Love on the Run Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Love on the Run Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 11, 2014

François Truffaut's "Love on the Run" a.k.a. "L'amour en fuite" arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; video introduction by Serge Toubiana, president of Cinémathèque française; and audio commentary by Marie-France Pisier. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

"Close the shop. We'll take off together"

Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud) and his beautiful wife, Christine Darbon (Claude Jade), have agreed to officially part ways. Now, it is only a matter of time before they sign the proper paperwork and finalize their divorce.

But the two are still good friends and remember the great times they had together. They both feel that without the other, their lives would have been a lot more conventional, and they would have likely fallen in love with people who would have brought plenty of painful drama in them. The fact that the two are now getting a divorce does not mean they will forget their history together and stop seeing each other -- they will simply be free to move on to the next chapter in their lives.

While waiting for the divorce to be finalized, Antoine begins seeing Sabine (Dorothee), a young girl working in a popular music shop. She likes him too, and the two spend plenty of time together, but he repeatedly fails to keep his promises, and eventually she concludes that she cannot be in a serious relationship with him.

Around the same time, Antoine accidentally meets Colette (Marie-France Pisier), who is now a divorced lawyer with an excellent reputation. Antoine attempts to rekindle their relationship, but Collete quickly realizes that even though Antoine has grown older, he is still as unreliable as she remembers him.

Francois Truffaut’s fifth and final film with Leaud’s legendary character, Love on the Run, has a rather unusual structure. A large portion of it takes place in the present, where Antoine is confronted by the women he has had a romantic relationship with, but numerous flashbacks link episodes from his past to the present.

Some of the flashbacks effectively redirect the film and allow Truffaut to reveal a different side of the older Antoine, but there are portions of it where Truffaut also becomes emotional and allows himself to stay in the past a bit longer than necessary. Some feature memorable sequences with the young troublemaker in which he is taught important lessons about life, but there are also more than a few hilarious flashbacks in which the older Antoine is desperately trying to meet the expectations of the women he loves. The end result is a slightly uneven but still very moving film that essentially allows its creator to part ways with Antoine in a respectable manner.

Leaud looks significantly older in this film. However, he is still enormously energetic and likable as Antoine. Pisier and Jade are terrific together. The sequence in which their characters meet and talk about the man they loved and shared is arguably the best in the entire film.

Truffaut worked with cinematographer Nestor Almendros, who also lensed Bed & Board. Unsurprisingly, the two look equally warm and fluid.

The soundtrack was created by Oscar-winning composer Georges Delerue (Jean Luc-Godard’s Le mépris, Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Conformist). The popular title song, L'Amour en fuite, was composed by Laurent Voulzy and performed by Alain Souchon.

Love on the Run Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, François Truffaut's Love on the Run arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye.

Excluding a few sequences where the encoding should have been better and grain could have appeared better resolved, the technical presentation is very good. During the original footage, close-ups boast excellent detail and clarity (see screencaptures #11 and 18), while the larger panoramic shots have good fluidity. Contrast levels also remain stable. Obviously, during the flashbacks -- which feature clips from the rest of the films about Antoine Doinel -- there are various fluctuations, but they are part of the original cinematography (see screencaptures #12, 16, and 17). Color reproduction is very good -- there is a wide range of warm, healthy, and natural colors which remain stable throughout the entire film. There are no traces of problematic degraining corrections. Edge enhancement is not an issue of concern either. Finally, there are no large debris, cuts, damage marks, stains, or splices to report in this review. All in all, this is a very good technical presentation of Love on the Run which offers a number of substantial improvements over previous R1 and R2 DVD releases of the film. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Love on the Run Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 2.0. For the record, Artificial Eye have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

Clarity and depth are very good. There is a very good range of nuanced dynamics as well, though there are no prominent special effects. Georges Delerue's score opens up the film during key sequences, but it has primarily a supporting role. The dialog is crisp, clear, stable, and very easy to follow. There are no pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or distortions to report in this review.

Love on the Run Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Love on the Run. In French, with optional English subtitles. (3 min).

• Presentation with Serge Toubiana - Serge Toubiana, president of Cinémathèque française, introduces Love on the Run. In French, with optional English subtitles. (4 min).

• Audio Commentary with Marie-France Pisier - Francois Truffaut asked actress Marie-France Pisier and Suzanne Schiffman to write the initial story for Love on the Run which was later on given to Jean Aurel. In this audio commentary, Marie-France Pisier recalls her work with the French director and discusses the film's production process, the shooting of specific sequences, her interactions with the rest of cast, etc. In French, with optional English subtitles.

Love on the Run Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There is honesty in Love on the Run that makes one think about the things that matter in life, which can be appreciated only after one has experienced some of the triumphs and disappointments its protagonist has. This is arguably the biggest reason Love on the Run resonates differently with different viewers. I like it and think that it brings a proper closure to Antoine Doinel's adventures. Love on the Run looks very good on Blu-ray. Artificial Eye have also included on their release the archival audio commentary with the late Marie-France Pisier from MK2's original R2 DVD release. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.