6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Nightclub owner François Leclercq is the wrong man accused of the murder of a prostitute and football star and is on the run.
Starring: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Bernard Blier, Marie-France Pisier, Charles Gérard, Daniel IvernelForeign | 100% |
Crime | 12% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.67:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Henri Verneuil's "The Body of My Enemy" (1976) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new audio commentary recorded by critics Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell, and Nathaniel Thompson, as well as vintage trailer for the film. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Body of My Enemy arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.
At first glance, the master that was used to produce this release looks quite good. It is because it is free of problematic digital adjustments and the surface of the visuals is very, very healthy. Unfortunately, this master is pretty awkwardly graded, though I must make it clear that it is not in the same league with the one that was prepared for Cartouche. In fact, some of the footage from the the striptease club, Number One, looks pretty decent, even good, though it could have looked simply superb. So, what is the problem? It is pretty easy to tell that select primaries and nuances are not properly set. Whites and blues are the most badly mismanaged ones, but it is not difficult to see that greens and browns are off by quite a bit as well. As a result, the daylight footage usually has an unnaturally greenish and quite flat appearance. (Screencaptures #7, 8, and 9 are supposed to be from a very sunny day, but as you can see leave a very different impression). Such anomalies usually destabilize the dynamic range of the visuals as well, so it is not surprising that during daylight and darker areas this is exactly the type of anomaly that becomes obvious as well. (You can see clear examples in screencaptures #22 and 25). In fact, the anomaly is even noticeable during the opening credits with the title of the film (see screencapture #29). Needless to say, all of this is very unfortunate because the master has very strong organic qualities, which means that with a proper grading job it could have offered a pretty spectacular presentation of the film. Image stability is excellent. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.
I did not detect any traces of age-related imperfections. The audio was very clear, sharp, and stable. Francis Lai's score frequently produced gentle but very effective contrasts as well. Rather predictably, dynamic intensity is limited. The English translation is good.
Henri Verneuil and Jean-Paul Belmondo made a few spectacular films together, so it is not unrealistic to approach The Body of My Enemy expecting that it would match their quality. Sadly, it does not, and it is not because it has a drastically different personality. My suspicion is that The Body of My Enemy did not turn out as it should because there was a disconnect between the original screenplay that was handed to Verneuil and the type of film he wanted to shoot. Belmondo does some good things in it, which is hardly surprising, but its tone isn't right and the message misses the mark. Kino Lorber's Blu-ray release of The Body of My Enemy is sourced from a very healthy but unconvincingly graded master.
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