Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

Fedora Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 30, 2014

Billy Wilder's "Fedora" (1978) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Carlotta Films. The supplemental features on the disc include the documentary film "Swan Song: The Story of Billy Wilder"; production and archival stills; restoration trailer; and restoration comparison. In English, with imposed French subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Inside the villa

Washed-up American producer Barry 'Dutch' Detweiler (William Holden, The Bridge on the River Kwai) arrives in Greece looking for the great actress Fedora (Marthe Keller, Dark Eyes, Black Sunday). Fedora hasn’t been in front of a film camera for years, but Detweiler has a script he believes will convince her to come out of retirement.

The producer is quickly redirected to Corfu, the stunningly beautiful Greek island, where Fedora lives in a secluded villa. Soon after he checks in a local hotel, he realizes that getting to the villa is easy but seeing Fedora is virtually impossible. The bubbly owner of the hotel then reveals to him that only the plastic surgeon Dr. Vando (Jose Ferrer, Lawrence of Arabia) routinely sees the actress because he closely monitors the medications she takes.

Eventually, Detweiler meets Dr. Vando in the hotel’s tiny bar and tries to convince him to take his script to Fedora. When the old man refuses, he comes up with an ambitious plan to enter the secluded villa and meet the elusive actress.

After Detweiler’s decision Billy Wilder’s Fedora heads in a completely different direction and it is best if one knows as little as possible about it so that one can experience the film as intended. However, there are a few details that can be mentioned without spoiling it.

The film opens up with a short prologue in which Fedora jumps in front of a train. Detweiler is then seen attending her private funeral. Throughout the film there are also numerous flashbacks revealing that when she was younger Fedora fell madly in love with the handsome Michael York. In one of the film’s most beautiful sequences the two are seen dancing and then kissing while an enthusiastic director and his assistant observe them from afar. In another flashback Detweiler is seen placing large leafs over Fedora’s naked body on the set of a lavish film production. Later on the actress asks him why he did not appear intimidated by her beauty.

There is a message behind these flashbacks, which is that there is a time in everyone’s life that is the right time to fall in love. There are people who follow their hearts, discover true love at the right time and when they grow older fondly remember how it all happened. And then there are those who choose a different path in life, hoping that they will discover love when they are ready to do so, and when they grow older come to regret their decision.

Fedora offers a taste of the happiness and sadness people in the two camps experience. It is shot like a beautiful dream, one which initially looks quite surreal and then halfway through the film slowly begins to make sense. There is also a mystery in Fedora that is effectively solved, but its purpose is to merely show that even in the film business, where fantasies can become a reality, no one can cheat time.

There are some obvious similarities between Fedora and Sunset Boulevard. In both films there are great actresses living in exile, both are narrated by Holden. But they clearly belong to different eras, and both capture their essence in drastically different ways.

The cast of Fedora also includes Hildegarde Knef, Frances Sternhagen, Mario Adorf, Henry Fonda, and Hans Jaray.

Fedora Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Billy Wilder's Fedora arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Carlotta Films.

The release uses as a foundation Bavaria Media/CinePostproduction's recent 2K restoration of Fedora, which was introduced in the Classics section of last year's edition of the Cannes Film Festival.

The film looks very beautiful in high-definition. There is a great variety of fresh and very healthy warm colors that beautifully enhance the film's dreamy atmosphere. The daylight footage from Corfu, in particular, looks fantastic. Many of the daylight close-ups also have that beautiful white glow that would have been absolutely impossible to accurately replicate on DVD (see screencapture #19). The darker panoramic shots boast wonderful depth, making it exceptionally easy to spot even extremely small details (see screencapture #14). There are no traces of problematic degraining corrections. Sharpening adjustment also have not been applied. Unsurprisingly, from start to finish the film has a very solid and very convincing organic look. Overall image stability is outstanding. During the restoration debris, scratches, cuts, splices, and damage marks have been removed as best as possible. To sum it all up, this is an outstanding restoration of Fedora which has transitioned to Blu-ray in spectacular fashion. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Fedora Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 and French DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0. For the record, Carlotta Films have provided imposed French subtitles for the main feature. (They cannot be turned off from the main menu or with the remote control).

The audio presentation is just as impressive as the video presentation. The lossless English track has excellent depth and clarity is terrific throughout the entire film. Also, Miklos Rozsa's score is beautifully balanced with the dialog. There is no problematic background hiss, pops, crackle, distortions, or audio dropouts to report in this review.

Fedora Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Bande annonce 2013 - original trailer for the new restoration of Billy Wilder's Fedora. In English, with imposed French subtitles (2 min).

• Galerie Photos - a collection of production stills. With music. (3 min).

• La restauration - before-and-after demonstration with information about Media/CinePostproduction's recent restoration of Fedora. In German, with imposed French subtitles. (4 min).

• Swan Song: The Story of Billy Wilder - this outstanding documentary film produced by Fiction Factory focuses on the difficult production history of Fedora and the life and legacy of its creator, the great Billy Wilder. The film contains new interviews with stars Marthe Keller, Michael York and Mario Adorf, cinematographer Gerry Fisher, production supervisor Harold Nebenzal, and Paul Diamond, son of scriptwriter I.A.L. Diamond. In English, German, and French, with imposed French subtitles where necessary. (87 min).

Fedora Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I was eagerly awaiting Bavaria Media/CinePostproduction's recent 2K restoration of Billy Wilder's Fedora and I am happy to report now that it is simply spectacular. The film itself is strange but indescribably beautiful, frequently funny yet thought-provoking. I have a good feeling that once it reaches these shores a lot of people will be quite surprised that it has taken such a long time to see a proper home video release of it. Carlotta Films' Blu-ray release also comes with a terrific documentary film produced by Fiction Factory. (Please be aware that the French subtitles on the main feature are imposed). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.