Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Les Petits Mouchoirs Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 15, 2011

Screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, Guillaume Canet's "Les petits mouchoirs" a.k.a "Little White Lies" (2010) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors EuropaCorp. The supplemental features on the disc include making of featurette; bloopers; deleted and extended scenes; and raw footage from the shooting of the film. In French, with optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

It is how I feel...

A man (Jean Dujardin, Lucky Luke), who has partied for hours in a chic night club, is seriously injured in a motorcycle crash. A few hours later, his friends gather around his hospital bed. They cannot believe what has happened. A few of them begin crying. Outside of the hospital they argue whether to have the summer vacation which they have been planning for months or stay in the city. Eventually, they agree that there is nothing that they could do to help their friend and head to the south of France.

They are staying at Max’s (François Cluzet, Tell No One) beautiful villa, which is literally a few hundred feet away from the beach. Max is a successful restaurant owner who has invested a ton of money into it, which is why he wants everything to look perfect. But he has just discovered that the lawn has not been mowed for days and gone berserk. Max’s wife, Veronique (Valerie Bonneton, Summer Hours), thinks that he is overreacting.

Vincent (Benoit Magimel, The Piano Teacher) and Isabelle (Pascale Arbillot, Borderline) are happily married. They have a beautiful son, who has started asking a lot of questions for which they do not yet have appropriate answers. Recently, Vincent has discovered that he likes Max - and especially Max’s hands, his personality, and the way his friend handles himself in public. He does not what to make of his feelings because he is absolutely certain that he isn’t gay.

Eric (Gilles Lellouche, Family Hero) loves sex and is always looking to get laid. In recent weeks he has been thinking about having a threesome. He is in a serious relationship with a beautiful woman, Lea (Louise Monot, Same Sex Parents), who could not join him and his friends. Eric has just realized that he misses his lover more than words can describe.

Antoine (Laurent Lafitte, My Place in the Sun) is a hopeless romantic. He is also in a serious relationship with a beautiful woman, Juliette (Anne Marivin, Incognito), who has started texting him on his cell phone to tell him how much she misses him. Antoine does not know how to respond to her messages.

Marie (Marion Cotillard, A Very Long Engagement) wants to be loved but is afraid to commit. She has plenty of regular lovers but no one that she wants to have around at all times because serious relationships terrify her. Much to Marie’s surprise, one of her lovers, Franck (Maxim Nucci, Alive), a handsome guitar player, has just phoned to let her know that he is on her way to see her.

Jean-Louis (Joël Dupuch, Tell No One) lives a couple of miles away from Max’s villa. He has a beautiful yacht that has cost him a fortune - but it does not matter because he loves the sea. Jean-Louis is single but not lonely.

Actor/director Guillaume Canet’s Les petits mouchoirs a.k.a Little White Lies is likely to appeal only to viewers who like serious character study films but do not expect them to deliver profound statements about the way people live their lives.

The film’s only universal message is that life is unpredictable and never perfect - which is exactly what all of the main protagonists in it eventually realize. They all have dreams and obsessions that have prevented them from enjoying their lives, and they feel it, but for a long period of time they are unwilling to let go of them.

The various relationships are fascinating. With the exception of Jean-Louis, all of the main protagonists also undergo serious character transformations - mostly because they discover that material things and cheap thrills cannot bring them happiness.

Note: Last year, Les petits mouchoirs was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Les Petits Mouchoirs Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.34:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Guillaume Canet's Les petits mouchoirs arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors EuropaCorp.

I am very impressed with the transfer EuropaCorp have used for their Blu-ray release of Les petits mouchoirs. Detail, depth and clarity are simply immaculate, while colors are vivid and well saturated. The beach scenes, in particular, look wonderful. Edge-enhancement is never an issue of concern; neither is macroblocking. The transfer is also free of banding, aliasing, and artifacting. Blown through a digital projector, the transfer also remains notably tight and stable around the edges -- clearly one of the French distributor's very best efforts. Lastly, I did not see any annoying flecks or tiny scratches to report in this review. All in all, this is a fantastic presentation of a wonderful film. (Note: Despite the fact that the back cover indicates Region-B only status, this is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to access its content regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Les Petits Mouchoirs Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, EuropaCorp have provided optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Also, the disc allows one to choose between projector-friendly and HDTV-friendly subtitles.

The audio treatment mirrors the video treatment - the French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is excellent. The film has a cracking music score benefits enormously from the loseless treatment (check out the beach scenes; Creedence Clearwater Revival's Fortunate Son sounds quite incredible). The bass is deep, potent and punchy, while the rear channels very effectively used. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and exceptionally easy to follow. Lastly, the English translation is excellent.

Les Petits Mouchoirs Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making of - a standard featurette containing raw footage from the shooting of the film in the south of France and comments from cast and crew members. In French, not subtitled. (27 min, 1080p).

• Betisier - a collection of bloopers. In French, not subtitled. (7 min, 1080p).

• Scenes coupees - fourteen extended and deleted scenes, with optional commentary by director Guillaume Canet. In French, not subtitled. In French, not subtitled. (57 min, 1080p).

• Films vacances - extra footage showing cast and crew members having plenty of fun during the shooting of the film. In French, not subtitled. (33 min, 1080p).
  
  -- Plage
  -- Dejeuner Jean-Louis
  -- Diner Jean-Louis
  -- Bateau Jean-Louis
  -- Bonnie Tyler
  

Les Petits Mouchoirs Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Guillaume Canet's Les petits mouchoirs is a hilarious, sad, charming and witty film about a group of friends who are forced to reevaluate their relationships after a tragic accident. The cast is fantastic. If you enjoyed the French director's Ne le dis à personne (Tell No One), I am certain you will also like his new film. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of French distributors EuropaCorp, looks and sounds fantastic. It is also Region-Free. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.