Nous irons tous au paradis Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

Nous irons tous au paradis Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 11, 2014

Nominated for three Cesar Awards, including Best Film and Best Screenplay, Yves Robert's "Nous irons tous au paradis" a.k.a "We Will All Meet in Paradise" (1977) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Gaumont. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailers; exclusive new video interview with scenarist Jean-Loup Dabadie conducted by director Xavier Giannoli; conversation with photographer Jean-Denis Robert and scenarist Jean-Francois Halin; and Yves Robert's short film "Fernand cherche du boulot". In French, with optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Something to think about...

In this sequel to the excellent Pardon Mon Affaire, the happily married Etienne (Jean Rochefort, The Hairdresser's Husband, Man on the Train) accidentally discovers a compromising photo which immediately convinces him that his wife is having an affair. Armed with patience, he begins spying on Marthe (Pardon Mon Affaire), fully convinced that it is only a matter of time before the mysterious lover from the photo reveals himself.

Soon after, Marthe begins receiving expensive gifts. All of them, however, come from Etienne, who does his best to force his wife to make the crucial mistake that will bring her lover out of the shadows. When the strategy fails, Etienne begins confronting total strangers who have the same physique and hair color as the lover from the photo. One of these ‘suspects’ destroys Etienne’s car with his bare hands when he slaps him on the face.

When off-duty, Etienne spends time with the boys. They are also working on serious projects. Bouly (Victor Lanoux, Cousin cousine) is strengthening his 'open relationship' with his latest girlfriend, who most of the time does not have a problem with him drooling over younger girls in his gym. Having realized that it is time to settle down, Simon (Guy Bedos, A Taste for Women) has started a 'serious' affair with a married woman who loves meeting him in his office. And Daniel (Claude Brasseur, Band of Outsiders) has broadened his search for the perfect 'other half' by allowing himself to experiment with men and women.

Completed a year after Pardon Mon Affaire, We Will All Meet in Paradise is yet another gem from the great Yves Robert which again delights with intelligent humor. The cast is also as enthusiastic as it was in the first film, infusing the film with the right energy to make it look convincing.

The true magic, however, undoubtedly comes from Jean-Loup Dabadie’s (Claude Sautet’s Cesar et Rosalie, Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s Call Me Savage) brilliant script. Indeed, the humor is perfectly balanced with intelligent observations about the pros and cons of married life, fidelity, friendship and happiness. Universal truths about the games the two sexes play and their typical outcomes are also gently but effectively questioned.

The chemistry between Robert, who also worked on the script with Dabadie, and the cast is once again terrific. This is especially obvious during the final twenty or so minutes where the humor is gradually toned down. Rochefort, Bedos, Lanox, and Brasseur never overplay their characters, while Robert’s casual direction keeps the melodrama at bay.

The finale is brilliant. However, to fully appreciate its originality one must have seen Pardon Mon Affaire.

Like Pardon Mon Affaire, We Will All Meet in Paradise is again complimented by a beautiful soundtrack courtesy of renowned Romanian composer Vladimir Cosma (Jean-Jacques Beineix’s Diva, Daniel Duval’s La Derobade). The elegant jazzy themes feature some outstanding sax solos.

Nous irons tous au paradis Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Yves Robert's We Will All Meet in Paradise arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Gaumont.

Recently remastered by Gaumont in France, We Will All Meet in Paradise looks quite beautiful in high-definition. The film has a clean, crisp, and very stable organic look that makes it very easy to appreciate Rene Mathelin's careful lensing. Color reproduction is also very pleasing. There is a good range of very warm and natural colors whose saturation feels just right. The best news, however, is that there are no traces of compromising degraining corrections. Problematic sharpening adjustments also have not been applied. Unsurprisingly, image depth and clarity are consistently very pleasing. Additionally, large debris, scratches, cuts, stains, and damage marks have been effectively removed. There are no serious stability issues to report in this review. Compression and encoding are also very good. All in all, I really liked how good this film looks on Blu-ray and sincerely hope that as we move forward this would be the standard quality we will see from Gaumont on a regular basis. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Nous irons tous au paradis Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track in this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. For the record, Gaumont have provided optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The lossless track is as impressive as the one from Gaumont's release of Yves Robert's Pardon Mon Affaire. Indeed, Vladimir Cosma's jazzy soundtrack benefits greatly from the lossless treatment and effectively enhances a number of different sequences. The dialog is also very crisp, well rounded, stable, and easy to follow. I would like to specifically mention that the balance between the music -- or the sound effects, such as those used when the house near the airport shakes -- and the dialog is very good. For the record, there are no audio dropouts, background hiss, or distortions to report in this review. The English translation is excellent.

Nous irons tous au paradis Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Souvenirs d'auteur - a long video interview with scenarist Jean-Loup Dabadie conducted by director Xavier Giannoli (À l'origine, Superstar). Produced by Pierre-Henri Gibert. In French, not subtitled. (63 min, 1080p).

• La comedie en partage - in this video piece, photographer Jean-Denis Robert, son of director Yves Robert, and scenarist Jean-Francois Halin (OSS 117 : Rio ne répond plus, OSS 117 : Le Caire - Nid d'Espions) discuss the style of We Will Meet in Paradise. Produced by Pierre-Henri Gibert. In French, not subtitled. (34 min, 1080p).

• Fernand cherche du boulot (1954) - a short film directed by Yves Robert with Fernand Raynaud. In French, not subtitled (25 min, 1080/60i).

• Bandes-ammpmces - two original trailers. In French, not subtitled.
  
  1. Pardon Mon Affaire. (3 min, 1080p).
  
  2. We Will All Meet in Paradise. (3 min, 1080p).

Nous irons tous au paradis Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is yet another wonderful release from Gaumont which gives me a lot of hope that this year we will see plenty of classic French films treated right. As far as We Will All Meet in Paradise is concerned, well, I actually like it even more than the award winning Pardon Mon Affaire. Jean Rochefort, Victor Lanoux, Guy Bedos and Claude Brasseur are simply terrific in this film. Buy with confidence, folks. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.