6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A fortune-teller's apprentice crosses paths with a Catacombs security guard near the shape-shifting Lion of Belfort statue in Paris.
Starring: Julie DepardieuForeign | 100% |
Romance | 18% |
Short | 18% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.89:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
French: Dolby Digital 2.0
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Note: This film is available as part of
The Complete Films of Agnès Varda.
In the wake (figurative or otherwise) of Agnès Varda’s death last year at the age of 90, quite a bit has rightfully been written about this iconic force
in
both
French and global cinema. Varda’s output includes well over fifty credits as a director (including some television entries as detailed by the
IMDb), and aside from listing some of her better known triumphs,
many obituaries and/or eulogies about Varda mentioned any number of other biographical data points, including her rather unique position as a
woman in France’s nouvelle vague movement, her own feminism which was featured none too subtly in some of her films, and her
frequently provocative experimental style. But you know what one of the things that kind of fascinates me personally most about Varda? That she
was married for 28 years to Jacques Demy, from 1962 until Demy’s death in 1990. That Varda, often a purveyor of verité infused
“realism”,
whether that be in outright documentaries or at least ostensibly more “fictional” outings, and Demy, a director whose candy colored, dreamlike and
at least relatively "Hollywoodized" musicals with
Michel Legrand brought a new luster and gloss to French cinema, managed to make a marital go of it for so long is certainly testament to the
maxim
that “opposites attract”, even if those oppositional forces in this instance played out at least in part in terms of what kinds of films the two were
often
best remembered for. If Varda's long marriage to Demy is more than enough reason to celebrate her personal life, her professional life is
beautifully
feted in this rather astounding new set from Criterion, which aggregates an amazing 39 films (albeit some running as short as a few minutes) to
provide what is arguably one of the most insightful
overviews of Varda's cinematic oeuvre. Perhaps unavoidably, but also undeniably movingly, these personal and professional sides of
Varda
merge in at least some of the films in this set, including
The
Young
Girls Turn 25, The World of Jacques
Demy, Jacquot de Nantes, and The Beaches of Agnès.
Le lion volatil is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.89:1. This is frankly one of the odder looking presentations in this collection, and unfortunately there's no prefatory text disclosing what element was used, the original format, or any restoration that may have been done. The IMDb lists a 35mm source, and at least parts of this presentation look traditionally "filmic", with a noticeable grain field, nicely vivid palette and generally commendable detail levels. But there are other moments that look like video (not just an opening which obviously is a home video Varda took of her cat), including the closing credits, which almost look upscaled, with noticeable stairstepping and haloing.
As with many of the shorts included in this collection, Le lion volatil features only a lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 track. Both some opening narration and later dialogue, along with a jazzy underscore, all sound fine within a lossy context. The outdoor material features decent clarity in its rendition of bustling urban sounds. Optional English subtitles are available.
Le lion volatil is another whimsical Varda short, but it may not have quite the magic of some of her other pieces, something that may be a bit ironic considering its emphasis on clairvoyance, Tarot and other "supernatural" phenomena. Video is a bit variant looking, and this is another short with only lossy audio.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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