Quartet Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Quartet Blu-ray Movie Review

Maybe more like a trio with occasional obligato.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 28, 2019

One of the conversations with James Ivory included on this disc as a bonus feature gets into the perceived subtext of Quartet as perhaps presciently offering a view of what Ivory's interviewer Tim Robey calls “polyamory”, i.e., marriages where one or even both spouses openly engage in dalliances. That may remind some snarkier viewers (ahem) of a funny meme which has been making the rounds of social media and which states, “Polyamory is wrong! It’s either multiamory or polyphilia, but mixing Latin and Greek roots? Wrong!” That “linguistic” analysis is perhaps salient in a way, since Quartet often glides by with hyperarticulate types offering bons mots even if they sometimes (often?) willingly defer from ever really discussing the heart of the matter.

The married couple in this instance are art impresario H.J. Heidler (Alan Bates) and his wife Lois (Maggie Smith), who has some artistic talent of her own, though she seems insecure enough about her own relationship with her husband that she allows him to dally — with fair regularity. When another married woman, Marya Zelli (Isabelle Adjani, Best Actress at Cannes for her work in this film, as well as Possession), having been “done wrong” by her husband Stefan (Anthony Higgins), is invited into the Heidler home and/or marriage, predictably roiling results ensue.

This is a rather interesting film in the Merchant Ivory canon, one which, like many other Merchant Ivory productions, has a literary source (in this case a novel by Jean Rhys) with an adapted screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. In this case, however, Quartet really eschews the kind of “colonial” or “empire building” aspects that some other Merchant Ivory films exploit. As such, this is in a way less “British” than some of the other Merchant Ivory outings, and in fact it takes place largely in Paris, though obviously with some English characters, meaning any "culture clash" (another regular occurrence in many a Merchant Ivory offering) tends to be "continental", in a manner of speaking.

Quartet kind of wants to traffic in the kind of arch witticisms with an underlying tartness that Noel Coward was so adept at offering in some of his “domestic” plays, and in fits and starts, it actually succeeds. But there may be too much of a slightly smarmy feeling to the troubled Heidler marriage to make any “lightness” seem tonally at odds with the foundational subject matter. This aspect becomes especially noticeable as Lois’ understandable emotional imbalances rise to the surface as the story progresses, though kind of interestingly, it’s Marya who is obviously the focal character here, with much of the story being told from her point of view.

Ivory is on record in one of the interviews included on this disc as a supplement mentioning how he felt this was the first film of his where all of the acting really “clicked”, and Quartet is most certainly an actor’s piece. Bates and Smith are well matched as a dysfunctional yet still interacting couple, and Adjani is quite remarkable in a role that requires equal amounts of spunk and vulnerability. Kind of shuffled off to the sidelines is Anthony Higgins as her ne’er-do-well husband, who spends much of the film in stir, but again kind of interestingly, it’s his return to the story that sparks the bittersweet climax, one which seems to suggest no one in this tawdry story is going to get to happily ever after without a considerable struggle.

Quartet Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Quartet is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Film Collection, an imprint of Cohen Media Group, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.67:1. Cohen is touting its new 4K restoration of this now venerable Merchant Ivory property, and the results are often quite striking. One of the things that struck me about the presentation was its deeply burnished palette, one that may not offer a ton of traditional "pop" in terms of bright, vivid primaries, but which is really gorgeously saturated within what might be termed a more "vintage" manner. Everything from some of the almost frosted golden tones of the nightclub sequence to the deep, plush burgundy of H.J.'s smoking jacket really look resplendent here. Grain resolves naturally throughout, though the most eagle eyed may catch very transitory moments of slight splotchiness (see screenshot 13). Detail levels are generally excellent, given an understanding of often intentionally dimly lit scenes in interior compartments, or even "hazy" moments as the one depicted in screenshot 12.

Quartet Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Quartet features a nice sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track, one which capably supports some of the Parisian nightclub and/or cabaret material quite effortlessly, while also offering Richard Robbins' kind of pastiche laden score a nice, full bodied sound. Prioritization is generally very well done, including in some of the noisier crowd sequences, where primary dialogue is typically very easy to make out.

Quartet Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Making of Quartet: A Conversation with James Ivory (1080p; 8:51) is moderated by Tim Robey.


• A New Interview with James Ivory and Pierre L'homme (1080p; 21:39) was conducted at the Cohen Media offices in 2016.


• Viva Cinema Interview with James Ivory (1080p; 8:58)


• Conversations with the Filmmakers (1080i; 11:22) includes James Ivory and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.


• Original Trailer (1080p; 2:14)


• Restoration Trailer (1080p; 1:01)

Quartet Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A pull quote on the back cover of this release alludes to the perhaps unexpectedly "sordid" ambience of this Merchant Ivory production, a vaunted partnership which is perhaps better known for sometimes rather pointed clashes told within the confines of "veddy, veddy British" comportment. For that reason alone, it's kind of fun to see Bates as a philandering husband, Smith as his at times surprisingly mousy, needy wife, and Adjani as a troubled would be mistress with marriage problems of her own. The production design here is quite opulent, and is often rendered quite beautifully on this Blu-ray. Technical merits are solid, the supplementary package interesting, and Quartet comes Recommended.