Les Poupées Russes Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.5

Les Poupées Russes Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 18, 2009

The pan-European cast of “L’auberge espagnole” gives love a second chance in Cedric Klapisch’s “Les poupees Russes” a.k.a “The Russian Dolls” (2005). This time around, however, they gather in the ballet-city of St. Petersburg where the wildest one of them all is about to get married. Courtesy of French distributors Studio Canal.

Why not?

Xavier (Romain Duris, Exils) is working hard to get into TV, but luck isn’t on his side. Love is also missing in action - approaching 30, Xavier isn’t in a stable relationship. When he finally beds a lovely Senegalese girl things go terribly wrong and he ends up at his lesbian-friend Isabelle’s (Cécile De France, The Singer) apartment.

William (Kevin Bishop), the wildest of the original bunch, falls in love with a Russian ballerina (Evguenya Obraztsova) living in St. Petersburg. Most everyone from the Barcelona days arrives for the couple’s wedding.

When tiny bits of info about Cedric Klapisch’s plans to shoot a sequel to his widely successful L’auberge espagnole started popping up in the French media a few years ago I wasn’t sure what to expect. I thought that one of the reasons why L’auberge espagnole gathered so much attention in Europe was the fact that it caricatured a number of controversial for the European governments issues in a manner that resonated well with a lot of casual filmgoers who weren’t necessarily fixated on politics. The film was both funny and serious at the same time and many liked what it had to say about united Europe.

So, in 2005 Les poupees Russes arrived in theaters and I went to see it prepared to witness a complete disaster of a sequel, just like the overwhelming majority of them are these days. Imagine my surprise when I walked out of my theater loving Les poupees Russes more than L'auberge espagnole. Curious why? Here's three reasons that make Les poupees Russes the better of the two:

First, Les poupees Russes won my heart with its perfect depiction of that utterly confusing transition many in their 30s undergo when they attempt to build a future for themselves. Some handle everything easily and settle for a desk job that pays well. They marry, if they haven’t already done so, have kids, and then divorce. Others, just like Xavier in Les poupees Russes, take on the rebel-role from their university years more seriously and end up fighting the system. Eventually, the systems wins.

Second, I liked how imperfect the main characters had become. All of them arrived in St. Petersburg with plenty of emotional baggage, and this time around they had stories to tell that resonated better with me. They were also funny but not silly.

Third, Cedric Klapisch convinced me that fractured storytelling is his forte. The manner in which he juggles with the spoken and unspoken emotions of his protagonists, while blending humor with romance with drama, transforms Les poupees Russes into a far more convincing film than L’auberge espagnole.

Cinematographer Dominique Colin is once again on board and his terrific lensing of St. Petersburg adds a great deal of charm to Les poupees Russes. The final scene in particular is beautifully filmed, through admittedly a tad oversentimental. Alexandre Desplat’s ambient tunes have been replaced with a more energetic soundtrack courtesy of Loïc Dury, Bruno Epron Mahmoudi, Laurent Levesque, Christophe Minck (also responsible for the chic and very unique soundtrack for Cedric Klapisch’s latest project Paris), but the film maintains an excellent balance between the serious and the funny.

Les Poupées Russes Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC, and granted a 1080p transfer Cedric Klapisch's Les poupees russes a.k.a The Russian Dolls arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors Studio Canal.

Klapisch's follow-up to his L'auberge espagnole has been given a handsome 1080p transfer that certainly improves in a number of areas the R1 SDVD release by IFC Films was lacking. First of all detail and clarity are substantially better here. Whether during the nighttime scenes in St. Petersburg or the daytime scenes preceding Xavier's trip to Russia, you would easily see how far better definition is. The color-scheme is also solid –blacks are very well saturated while whites and blues, in all of their varieties (once the action moves to Russia blue becomes the prevalent color), become very delicate (the somber ending seems to be directly linked to the subdued colors). This being said, I was once again able to notice a few minor examples of edge-enhancement, just as I did with L'auberge espagnole, but they were certainly not overly intrusive. On the other hand, the actual print provided by Studio Canal is clean and stable, and I did not detect any debris, specks, or dirt to report here. (Note: This is Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Les Poupées Russes Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Similar to their Blu-ray release for Klapisch's L'auberge espagnole, Studio Canal offer only a single audio track here – French: DTS-HD MA 5.1. Fortunately enough, it is again a terrific track that should meet the expectations of even the most demanding of audiophiles. Crisp and perfectly clear, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 track allows the colorful music of Loïc Dury, Bruno Epron Mahmoudi, Laurent Levesque, and Christophe Minck to shine. The rear channels reveal plenty of activity even though there isn't anything here that will test the limits of your hardware. During the second half of Les poupees russes, where some of the wilder scenes are, the bass shows some prominence but, again, do not expect anything even remotely close to what a recent action-packed extravaganza would deliver, the strength of this DTS-HD MA 5.1 track is in improving the fine details. This being said, all of the basic here are solid as well, and if you have been on the fence about upgrading your SDVD release of Les poupees russes do not hesitate, the improvement is well worth it. Finally, I did not detect any hissings, cracks, or pops, to report here. For the record, Studio Canal have supplied optional French and English subtitles for the main feature (forced French subs appear for a few seconds where English is spoken).

Les Poupées Russes Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are a number of supplemental materials on this disc but, unfortunately, they are not subtitled in English. They are also in standard-def PAL, so unless you have a player capable of converting PAL-NTSC, or a TV set capable of accepting PAL signal directly, you won't be able to access the following:

- Making of Les poupees russes
- 12 deleted scenes (with a commentary by Cedric Klapisch)
- Footage from the cast's reunion in St. Petersburg (plenty of the discussions here are in English)
- A Master Class with Cedric Klpaisch and Romain Duris sponsored by FNAC.
- Video Calibration kit
- Audio Calibration kit

Les Poupées Russes Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The older but not necessarily wiser characters from Cedric Klapisch's L'auberge espagnole are back in Les poupees Russes. Their stories, however, are more convincing and so is their acting. If you liked L'auberge espagnole you will love Les poupees Russes. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of Studio Canal, looks terrific. It is English-friendly, but Region-B locked. Still, if you are capable of playing Region-B discs, I strongly recommend that you add this film to your libraries.