8.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.7 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A sadistic headmaster's frail wife and his scheming mistress plot to kill him.
Starring: Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse, Charles Vanel, Jean BrochardDrama | 100% |
Foreign | 96% |
Psychological thriller | 25% |
Mystery | 13% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Horror | Insignificant |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
French: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Henri-Georges Clouzot's "Les diaboliques" a.k.a. "Diabolique" (1955) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include the film's original theatrical trailer; new video introduction by film preservationist and historian Serge Bromberg; selected-scene commentary by French-film scholar Kelley Conway; and video interview with novelist and film critic Kim Newman. The disc also arrives with an illustrated booklet containing a new essay by film critic Terrence Rafferty. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Where is the body?
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Henri-Georges Clouzot's Les diaboliques arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
Criterion's high-definition transfer is very good. Detail and clarity are practically identical to those of the Arrow Films transfer; color reproduction is also quite similar. However, Criterion have performed various contrast adjustments and noise corrections. As a result, certain scenes look smoother, with grays rather than blacks being slightly more prominent. Film grain also appears slightly better resolved, though some of it is not as prominent as it appears on the Arrow Films release (the noise corrections mentioned above are most obvious during these scenes). Criterion have also performed various stabilization corrections. The same damage marks and cuts that occasionally pop up here and there on the Arrow Films release are also present on the Criterion release. Lastly, there are no serious stability issues to report in this review. All in all, in motion Criterion's transfer looks slightly softer but tighter and definitely not as contrasty as the Arrow Films transfer. Both, however, are very good. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: French LPCM 1.0. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.
The French LPCM 1.0 track is solid. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and very easy to follow. As it is the case with the French LPCM 1.0 track from the Arrow Films release, its dynamic amplitude is rather limited, but it has very pleasing depth and fluidity. The English translation is very good.
As expected, Criterion's Blu-ray release of Henri-Georges Clouzot's legendary Les diaboliques is an excellent addition to their already very impressive Blu-ray catalog. At this point, I only hope that sooner rather than later we would also get the French director's wonderful Le corbeau and Quai des Orfèvres on Blu-ray. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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