Les Grandes personnes Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Les Grandes personnes Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 17, 2015

Jean Valère's "Time Out for Love" a.k.a. "Les grandes personnes" (1961) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Gaumont. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film and new documentary film Dominique Maillet. In French, with optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The American girl

Successful fashion executive Michelle (Micheline Presle, The Assassin) attempts to commit suicide when she realizes that the man she loves, Philippe (Maurice Ronet, Purple Noon), has started drifting away from her. But she fails and an American beauty, Anne (Jean Seberg, Breathless), helps her get back on her feet.

Soon after, Michelle hires Anne to help her with her daily projects. She also changes her hairstyle and shows her what dresses to wear so that she looks as attractive and elegant as the Parisian women. When Philippe reappears, she encourages her to start exploring the city with him.

Convinced that she has found a true friend that cares for her, Anne becomes emotionally attached to Michelle. She tells her that she loves her and that she has helped her discover how beautiful life could be. Anne also begins spending time with Philippe and eventually falls madly in love with him. For a while she assumes that they were meant to be together and that Paris is the most romantic city in the world.

But when a dramatic event allows Anne to see a different side of Philippe’s personality, she concludes that it would be best if they ended their relationship and she went back to America with her fiancee. Before she leaves Paris, she meets Michelle one final time to tell her that she would never stop loving her.

Jean Valere’s Time Out for Love was one of three films Seberg made in France during the 1960s after appearing in Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless. The other two were her husband François Moreuil's debut film, La recreation a.k.a. Role Play, and Philippe de Broca’s L'amant de cinq jours a.k.a. Five Day Lover. The latter was recently restored in 2K and will arrive on Blu-ray later this year.

The story of Time Out for Love is as simple as it sounds. Seberg plays a naive American girl who wants to experience the essence of life by having a passionate affair. When Michelle pushes her in Philippe’s arms, she assumes that her friend is helping her and allows herself to fall in love with him. After the initial euphoria, however, she gets her heart broken.

The purity and elegance are what make the film worth seeing. Initially, Paris looks like the idyllic city where everyone eventually falls in love. Seberg’s character assumes that her time has also come and begins living her dream. There are a series of glorious visuals with her and Ronet running through the streets of Paris that remind of the romantic sequences from Breathless. But then the dream ends and suddenly Paris becomes just another busy city full of people wearing masks.

Seberg looks effortlessly elegant and brittle and it is not at all difficult to believe that a young girl like her could fall madly in love with an older man without realizing that she is being used. Presle is also very elegant, but her eyes are tired. Towards the end, it becomes obvious that she is a slightly different and older version of Seberg’s character -- a disillusioned loner who wants to be loved again. Ronet is very good as the charming driver who wants something entirely different in his life.

The editing is slightly uneven at times, but the film is gorgeous. It was lensed by the legendary Nouvelle Vague cinematographer Raoul Coutard (Francois Truffaut’s Jules and Jim, Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt).

Les Grandes personnes Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jean Valère's Time Out for Love arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Gaumont.

It is easy to tell that the new 2K restoration is beautiful, but the film does not look as stunning as it could have. The majority of the film looks quite pleasing, with the daylight footage, in particular, boasting good depth, but there are traces of extremely light denoising corrections that have affected contrast and definition. To be perfectly clear, the film still has a decent organic appearance, but it could have looked even better. In screencapture #11, you can see how the denosing has affected depth on the left side of the frame (the black area). In screencapture #19, you can also see how definition is affected on the right side of the frame (the train). Grain is visible throughout the entire film, but it could have been better resolved. Edge-enhancement is not an issue of concern. Overall image stability is excellent. Also, there are no debris, scratches, cuts, or stains. All in all, typically Gaumont's restorations are very good, but it is annoying to see that there are still unneeded corrections made on them. Time Our for Love looks good on Blu-ray, but it could have been quite the stunner. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Les Grandes personnes Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with a few exchanges in English). Optional English and French SDH subtitles have been provided for the main feature. When the English subtitles are turned on, they do not appear during the English dialog.

The dialog is very crisp, stable, and easy to follow. Germaine Tailleferre's score easily enhances some of the romantic sequences, though the range of nuanced dynamics is hardly impressive. But this is hardly surprising considering the fact that the film was shot in the early 1960s. There are no pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in this review.

Les Grandes personnes Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Bande-annonce - original French theatrical trailer for Time Out for Love. In French, not subtitled. (4 min, 1080p).

• Histoire(s) d'un amour - brand new documentary featuring director Jean Valère. The documentary was produced by Dominique Maillet for Gaumont. In French, not subtitled. (39 min, 1080p).

Les Grandes personnes Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Jean Valère's Time Out for Love is a very simple but very charming film about a young American girl who gets her heart broken in the City of Light. It was one of three films Jean Seberg made in France during the 1960s after appearing in Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless. (Like Breathless, Time Out for Love was also lensed by the great cinematographer Raoul Coutard). The film has been recently restored in 2K and looks good on Blu-ray. Gaumont's release is English-friendly and Region-Free. RECOMMENDED.