The Gang of Four Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

The Gang of Four Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 10, 2023

Despite its title, The Gang of Four is not about either the roiling political history of China or the post punk era in the British music industry. Instead, this is a dense, often intentionally ambiguous, offering from Jacques Rivette that combines his well known love of theater with cinema in some provocative ways, while also delivering a labyrinthine and frankly kind of weird narrative that involves a quartet of young women who are part of a seeming acting class that is run by a semi-harridan named Constance (Bulle Ogier). The four ostensible students are Cécile (Nathalie Richard), Joyce (Bernadette Giraud), Anna (Fejria Deliba), and Claude (Laurence Côte). All of these characters turn out to have back stories, of course, though Rivette isn't especially interested in offering long info dumps, and instead tends to hint rather than overtly present. The film might just have been easily called The Gang of Five, since Cécile rather quickly moves out of the house and another student named Lucia (Inês de Medeiros, billed as Inês d'Almeida) moves in, though it is Cécile's exit that actually starts to set the plot mechanics into "motion" (this being a relative term, since there is, to quote Constance in one of her tirades to a student whose performance she doesn't like, a "static" quality to much of this narrative).

A mysterious man ultimately identified as Thomas (Benoît Régent) seems to be stalking the women, though his motives remain at least a little vague as the story slowly unfolds. Hints of counterculture "terrorists" and a riff on "hidden treasure" also inform this story, but what probably makes it so oddly captivating is its almost bizarre counterpoint of mundane everyday situations, almost Groundhog Day-esque repetitions of scenes at acting class, and what becomes a kinda sorta mystery involving Cécile. Commentator Richard Peña makes the case that this is an underappreciated masterpiece in Jacques Rivette's filmography, and while that pronouncement might be debated by some, The Gang of Four is a fascinating deconstruction of the often blurred line between theater and cinema, while it also manages to dole out some of Rivette's other interests. I'm not sure the story really benefits from its almost three hour running time, and my hunch is Constance would be decrying the film's "stasis" if she were reviewing it.

The Gang of Four Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Gang of Four is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Film Collection, an imprint of Cohen Media Group, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. (As with many recent Cohen titles, this is subbranded in Cohen's Classics of French Cinema release line.) Cohen doesn't typically provide much technical information on its covers, but the re-release trailer touts a 4K restoration (despite the trailer itself kind of comically looking pretty rough at times). As the back cover of this release does mention, the film benefits from the cinematography of Caroline Champetier which the cover touts offers "a glorious late 80s palette of deep reds, golden yellows and dark teals". That blue-green side of things may be one potential tripping point for some, as it does seem to slightly skew things towards a rather cool, wintry look at times which may undercut some of the warmer red and orangish tones that are offered. Detail levels are typically quite good, faltering only in some extremely dark scenes (as in a nighttime car ride with Thomas and Anna). Grain can also look a bit rough in those very dark scenes, but overall resolves tightly and gives the presentation a commendably organic appearance.

The Gang of Four Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Gang of Four features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track which Cohen describes as stereo, though the IMDb lists the film as having been released in mono, and this certainly struck me as a dual mono offering. In any case, the track offers secure fidelity for what is a frequently very talky film. There are some good ambient environmental effects scattered throughout the track, including the kind of urban opening and some later moments outside, and occasional crowd scenes also have quite a bit of well layered sound design. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Per Cohen's standard operating procedure, English subtitles are forced.

The Gang of Four Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Richard Peña, Director Emeritus, New York Film Festival and Professor of Film and Media Studies, Columbia University is accessible under the Audio Menu.


• Re-release Trailer (HD; 1:00)

The Gang of Four Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Richard Peña point out that many Rivette films seem to be about one thing, but perhaps slowly yet surely reveal hidden layers, and while that is certainly the case with regard to The Gang of Four, this may be a case where, to defy Aristotle, the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. This is a film that requires a certain amount of patience, but it is weirdly subversive in both its often refracted narrative and some of its subtext. Technical merits are solid, and the commentary very enjoyable. Recommended.