Love Street Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Love Street Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 2, 2022

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Felix and Lola / Love Street: Two Films Directed by Patrice Leconte.

The synchronicity gods who seemingly have nothing better to do than to provide what less metaphysical types might term "coincidences" in a nonstop fashion for me are evidently on a Patrice Leconte tear for some reason. Leconte's own Monsieur Hire was very recently on my review queue courtesy of a Blu-ray release by Cohen, a disc which offered a rather spry Leconte in an interview included as a supplement recounting some kind of fun anecdotes about that particular film. Now he's not just in this latest Cohen release as director if not interview subject, but he's also back, if not quite like The Terminator, then at least in a somewhat more threatening context as (rather incredibly) an interview subject on a supplement for Severin's new(ish) The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee Collection 2. Now, this frankly may simply be the universe (or whomever is in "charge") trying to get me, and thereby any readers of my reviews, to pay attention to a director whom commentator Wade Major makes the case may be underappreciated on this side of the pond. That may be especially true for both of the films Cohen has aggregated for this release, since neither ever really saw the light of day for United States theatrical exhibition.

Kind of strangely in terms of the two films Cohen is offering in this set, while in some ways Love Street is by far the more secure piece of storytelling, at least from a relatively clear narrative structure (which is still suffused with considerable whimsy at times), it may not be as consistently engaging as the admittedly often gonzo Felix and Lola. This is a film supposedly "ripped from the headlines", albeit headlines on now yellowed scraps of newspaper of post World War II vintage. France, as commentator Wade Major gets into in his interesting analysis of the film, has had a long and not especially controversial history with prostitution, but in the mid to late forties, brothels became not just figurative houses of ill repute, but illegal, which forms the backbone of this story, or at least its context.

While Wade Major also makes an early allusion to Woody Allen in his commentary, as odd as this may sound, parts of Love Street actually reminded me of a (relatively) modern day retelling of at least some aspects of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Focal character Petit Louis (Patrick Timsit) is certainly not physically deformed like Quasimodo, but he's an outcast nonetheless, perhaps developmentally disabled or at least at times startlingly naïve, and he functions in much the same "man child" way as the famous "hunchback" does in the Victor Hugo saga. He toils at a brothel where he's obviously developed a deep Esmerelda-esque obsession with a "working girl" named Marion (Laetitia Casta). Knowing that he could never expect to have Marion return his feelings, he actually tries to find her an appropriate mate, leading to unexpected consequences.

What is rather peculiar about this offering is both its blatant theatricality (as Major mentions, three sidebar prostitutes function as a veritable Greek Chorus) and, as part of those theatrical sensibilities, some flights of fancy presentationally that supposedly illuminate Petit Louis' inner world. Some of these play out like old movies, while others have an almost Terry Gilliam-esque aspect (see screenshot 10).

Love Street Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Love Street is presented on Blu-ray by Cohen Media Group's Cohen Film Collection imprint (which has its own sub-imprint, Classics of French Cinema) with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. As is typical of Cohen, there's no real technical information imparted on the back cover, and the Cohen produced re-release trailer included on this disc only has a generic "restored and remastered" description. While I'm scoring this just slightly lower than its "disc mate", this is another very nice looking transfer that preserves a healthy organic quality while also offering some rather luscious saturation. A prevalence of some "dark and stormy night" material and long sequences graded in almost cobalt blues, along with some of the odd interstitials as mentioned above, can lead to definite fluctuations in clarity and detail levels, but in the longer sequences anchored in (still often blatantly theatrical) "reality", fine detail on things like fabrics and props is typically excellent. My score is 4.25.

Love Street Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Love Street features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track in the original French. Kind of like Felix and Lola, this also has a nightclub scene with music, and there's also some supposedly archival source music that starts the film (and, per Leconte's pretzel like sensibilities, recurs later). The archival piece is suitably scratchy (perhaps achieved digitally), but the rest of the score sounds nicely full bodied. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Per Cohen's tradition (for better or worse), this is another foreign language release from the label where the English subtitles are forced and not optional.

Love Street Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Both films are packaged on one disc with a kind of "bifurcated" main menu (see screenshot 7 of the Felix and Lola / Love Street: Two Films Directed by Patrice Leconte Blu-ray review).

• Audio Commentaries for Felix and Lola and Love Street by Wade Major, producer/host of the DigiGods podcast, film critic for CineGods and KPCC Film Week can be accessed under the Audio menu.


• Trailers

  Felix and Lola Re-release Trailer (HD; 1:46)

  
  

  Felix and Lola Original Trailer 1 (HD; 00:39)

  
  

  Felix and Lola Original Trailer 2 (HD; 00:42)

  
  

  Felix and Lola Original Trailer 3 (HD; 00:35)

  
  

  Love Street Re-release Trailer (HD; 1:36)

  
  

  Love Street Original Trailer (HD; 1:34)

Love Street Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Love Street is a rather odd film, and even Major discusses some reasons why it probably never got much of an "airing" in the United States in particular, but it still has its own peculiar interest. Technical merits are generally solid and Major's commentary very interesting, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.