Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		5.0

French Cancan Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 17, 2011

Jean Renoir's "French Cancan" (1954) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of the British Film Institute. The supplemental features on the disc include a restoration presentation and Pierre-Henri Gilbert's documentary The Show Must Go On! The Joys of Life by Jean Renoir. The disc also arrives with a 16-page illustrated booklet featuring essays by David Thompson and Ginette Billard. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The Moulin Rouge

Famous impresario Henri Danglard (Jean Gabin, Pépé Le Moko) has seen the last days of his once trendy cafe 'Le Paravent Chinois'. Trying to stay positive, he often visits Montmartre, together with his Egyptian lover and former belly dancer Lola de Castro (María Félix, Hidden River). Montmartre is the only place that makes Danglard feel alive.

One day, while visiting Montmartre with a group of aristocratic friends, Danglard sees a young girl, Nini (François Arnoul, Illegal Cargo), dancing for her lover, Paulo (Franco Pastorino, Poverty and Nobility). Nini is beautiful, charming and naturally elegant - the type of young woman Danglard’s aristocratic friends will pay to see dancing when they feel the need to be entertained.

On the following day, Danglard returns to Montmartre and makes Nini an offer - if she is interested, he would pay for her dancing lessons and make her a star. Nini immediately assumes that Danglard is just another old man looking for a young mistress. Before she accepts his offer, Nini goes back to Paulo so that he could be the first man to have made love to her.

The dancing lessons begin, and Nini quickly proves that she has the potential to be a star. Danglard can already imagine Moulin Rouge - a lavish new theater filled with Cancan dancers, and his dazzling star, Nini, who will inspire Parisian men to spend their money.

While Danglard attempts to secure the finances for Moulin Rouge, one of his aristocratic friends, the wealthy Prince Alexandre (Giani Esposito, Paris Belongs to Us), falls madly in love with Nini. But Nini is already in love with Danglard, who she believes is the only man who has ever been able to appreciate her for the person she is. Angered by Danglard’s obsession with Nini and Moulin Rouge, Lola de Castro sabotages his plan to purchase the land where the theater is to be built and confronts Nini, who publicly admits that she is seeing Danglard. Devastated by Nini’s confession, Prince Alexandre attempts to shoot himself but misses. Nini agrees to spend one night with the heartbroken Prince Alexandre in return for the deeds to Moulin Rouge, which he has obtained from Lola de Castro. Shortly after, Moulin Rouge is opened for business.

Jean Rneoir’s French Cancan is formally divided into two halves. The first is shaped as a classic period melodrama in which fascinating characters fall in love, become jealous, and eventually find happiness. In a way, it is a tasty appetizer served before a delicious finale.

The second half is a stunning musical, a feast for the eyes, overflowing with lush colors and beautiful music. Once the gorgeous girls of Moulin Rouge take the stage and begin dancing and teasing the enthusiastic Parisian crowd, French Cancan evolves into a grand spectacle that cannot be described with simple words. Men and women, young and old, everyone applauds the girls, the music, and Moulin Rouge.

Amongst the many performers are real stars - the legendary Edith Piaf, the unforgettable Patachou, Andre Claveau and Jean Raymond - who graced the stage of the real Moulin Rouge during the years.

Lastly, this newly restored version of Renoir's French Cancan is indeed the original French theatrical version of the film, with all of the "inappropriate" footage cut from the American theatrical version fully intact.

French Cancan Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jean Renoir's French Cancan arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of the BFI.

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc:

"French Cancan was transferred in High Definition from the original 35 mm negatives and scanned on a Spirit Datacine. The master has been made available for this release by Gaumont.

BFI Technical Producers: James White and Douglas Weir."

As noted above, the BFI Blu-ray release of French Cancan is sourced from the same outstanding restoration Gaumont used for their local Blu-ray release in France. Unsurprisingly, the quality of the presentation is exceptionally high. Detail is outstanding, contrast levels impeccable and color reproduction simply terrific (the only difference that I noticed are the slightly more prominent blues - compare screencapture #3 to screencapture #5 from our review of the French release). Again, there are no traces of overzealous sharpening or harmful denoising. The high-definition transfer is also free of aliasing and compression artifacts. Lastly, there are absolutely no stability issues whatsoever. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

French Cancan Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: French LPCM 2.0. For the record, the BFI have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

The dynamic amplitude of the of the French LPCM 2.0 is identical to that of the French DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 track from the French release. Crispness and fluidity are also identical. The dialog is also clean, stable, and exceptionally easy to follow. I also did not detect any audio dropouts, sync issues, or distortions to report in this review. The English subtitles are very good.

French Cancan Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• French Cancan Restored - a look at the impressive restoration performed by Gaumont. With comments by Ronald Boullet, Digital Restoration Supervisor for Laboratories Eclair, and Andre Labbouz, Gaumont's Technical director. In French, with optional English subtitles. (6 min, 1080p).

• The Show Must Go On! The Joys of Life by Jean Renoir - a wonderful documentary feature on the making of French Cancan by Pierre-Henri Gilbert, with special guests Francoise Arnoul, Guy Cavagnac, Sophie Renoir, Rosine Delamare, Max Douy, Claude Gauteur and Olivier Curchod. In French, with optional English subtitles. (57 min, 1080p).

• Booklet - a 16-page illustrated booklet featuring David Thompson's essay "Paris by night"; Ginette Billard's essay "French Cancan"; and Jean Renoir biography by Philip Kemp.

French Cancan Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The BFI's Blu-ray release of Jean-Renoir's French Cancan has been sourced from the same outstanding restoration Gaumont used for their Blu-ray release in France. Unsurprisingly, the presentation is of exceptionally high quality. The BFI have also included one of the two documentary films found on the French release, Pierre-Henri Gilbert's The Show Must Go On! The Joys of Life by Jean Renoir. If you have not been able to add to your collections the pricey French Blu-ray release, consider getting the BFI release. This is one of the very best restorations I've seen since the high-definition format was launched, folks. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.