Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Le Corbeau Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 22, 2018

Henri-Georges Clouzot's "Le Corbeau" (1943) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal. The only bonus feature on the disc is the documentary "The Cursed Masterpiece of Henri-Georges Clouzot". In French, with optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Who is the mysterious writer?

Le Corbeau (The Raven) nearly ended Henri-Georges Clouzot’s career. It was produced during the German occupation of France, sometime in early 1943, by Continental Films, a French company that was controlled by a German who had a very close relationship with Dr. Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler’s trusted minister of propaganda. After the end of WWII, Clouzot was forced into exile for directing the film, and for a while, French state officials were adamant that he would never again work in France. With the invaluable support of friends like Jean-Paul Sartre, however, eventually, Clouzot was given a second chance and in 1947 he completed the excellent film noir Quai des Orfèvres.

The entire film is set in a sleepy provincial French town where the division between the ruling elites and the rest of the residents could not be any more obvious. But no one objects. Despite the occasional small public disagreements between the two sides, everyone has accepted that the current status quo allows the town to function as best as it could.

When a mysterious writer sends a bizarre letter to the well-respected Dr. Rémy Germain (Pierre Fresnay) that targets his reputation, however, the town suddenly comes alive. The sender, who identifies himself only as The Raven, alleges that the doctor has secretly carried out illegal abortions and other questionable operations, and now that his murky past has been exposed the town’s residents ought to condemn him. Soon after that, however, other letters are dispatched that reach different residents and their revelations threaten to destabilize the social order. A nurse (Helena Manson) from the local hospital, for instance, is accused of stealing morphine. A patient (Roger Blin) then commits suicide after he reads another letter and discovers that he is terminally ill. In the ensuing chaos, the town’s dark secrets slowly begin to emerge and fear and anger begin to erode its foundation.

It is not difficult to understand why Le Corbeau became so controversial and Clouzot was temporarily banished for directing it. The mystery that is at the center of its story is used to deliver the message that the French had become incredible hypocrites that would enthusiastically discard any of the values and beliefs that they supposedly cherish if they were in the way of furthering a personal agenda. In other words, it is a very cynical film that for the time being turned out to be far more effective than anything else that the German propaganda machine could have crafted.

After the end of the war, some angry French officials argued that Clouzot had directed a pro-Nazi film, but it was an overreaction. If anything, the moral vacuum that emerges in it after the first letter appears is indicative of the corrosive nature of the ‘new system’ that the Vichy regime was working hard to preserve.

*Director Otto Preminger remade Le Corbeau in 1951 as The 13th Letter.

Le Corbeau Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Henri-Georges Clouzot's Le Corbeau arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal.

The release is sourced from a new 4K restoration of the film that was completed at Eclair Laboratories in Epinay-sur-Seine, France. The restoration is very nice, and the technical presentation equally pleasing.

The entire film has a very solid and consistent organic appearance. During close-ups depth is typically excellent and there are some very good nuances on display that are missing on the old DVD release that Criterion produced some years ago (see screencapture #3). The proper grading job probably deserves plenty of credit because there are entire segments where shadow definition is dramatically improved. Grain exposure is very nice and there are no traces of problematic digital tinkering. Also, there are no traces of sharpening adjustments. Density levels are surprisingly consistent. I expected to see some unevenness, but the overall appearance of the film is very stable. Lastly, debris, cuts, damage marks, stains, and all other noticeable age-related imperfections have been removed as best as possible. There are no encoding anomalies to report. Very nice technical presentation. (Note: This is s a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Le Corbeau Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English and French SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Generally speaking, the lossless track is very solid. However, early into the film there is a good portion where if you turn up the volume a lot you will notice some extremely mild hiss/buzz in the higher register. My guess is that the surviving elements are such that there is some light and irreversible deterioration there. Clarity and depth are still very good, but this is a limitation that comes with them. There are no audio dropouts to report.

Le Corbeau Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Cursed Masterpiece of Henri-Georges Clouzot - this featurette focuses on the production history of Le Corbeau and the social environment in which the film was conceived as well as the career of its creator, Henri-Georges Clouzot. In French, with optional English subtitles.(26 min).

Le Corbeau Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While a good film that offers a very interesting deconstruction of the evolving nature of French society during the Vichy regime, Le Corbeau is difficult to place next to the likes of Quai des Orfevres, The Wages of Fear, and Diabolique. It feels a bit too heavy and too focused on the message it aims to deliver, and as a result quite a lot of its cynicism quickly becomes rather artificial. But this is not how the French felt when the film premiered in 1943 -- it hit them hard and enraged them, and after the war ended they temporarily forced Henri-Georges Clouzot into exile. StudioCanal's recent Blu-ray release of Le Corbeau is sourced from a lovely new 4K restoration that was completed at Eclair Laboratories. RECOMMENDED.