7.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A poor young woman struggles to hold on to a job to support herself and her alcoholic mother.
Starring: Émilie Dequenne, Fabrizio Rongione, Anne Yernaux, Olivier Gourmet, Bernard MarbaixDrama | 100% |
Foreign | 92% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Winner of Palme d'Or and Best Actress awards at the Cannes Film Festival, Belgian directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s "Rosetta" (1999) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include the film's original French theatrical trailer; exclusive video interview with the Dardenne brothers; and video interviews with actors Emilie Dequenne and Olivier Gourmet. The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring an essay by film critic Kent Jones. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Emilie Dequenne as Rosetta
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's Rosetta arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release:
"Supervised by director of photography Alain Marcoen, this new high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit 2K Datacine from a 35mm blowup interpositive. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using MTI's DRS and Pixel Farm's PFClean.
Transfer supervisors: Lee Kline, Alain Marcoen.
Colorist: Giovanni Zimolo/Eclair, Paris."
The majority of the film looks quite soft. Considering the fact that it was shot in Super 16 this should not be surprising, but there is also light noise that further affects definition and clarity. Where light is restricted, the softness also affects color depth, and black levels in particular. The good news here is that there are no traces of post-production sharpening and contrast boosting. Naturally, the film still has the organic look it ought to have, but it is obvious that the blowup interpositive that was used to create the new high-definition transfer had some limitations. There are no serious stability issues. Scratches, cuts, debris, and warps are also nowhere to be seen. All in all, the Blu-ray release clearly represents an upgrade in quality over previous DVD releases of the film, but I feel that the technical presentation could have been even more convincing. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you mist have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release:
"The original 2.0 surround soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the 35mm magnetic tracks. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube's integrated workstation."
Like the overwhelming majority of the films the Dardennes have directed, Rosetta has a very modest sound design. Unsurprisingly, there is a limited range of dynamics. The dialog, however, is very crisp, clean, and stable. The film does not have a prominent soundtrack. Naturally, there are no balance issues either. Lastly, there are no dropouts or problematic audio distortions to report in this review. The English translation is excellent.
The only other film that I have seen in recent years that comes close to matching the intensity of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's Rosetta is Ramin Bahrani's Man Push Cart. Rosetta is a tremendous, incredibly powerful film, one that has inspired many directors to imitate it. It is cinema verite at its very best. Kudos to Criterion for adding yet another essential film to their spectacular collection. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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