In the House Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

In the House Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 6, 2013

Nominated for six Cesar Awards, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Original Music, François Ozon's "Dans la maison" a.k.a. "In the House" (2012) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Momentum Pictures/Entertainment One. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; bloopers; making of featurette; deleted scenes; and more. In French, with optional English and English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Here's the problem...

German (Fabrice Luchini, Paris, Casanova's Return), the main protagonist in Francois Ozon’s latest film (adapted from a play by Juan Mayorga), is a high-school teacher who is very comfortable with his career. In his free time he likes to write, but he has come to realize that he isn’t good enough to get his work published.

Jeanne (Kristin Scott Thomas, In Your Hands, Only God Forgives), German’s wife, runs a local art gallery which has not been too successful. Because sales have been progressively dwindling, Jeanne has started worrying about her job. But German has assured her that even if the gallery closes they will still be able to make ends meet with his salary.

German’s life changes dramatically when Claude Garcia (Ernst Umhauer, Le moine), a 16-year-old student from his literature class, turns in an unusual paper. In it Claude describes the perfect family with their perfect house which he has been secretly dreaming about. Claude also carefully describes how he plans to enter the house and begin spending time with the family that lives there. The paper is so good that German meets Claude in private and encourages him to continue writing because he has exactly the type of talent that could transform him into a successful writer. German also encourages his student to expand his descriptions of his plan in a series of papers which he would like to read and critique. Soon after, the papers start coming in, and late at night German and Jeanne read them. They are so entertaining that the two could barely wait until the new one shows up. However, gradually the papers become surprisingly provocative, and then unusually explicit.

In the House is brilliantly scripted and directed. Initially it creates the impression that it will follow a familiar route, but then it introduces a series of fascinating character transformations that completely change its tone and atmosphere. The initial roles and goals of its protagonists are also effectively redefined.

A secondary plot is introduced after German and Jeanne begin reading Claude’s papers. In it fantasy and reality are brilliantly intertwined, forcing the viewer in a guessing mode essentially until the final credits roll.

At times the twists – built around some terrific manipulations – come abruptly and for a short period of time it feels like the film gets cluttered with too much, but Ozon carefully redirects the story and then lets the actors restore the balance. There are various episodes during the second half of the film where this particular scenario is repeated multiple times.

Luchini and Scott Thomas are brilliant together. In fact, the subversive elements in the story are as effective as they are precisely because the two actors are so at ease with each other in front of the camera. Umhauer looks appropriately brittle at first and then completely unpredictable. The beautiful Emmanuelle Seigner is also very convincing as the disillusioned housewife who is presented with a difficult dilemma.

In the House was lensed by cinematographer Jerome Almeras (Philippe Claudel’s I've Loved You So Long, Ismael Ferroukhi’s Free Men). The film's soundtrack was composed by Philippe Rombi (Ozon's Criminal Lovers, Swimming Pool, Angel).

Note: Last year, In the House won the prestigious Golden Seashell Award for Best Film and the Prize of the Jury at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.

In the House 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, Francois Ozon's In the House arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Momentum Pictures/Entertainment One.

The high-definition transfer is excellent. Detail, clarity and image depth are terrific during the indoor footage as well as during the outdoor sequences where natural light is always prominent. Contrast levels remains stable from start to finish. There is a wide range of excellent, very well saturated warm natural colors. There are no serious compression anomalies to report in this review. Also, overall image stability is outstanding. Projected, the film remains tight around the edges and there are absolutely no sharpness fluctuations whatsoever. All in all, this is a very strong presentation of In the House that should please its fans. (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).

In the House Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French LPCM 2.0. Also included is an English Audio Descriptive track (LPCM 2.0). For the record, Momentum Pictures have included optional English and English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The lossless 5.1 track has an outstanding range of nuanced dynamics. There are a number of sequences where Philippe Rombi's energetic orchestral score is carefully used to enhance the film's dramatic atmosphere that sound fantastic. (The piano theme is fabulous). Clarity and depth, in particular, are very good. The dialog is always crisp, clean, stable, and exceptionally easy to follow. The English translation is excellent.

In the House Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Costume and Lighting Tests - with music only. (3 min, 1080p).

• Bloopers - a collection of bloopers. The majority of the really good ones are with Kristin Scott Thomas. In French, with optional English subtitles. (11 min, 1080p).

• Premiere at the Grand Rex - raw from the film's screening with on-stage comments from the cast and director Francois Ozon. In French, with optional English subtitles. (7 min).

• Poster Concepts - with music. (2 min, 1080p).

• Deleted Scenes - a collection of deleted scenes. Also includes is a short text-format description from director Francois Ozon. In French, with optional English subtitles. (13 min).

• Making of - standard featurette with raw footage from the shooting of the film and various practice sessions. There is some great footage with the crucial kissing sequence. In French, with optional English subtitles. (52 min).

In the House Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In the House is the best film Francois Ozon has directed since Time to Leave. I enjoyed every single minute of it. Momentum Pictures/Entertainment One's technical presentation is wonderful - the film looks and sounds terrific on Blu-ray. If you enjoy intelligent and provocative films, do not miss this one. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.