6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Three generations of a wealthy Bordeaux family are caught in the crossfire when Anne decides to run for mayor, thanks to a political pamphlet that revives an old murder scandal.
Starring: Nathalie Baye, Benoît Magimel, Suzanne Flon, Bernard Le Coq, Mélanie DouteyForeign | 100% |
Drama | 70% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.67:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: LPCM 2.0
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Twisting the Knife: Four Films by Claude Chabrol.
Arrow Video has been revisiting a number of films by Claude Chabrol that have had previous releases on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Media Group.
Arrow's recent compendium Lies
and
Deceit: Five Films by Claude Chabrol contained Cop au
Vin and Inspector Lavardin, released by
Cohen in a "double feature" called The
Inspector
Lavardin Collection; and Betty and Torment, which Cohen released as part of 3 Classic Films by Claude Chabrol. And
in
fact the third film in Cohen trifecta of "classic films", The
Swindle
(the link points to the Cohen release), is included here, along with The Color of Lies (the link points to the Cohen release) and Nightcap (the link once again points to the Cohen release). That means that much like Lies and Deceit's Madame Bovary, this compendium also features one film
that Cohen didn't put out in years past, The Flower of Evil (La Fleur du Mal).
The Flower of Evil is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.67:1. Considering the fact that Arrow's website touts a new 4K restoration of this film, the insert booklet is surprisingly succinct and frankly lacking any real information, offering only a generic statement that "the films in this collection were restored and supplied by MK2". Without any previous releases to compare this to, this looked beautifully detailed and lushly vivid a lot of the time. Interesting, almost pastel hued, colors fill the frame at various points and look natural, and textures like fabrics on outfits are typically rendered with very nice precision. The grain field is tightly resolved throughout the presentation and I saw no signs of any aggressive digital manipulation of the source element.
The Flower of Evil features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 tracks. As with many Chabrol films, this can be a talk heavy enterprise where surround activity can typically be limited to ambient environmental effects and Matthieu Chabrol's score. All elements including dialogue are rendered cleanly and clearly, though my hunch is many will find the 2.0 track suffices perfectly well and the 5.1 track is only intermittently more noticeably immersive. Unlike the Cohen release, which featured forced subtitles, the English subtitles on this release are optional.
The Flower of Evil evidently split critics when it was originally released, but some of the supplements on this disc make a cogent case that it deserves reassessment. It's almost shocking how quietly scabrous Chabrol can be, and this film is an excellent example. Technical merits are solid, and the supplements are very enjoyable. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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