Pour une femme Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Pour une femme Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 22, 2013

Screened at Festival du Film de Cabourg, Diane Kurys' "Pour une femme" a.k.a "For a Woman" (2013) arrive son Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Studios-France. The supplemental features on the disc include a documentary film by Renaud Lefevre and a collection of stills. In French, with optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

"You come or I'll go with him..."

The early '80s, France. Sylvie Testud is Anne, a young director working on a script inspired by her parents' true story. As she begins examining the personal belongings of her late mother, the film goes back in time. The year is now 1945.

In Lyon, Ukraine-born Michel (Benoit Magimel, The Piano Teacher, Children of the Century) and Lena (Melanie Thierry, The Legend of 1900, The Princess of Montpensier) are interviewed by a French immigration officer. Before the interview is over, Lena reveals to Michel that she is pregnant. Barely able to contain his excitement, Michel announces that he is going to have a son.

A few months later, Tania is born. In addition to being the father of a beautiful girl, Michel is now also a passionate communist who routinely attends the group meetings organized by his fellow comrades. He is also the owner of a small tailor shop. Business isn’t great, but he makes enough so that Lena does not have to work.

A new person is soon welcomed to the family. It is Jean (Nicolas Duvauchelle, White Material, Polisse), a handsome young man who introduces himself as Michel’s brother. Michel barely remembers him because the last time they saw each other Jean was only nine. Michel had also assumed that after they were separated Jean was killed, which is why he never looked for him after he and Lena moved to France.

The brothers quickly warm up to each other after they realize that they have similar political views. Jean’s careful observations impress Lena as well, even though she isn’t interested in politics. While accompanying Michel to his regular group meetings, Lena then befriends the free-spirited Madeleine (Clotilde Hesme, Regular Lovers, Mysteries of Lisbon), the wife of another passionate communist (Denis Podalydes, Hidden), who loves to talk about her affair with a younger man. Almost immediately Madeline senses that there is more behind Lena’s interest in her brother-in-law’s observations.

Soon after, the inevitable happens - Lena and Jean fall in love. By the time Michel realizes that his family is falling apart, the French police also begin looking for Jean because they believe that he might be responsible for the death of an ex-Nazi officer.

Diane Kurys’ latest film Pour une femme a.k.a For a Woman was inspired by the true story of the French director’s parents, who met in a detention camp for Jewish refugees during the Nazi occupation of France. However, in the film some key relationships and events are altered and different subplots introduced to heighten the drama.

The frequent flashbacks add important bits to the story without making the film difficult to follow. There are a couple of surprising twists during the second half, one involving Jean’s mysterious friend Sacha (Clement Sibony, The Bird), but Kurys never goes too far with the material. At the end it all makes perfect sense.

The film’s one and only weakness is the occasional political preaching produced by the two brothers. Jean’s crucial revelation, in particular, seriously compromises his image. Some of Michel’s outbursts also suffer because of his naive words.

Cinematographer Gilles Henry's (Maurice Pialat's Van Gogh, Pierre Salvadori's Wild Target) elegant lensing gives the film a sense of lightness, which also makes the frequent transitions between the two periods look very natural.

Pour une femme Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Diane Kurys' For a Woman arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Studios-France.

The film has a specific stylized look that favors soft and neutrals colors and toned down contrast. This is the case with the footage from both periods. Clarity and definition, however, are consistently pleasing. The daylight footage looks particularly good, though some of the indoor footage where light is partially restricted also looks quite nice (see screencapture #6). Overall image stability is excellent. I did notice some light banding sneaking in early into the film, as well as later on after Jean's departure. However, most viewers will probably miss its presence. All in all, even though the encoding could have been better, For a Woman looks quite good in high-definition. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Pour une femme Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. French Descriptive Audio DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is also included. For the record, Universal Studios-France has provided optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

Armand Amar's elegant soundtrack benefits the most from the lossless treatment. There are select sequences where the music brings a very different flavor to the film. The overall dynamic intensity, however, isn't going to impress viewers who appreciate the active sound designs of big-budget action films. The dialog is consistently clear, stable, and very easy to follow. The English translation is excellent.

Pour une femme Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Galerie photos - a collection of stills from the film. With music. (3 min).

• Les coulisses du tournage par Renaud Lefevre - an excellent documentary film, directed by Renaud Lefevre, focusing on the production history of For a Woman and Diane Kurys' career. The documentary contains various cast and crew interviews. In French, not subtitled. (64 min).

Pour une femme Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

For a Woman, Diane Kurys' second collaboration with Benoit Magimel since the beautiful Children of the Century, should appeal to viewers who enjoy period romantic films. I think that some of the melodrama in it could have been handled a bit better, but the cast is excellent and the cinematography really quite beautiful. Melanie Thierry fans should not miss this film. RECOMMENDED.