Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Plaisir d'amour en Iran Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 31, 2020

Note: This film is available as part of The Complete Films of Agnès Varda.

In the wake (figurative or otherwise) of Agnès Varda’s death last year at the age of 90, quite a bit has rightfully been written about this iconic force in both French and global cinema. Varda’s output includes well over fifty credits as a director (including some television entries as detailed by the IMDb), and aside from listing some of her better known triumphs, many obituaries and/or eulogies about Varda mentioned any number of other biographical data points, including her rather unique position as a woman in France’s nouvelle vague movement, her own feminism which was featured none too subtly in some of her films, and her frequently provocative experimental style. But you know what one of the things that kind of fascinates me personally most about Varda? That she was married for 28 years to Jacques Demy, from 1962 until Demy’s death in 1990. That Varda, often a purveyor of verité infused “realism”, whether that be in outright documentaries or at least ostensibly more “fictional” outings, and Demy, a director whose candy colored, dreamlike and at least relatively "Hollywoodized" musicals with Michel Legrand brought a new luster and gloss to French cinema, managed to make a marital go of it for so long is certainly testament to the maxim that “opposites attract”, even if those oppositional forces in this instance played out at least in part in terms of what kinds of films the two were often best remembered for. If Varda's long marriage to Demy is more than enough reason to celebrate her personal life, her professional life is beautifully feted in this rather astounding new set from Criterion, which aggregates an amazing 39 films (albeit some running as short as a few minutes) to provide what is arguably one of the most insightful overviews of Varda's cinematic oeuvre. Perhaps unavoidably, but also undeniably movingly, these personal and professional sides of Varda merge in at least some of the films in this set, including The Young Girls Turn 25, The World of Jacques Demy, Jacquot de Nantes, and The Beaches of Agnès.

For those of you who may have already read my One Sings, the Other Doesn't Blu-ray review, which pointed to my One Sings, the Other Doesn't Blu-ray review of the prior standalone Blu-ray release by The Criterion Collection, you may have noticed that this short film was included as a supplement on the first release from Criterion, but is presented here as its own "entity". (That said, the introduction by Agnès Varda to the film included below was not part of that prior release from Criterion.) This charming if slight short is a sequel of sorts to One Sings, the Other Doesn't and offers performances by Valérie Mairesse and Ali Raffi as Pauline and Darius.

Plaisir d'amour en Iran Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Plaisir d'amour en Iran is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. Some prefatory text discloses this was shot on 35mm argentic color stock in a 1.66 panoramic format, which was restored by Ciné Tamaris in 2015 at Laboratory Eclair, with 2K digital restoration from a 2K scan of the orig 35mm negative. Color grading supervised by Agnès Varda. This is a real knockout visually, one with a beautifully saturated palette, and some wonderfully precise renderings of some of the complex arabesque designs on the mosque. The color temperature here is spot on, without some of the kind of blue undertones that can be seen in other presentations in this set. Grain resolution is also excellent.

Plaisir d'amour en Iran Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Plaisir d'amour en Iran features an LPCM Mono track in the original French which was restored by E.L. Diapson from the original 35mm magnetic mix. This short features a rather basic sound design with the two lovers speaking and a few ambient noises in the background. Everything is rendered with fine clarity and no problems at all. Optional English subtitles are available.

Plaisir d'amour en Iran Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Introduction from 2007 (1080i; 00:56) offers Varda's thoughts. In French with English subtitles.

Plaisir d'amour en Iran Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Plaisir d'amour en Iran really is more of a supplement to One Sings, the Other Doesn't than its own standalone film, though it's fun to have the Varda introduction on this version. Technical merits are first rate.