8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.2 |
Elle France editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who, in 1995 at the age of 43, suffered a stroke that paralyzed his entire body, except his left eye. Using that eye to blink out his memoir, Bauby eloquently described the aspects of his interior world, from the psychological torment of being trapped inside his body to his imagined stories from lands he'd only visited in his mind.
Starring: Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josée Croze, Anne Consigny, Patrick ChesnaisForeign | 100% |
Drama | 90% |
Biography | 17% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Bonus View (PiP)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Winner of Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Julian Schnabel's "Le scaphandre et le papillon" a.k.a. "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (2007) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Canadian distributors Alliance. The supplemental features on the disc include an audio commentary by director Julian Schnabel; making of featurette; interview with director Julian Schnabel; and behind the scenes featurette. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
So, I can see...
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Canadian distributors Alliance.
Despite the various stylistic modifications, most notably contrast and clarity adjustments that create the notion that the audience sees the world as Jean-Dominique Bauby does, detail is indeed dramatically improved. On the R1 SDVD of the film, which Miramax released in the United States quite some time ago, the various close-ups are plagued by a heavy amount of noise, and when the camera zooms often times there is heavy smearing. Here, these close-ups look mostly soft, but there is plenty of detail. The "blurry vision" is also better reproduced (see screencapture #3). Some of the panoramic vistas from the beach, however, convey light to moderate amounts of edge-enhancement. However, because of cinematographer Janusz Kaminski's preference for colors that literally begin to break down as Bauby wanders between the real world and the imaginary world he has created for himself, the visuals are never distracting. Additionally, there are various minor grain corrections, but the integrity of the film is very much intact. Lastly, my R1 SDVD suffers from a great deal of flicker and random color pulsations; here they are nowhere to be seen. All in all, this is a pleasing Blu-ray release of a remarkably powerful film. (Note: This is a Region-A Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French Dolby Digital 5.1. For the record, Alliance have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.
In my opinion, the French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track alone is a good enough reason to strongly recommend this Blu-ray release of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The wonderful piano theme, for instance, sounds quite incredible now. Additionally, when you listen to Paul Cantelon's beautiful soundtrack, you will hear a variety of nuanced dynamics which the French Dolby Digital 5.1 track simply cannot reproduce. Because of them, key scenes in the entire film are a lot more effective. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and very easy to follow. I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, hissings or audio dropouts to report in this review. For the record, unlike the R1 SDVD, which has very large yellow optional English subtitles, the Alliance Blu-ray release has white optional English subtitles.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a beautiful, profoundly moving film. If for some strange reason you have not seen it yet, I urge you to do so as soon as possible. The Alliance Blu-ray release represents a solid upgrade over the old R1 SDVD Miramax produced in the United States quite some time ago. In my opinion, the loseless track alone is a good enough reason to enthusiastically recommend it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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