Symphony for a Massacre Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.5

Symphony for a Massacre Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 23, 2024

Note: This version of this film is available on Blu-ray as part of Radiance Films' World Noir Vol. 2 collection.

Radiance Films has been curating some really interesting titles since its inception, and is now offering what might be called "gritty global cinema" fans a second volume of noir features, after 2023's World Noir Vol. 1 (which I was not sent to review). This trio of films may frankly offer titles that are not that well known beyond a certain fan base, but each of the three films has interesting, sometimes compelling, elements, and as usual Radiance is providing generally secure technical merits and some outstanding supplements. Of the three films in this set, Kino Lorber has released a previous Region A version of Black Gravel, which as of the writing of this review hasn't been reviewed here yet. It looks like Symphony for a Massacre has had two prior releases on Blu-ray, including the Region A Symphony for a Massacre release from Cohen Media Group that I reviewed, and the Region B (albeit French) Symphony for a Massacre release from Pathe Distribution reviewed by Svet Atanasov. For those interested, of the three check discs sent to me for purposes of this review, Black Gravel played fine in my Region A player, while both Symphony for a Massacre and Cruel Gun Story are locked Region B.

As mentioned above, Symphony for a Massacre has had two prior releases on Blu-ray, and those interested in more information can read Svet's Symphony for a Massacre Blu-ray review of the French Pathe release and my Symphony for a Massacre Blu-ray review of the American Cohen release.

Symphony for a Massacre Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Symphony for a Massacre is presented on Blu-ray by Radiance Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. While Radiance sent only checks discs for purposes of this review, and I'm therefore not privy to any information contained in an insert booklet about the transfer, Radiance's website states this is a 4K restoration by Pathé, presented on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK. Both Svet's and my reviews of the previous versions can provide more information, but the bottom line is this transfer is more or less identical to the Cohen release I reviewed, which in turn sounds like it was more or less identical to the Pathe release Svet reviewed. If, for example, you compare the first screenshot of this review with the seventh screenshot of Svet's review, I think you'd be hard pressed to spot any major (or maybe even minor) differences in detail, contrast or tonal values. That's actually great news, since both Svet and I found the releases we reviewed previously to be generally excellent looking, with solid contrast, nice fine detail in close-ups, and no really problematic damage to report.

Symphony for a Massacre Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This version of Symphony for a Massacre offers an LPCM 2.0 Mono track that to my ears was virtually indistinguishable from the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track on the Cohen release. The film's club settings provide some occasionally funny uses of music (see my review of the Cohen version for one example), but the scoring, including diagetic pieces, is nicely full bodied. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. One way this disc has the Cohen beat is that the English subtitles are optional (Cohen has had a kind of weird habit of only providing forced subtitles for their foreign language releases in Region A).

Symphony for a Massacre Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Travis Woods


• Christina Newland (HD; 15:09) offers an interesting overview of director Jacques Deray's oeuvre.


• Charles Vanel, Jean Rochefort and Jacques Deray (HD; 4:35) are featured in an archival 1963 snippet from a French television show. Subtitled in English.

Symphony for a Massacre Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's been around two years since Cohen released their version of this film and I suggested it was "ripe for reassessment". Maybe this new Radiance version can help in that effort. Technical merits are first rate (especially video), and the supplements very appealing. Highly recommended.