8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.8 | |
Reviewer | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.8 |
In a huge, old-fashioned luxury hotel, a stranger tries to persuade a married woman to run away with him, but it seems she hardly remembers the affair they may have had (or not?) last year at Marienbad.
Starring: Delphine Seyrig, Giorgio Albertazzi, Sacha Pitoeff, Françoise Bertin, Jean LanierDrama | 100% |
Foreign | 82% |
Romance | 24% |
Surreal | 17% |
Mystery | 7% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
French: LPCM Mono
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 5.0 |
Alain Resnais' "Last Year at Marienbad" (1961) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The transfer for this release has been personally supervised and approved by the French director. As requested by him, in addition to the newly restored uncompressed monaural track, Criterion have also provided the original unrestored track. Amongst the supplemental features on the disc are a new audio interview with director Resnais, recorded exclusively for this release, as well as two of his most well known documentaries,"Toute la memoire du monde" (1956) and "La chant du styrene" (1958). Region-A "locked".
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Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Alain Resnais' Last Year at Marienbad arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
As noted in the booklet provided with this package, the transfer for the Blu-ray release has been personally supervised and approved by Alain Resnais. Additionally, "the new high-definition transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35mm fine-grain master positive. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were removed using MTI's DRS and Pixel Farm's PFClean system, and Digital Vision's advanced DVNR system was used for small dirt, grain, and noise reduction."
I decided to provide the small description above so that people could have a good understanding of what the Blu-ray transfer represents. A couple of days ago, I was forwarded an interesting statement that very much questioned the new look of the film, so hopefully those who have already critiqued the transfer, without seeing it, will now have a better grasp of what is what.
This being said, Criterion's transfer is exceptionally strong and very convincing. Contrast is impeccable, clarity excellent and detail as good as I hoped it would be. The color-scheme is also terrific - the blacks are lush and well saturated, the whites gentle and natural looking, and the variety of grays well toned. As implied above, the transfer is in a remarkably healthy condition - I did not detect any debris, specks, scratches, or dirt to report in this review. All in all, this is yet another fantastic release by Criterion.
I would also like to quickly comment on how the Criterion Blu-ray release compares to the R2 Optimum DVD release. First, if you see both, you should immediately be able to tell that Criterion's transfer has been cleaned up dramatically -- there are hundreds of tiny specks and dots on the Optimum release that could be rather annoying. Second, the color-scheme on the Criterion release is substantially stronger. Third, fine detail is an issue of concern on the Optimum release, but not on the Criterion transfer. Finally, the Criterion transfer is stabilized while the Optimum transfer isn't.
As requested by Alain Resnais, Criterion have supplied two audio tracks - a newly restored French uncompressed monaural track and the original, unrestored, French mono track (please take a moment to read the tiny note provided at the very end of the booklet supplied by Criterion, which explains why the French director made the request).
I chose to watch Last Year at Marienbad with the newly restored French track (however, I will likely revisit the film soon using the unrestored track) and wasn't disappointed. As noted by Criterion, the monaural soundtrack was remastered from 24-bit from a 35mm optical soundtrack print. For the restored version, clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using the Pro Tools HD system.Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube's integrated audio workstation.
Obviously, the results are spectacular. The dialog is crisp, clear and exceptionally easy to follow. I did not detect any balance issues to report in this review either. Additionally, the haunting soundtrack is remarkably potent (and far more convincing than that heard on the Optimum DVD release - if you own the DVD, make sure that you compare it to the Blu-ray). Finally, Criterion have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.
Alain Resnais Audio Interview - Filmmaker Francois Thomas, author of L'atelier d'Alain Resnais, conducted this rare in-depth audio interview with the French director exclusively for the Criterion Collection in 2008. Here, Alain Resnais talks about his encounter with Alain Robbe-Grillet, their instant attraction to each other, how Last Year at Marienbad was initially envisioned, etc. With optional English subtitles. (1080p, 33 min).
Unraveling The Enigma: The Making Of Marienbad - In this new documentary, many of Alain Resnais' collaborators - including his assistant directors Jean Leon and Volker Schlondorff, script girl Sylvette Baudrot, and production designer Jacques Saulnier - reflect on their work with the legendary director. Volker Schlondorff's comments in particular are quite interesting. With optional English subtitles. (1080p, 33 min).
Ginette Vincendeau on Last Year at Marienbad - Alain Resnais' film has been viewed as both cinematic genius and intellectual nonsense, and everything in between. In this interview, film scholar Ginette Vincendeau discusses the various interpretations of the film and elucidates for its mysteries. Her elaboration on the speculative notion of Last Year at Marienbad being a film about a rape victim is fascinating. In English. (1080p, 23 min).
Two documentaries by Alain Resnais: Toute la memoire du monde (1080i, 21 min) and Le chant du styrene (1080p, 14 min) - Alain Resnais began his career making documentaries, the most famous of which is his 1955 film Night and Fog. The two documentaries offered on this Blu-ray disc were made in the late 50s. Toute la memoire du monde (1956) is a poetic piece about the French national library in Paris and the archiving of memory that looks forward to his later films Hiroshima mon amour and Last Year at Marienbad. La chant du styrene (1958), commissioned by Societe Pechiney, was shot in the Pechiney polystyrene factories and features boldly abstract color images and voice-over text by Raymond Queneau.
Trailers - Subtitled in English (1080i)
Booklet - Criterion have supplied a 46-page booklet containing Mark Polizzottiï's essay "Which Year at Where" (The author has written eight books, including Revolution of the Mind: The Life of Andre Breton. He is director of publications and intellectual property at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), "So Close. So Far Away: Alain Robbe-Grillet and Last Year at Marienbad", "Robbe-Grillet Introduction to the Screenplay", and "The Myth of Perfect Harmony" by Francois Thomas (L'atelier d'Alain Resnais and Orson Welles at Work).
It is difficult for me not to be overly excited about Criterion's June releases. After their spectacular treatment of Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal, I was very much looking forward to see what they have done with Alain Resnais' Last Year at Marienbad. Once again, I am utterly impressed. Folks, this is exactly what we want to see on Blu-ray - fantastic films with fantastic transfers. Very Highly Recommended.
L'année dernière à Marienbad
1961
L'année dernière à Marienbad
1961
L'année dernière à Marienbad
1961
Il deserto rosso
1964
1965
Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux / My Life to Live
1962
Le dernier métro / First Printing DigiPak with Slipcover
1980
重慶森林 / Chung Hing sam lam / First Printing DigiPak with Slipcover
1994
The North / First Printing DigiPak with Slipcover
1983
Der Himmel über Berlin
1987
Солярис / Solyaris
1972
La double vie de Véronique
1991
Det sjunde inseglet
1957
1978
Trois couleurs: Rouge
1994
1967
Otto e mezzo / Federico Fellini's 8½
1963
Contempt 4K / 60th Anniversary
1963
La règle du jeu
1939
Jules et Jim
1962
Les quatre cents coups
1959
1934
Ansiktet
1958