Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

La Poison Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 1, 2017

Sacha Guitry's "La Poison" a.k.a. "Poison" (1951) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include Dominique Maillet's documentary "On Life on Screen: Miseries and Splendor of a Monarch"; exclusive new video interview with director Olivier Assayas; and an episode of the French program Cineaste de notre temps. The release also arrives with 1 20-page illustrated booklet featuring professor Ginette Vincendeau's essay "La poison -- or, How to Kill Your Wife", Francois Truffaut's article "The Mischievous Sacha Guitry", and technical credits. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The man with the plan

The legendary Michel Simon (Boudu Saved From Drowning) is Paul Braconnier, an aging man who has a difficult time living under the same roof with his wife (Germaine Reuver, Mademoiselle Has Fun). She is a shockingly unattractive and constantly inebriated old-fashioned woman who can’t stop heckling Paul, which is why he can’t stop thinking about getting rid of her. What Paul does not know is that his wife has also had enough of him, which is why she has purchased a small bag of rat poison from the local chemist. She plans to mix some of the poison with his dinner and then watch him die.

But before his wife can kill him, Paul travels to Paris to consult with a famous lawyer (Jean Debucourt, The Earrings of Madame de...) about all the small details that will later on determine whether he remains a free man or goes to jail. Having just recorded his one-hundredth acquittal, the lawyer approaches Paul’s case with great interest, assuming that he has already killed his wife -- and ends up describing to Paul everything he needs to know to have the perfect murder. Overflowing with joy, Paul thanks the lawyer and then immediately heads back home to kill his wife.

This deliciously subversive comedy from the great Sacha Guitry is divided into two somewhat uneven parts. The first targets all sorts of different stereotypes about family life while Guitry follows closely Simon’s miserable character. By the time he meets the famous lawyer, Guitry makes a credible case that he is indeed a victim whose life and dignity ought to be restored -- with a murder.

The second part is an anarchist’s wet dream -- after the action moves to the courtroom, Guitry unleashes an impressive attack on French morality and ethics that ultimately transforms the killer into a national hero. This is done with such a dry sense of humor that one really has to wonder whether Guitry was in fact shooting only a comedy. The approach is truly quite brilliant, because as ridiculous some of the killer’s arguments may sound, they surely force one to seriously ponder the beliefs and methods of those who represent and enforce the law.

Simon is spectacular as the frustrated villager who tries to design the perfect murder. His first encounter with the famous lawyer, in particular, is absolutely hilarious. It is one of many sequences in the film where Guitry brilliantly changes roles to prove that morals and ethics are bendable.

Reuver also leaves a lasting impression as the abusive housewife who cannot stop drinking. In real life she was a beautiful, enormously elegant woman, but in La poison she is ugly and genuinely frustrating, the type of woman that could inspire a man to do a serious mistake. (Because the film so openly sides with Simon’s character, towards the end of his life Guitry was often an easy target for a lot of feminists in France).

The legendary French actor Louis de Funès (La grande vadrouille, Le Gendarme et les extra-terrestres) has a small cameo in La poison as well.

The film was lensed by the great cinematographer Jean Bachelet, who also collaborated with Jean Renoir on his The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936) and The Rules of the Game (1939). The simple but beautiful music score was composed by Louiguy, one of the two creative minds behind Édith Piaf’s beloved La Vie en rose.

La Poison Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Sacha Guitry's La Poison arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"This high-definition digital restoration was made from a 35mm fine-grain positive at Eclair Laboratories. The original monaural soundtrack was transferred from the 35mm optical soundtrack positive and restored by L.E. Diapason.

Transfer supervisor: Andre Labbouz/Gaumont, Paris.
Colorist: Giovanni Zimolo/Eclair Laboratories, Vanves, France."

The release is sourced from the same master that was prepared for French label Gaumont and Eureka Entertainment accessed when they produced the Region-B release of La Poison, which we review here in 2013. I did some direct comparisons between these releases and could not see any obvious discrepancies to address. The bulk of the film looks quite good, but again there are areas where grain fluctuations are rather easy to see; the same light though mostly insignificant sharpening traces are retained as well. On a very larger screens it also becomes easy to see that during some of the most prominent image fluctuations the grain struggles with light noise. In other words, without some of these minor anomalies the end result clearly would have been even more convincing. Image stability is very good. There are no distracting large debris, cuts, damage marks, stains, or warps to report. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

La Poison Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Depth, clarity, and fluidity remain pleasing but the dynamic range is rather limited, though mostly in areas where some of the dialog appears to have been recorded with minor native fluctuation. Still, there is nothing that would affect negatively your viewing experience. There are no digital anomalies to report.

La Poison Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Olivier Assayas - in this new video interview, director Olivier Assayas (Clouds of Sils Maria, Personal Shopper) explains why he believes that Sacha Guitry is one of the great masters of French cinema and discusses some of the unique qualities of his work. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in New York City in 2016. In English, not subtitled. (17 min, 1080p).

• On Life on Screen: Miseries and Splendor of a Monarch - a fantastic documentary film by Dominique Maillet focusing on the life and legacy of Sacha Guitry. The documentary features interviews with writer and film historian Henry Gidel, film historian Claude Gauteur, novelist and French Cinema expert Alain Decaux, director Jean Becker, and writer and director Raoul Sangla. The documentary was produced exclusively for Gaumont in 2010. In French, with optional English subtitles. (61 min, 1080p).

• Cineaste de notre temps - this episode of the French program Cineaste de notre temps takes a closer look at the image and legacy of Sacha Guitry. Included in it are archival interviews with producer and director André Labarthe (Hitchcock & Ford), actors Michel Simon and Jeanne Fusier-Gir, director Christian Jaque (Fanfan La Tulipe), and producer Gilbert Bokanowski (If Paris Were Told to Us), among others. In French, with optional English subtitles. (67 min, 1080p).

• Booklet - 20-page illustrated booklet featuring professor Ginette Vincendeau's essay "La poison -- or, How to Kill Your Wife", Francois Truffaut's article "The Mischievous Sacha Guitry" (originally published as a newspaper obituary for writer-director Sacha Guitry in 1957), and technical credits.

La Poison Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This delicious dark comedy from master director Sacha Guitry is also one of the most effective cinematic condemnations of the French legal system to emerge after the end of WW2. The great Michel Simon plays to perfection a frustrated villager who designs a brilliant plan to get rid of his alcoholic and unbearably obnoxious wife, fully unaware that she has also been working hard to prepare his 'accidental' death. Criterion's upcoming release is sourced from a good but somewhat inconsistent master that was created for French label Gaumont a few years ago. RECOMMENDED.