La Garce Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

La Garce Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf October 19, 2023

1984’s “La Garce” looks to be a Hitchcockian mystery about sexual obsession and criminal activity, but it mostly registers a B-movie from Verhoeven. Co-writer/director Christine Pascal looks to challenge viewers with an uncomfortable understanding of manipulation and poor impulse control, offering an unseemly tale of a bad cop who can’t shake a terrible woman out of his system. It’s a classic understanding of temptation given a distinct French spin by Pascal, who delivers ideal strangeness with “La Garce,” but comes up short when it comes to a more fulfilling study of corrupt behavior.

Lucien (Richard Berry) is a cop who discovers a woman in need late one night. Aline (Isabelle Huppert) is encountering trouble with a man, taking refuge in Lucien’s car, with the pair’s uneasy energy leading to a sexual assault. Six years later, Lucien is released from prison, taking a job as a private investigator, tasked with understanding more about a claim concerning stolen fashion designs. The trail leads him to a clothing shop run by Aline, who’s transformed into “Edith,” renewing obsessive interests from Lucien. Setting out to understand Aline’s motives and return to her presence, Lucien finds himself in the dangerous game of power as Max (Vittorio Mezzogiorno), a local gangster, also seeks possession of the mysterious woman.

“La Garce” opens with the initial encounter between Aline and Lucian, with the young women seeking protection after experiencing a violent moment with Max. Lucian provides a safe space and heat for the cold passenger, with the encounter growing ugly as the cop decides to rape Aline on the hood of his car. Pascal plays with the tone of this encounter, adding uneasiness and a sense of confusion as anger turns into lust, with lust turning into a lengthy stint in prison for Lucian when he discovers Aline is a 17-year-old orphan.

The picture becomes a more traditional detective story as Lucian exits prison, put on a seemingly simple case, only to have his life blown up again after a fresh encounter with Aline. “La Garce” isn’t too twisty, but there’s a lot of disease to help hold attention, including Lucian’s character arc, which finds the ex-cop abandoning his family after his time behind bars, and he’s unable to flush Aline out of his system, returning to her orbit in an odd revenge/reunion trance that’s meant to power suspense in the film. “La Garce” looks to build layers of deception and fixation, which is capably performed by Huppert and Berry, but what begins as a worrying understanding of passion becomes something ridiculous in the final act, and viewers, especially fans of erotic thrillers, are likely going to be way ahead of the screenplay.

La Garce Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.67:1 aspect ratio) presentation is listed as "newly scanned and restored in 4K" from the original 35mm camera negative. Textures are open for inspection throughout "La Garce," which offers wonderful skin particulars on the cast, exploring differences in age. Clothing is fibrous, especially with high fashion choices. Parisian tours are dimensional, providing a full sense of street life. Interiors are equally deep and defined. Colors are defined, offering rich primaries on style choices, and vibrant hues on decorative additions, including paint color. Skin tones are natural. Delineation is satisfactory. Grain is fine and film-like. Source is in good condition, with a minor amount of debris.

La Garce Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix handles the basic dramatic need of "La Garce" with clarity. Intelligibility is strong with dialogue exchanges. Jazzier scoring cues register well, with clear instrumentation. City atmospherics are appreciable.

La Garce Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Booklet (18 pages) contains essays by Steve Macfarlane, Jessica Felrice, and Alexandra Heller-Nicholas.

• Commentary features film historian Samm Deighan.

• Image Gallery (3:07) collects poster art, press book pages, lobby cards, and film stills.

• And a Trailer (1:00) is included.

La Garce Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"La Garce" plays with temperaments and gender power roles, which makes for compelling sequences as Aline and Lucian work to toy with each other, teasing feelings and levels of aggression. Pascal has more of a noir-ish maze in mind than a deep character study, leaving "La Garce" somewhat underwhelming, but certainly interesting when it makes time to inspect distorted lives.