7.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Jean-Louis, a Catholic engineer in his early thirties, lives by a strict moral code and immerses himself in mathematics and the philosophy of Blaise Pascal. After spotting the delicate Françoise at Mass, he vows to make her his wife, although when he spends an unplanned night at the apartment of the bold divorcée Maud, his rigid standards are challenged.
Starring: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Marie-Christine Barrault, Françoise Fabian, Antoine Vitez, Léonide KoganForeign | 100% |
Drama | 80% |
Romance | 29% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
French: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Eric Rohmer's Six Moral Tales from Criterion.
One of the rather interesting if simultaneously peculiar trivia points about world cinema is how fecund the French movie critic community has been in
producing titans of film making. The iconic French publication Cahiers du Cinéma was a virtual hotbed of activity in this regard,
and if names like Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut may be at the apex of any list culled from those who began as writers for the magazine and
who went on to storied careers in film, there are any number of others, including Jacques Rivette, Claude Chabrol, and the man responsible for the six
films (some shorts) in this collection, Éric Rohmer. Rohmer's fame may have at least temporarily eclipsed the likes of Godard and Truffaut, for a
little while anyway, when the trifecta of My Night at Maud's, Claire's Knee, and Love in the Afternoon became
international sensations as the sixties gave way to the seventies. An obituary for Rohmer in a major newspaper mentioned his "durability" and
suggested that even if he didn't have the immediate name recognition of some of his peers, his work had outlasted any flash in the pan sensibility that
may have attended releases of films by other former critics. Really fascinatingly in the "trivial pursuit" category is the fact that all six of the
"tales" aggregated as exemplars of "morality" by Rohmer are based, at least tangentially, on F.W. Murnau's legendary Sunrise.
My Night at Maud's is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. Criterion's insert booklet states that "the restoration of all six films was undertaken by Les Films du Losange, with the support of the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC)", and further specifies that this particular film was transferred in 3K from a 35 mm interpositive. After the decidedly "ragged" (in Criterion's own words) appearance of Suzanne's Career , this presentation is like a breath of fresh air, with a much more consistent accounting of virtually all the aspects we try to mention in reviews. Contrast is generally spot on, navigating slight but noticeable lighting value changes as things range from interiors to out of doors. Detail levels are typically excellent throughout, though once again Rohmer tends to favor midrange framings quite a bit of the time. There's virtually no noticeable age related wear and tear. Grain is tightly resolved throughout.
My Night at Maud's features another LPCM Mono track in the original French, though the fame of this feature may have resulted in better overall curation of elements through the years, as this track is substantially more full bodied in overall tone than either of the shorts offered as "warm up acts" in Criterion's Rohmer set. There's still not a very "baroque" approach toward sound design, and things are really rather basic here, with the bulk of the presentation given over to dialogue, with occasional ambient environmental sounds creeping into the proceedings. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
Criterion has packaged My Night at Maud's and La Collectionneuse together on one disc with the following supplements, some of
which, while "officially" listed under one particular film, may be more general in nature.
My Night at Maud's
Trivia fans may know that My Night at Maud's is not the only foreign film to see its Oscar nominations unspool over two (or more) years, with Amarcord and The Battle of Algiers also belonging to that august group. While obviously tangential, that unusual situation may at least subliminally hint at the "staying power" the film has, and it continues to impress with its distinctly French take on the vagaries of romance (and, eventually, marriage), with that unique tout est juste dans l'amour et la guerre sensibility that may be the romantic equivalent of laissez faire. Technical merits are generally solid, and My Night at Maud's comes Highly recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
The Collector
1967
L'amour l'après-midi / Chloe in the Afternoon
1972
La carrière de Suzanne
1963
Le genou de Claire
1970
La boulangère de Monceau
1963
La femme de l'aviateur
1981
1987
Summer / Le rayon vert
1986
Les nuits de la pleine lune
1984
Pauline à la plage
1983
1987
Conte de printemps
1990
Conte d'été / A Summer's Tale
1996
Conte d'automne / Autumn Tale
1998
Conte d'hiver
1992
Die Marquise von O
1976
Une femme est une femme
1961
Domicile conjugal
1970
1931
Aimer, boire et chanter
2014