity and stability are good as well. There are no balance issues. The English translation is good, but the subtitle font is still a bit too small for my taste.

Diabolically Yours Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for Diabolically Yours. In French, with imposed English subtitles. (4 min, 480/60i).

• Commentary - an exclusive new audio commentary by critics Nathaniel Thompson and Howard S. Berger, offering a predictably solid analysis of the Diabolically Yours and its technical merits as well as plenty of information about the careers of the people that made it.

• Additional Trailers - additional trailers for the following titles from Kino Lorber's catalog:
  
  1, Un flic
  2. Farewell, Friend
  3. The Sicilian Clan
  4. Cast a Giant Shadow

Diabolically Yours Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There are bigger and better films in Julien Duvivier's oeuvre, and Alain Delon's performance isn't among the ones that he will be remembered for, but I still like Diabolically Yours quite a lot. It tells a good story, and while it quickly becomes obvious how it would end, it is still very entertaining. I have many such 'smaller' period films in my library, and to be honest, they are usually the ones I revisit the most. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from an older but very nice organic remaster that was supplied by StudioCanal. RECOMMENDED.