Justin de Marseille Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Justin de Marseille Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 18, 2019

Maurice Tourneur's "Justin From Marseilles" (1935) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Pathe. The supplemental features on the disc include a recent interview with director Bertrand Tavernier; video introduction of the recent restoration of the film; and a featurette with information about the life and cinematic legacy of Maurice Tourneur. In French, with optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Esposito, I am still alive.

Unless you are French or have an extensive knowledge of the history of crime activity in France, you will need a little bit of help to understand exactly what Maurice Tourneur was trying to accomplish with this film. I did too. So, I would like to point out a couple of details that place the events that are chronicled in the film in a proper context.

The first is the location, Marseilles, which is the biggest Mediterranean port city in France. Over the years virtually all big gangs in the country that were involved in the drug business had a representation here. In fact, many still do, though now the business isn’t as centralized as it was immediately after WW2 ended. In the film Tourneur shows how the first shipments were smuggled into the city and then as their volume grew violence became a fact of life there.

Another is the ethnic division that existed between the gangs. In the early days it was mostly the French vs. the Italians, plus some smaller oriental groups that were bringing in product from North Africa and the Far East. Some maintained good relationships and managed to work together for a long time, but as the market expanded they started competing with bigger gangs from as far away as Paris that also wanted a piece of the action and eventually the turf wars started. The two rivaling characters in the film, Justin (Antonin Berval) and Esposito (Alexandre Rignault), are actually inspired by real gangsters that were also engaged in a battle for superiority after the drug business exploded.

The gangsters that called Marseilles home were not of the flashy type that ruled the streets of Chicago. (In fact, there is a short segment in the film where the Chicago boys are referenced precisely because they were a different breed). At least in the early days the majority of them came to the city from the countryside and loved to mingle with the crowds -- crime was just a job that allowed them to provide for their families like everyone else did. The outsiders, as the foreigners were described, weren’t any different and blended in just as easily.

Back to the film now. It is part romantic melodrama, part old-fashioned thriller that offers a fairly credible description of Marseilles as a crime city without trying to cause panic. In fact, occasionally Tourneur adds a satiric edge to the key conflicts that essentially invalidates the dangerous and ugly that are actually beginning to define the city. In other words, the film does have a dual identity which ensures that it would appeal to viewers that are expecting more casual entertainment from it, but on the other hand there is no doubt that it is also quite the eye-opener because it correctly identifies the future fate of the city. This is basically what makes it special.

There is a very good sublot that involves a young and ambitious pimp (Armand Larcher) and his naïve ‘girlfriend’ (Ghislaine Bru) who both learn important lessons while incorrectly assuming that the other is always telling the truth. At the end Tourneur also effectively uses it to underscore what was highlighted earlier about the gangsters and their willingness to be grouped with the masses.

The film has a very interesting soundtrack that was created by French composer Jacques Ibert, whose famous flute concerto is considered one of the best of its kind.

*Pathe’s recent Blu-ray release of Justin From Marseilles is sourced from a 2K restoration of the film that was completed at L’immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, Italy. The film’s original soundtrack was also exclusively restored by Digimage in Paris.

Justin de Marseille Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Maurice Tourneur's Justin From Marseilles arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Pathe.

The film has been reconstructed and fully restored in 2K by L'immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, Italy, and I think that it looks fantastic on Blu-ray. Apparently multiple elements were accessed during the reconstruction and this is easy to tell because there are a few minor but obvious density fluctuations, but I think that the team that worked on this project did a magnificent job because the the final product has a very solid organic appearance. In fact, depth is consistently excellent and there are all sorts of wonderful nuances that are not always easy to spot on remasters and restorations of more recent films. Grain is nicely exposed and resolved. The grading is also very convincing -- there are proper ranges of blacks, whites, and grays that appear wonderfully balanced. Image stability is excellent. Finally, there are absolutely no distracting age-related imperfections to report. Wonderful presentation. My score if 4.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Justin de Marseille Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English and French SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The original elements that the folks at Digimage were given to work with were apparently in pretty poor condition and as a result there is some light but permanent deterioration in the upper register that is noticeable during a few segments. However, clarity and stability remain very good. There are no audio dropouts to report.

Justin de Marseille Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Retrospective de la carriere de Maurice Tourneur par Bertrand Tavernier - in this featurette, director Bertrand Tavrnier discusses the career and cinematic legacy of Maurice Tourneur as well as Justin From Marseilles. In French, not subtitled. (33 min).

• Presentation du film par Bertrand Tavernier - in this featurette, director Bertrand Tavernier introduces the recent restoration of Justin From Marseilles. In French, not subtitled. (17 min).

• Discussion autout du film par Philippe Meyer et Bertrand Tavernier - in this featurette, director Bertrand Tavernier and writer Philippe Meyer discuss Justin From Marseilles. In French, not subtitled. (14 min).

Justin de Marseille Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

What I recognize in Maurice Tourneur's film is an attempt to offer a credible cinematic description of what was becoming of Marseilles in the early 1930s as well as the type of people that were driving the transformation. On the other hand, this isn't a hard-edged crime film that seeks to hit the panic button. It actually channels plenty of old-fashioned melodrama and at times even reveals bits of that biting humor that a few decades later the Italian directors will routinely deploy in their Commedia all'italiana films. I like it quite a lot, and I think that it is great that Pathe decided to fully restore it. This recent release is Region-Free and English-friendly, so if you enjoy these types of early French films definitely get a copy for your collection while you still can. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.