7.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Charlie Kohler is a piano player in a bar. The waitress Lena is in love with him. One of Charlie's brother, Chico, a crook, takes refuge in the bar because he is chased by two gangsters, Momo and Ernest. We will discover that Charlie's real name is Edouard Saroyan, once a virtuose who gives up after his wife's suicide.
Starring: Charles Aznavour, Marie Dubois (I), Nicole Berger (I), Michèle Mercier, Serge DavriForeign | 100% |
Drama | 77% |
Romance | 23% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.34:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
French: LPCM 2.0
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region B (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
François Truffaut's "Shoot the Piano Player" a.k.a. "Tirez sur le pianiste" (1960) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; introduction by Serge Toubiana, president of Cinémathèque française; Marie Dubois screen tests; and an audio commentary by legendary cinematographer Raoul Coutard. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
"What were you thinking when we walked together in the street, last night?"
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.34:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, François Truffaut's Shoot the Piano Player arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye.
Depth, clarity and contrast frequently fluctuate, but all of these fluctuations are part of the film's original cinematography. For example, take a look at screencaptures #6 and 7 and notice how the lack of light makes it virtually impossible to see the faces of the two protagonists. The flatness is a byproduct of the poor lighting equipment François Truffaut and Raoul Coutard had to use while shooting the sequence. (There are very specific comments addressing the sequence in the audio commentary by Raoul Coutard). Elsewhere depth can quickly fluctuate as well, but contrast stability is far better (see screencapture #19). Once again, however, this is an inherited source limitation. When there is plenty of natural light, or proper lighting, depth and clarity are very pleasing (see screencapture #5). Generally speaking, the blacks, white, and grays are well balanced, but because different equipment was used to shoot select sequences at times the grays can temporarily destabilize the blacks. Furthermore, there are no traces of problematic degraining corrections. There are a couple of sequences where I noticed traces of light sharpening popping up, but they never become distracting. Overall image stability is outstanding. There are no large damage marks, cuts, debris, scratches, or stains. Lastly, there are no encoding anomalies to report in this review. All in all, this is a very strong presentation of Shoot the Piano Player that should please its fans. (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 is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 2.0. For the record, Artificial Eye have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.
There are some minor clarity fluctuations, but they are part of the film's original sound design. In fact, these types of fluctuations are fairly common in many of the classic Nouvelle Vague films (see Jules & Jim). Georges Delerue's legendary score is well rounded and enhances key sequences of the film, as intended. There is no problematic background hiss, crackle, audio dropouts, or distortions to report in this review. The English translation is excellent.
Francois Truffaut's Shoot the Piano Player is rightfully considered one of the definitive Nouvelle Vague films. Indeed, even today its desire to be different and break as many conventional rules as possible immediately separates it from the bulk of the films that are being produced. Artificial Eye's technical presentation of Shoot the Piano Player is very good. More importantly, included with this release is MK2's superb audio commentary with the great cinematographer Raoul Coutard, which I consider to be one of the ten best ever done for a home video release. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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