Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 28, 2019

Jacques Brel remains one of the most lionized songwriters in the history of France, which may make it especially odd that he really isn’t all that well remembered here in the United States. Translations of Brel’s songs certainly made an impact on American charts through the years, with everything from “Seasons in the Sun”, “If You Go Away” and “If We Only Have Love” receiving generous amounts of airplay and (in some cases, anyway) a wide array of “cover” versions. But for many on this side of the pond, if they recognize Brel’s name at all, it could very well be courtesy of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, an off-Broadway revue of Brel material which opened in 1968 and became an unmitigated smash hit, running for several years to packed houses.

Unfortunately the unpretentious mien of the stage version is mostly jettisoned in this rather odd film adaptation, one that seems to have been influenced by what was at that point the “interstitial” success of hippie-fied musicals like Hair. Instead of simply filming the revue as it was presented originally, things have been pretty radically tweaked here, with an assortment of sometimes bizarre visuals accompanying songs, and some “meta” aspects (including a totally gonzo marionette performance) that really doesn’t mesh very well with the literate, often melodically understated, approach that Brel favored in his songs. The film at least preserves some of the vocal work of original cast members Elly Stone and Mort Shuman. Brel himself is also on hand as a kind of implied "overseer" (he's seen early on in an establishing moment in a theater), and he aslo performs "Ne Me Quitte Pas (If You Go Away)" (in French), which may be a calling card for some fans.

Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Classics, an imprint of Kino Lorber, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1 (there are a number of scenes where it looks like scanning wasn't straight on the frame, and so there's a tiny black border running down the left side of the image, as can be seen in some of the screenshots accompanying this review). Bret Wood mentions that a 2K restoration was done in 2017 in preparation for this Blu-ray release, and the results here are generally pleasing, though there are still pretty evident signs of age related wear and tear, and some fairly wide variances in clarity and detail levels. The palette looks nicely vivid throughout most of this presentation, and blues and reds especially pop with some authenticity. Fine detail levels are generally commendable in midrange and close-ups. Grain generally resolves well, though encounters a few isolated moments where it can look fairly chunky (divorced from understandable upticks in things like optical dissolves or the almost montage like opening credits sequence). Damage is pretty recurrent, with lots of dirt and white flecks intruding. There's also noticeable flicker that comes and goes.

Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris features a nice sounding LPCM 2.0 mono track that offers a full bodied representation of what is admittedly a kind of small scale score. Both vocals and instrumental accompaniment are rendered cleanly and clearly without any problems. Unfortunately this release comes without subtitles.

Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This release repeats some of the supplements found on other Kino Blu-ray versions of the American Film Theatre series.

• Audio Commentary by film historian Bret Wood, with Addison Wood is the first such commentary I've run across thus far in my travels through the American Film Theatre series on Blu-ray. Bret Wood is a producer for Kino Lorber who evidently was involved in both the DVD and Blu-ray releases of the film and he provides some really interesting background information, while also not shirking from what he perceives to be some of the film's deficits.


• Interview with Edie Landau (1080i; 26:16) is an extremely engaging sit down with Ely Landau's widow, with both general background information on their producing careers as well as some fun anecdotes about American Film Theatre's relatively brief existence.


• Ely Landau: In Front of the Camera (1080i; 6:30) is a perhaps unintentionally funny promotional piece that Landau evidently filmed to show subscribers at the end of the first season. Let's just say that it's obvious what a showman Landau was from even this brief piece.


• AFT Trailers

  Butley (1080i; 2:58)

  
  

  A Delicate Balance (1080i; 3:25)

  
  

  Galileo (1080i; 3:30)

  
  

  The Homecoming (1080i; 2:36)

  
  

  The Iceman Cometh (1080i; 2:38)

  
  

  Jacques Brel is Alive and Well. . . (1080i; 3:26)

  
  

  Lost in the Stars (1080i; 2:10)

  
  

  Luther (1080i; 2:31)

  
  

  The Maids (1080i; 3:06)

  
  

  The Man in the Glass Booth (1080i; 2:44)

  
  

  Rhinoceros (1080i; 1:55)

  
  

  Three Sisters (1080i; 2:43)

Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's kind of odd that American Film Theatre, a "franchise" that built its brief but formidable reputation on giving film audiences a taste of theatrical works in more or less their original forms should have departed so radically from the original conception of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris for this cinematic adaptation. The disconnect between Brel's often intimate songwriting and some over the top visuals is just flat out bizarre at times, and it should also probably be mentioned than none of the three main singers (nor Brel himself, frankly) has what might termed a traditional theater voice, so this is definitely more in the cabaret genre, albeit one evidently staged by Fellini (I'm joking, of course). Those with an interest in Brel may well want to check this out, and for them video is occasionally problematic but watchable, and audio is fine. The commentary is very interesting.