Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

L' argent Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 11, 2017

Winner of Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Robert Bresson's "L'argent" (1983) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; filmed half-hour press conference from the Cannes Film Festival; and new video essay written and narrated by film scholar James Quandt. The release also arrives with a 40-page illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by critic Adrian Martin and a newly expanded archival interview with director Robert Bresson by critic Michel Cement. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Looks good

Pay close attention to the manner in which Robert Bresson positions and moves the camera throughout the film. In a crucial sequence it follows closely the counterfeit bill and then abruptly moves away from it to ‘see’ an entirely different event. In the Paris subway the camera is placed at a very specific location and left ‘waiting’ for the character that it has been following earlier to come back to it. There is another very interesting sequence towards the end where during a dramatic event Bresson pulls the camera away from it and forces it to ‘listen’ to the sounds and noises coming from the other side of the door that separates it from the action.

So what is happening here?

Two things. First, the positioning and the movement reflect a very precise vision of what cinema should be -- a mirror image of reality that is free of conventional cinematic tricks and effects. In other words, instead of manufacturing a story and then passing it on to the viewer as a slice of reality, cinema’s ultimate goal should be to discover a good story and then present it without damaging its authenticity. (This is the very reason why Bresson preferred to work with non-professional actors and his films are known for their economic style). Second, in his final film Bresson introduces a very different type of intimacy that alters the way in which events are seen by the camera. Instead of acting as an invisible observer that is emotionally attached to a certain character -- as is the case for instance in the classic A Man Escaped and Pickpocket -- here the camera is given plenty of freedom to explore what is happening around the characters that has followed. So the main story about the counterfeit bill and its temporary owners is essentially only a starting point for a much bigger story about guilt, redemption, and forgiveness in a society defined by hypocrisy.

The film remains surprisingly relevant today by doing a couple of interesting things. Instead of targeting and judging the morality of its characters it shifts its attention to the corrosive power of the hypocrisy that actually transforms them into dangerous conformists; then it observes how it thrives in a series of different situations. Pretty much the same conformist mentality is now an essential quality for people that wish to be ‘successful’ in this highly competitive global world that places results before everything else. The film identifies and examines it in a different context -- a deeply flawed society whose ultimate defender is actually a shockingly prejudiced criminal justice system -- but the key conditions that continue to justify its existence today remain unchanged.

*L’argent is based on Leo Tolstoy’s novella The Forged Coupon, but Bresson changed important relationships and even introduced entirely new events in the film. The key element of the original story, however, remains the same: a counterfeit bill unleashes a chain of events that irreversibly alter the lives of various characters.

L' argent Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 and granted a 1080p transfer, Robert Bresson's L'argent arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

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

"This new 2K restoration was undertaken from the 35mm original camera negative and scanned at 4K resolution at Exlair Laboratories by MK2, with the participation of Mylene Bresson and the support of the Centre national du cinema et de l'image animee. The monaural soundtrack was transferred from the 35mm original magnetic tracks and restored by L.E. Diapason.

Colorist: Bruno Patin/Eclair Laboratories, Vanves, France."

The release is sourced from a brand new 4K restoration (4K scan/2K work) that was completed in France. For the most part improvements in terms of detail and depth are really quite easy to appreciate. When there is an abundance of light depth, in particular, can be quite spectacular. Fluidity is also dramatically improved and now virtually the entire film has the nice stable appearance that films have when they are screened in theaters. There are no traces of problematic degraining and sharpening adjustments. Colors are stable, but I find the color balance somewhat underwhelming. There is a shift towards warmer primaries that has actually affected the film's native dynamic range. While not overly distracting, the improper balance has introduced some light black crush and in some cases flatness that has a digital origin (you can see examples in screencaptures #15 and 20). Image stability is outstanding. There are no distracting debris, damage marks, cuts, stains, warped or torn frames to report in our review. 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).

L' argent 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.

The film does not have an elaborate music score, but there are plenty of organic sounds and noises that have a very important role. Fortunately, clarity, depth, and operation are terrific. The dialog is always stable, clean, and very easy to follow. There are no audio dropouts, pops, hiss, or digital distortions to report.

L' argent Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original French trailer for L'argent. (1 min, 1080p).

• 1983 Cannes Press Conference - presented here is a filmed half-hour press conference for L'argent featuring Robert Bresson and his film. There are some very interesting exchanges between the legendary director and journalists and actors in which he discusses and occasionally even defends his stylistic preferences and even working methods. The press conference was filmed after a screening of L'argent at the Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 1983. In French and English, with optional English subtitles where necessary. (31 min, 1080p).

• "L'argent," A to Z - presented here is a brand new essay, written and narrated by James Quandt, that focuses on Robert Bresson's unique style and the conception of L'argent (with some very interesting comments about the differences between the film and Leo Tolstoy's novella that inspired it). In English, not subtitled. (51 min, 1080p).
  
  1. Anachronism
  2. Biography
  3. Color
  4. Doors
  5. Ellipsis
  6. France
  7. Genre
  8. Hands
  9. Influence
  10. Jansenism
  11. Klossowski
  12. Late Style
  13. Money
  14. Nature
  15. Objects
  16. Prison and Paris
  17. Quatre nuits d'un reveur
  18. Reflections
  19. Sound
  20. Tolstoy
  21. Uccello
  22. Verticals
  23. Wine
  24. The Ax
  25. Yvon Targe
  26. Zarathustra

• Booklet - a 40-page illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by critic Adrian Martin and a newly expanded 1983 interview with director Robert Bresson by critic Michel Cement.

L' argent Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The least effective way to experience Robert Bresson's final film, L'argent, is to approach it expecting to see a conventional crime thriller. If you do so, most likely you will be underwhelmed. Instead, try to think of it as a carefully constructed litmus test and I guarantee that it will engage your mind in a way that will pleasantly surprise you. Criterion's upcoming Blu-ray release is sourced from a new 4K restoration that was completed in France, but I think that after all the hard work the film could have looked even better. RECOMMENDED.