Symphonie pour un massacre Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.5

Symphonie pour un massacre Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 20, 2018

Jacques Deray's "Symphony for a Massacre" a.k.a. "Symphonie pour un massacre" (1963) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Pathe. The only bonus feature on the disc is an exclusive new featurette with journalist and biographer Jean-Philippe Guerand and film historian and author Francois Guerif. In French, with optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The man who had a different plan

French director Jacques Deray left an incredible legacy of crime films that one could rather successfully argue are the very reason Alain Delon, Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Jean-Louis Trintignant remained big international stars. Deray’s collaborations with reformed gangster Jose Giovanni are also one of the main reasons the latter had such a prolific career in the film industry as a writer and director.

Deray’s third film, Symphony for a Massacre a.k.a. The Corrupt, which is loosely based on a story by Alain Reynaud-Fourton and was co-written by Claude Sautet and Giovanni, has a dream cast of established and future stars. The last of the ‘big five’, Jean Rochefort, passed away last year at the age of 87, but it is unclear if he was able to see the entire 4K restoration of the film that Éclair completed in 2016.

The five men have been business partners for decades. After years of working on the streets, they pooled their money and purchased a nightclub that attracted a decent clientele. But their best days came after they remodeled the club into a gambling house. They kept the tiny dancing hall but worked diligently to earn a reputation as a safe destination for seasoned gamblers. Their profits were small but steady and over time all of them were able to increase their savings.

Now they have a great opportunity to finally make enough and retire. Another veteran player has offered to sell them a very large shipment of drugs at a heavily discounted price because he needs to move on to another deal that requires him to leave the country. The payment that he is asking for is big, but if they pool their savings again they can do it. Once the product is delivered, they will quickly unload it on the streets and each of them will quadruple his initial investment.

The eldest one, Paoli (Charles Vanel, The Wages of Fear), finalizes the deal and instructs them to bring their shares to his apartment. Moreau (Giovanni) will be the one that gets on the midnight express and delivers the payment. Clavet (Michel Auclair, To Kill a Cop) will continue overseeing the gambling tables, while Valoti (Claude Dauphin, Casque d'Or) will complete their distribution arrangements. Jabeke (Rochefort) is off to Brussels to attend a business meeting but he will be back on time for the delivery.

They agree that the plan is perfect and that it is only a matter of time before they begin enjoying the fruits of their labor. However, shortly after Paoli collects the payments one of them changes his mind.

Symphony for a Massacre is the type of brilliant project that makes it impossible for anyone that is part of it to be mediocre. Indeed, the individual parts are so carefully crafted that when the drama begins to unfold each character has to be responsive in a very particular way so that the rest look authentic. So the group pressure to do everything right essentially guaranteed that this film would turn out to be special.

The film of course turned out to be extra-special because the chemistry on display between the actors and Deray’s camera is astonishing. In fact, its title could not have been more appropriate because like an actual symphony this is a large-scale work with different movements where proper interaction is crucial for different players to shine at the right time. Even the character transformations that occur after the cheater goes to work are done with terrific symphonic awareness about the legitimacy of other dynamic changes that will inevitably occur elsewhere in the film.

The top-notch male cast is joined by two equally brilliant ladies, the beautiful Michele Mercier (Cemetery Without Crosses), who plays Clavet’s concerned wife, and Daniela Rocca (Divorce Italian Style), whose character is having second thoughts about the future of her relationship with Valoti.

Symphonie pour un massacre Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jacques Deray's Symphony for a Massacre arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Pathe.

The release is sourced from a brand new 4K restoration -- the original negative is lost, so an interpositive, the best available element, was scanned in 4K and the film was then restored in 2K -- which was completed by Eclair laboratoires and L.E. Diapason, with the financial support of Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC).

The overall quality of the visuals is really good. Obviously, because the original negative was unavailable density isn't optimal. Early on for instance, there are a few segments where it appears that some partial fading might have further impacted density and depth, but it was difficult for me to determine exactly what might have occurred. However, I can confirm that some rebalancing work was undoubtedly performed because at one point the dynamic range clearly suffers and it almost looks like some chroma-like effects are about to break out (see screencaptures #7 and 8) and at this point, it becomes clear that lab work was applied. The good news is that regardless of source limitations and optimization the entire film has strong organic qualities and now looks very healthy. Image stability is also excellent. All in all, while there is room for speculation that some of the optimizations might have been done differently, the end result has strong organic qualities and I am very pleased with it. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the main menu).

Symphonie pour un massacre Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with a few small exchanges in English). French descriptive Audio DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is included as well. There are optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The film is complemented by a very lush orchestral score with some beautiful string themes that add quite an atmosphere to the visuals. Luckily, the lossless track boasts excellent depth and a great range of dynamic nuances. The dialog is also very clean, nicely balanced, and free of distortions.

Symphonie pour un massacre Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• La partition de Symphonie pour un massacre - presented here is an exclusive new featurette with journalist and biographer Jean-Philippe Guerand (Jean Rochefort, pince sans rire) and film historian and author Francois Guerif (Le film noir american). The two gentlemen discuss the production history, visual aesthetics and dialog of Symphony for a Massacre. In French, not subtitled. (28 min).

Symphonie pour un massacre Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The great director Jacques Deray could not have had a better cast for Symphony for a Massacre, a flawless film noir about five aging gangsters who agree to do one last job together and then retire in style. The tone and visual aesthetics of the film were clearly influenced by the classic American noir thrillers, but the group of established and future stars that Deray worked with produced something truly special. Pathe's new Blu-ray release is sourced from a lovely 4K restoration that was completed by Eclair and will surely remain the definitive presentation of the film on the home video market. An unmissable release. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.