7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
After thirty years together, a village gardener and his wife find themselves contemplating how to do away with each other, with the former even planning how he'll negotiate his eventual criminal trial.
Starring: Michel Simon, Jean Debucourt, Jacques Varennes, Jeanne Fusier-Gir, Germaine ReuverForeign | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
French: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
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
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).
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.
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.
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