Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Icy Breasts Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 14, 2021

Georges Lautner's "Icy Breasts" (1974) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The only bonus feature on the disc is an exclusive new audio commentary that was recorded by critics Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson. In French or English, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Some of the vintage posters for Georges Lautner’s thriller Icy Breasts (Les seins de glace) are quite misleading because they effectively place the spotlight on Alain Delon and Mireille Darc. The former does have an important part in the film, but he isn’t its star. The film focuses on a complex relationship between Darc and Claude Brasseur, with Delon appearing toward the end to reshape it for a couple of reasons that should not be revealed. So, an odd choice to place Delon and Darc on these posters while avoiding Brasseur? Maybe. Or maybe not.

It makes sense that Delon was featured prominently on these posters because in the 1970s, when Icy Breasts was completed, he easily packed theaters all across Europe, so this was clearly a smart marketing move. Brasseur had an excellent reputation in France, but he did not have the same international star power Delon enjoyed. On the other hand, this smart marketing move was also a very risky move that likely changed some well-established perceptions about Delon’s acting choices and particularly the expectation that he would always be a leading man in France. (There were other films before Icy Breasts where Delon shared the spotlight with big stars, like Red Sun and Scorpio, but they were international productions. In France, Delon was always the main attraction).

Why is the above information important?

It is important because with the exception of Red Sun and The Concorde: Airport ‘79 all of the films Delon made during the 1970s were structured in a very similar manner, with Delon typically having as much and frequently even greater influence on their stylistic appearance and identity than the man behind the camera. In other words, Delon made films that he approved of and strengthened his star image, and Icy Breasts is not that kind of a film.

The leading man in this film is Brasseur, who plays a romantic middle-aged loner that falls madly in love with a middle-aged woman (Darc) after they meet on a desolated beach in Nice. They begin dating, but some very dark pieces from the woman’s past complicate their relationship and eventually the loner becomes trapped in a very odd murder conspiracy. An old friend of the woman who happens to be a well-respected lawyer (Delon) vows to keep her safe, but his efforts backfire and a deranged killer goes after her and then her lover.

The original material for the film came from Richard Matheson’s novel Someone is Bleeding, which is about the gradual deterioration of a person with dissociative identity disorder. The film places a much greater emphasis on the murder conspiracy, but this is essentially unavoidable because it is the only way in which the detailed mental overlapping that is chronicled in the novel can have the same significance in it. Unfortunately, the moving pieces of the murder conspiracy and the mental overlapping not only do not produce an attractive story, but make it awfully difficult for the three stars to shape up its identity.

Could this be the reason why Delon does not have that familiar overpowering presence? It appears so. Lautner’s direction bridges the murder conspiracy and the mental overlapping in a very unconvincing manner and ultimately creates the impression that Delon’s character is welcomed only because he is needed to bring in closure. Delon’s character should have had a different purpose, and it is practically guaranteed that it is why he committed to play the character. The lawyer’s entrance should have occurred earlier and after a very intricate buildup where the audience is left guessing whether the events in the film are real or imaginary. The lawyer would have reset the entire film and then legitimized the drama before the finale. As directed by Lautner, the film uses the lawyer only to unnecessarily prolong what has been obvious for quite some time.

Icy Breasts Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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

The technical presentation is frustrating. The film was apparently remastered in 4K, but it is very oddly graded and actually looks like it needs a brand new remastering job. As you can tell from the screencaptures that we have included with our review, various primaries are desaturated across the board and most visuals look very flat and anemic. There are areas where fine nuances are completely lost by heavy crushing and depth is quite problematic (see screencaptures #4, 11, 14, and 15). Predictably, the native dynamic range of the visuals is unconvincing as well, with some areas actually creating the false impression that some heavy denoising has been applied (see screencapture #20). Needless to say, all of this is very unfortunate because it is easy to see that the film could have looked vibrant and very healthy on Blu-ray (see screencapture #12). Image stability is excellent. My score is 2.75/5.00. (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).

Icy Breasts Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the French track.

I tested both tracks and found them equally unconvincing. It is easier to understand why the English track is quite average -- the English dubbing simply isn't very good. But the French track, which ought to be considered the original track, is pretty uneven and anemic as well. Philippe Sarde's score can sound quite thin, though my guess is that this is likely how the audio is mixed in the 1970s.

Icy Breasts Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this exclusive audio commentary was recorded by critics Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson. The bulk of the information addresses the film's conception and the original material that inspired it, the drama that is chronicled in it, Georges Lautner's body of work, and Alain Delon's career. As usual, there is plenty of extra information about genre films.

• Cover - reversible cover with vintage poster art.

Icy Breasts Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Even if you are a very forgiving admirer of Alain Delon's work, approach Icy Breasts with caution because it is the weakest film he made during the 1970s. I don't know exactly how he became involved with it. This was a period when Delon usually picked his roles, but it is pretty hard to believe that in its current form the film is as it was described to him. My guess is that Georges Lautner completely mishandled the original material from Richard Matheson's novel, but Delon still did his part and then moved on. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from an unconvincing 4K master that was supplied by StudioCanal.