7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A French village doctor becomes the target of poison-pen letters sent to village leaders, accusing him of affairs and practicing abortion.
Starring: Pierre Fresnay, Ginette Leclerc, Micheline Francey, Pierre Larquey, Héléna MansonForeign | 100% |
Drama | 28% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English, French SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region B (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
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?
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).
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.
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.
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