La Fièvre monte a El Pao Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

La Fièvre monte a El Pao Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 12, 2014

Luis Bunuel's "La fievre monte a El Pao" a.k.a. "Fever Mounts at El Pao" (1959) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Pathe. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; video interview with film historian and critic Charles Tesson; and new video program featuring interviews with writer Gerard Bonal, documentary filmmaker and writer Alain Ferrari, journalist and writer Olivier Barrot, and actor and writer Francis Huster, amongst others. In French, with optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Maria Felix

El Pao, the capital of the remote Atlantic island of Oieda. Ines Rojas (the stunningly beautiful Maria Felix, French Cancan, The Devil is a Woman), the wife of the island’s hugely unpopular governor (Miguel Angel Ferriz), is having an affair with Colonel Olivares (Roberto Canedo), who has just revealed to her that he is being transferred to Europe. As she rejects his invitation to join him, the governor’s right-hand man, Ramon Vasquez (Gerard Philipe, Beauty of the Devil, Such a Pretty Little Beach), a young idealist who can’t stand the fact that political prisoners and criminals are treated equally, arrives and announces that she is expected in the palace. Soon after she returns, the governor is assassinated.

Alejandro Gual (Jean Servais, Rififi, That Man From Rio) becomes the new governor. Almost immediately after he steps into his new office, Gual makes it clear that he is very interested in having a relationship with Ines. When the widow rejects his advances, he decides to make her life so miserable that she would have no other choice but to allow him to be her lover if she wishes to continue enjoying the privileges secured by her late husband.

Meanwhile, Vazquez openly questions Gual’s strict new prison regulations. His passion for justice impresses Ines and the two unite against Gual. Eventually, after Gual repeatedly attempts to compromise them, they also fall in love.

Life in beautiful El Pao changes dramatically after Vazquez meets a political prisoner (Domingo Soler) who reveals to him that a massive mutiny is planned in the capital’s only prison. The young idealist quickly concludes that the mutiny would be the perfect opportunity to get rid of Gual and attempt to change the political climate on the island. At the same time, frustrated by Ines’ constant rejections the governor decides that the widow is no longer worth pursuing and devises a cruel plan to punish her for her arrogance.

Completed by the great Luis Bunuel in 1959 (three years before the legendary The Exterminating Angel), La fievre monte a El Pao a.k.a. Fever Mounts at El Pao is a film with two different identities. On one hand, it is a moving period romantic piece about two people who fall in love with each other for different reasons. As they slowly come to realize what these reasons are, their lives spin out of control and they discover that they can no longer trust each other. On the other hand, Fever Mounts at El Pao also works well as a political drama which while promoting different extreme leftist (borderline anarchist) ideas manages to deliver some interesting observations about the price of freedom and the dangerous slippery slope idealists inevitably find themselves on.

Felix, the legendary Mexican beauty, infuses the film with eroticism that effectively counters the various political overtones. There is one rather short sequence where she is humiliated that also reveals Bunuel’s willingness to explore the dark side of desire. The camera isn’t as bold as it is in Belle de Jour, but the atmosphere is indeed very telling.

Philipe and Servais are very good in their respective roles. Unfortunately, this was Philipe’s last film. Not long after Fear Mounts at El Pao was completed, he died of liver cancer at the age of 36 in Paris.

The film's exotic soundtrack was created by the legendary Paul Misraki (Roger Vadim's ...And God Created Woman, Jacques Becker's Modigliani of Montparnasse).

La Fièvre monte a El Pao 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, Luis Bunuel's Fever Mounts at El Pao arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Pathe.

Restored in 2K by the Eclair Group, with the support of CNC, Fever Mounts at El Pao arrives on Blu-ray with a rather inconsistent high-definition transfer. Indeed, different portions of the film look quite good (see screencaptures #3 and 6), but there are also select sequences where traces of light denoising corrections are easy to spot. Some of the most obvious traces appear during large daylight panoramic shots (see screencapture #6) and select close-ups (see screencapture #9). Where light is typically restricted, these denoising corrections are quite difficult to spot. They become even more difficult to spot during normal playback, but sensitive viewers will likely spot their presence. (If I had to compare the corrections, I would say that they fit somewhere between those observed on The Murderer Lives at 21 and Les amants de Montparnasse, but the majority of the Fever Mounts at El Pao does look quite a bit better). This being said, contrast levels are consistently very pleasing. Image stability is also outstanding. Lastly, it is very easy to see that the debris, dirt, scratches, stains, and cuts have been removed as best as possible. All in all, my feelings on the technical presentation are somewhat mixed, leaning toward positive. I have never owned a decent English-friendly release of Fever Mounts at El Pao and the current presentation is indeed a dramatic upgrade in quality over the one DVD release that I have seen. So, as far as I am concerned the Blu-ray release is indeed quite a treat. On the other hand, it is disappointing to see fact that the new 2K restoration had to be tweaked before it transitioned to Blu-ray. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

La Fièvre monte a El Pao Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (dual mono). Also included on the disc is a French Descriptive Audio DTS 2.0 track. For the record, Pathe have provided optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature.

Restored by L.E. Diapason, the audio is indeed very good. The music score by Paul Misraki's has plenty of depth, while the dialog is stable, well rounded, and free of problematic background hiss. Also, there are no audio dropouts or distortions to report in this review. The English translation is very good.

La Fièvre monte a El Pao Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Gerard Philipe: L'idealiste - in this new video program, writer Gerard Bonal, documentary filmmaker and writer Alain Ferrari, journalist and writer Olivier Barrot, and actor and writer Francis Huster (La femme publique, The Dinner Game), amongst others, discuss Luis Bunuel and Gerard Philipe's one and only collaboration on Fever Mounts at El Pao). In French, not subtitled. (28 min).

• Luis Bunuel: Le melange des countraires - in this new video interview, film historian and critic Charles Tesson discusses the unique qualities of Luis Bunuel's Fever Mounts at El Pao. In French, not subtitled. (20 min).

• Film annonce - newly restored original trailer for Luis Bunuel's Fever Mounts at El Pao. In French, not subtitled. (4 min).

La Fièvre monte a El Pao Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Despite the fact that the technical presentation of Luis Bunuel's Fever Mounts at El Pao is not as convincing as it should have been, I chose Pathe's Blu-ray release as one of my favorite in 2013. The reason why is simple: Blu-ray releases of films with Maria Felix are very hard to come by and I've never had any decent English-friendly release of Fever Mounts at El Pao in my library. Going forward, I truly hope that Pathe would follow Gaumont's steps and adjust their standards accordingly. I have already looked at all but one of their recent Blu-ray releases of classic films and it is pretty obvious that there are people there who understand quality. It is time for these people to step up and start overseeing all upcoming releases.