Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Life Is a Long Quiet River Blu-ray Movie Review

Quiet until you hit the rapids, that is.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 8, 2020

The French are often credited with inventing the farce courtesy of such legendary playwrights as Feydeau and/or Molière, and so one might assume that a film with at least some farcical elements which came out in France in 1988 would be a door slamming extravaganza filled to the brim with star-crossed lovers, mixed up identities and a burgeoning amount of raucous laughter as a result. There frankly aren’t many doors being slammed in Life Is a Long Quiet River, and romance is also in short supply, but there are some mixed up identities, courtesy of the frequently utilized conceit of two babies being switched at birth. One way or the other, though, the laughs here may be a bit more sporadic than some might have hoped for. Life Is a Long Quiet River evidently was a rather big hit in France when it was released, winning four César Awards that year, and then gaining an even bigger audience due to its subsequent frequent broadcasts on French television. That said, the film’s overly cartoonish ambience combined with blatant attempts at heartstring pulling may not come off as particularly organic to modern day eyes, and some of the film’s subtext, which also includes some piquant critiques of class differences in the nation, may be too simple to ever resonate as either criticism or (perhaps more importantly) comedy. Life Is a Long Quiet River often plays as the extended pilot for a proposed television series, and in fact co-writer and director Étienne Chatiliez (who won two of those aforementioned César Awards) made his early reputation out of crafting funny commercials for television. While the “switched at birth” aspect is front and center in the film, there’s also a subplot which plays somewhat like a French version of the great old British sitcom with Patricia Routledge, Keeping Up Appearances, at least insofar as distinct differences between those of variant means are focused on. That said, the “lower class” family in this film, the Groseilles, frankly couldn’t care less about keeping up any appearances, though their counterparts, the very wealthy Le Quesnoys, are all about image.

For a perceived comedy, Life is a Long Quiet River gets off to a rather unexpectedly shocking and calamitous start with what seems like a terrorist attack outside of a little Mom and Pop shop, where a car explodes. It doesn't seem to lead to any fatalities, thankfully, but it's a very odd way to begin the film, especially since the blast's subtext about immigration (courtesy of some news reports a character later sees) is never really followed up in any meaningful way in the film (the Groseilles are evidently immigrants, but it's not an especially important plot point in the long run). The story actually pretty much segues on to introducing the two focal families, the Groseilles, whose surname at least hints at the fact that at least some of them tend to be a bit on the chunky side, and who manage to scrape by with a number of grifts, and the Le Quesnoys, whose lives seems to be practically perfect in every way.

A sidebar involving a hard drinking OB-GYN named Mavial (Daniel Gélin) and his nurse Josette (Catherine Hiegel) turns out to be the lynchpin around which the entire plot hinges, due to the fact that Josette, long involved in an unhappy affair with Mavial, switched two babies years ago for reasons which are probably questionable, but which result in her ability years later to effectively tarnish Mavial's reputation when she writes notes to the two families letting them know they've been raising the wrong child. That of course leads to a whole cascading series of consequences which ends up sending both families into disarray, though the Groseilles may come off as more resilient due to their inherent churlishness than the better off Le Quesnoys.

The two children in question are Maurice (Benoît Magimel), who goes by the nickname Momo, and who has been raised by the Groseilles, and Bernadette (Valérie Lalonde), who is ostensibly a Le Quesnoy. Structurally, the film is a bit lopsided, though, tending to emphasize Momo's story a bit more than Bernadette's, especially when the mercenary and mendacious Groseilles agree to "sell" Momo to the Le Quesnoys. The Le Quesnoys make the perhaps unwise decision not to inform Bernadette of her true birth family, though of course that comes back to bite them in their rear ends as the film continues.

There is of course a whole "nature vs. nurture" aspect to the film, but Chatiliez clearly comes down on the side of "nature" in that debate, especially as things devolve. One of the odd choices in this film is the lack of a real "villain" who undergoes some kind of metamorphosis, which can be a fulcrum in long ago farces by those two above named playwrights. Here, the villain would seem to be either the good (?) doctor or his nurse, but they're almost tangents to the main story. And there is a decided lack of sympathetic characters in both families at the center of the story, something that may make the comedy a little less forceful at times.

Life Is a Long Quiet River Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Life is a Long Quiet River is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Academy, an imprint of Arrow Video, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.67:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains only the following fairly generic verbiage about the transfer:

Life Is a Long Quiet River is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1 [sic] aspect ratio with 5.1 surround audio. The High Definition master was provided by MK2.

The closing credits of this outing list Kodak film, but this has the somewhat "peachy", orange tones that I personally associate a bit more with Fuji film. That can make reds look slightly orange at times, but on the whole the palette resonates beautifully here, with a wide range of tones which is typically very well saturated. Fine detail is often quite excellent on some of the weird clothing that the Groseilles in particular wear. There's appealing clarity throughout the bulk of this presentation, though a few selected dimly lit (typically interior) shots are on the murky side, with a noticeably grittier looking grain field than most of the presentation (see screenshot 19 for just one example). My score is 4.25.

Life Is a Long Quiet River Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Life Is a Long Quiet River features an at times surprisingly immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track in the original French (optional English subtitles are available). Even in the sometimes crowded but claustrophobic confines of the Groseilles' flat, there's quite a bit of effects and dialogue placed in the side and rear channels, and the film's use of music (including a tune sung at church which has evidently become something of an "underground" hit in France) significantly open up the soundstage. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free track.

Life Is a Long Quiet River Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interviews are in French with English subtitles, and feature three crew members and one cast member. The crew members get into their shared histories in the advertising industry.

  Interview with Étienne Chatiliez (1080i; 46:30) (co-writer and director)

  
  

  Interview with André Wilms (1080i; 16:05) (actor)

  
  

  Interview with Florence Quentin (1080i; 17:57) (co-writer and co-producer)

  
  

  Interview with Charles Gassot (1080i; 11:23) (co-producer)

As usual, Arrow also provides a nicely appointed insert booklet with stills, technical data and an essay by Jonathan Romney.

Life Is a Long Quiet River Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Maybe it was the frankly shocking explosion that starts this film out on a rather peculiar note for a "comedy", but Life Is a Long Quiet River never really totally connected with me as a comedy. Unfortunately, its attempts at social criticism also struck me as at least occasionally ineffective, if only because virtually none of the characters will probably strike most viewers as being anyone to really root for. Still, there are some appealing aspects to this film, and it does deliver a least a modicum of wry humor along with some generally astute performances. Technical merits are generally solid, and the interviews included as supplements quite interesting, for those who are considering a purchase.