Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Max and the Junkmen Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 14, 2020

Claude Sautet's "Max and the Junkmen" (1971) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage trailer for the film and exclusive new audio commentary by critic Samm Deighan. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The German girl

The influence of the classic American film noirs from the late ‘40s and early ‘50s is instantly recognizable in Claude Sautet’s Max and the Junkmen. While quite different in tone, this film also oozes some of the same fatalism that defines Jean-Pierre Melville’s final films.

After a series of botched jobs, middle-aged detective Max (Michel Piccoli) crafts a simple plan to restore his reputation and regain his self-confidence. With the help of his superior (Georges Wilson), Max chooses a gang of petty thieves and then goes to work to convince them that they can successfully rob a big bank in the heart of Paris. The bank will be a trap. Max and his men will have it surrounded, so after the thieves finish their business inside and try to get out, they will be immediately arrested.

To reach the thieves and make them fall into his trap Max begins seeing Lily (Romy Schneider), an independent prostitute, who is in an open relationship with a man (Bernard Fresson) from the gang. He convinces Lily that he is a jaded banker with plenty of cash to burn and after a few dates casually describes to her the ‘perfect robbery’. However, the client-customer relationship quickly undergoes an unexpected transformation that threatens to compromise Max’s plan.

Eventually, the thieves choose the day and time for the robbery and begin preparing for the job. Max and his boss also go over the plan one more time to make sure that there won’t be any unexpected surprises.

It is impossible to explain precisely why Max and the Junkmen is so effective without spoiling it, but here are a few small yet important clues:

The simplicity of the story is deceiving but not in a conventional way, meaning that the film does not rely on ‘gotcha’ moments that suddenly alter the nature of the relationships between its key characters. So, the drama that unfolds before the camera is entirely authentic and so is the evolution of the relationships. Also, the viewer can accurately judge the intentions of the characters in real time because important information that can erode their sincerity isn’t intentionally delayed or omitted. Finally, the execution of the robbery is essentially irrelevant because it does not impact the nature of the drama that ensues.

When all is said and done the film casually but effectively disposes of its crime identity, which is what makes it appear modern. This is the main reason why the obvious noirish overtones that are present in it have a very different resonance than those that emerge in Melville’s films. Also, Sautet does not recognize the cool in crime, for him it is just a segment of life that produces entirely avoidable and in the grand scheme of things meaningless drama.

The leads look very casual and leave the impression that they are completely unaware of the camera’s presence. This gives the film an intimate quality that also makes it look very stylish.

The original soundtrack is a classic from maestro Philippe Sarde, who also scored Sautet’s best film, The Things of Life.

*Kino Lorber’s release is sourced from a master that was prepared at the VDM laboratory in France, after the film’s original negative was restored by Éclair on behalf of StudioCanal.

Max and the Junkmen Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Max and the Junkmen arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

There are a couple of Claude Sautet films that were restored on behalf of StudioCanal and Max and the Junkmen is one of them. However, these are not all recent restorations, so some of the restored master come with a few minor limitations.

The master that was used to source this release is quite nice. It has the type of appearance that an interpositive could deliver, but I actually think that the equipment that was used to prepare the master has left its mark. For example, the grain is a tiny bit harsher than it should be -- it is not sharpened -- which is why some density fluctuations can be a tad more pronounced. Also, in a few darker areas the blacks can be slightly crushed, which is exactly how some interpositives can display them when used in restorations. The rest looks good to me. The grading job is convincing and as a result the overall temperature of the color scheme is very attractive. Image stability is excellent. I noticed a couple of tiny white flecks, but there are no distracting debris, cuts, damage marks, warped or torn frames to report. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Max and the Junkmen Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

There are no technical issues to report in our review. The lossless audio is clean, clear, nicely rounded, and free of balance issues. Philippe Sarde's famous soundtrack also easily breathes throughout the entire film. The overall range of dynamic nuances is, quite predictably for a film from the early '70s, rather modest.

Max and the Junkmen Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - new audio commentary by critic Samm Deighan.

• Trailer - vintage trailer for Max and the Junkmen. In French, with imposed English subtitles. (4 min, 480/60i).

• Additional Trailers - additional trailers for the following titles from Kino Lorber's catalog:
  
  1. And Hope to Die
  2. Farewell, Friend
  3. Le Doulos
  4. Boccaccio '70
  5. What's New Pussycat?

Max and the Junkmen Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Max and the Junkmen is an elegant character study disguised as a modern film noir. It is a couple of other things too, but to be honest, I don't think its identity is that important. As cliche as it may sound, the film works really well because its leads are great before the camera and make the drama that is chronicled in it entirely believable. I give Kino Lorber a lot of credit for bringing Max and the Junkmen to the U.S., and I hope that The Things of Life, arguably Claude Sautet's best film, isn't too far behind it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.