6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 1.0 | |
Reviewer | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.4 |
Donissan is a self-abasing curate tortured by questions about his role in God’s plan — before an encounter with a material Satan touches off a powerful revelation. At the crux of his vision is Mouchette, the madly profligate sylph whose fate ruptures in a blast of gunpowder and the slash of a razor. As events unfurl, the director himself provides witness as Menou-Segrais the seasoned cleric who pronounces the words: “God wears us down.”
Starring: Gérard Depardieu, Sandrine Bonnaire, Maurice Pialat, Alain Artur, Yann DedetForeign | 100% |
Drama | 37% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
French SDH, English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 5.0 |
Winner of the prestigious Palme d'Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Maurice Pialat's "Sous le soleil de Satan" a.k.a "Under the Sun of Satan" (1987) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Gaumont. The supplemental features on the disc include the film's original theatrical trailer; new video interview with production designer Katia Wyszkop; interview with cinematographer Willy Kurant; video interview with Gerard Depardieu; standard making of featurette; deleted and extended scenes presented by Sylvie Pialat, film editor Yann Dedet, and director Cedric Kahn; archival footage from the Cannes Film Festival; two short films directed by Maurice Pialat; and more. In French, with optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
You bear me in your flesh... None of you escape me.
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Maurice Pialat's Under the Sun of Satan arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Gaumont.
Under the Sun of Satan looks as impressive as the other two Pialat films from the latest batch of Gaumont Blu-rays (Police and We Won't Grow Older Together). Struck from a newly restored master, the high-definition transfer boasts excellent depth and consistent clarity. The blue-filtered sequence where Donissan meets Satan, in particular, looks dramatically stronger than it does on Eureka Entertainment's R2 DVD relase - there is better depth and shadow definition is visibly improved. Overall image stability is also far superior. Furthermore, there are no traces of excessive degraining corrections. Problematic sharpening corrections have not been applied either. As a result, the film has a very stable organic look. Color reproduction is also far more convincing. There is a wide range of lush but natural blues, grays, browns, and greens. There are no compression anomalies. Finally, there are absolutely no large cuts, debris, scratches, or warps. All in all, this is yet another very strong release from Gaumont that should make Pialat fans enormously happy. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray disc: French DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0. For the record, Gaumont have provided optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature.
Under the Sun of Satan is primarily a dialog-driven feature without a prominent music score. Needless to say, dynamic intensity throughout the film is modest at best. Random sounds and noises are well enhanced, but they will not make an impression on those of you who enjoy aggressive lossless tracks. This being said, the dialog is exceptionally clean, very crisp, and stable. The English translation is excellent.
Blu-ray
I have nothing but praise for Gaumont's Blu-ray releases of Maurice Pialat's films. Every single one of them has been of exceptionally high quality, boasting beautiful high-definition transfers and outstanding supplemental features to compliment them. Under the Sun of Satan, arguably Pialat's most complex film, has also transitioned to Blu-ray in spectacular fashion. It was such a treat to revisit this film in high-definition. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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