8.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 5.0 | |
Overall | 5.0 |
24 hours in the lives of three young men in the French suburbs the day after a violent riot.
Starring: Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé, Saïd Taghmaoui, Abdel Ahmed Ghili, Benoît MagimelDrama | 100% |
Foreign | 70% |
Crime | 21% |
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, 24-bit)
French: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Region B (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 5.0 |
Mathieu Kassovitz's "La Haine" (1995) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of the British Film Institute. The supplemental features on the release include vintage promotional materials; short films; documentaries; archival audio commentary by the director; and more. Also included with the release is an 80-page book featuring new essays by Kaleem Aftab and Ginette Vincendeau, an interview with Mathieu Kassovitz, archival essays and reviews, technical credits, and more. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
Heavy head
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, La Haine arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of the BFI.
The release is sourced from a new 4K master that was supervised by director of photography Pierre Aïm. It offers the healthiest presentation of La Haine that I have seen to date. (We have reviewed three different Blu-ray releases on the site, and I actually still have two even older DVD releases in my library). The most notable improvements are in the following areas: clarity, sharpness, and grayscale. However, before I address the improvements, I would like to clarify a few things so that you know exactly what to expect when you put the Blu-ray disc in your player. First, there is plenty of inherited softness plus some slightly out-of-focus visuals and they are integral parts of the film's 'raw' appearance. (You can see an obvious example in screencapture #20). Additionally, in some areas there are light crushing effects, but they are introduced by the manner in which light is captured by the camera. You will be able to spot them primarily in darker/nighttime footage (see screencapture #27). In some areas the grain can be slightly overexposed and/or appear a tad noisy as well. My guess is that in native 4K these particular fluctuations will be extremely difficult to spot because of the superior density levels that typically ensure a 'tighter' overall appearance, but I have not seen the new 4K Blu-ray release of La Haine.
I did direct comparisons with the North American release from Criterion and the discrepancy in the density levels between the two is immediately recognizable. This isn't surprising because these releases were sourced from masters that were struck from different elements -- the OCN for the BFI release, and a fine-grain master positive for the Criterion release. Also, now there are more fine nuances that are easy to recognize, but as I pointed out above the native fluctuations that introduce softness and crushing -- or at least what is easy to perceive as crushing -- remain. (See screencapture #5). Depth is better, but do not expect a dramatic difference because organic light routinely enters the visuals completely unobstructed. The grayscale is more convincing, which is another improvement I expected to see in a new 4K master, and it is one of the main reasons why all visuals have stronger organic appearance. There are no traces of age-related imperfections. So, as far as Blu-ray is concerned, I think that this is pretty much the optimal presentation of La Haine that you can get. My score is 4.75/5.00. (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).
There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.
With this particular film, I think that the LPCM 2.0 track might be the one to use, but some viewers may disagree. To be perfectly clear, I think that the 5.1 track serves the film just as well, but given the organic nature of the production, I have always felt that maybe the 2.0 was the slightly better option. Clarity, sharpness, and stability are outstanding. There are no encoding anomalies to report.
BLU-RAY DISC ONE
This two-disc set of La Haine from the BFI could have been better only if it had a 4K Blu-ray disc so that we can see the new 4K restoration that was prepared to celebrate the film's 25th anniversary in its native resolution. I still think that it is fantastic because it offers the healthiest technical presentation of the film to date, plus it has all of the interesting archival bonus features that did not make it on the first release from Optimum Home Entertainment. If you decide to pick it up for you library, please keep it in mind that it is Region-B "locked". VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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