6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
French sailor Querelle arrives in Brest and starts frequenting a strange whorehouse. He discovers that his brother Robert is the lover of the lady owner, Lysiane. Here, you can play dice with Nono, Lysiane's husband : if you win, you are allowed to make love with Lysiane, if you lose, you have to make love with Nono... Querelle loses on purpose...
Starring: Brad Davis (I), Franco Nero, Jeanne Moreau, Laurent Malet, Roger FritzDrama | 100% |
Dark humor | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.36:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: LPCM 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 16-bit)
French: LPCM 2.0
German: LPCM 2.0
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region B (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Screened at the Venice Film Festival, Rainer Werner Fassbinder's final film, "Querelle" (1982) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye. The supplemental features on the disc include a video introduction by acclaimed director Volker Schlondorff and Pierre-Henri Gibert's documentary "The Twilight of Bodies: Fassbinder's Search for Querelle". In English, French, or German, with optional English subtitles. Region-B "locked".
The duel
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.36:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Querelle arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye.
The high-definition transfer is not identical to the one Gaumont used for their Blu-ray release of Querelle, but it appears to have been sourced from the same restored master the French label worked with. Generally speaking, detail and clarity tend to fluctuate as the action moves from one location to another, but these fluctuations are part of Xaver Schwarzenberger and Josef Vavra's very unique photography. To be perfectly clear, different filters and color enhancements have been used to achieve a certain 'dreamy' look. Light and shadow are also manipulated in unique ways to enhance the ambient atmosphere. There are no traces of problematic sharpening adjustments. Some extremely light denoising corrections have been applied, but the film has a moderately stable organic look. Viewers with large screens and projectors, in particular, should be very pleased with the improved image depth. Also, I would like to mention that while viewing the film I did not notice the light flicker which I spotted on the French release. Finally, there are no large debris, cuts, stains, or damage marks to report in this review. To sum it all up, even though there is room for some minor improvements this is indeed a very pleasing presentation of Querelle that is extremely easy to recommend. (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).
There are three standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0, German LPCM 2.0, and French LPCM 2.0. For the record, Artificial Eye have provided optional English subtitles for the German and French tracks. English subtitles are also available for the French text inserts on the English-language version of the film. When turned on, the subtitles appear inside the image frame.
The original English track has a good range of nuanced dynamics, but you should not expect it to test the muscles of your audio system. Peer Raben's score is also used primarily to enhance the unique atmosphere; it is not an integral part of it.
The dialog is crisp and clean, but optional English subtitles for the English-language version should have been included because some of the actors have rather thick accents. There are no audio dropouts or distortions to report in this review.
Rainer Werner Fassbinder's final film, Querelle, a remarkably bold and stylish adaptation of Jean Genet's infamous novel, is truly in a league of its own. A few of Polish director Lech Majewski's films come close to replicating its unique atmosphere, but none of them are as naughty and provocative. Querelle isn't for everyone, but if you like challenging yourself you shouldn't miss it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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