La bataille du rail Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		3.5

La bataille du rail Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 4, 2011

Screened at the first Cannes Film Festival, Rene Clement's "La bataille du rail" a.k.a. "The Battle of the Rails" (1946) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors INA Editions. The supplemental features on the disc include a discussion with film historian Sylvie Lindeperg; extract from Michel Dumoulin's documentary "Alekan la memoire ou des histoires de cinema" about the legendary French cinematographer; Rene Clement's short film "Ceux du rail" (1943); original French theatrical trailer; stills and original storyboards; posters; and more. In French and German, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

It's time to derail!

There are a number of interesting similarities between Rene Clement’s La bataille du rails (The Battle of the Rails) and Jean-Pierre Melville’s L’armee des ombres (Army of Shadows) -- both films are about French Resistance fighters clashing with the German Army, have distinctive documentary look and feel, and prolonged scenes that are dialog-free; both films are also infused with plenty of fatalism.

La bataille du rails, however, is not as well-polished and carefully paced as L’armee des ombres. In terms of style, it resembles the works of the Italian neo-realists, and in particular the early films of Roberto Rossellini. Its narrative is also not as intimate as that of L’armee des ombres -- various characters come and go without a trace, making it incredibly difficult for the viewer to become emotionally attached to them.

The resistance practice is also largely drained of glamour. For example, most of the scenes where ordinary French workers are seen sabotaging the transportation of German military equipment focus on various technical details. Even the spectacular finale -- featuring a massive train wreck -- feels far less glamorous and enthusiastic than it should. Unlike L’armee des ombres, however, La bataille du rails ends on a positive note.

The film opens with ordinary workers and engineers organizing themselves and consequently initiating a series of acts meant to disrupt military equipment delivery for the German Army -- tracks are routinely ruined and various machines damaged. At one point, a crane is brought to assist a repair crew with plenty of people in it willing to help the members of the Resistance -- and one of them destroys it.

A German officer requests a second crane, much bigger than the first one. While everyone is waiting for it to arrive, a group of partisans plan a bold operation -- they will redirect and derail an entire train somewhere in the mountains. Phones immediately start ringing and unnamed characters begin preparations for the attack. Some of the workers leave and join the partisans.

Various short conversations reveal exactly how and where the train will be derailed. Many of the men who will participate in the operation have never before held a weapon but are genuinely excited to confront the enemy. Some ask strange questions, others provide even stranger answers.

The train wreck is massive. It is the events after it, however, that matter the most. The news about the attack spreads like fire and reports about other German convoys retreating start coming in. Someone announces that the English have begun bombing certain areas and that the Americans are literally only a few hundred miles away. An elderly man hangs the French flag.

La bataille du rails features striking cinematography by the legendary Henri Alekan, who has contributed to such classics as Abel Gance’s Vénus aveugle (1941), Jean Cocteau’s La belle et la bête (1946), Jules Dassin’s Topkapi (1964), and Wim Wenders’ Der Himmel über Berlin.

*La bataille du rails was screened at the first Cannes Film Festival in 1946, where it won both Best Director Award and the International Jury Prize. A year later, the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics also recognized it with a Best Film Award.

La bataille du rail Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.36:1, encoded with MPEG-4 and granted a 1080/50i transfer, Rene Clement's La bataille du rail arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors INA Editions.

Though not as impressive as many of the Criterion, Eureka Entertainment, BFI, and Gaumont restored classics we saw arriving on Blu-ray in 2010, this is still a very pleasant, and much needed, release. A restored version of La bataille du rail was screened during Cannes Classics in 2004, where various previously lost or newly restored important films typically appear before they get limited reruns in cinemas, and I must speculate that this release must have been sourced from it because it represents a dramatic upgrade in quality when compared to the old Facets Video R1 SDVD release.

Still, there are various limitations with the presentation. For example, there are minor contrast fluctuations throughout the entire film - the daylight scenes look quite strong but a few scenes at the end of the film look a bit too dark. Some small frame transition issues are also present, though none are really overly distracting. The color-scheme is rather good - the whites and grays look much stronger here than they do on the R1 SDVD release, though some of the blacks occasionally look pale. Light grain is very easy to spot during a number of scenes, but partial noise corrections have obviously been applied. Still, I find this transfer a lot more serviceable and easy to tolerate than the one Facets Video used for their R1 SDVD release (and I don't refer to the resolution upgrade). For the record, there are no serious stability issues, but there are various small warps that occasionally pop up here and there, as well as a few small scratches. All in all, unless Criterion gains access to the restored version of La bataille du rail and produces a Region-A Blu-ray release - which, at the moment, I think is quite unlikely - this French release should be regarded as the definitive presentation of Rene Clement's film. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

La bataille du rail Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Bluj-ray disc: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with portions of German). For the record, INA Editions have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

The audio treatment mirrors the video treatment - the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is pleasing but also somewhat inconsistent. Generally speaking, the dialog is stable, clean, and very easy to follow. Quite a few scenes, however, contain light background hiss. On a positive side, there are no pops or audio dropouts. Yves Baudrier's soundtrack has also benefited from the loseless treatment. The English translation is also very well done.

La bataille du rail Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Le film annonce d'origine (1946) - the original French trailer for La bataille du rail, produced after the film's success at the Cannes Film Festival. In French, not subtitled (3 min, PAL).

• La bataille du rail: du realisme au legendaire (2010) - film historian Sylvie Lindeperg (Ecrans de l'ombre, la Seconde Guerre mondiale dans le cinema francais (1944-1969)), discusses the significance of La bataille du rail. In French, not subtitled. (34 min, PAL).

• "Ceux du rail" de Rene Clement (1943) - a short film by Rene Clement following 24 hours from the life of a locomotive mechanic working the Marseille-Nice line. In French, not subtitled. (17 min, PAL)

• Henri Alekan (1988) - an extract from Michel Dumoulin's documentary "Alekan la memoire ou des histoires de cinema" about the legendary French cinematographer. In French, not subtitled. (7 min, PAL).

• Un cheminot parmi les autres (1945) - archival footage from the funeral of French railway worker and Resistance member Michel Dumoulin. In French, not subtitled. (3 min, PAL).

• Les dossiers de l'ecran (1969) - a series of discussions about the French Resistance and some of its most important figures. In French, not subtitled. (93 min, PAL).

• La galerie -
  
  -- Photos de tournage - a collection of stills from the film. (1080/50i).
  -- Affiches - various posters and promo cards. (1080/50i).
  -- Story-board - a collection of stills with the original storyboards used during the pre-production of the film. (1080/50i).
  -- Le catalogue (INA Editions) - an illustrated catalog with other INA Editions releases. (1080/50i).

La bataille du rail Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Despite the fact that there is obviously some room for improvement with the presentation of Rene Clement's La bataille du rail, I am very pleased to have this Blu-ray disc in my library. All previous releases of the film that I have seen have been quite poor, and INA Editions' release definitely represents a substantial upgrade in quality. If you are interested in classic French cinema, you should consider adding La bataille du rail to your collections. RECOMMENDED.