On My Way Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

On My Way Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 29, 2014

One of the oddly lesser remembered products of the vaunted partnership of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger was a lovely little film called I Know Where I’m Going!, a 1945 road (and/or boat) movie of sorts that posited Wendy Hiller as a young woman thrust into a peculiar society in the Hebrides while on her way to ostensibly meet her betrothed on an isolated island. The 2013 Catherine Deneuve starrer On My Way might be fancifully subtitled “I Don’t Know Where I’m Going!”, for in the film Deneuve, still ravishing in her 70s, plays a former beauty queen named Bettie whose little restaurant in Brittany is losing money by the handful and whose romantic exploits with a married man similarly are going nowhere fast. Feeling overwhelmed by a concatenation of oppressive developments in her personal and professional life, Bettie simply tells her staff at the bistro one day “I’ll be back”, walks out into the street, gets into her old car and drives off to—well, initially to find some cigarettes, in what turns out to be just the first of several rather weird plot arcs this small but ultimately affable film offers, especially in its first third. Much like the Hiller character in the Powell-Pressburger outing, Bettie is a fish out of water as she travels through the bucolic countryside of France, encountering a number of odd, but often endearing, characters. The film ultimately settles down, at least a little bit, when Bettie’s estranged daughter and grandson are introduced, but even then the “road movie” ambience is furthered, albeit within the confines of the relationship between Bettie and her grandson. On My Way (whose original French title actually translates to something a bit closer to She’s On Her Way) is the latest effort by helmer-scribe Emmanuelle Bercot, and it continues Bercot’s fine eye for character, but also her tendency to take peculiar little detours now and then (perhaps appropriate, given the general premise of this film). Bercot evidently wrote the role of Bettie specifically for Deneuve, and while it’s perhaps a little bit of an anachronism for the iconic actress (Bettie is a former beauty queen now reduced to a mundane working class life), Deneuve proves inimitably able to handle Bettie’s sadness and steely resolve.

The first part of On My Way is kind of shapeless, with Bettie on a seemingly impossible quest to score cigarettes, something that brings her into contact with a variety of odd folks. Later, once her daughter Muriel (French songstress Camille) and especially grandson Charly (Nemo Schiffman, Bercot's real life son) become involved, the story starts to more thoroughly explore Bettie having to come to terms with whom she was, is and hopes to become. There's nothing overly profound here, and some of the elements don't quite work (there's an awkward reunion of former beauty queens), but Deneuve carries this film with her grace and honesty.

On My Way Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

On My Way is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Media Group with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Shot with the Arri Alexa, this boasts a nicely sharp but sometimes slightly flat looking image. Depth of field is exceptional in the many outdoor location scenes and fine detail is similarly excellent in the many close-ups. While colors appear accurate, they're rather muted quite a bit of the time, with flesh tones looking a bit pallid and even the French countryside never totally popping. There are no problematic issues with compression artifacts or any other anomalies.

On My Way Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

On My Way's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix (in the original French) suffices more than adequately for this almost exclusively small scale film. Dialogue is rendered faithfully and clearly, and when there are ambient environmental effects (which can vary from Bettie's busy kitchen to more serene country settings), they dot the surround channels winningly, if never incredibly immersively. Fidelity is excellent and the track presents no problems whatsoever.

On My Way Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• An Interview With Catherine Deneuve (1080p; 5:51)


• Deleted Scenes (480i; 21:58)


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:15)

On My Way Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Deneuve is front and center virtually the entire "way" of this film, and in fact she's probably the only real reason to see it. This is a middling effort that showcases the star's willingness to "de-glam" herself in a kind of Everywoman role, and Deneuve does quite well with sometimes mediocre material. The film is effortlessly scenic, and if it never gets anywhere too exciting or unexpected, the journey is appealing enough to make this release Recommended.