7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.9 |
This story is set in 1930, at the time when French colonial rule in Indochina is ending. An unmarried French woman who works in the rubber fields, raises a Vietnamese princess as if she was her own daughter. She, and her daughter both fall in love with a young French army officer, which will change both their lives significantly.
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Perez, Linh-Dan Pham, Jean Yanne, Dominique BlancForeign | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region B (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Winner of Oscar Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Regis Wargnier's "Indochine" (1992) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy fo StudioCanal. The only bonus feature on the disc is Dominique Maillet's new documentary film "Indochine: Une Epopee a la Francaise". In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
"Jean-Baptiste, there is still time for this not to happen..."
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Regis Wargnier's Indochine arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal.
Indochine was scanned in 4K and restored frame by frame by L'Immagine Ritrovata in 2016. The new restoration was supervised by director Regis Wargnier.
I did some direct comparisons with the old R1 DVD release of Indochine from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and can confirm that the improvements in terms of detail, clarity, and depth are beyond dramatic. There are entire sections of the film where now it is actually very easy to see substantial detail that is not present on the DVD release. Fluidity is also outstanding. Primary colors and nuances are stabilized and expanded. In specific sections where previously highlights were completely wiped out and blacks severely crushed now there are new well defined details and nuances. The film is color graded in a very unique way that gives it a notably warm appearance, but I feel that there are some areas where the blacks should have been stronger, and perhaps the reds and browns slightly more prominent. The green/golden font and hues are clearly preserved, but I think that contrast levels and specifically their relationship with the black levels could have been slightly better balanced. Still, the end result is very pleasing and vastly superior, and the overall viewing experience is mow dramatically different. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
*Also included with our review are screencaptures from the old R1 DVD release of Indochine. They appear after the screencapture of the Blu-ray menu.
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit). Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.
The audio has been fully remastered and as a result clarity and especially balance are now vastly superior. I did some comparisons with lossy track from the DVD release and in addition to expanded depth and clarity balance is now much better during the mass action scenes. Rather predictably, Patrick Doyle's lush score is much more effective as well. There are no mastering/digital errors to report.
This very beautiful and quite moving period drama from Regis Wargnier was recently restored in 4K under the director's supervision. Last year, it was screened in the Classics section of the Cannes Film Festival and I could not wait for it to transition to Blu-ray. I imported the earlier French release, but this release is a replica of it. The only difference is in the packaging, but both are manufactured and distributed by StudioCanal. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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