Goodbye First Love Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Goodbye First Love Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 2, 2012

Winner of Special Mention Award at the Locarno International Film Festival, Mia Hansen-Love's "Un amour de jeunesse" a.k.a "Goodbye First Love" (2011) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye. The only supplemental feature on the disc is an original trailer for the film. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

How would I live without you?

15-year old Camille (Lola Creton) is madly in love with Sullivan (Sebastian Urzendowsky). The two spend plenty of time together and make love as often as possible because both are convinced that this is the right time to enjoy life. Later on, when they grow older, they will have plenty of opportunities to be serious.

One day, Sullivan tells Camille that he is going to travel the world without her. He wants to go away for a while, clear his head and become a man. Then, 10 months later, he would come back and love her again. He also tells Camille that he will write to her as often as possible.

The announcement shatters Camille’s world. She begins crying and tells Sullivan that she would not know how to live without him because she never ever imagined that she would have to. She is honest. For her, Sullivan is like the Sun, always there, always making her feel warm and alive. When Sullivan packs his bags and leaves, Camille tries to commit suicide.

Eventually, Camille learns to live alone. Her life is monotonous but with a steady rhythm – she goes to school, does her assignments and spends time with her family. She still thinks about Sullivan, even though he has stopped writing, but the pain isn’t the same. Living isn’t the same either. While Sullivan was around she was alive, now she simply exists.

Camille’s architecture professor, Lorenz (Magne-Havard Brekke), quickly realizes that her work is different. The buildings she draws always look lonely and in desperate need of light and attention. The two talk about them and then fall in love. Then they travel a lot and talk about the things that make life worth living, their triumphs and failures. Slowly, the brittle girl becomes a young woman.

Years later, Camille accidentally meets Sullivan’s mother. She tells her that he has been back in France for a while. She calls him and the two meet in a small café. They talk and touch each other’s hands. Then they rent a hotel room and make love, like the old days. But it isn’t the same. There will always be a place for Sullivan in Camille’s heart, she will always love him, bit something has been lost - something very special which they shared when she was only 15.

Mia Hansen-Love’s (wife of director Olivier Assayas) Goodbye First Love is a gentle and deeply poetic film which captures that unique transition in life when a girl becomes a woman. Here, it is Camille, a shy girl who gets her heart broken and while learning to cope with the pain becomes a woman.

It is incredibly easy to tell that the film was directed by a woman - it is pure and sensual, beautiful and painfully honest. There are large segments where Camille does not utter a single word but the viewer knows exactly how she feels - she is hurting and struggling to be 'normal', like everyone around her, like her parents. Then, after she meets Lorenz she begins to reevaluate her life, and the viewer once again understands exactly what is going through her mind. She will love again but not as she loved Sullivan. Now she knows it, and her heart feels it.

Even though Camille undergoes an impressive character transformation, the film is incredibly light and breezy. Seasons and colors constantly change, life never stops.

Creton, who also appeared in Catherine Breillat’s beautiful Bluebeard, is a terrific young actress. She is remarkably relaxed in front of the camera and her emotions are always believable. Urzendowsky also plays the quiet and somewhat naive young boy to perfection.

Goodbye My Love was lensed by award winning cinematographer Stephane Fontaine (A Prophet, The Beat That My Heart Skipped).

Goodbye First Love 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, Mia Hansen-Love's Goodbye First Love arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye.

There is some extremely light banding present during a few of the panoramic shots, but the key aspects of the presentation which we typically address in these reviews are indeed solid. Detail is very good. Close-ups convey great depth and strong definition. The outdoor sequences consistently boast pleasing fluidity. Color reproduction is excellent - there are a variety of lush but warm and very natural looking colors which never collapse or appear artificially boosted. The footage from Camille and Sullivan's trip to the countryside in the beginning of the film is particularly beautiful. There are no traces of problematic denoising corrections. Edge-enhancement is also not an issue of concern. When projected, the film remains tight around the edges and color depth never suffers. To sum it all up, Goodbye First Love looks quite wonderful on Blu-ray and it is indeed very easy to recommend. (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).

Goodbye First Love Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French LPCM 2.0. For the record, Artificial Eye have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

Overall depth and fluidity are undoubtedly better on the French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. There are a couple of sequences with short segments from lovely songs by Chilean artist Violeta Parra that are particularly beautiful. It is difficult to imagine that the DVD release of Goodbye First Love. with its lossy track could come even remotely close to matching the purity of the sound. On the other hand, the dialog is always crisp, clean, stable, and very easy to follow. Balance is excellent. There are no pops, audio dropouts or distortions to report in this review. The English translation is very good.

Goodbye First Love Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Goodbye First Love. In French, with imposed English subtitles. (2 min, 1080p).

Goodbye First Love Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mia Hansen-Love's Goodbye First Love is a gentle and deeply poetic film which captures that unique transition in life when a girl becomes a woman. Its tone very much reminds about the work of the great Eric Rohmer. The cast is fantastic, with the young Lola Creton in particular playing the heartbroken Camille to perfection. Outstanding film. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.