The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 29, 2019

Gérard Oury's "The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob" (1973) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Movement. The supplemental features on the disc include new video interview with co-screenwriter Danièle Thompson and restoration trailer. The release also arrives with a 16-page illustrated booklet featuring an essay by Phoebe Maltz Bovy and technical credits. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

An odd wedding, don't you think?

Louis de Funes was the complete package –- exceptionally witty, remarkably agile and naturally funny, a superb improvisator that could instantly make an ordinary scene look extraordinary. The label ‘classic comedian’, which has undoubtedly lost its value because it is routinely misused, was invented to identify truly special actors exactly like him.

In Gérard Oury’s award-winning comedy The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob Funes plays Victor Pivert, a wealthy factory owner with a long list of serious social flaws -- he is unbearably rude, shockingly ignorant, compulsive liar, racist, and just about everything else under the sun that is considered bad. His entire life is a repetitive cycle of giving orders and making the people around him feel miserable, and the only person that has the authority to occasionally disrupt it is his wife (Suzy Delair), who is a neurotic dentist with a similarly abusive personality.

While speeding through the countryside, Pivert and his chauffeur (Henri Guybert) nearly die when their car flips and ends up in a lake. Immediately after the accident, however, the chauffer declares that he can’t fix the car and help his boss continue his journey because he plans to observe the Shabbat. The fuming Pivert then fires him on the spot and they part ways.

Earlier, an Arab revolutionary named Slimane (Claude Giraud) is kidnapped by secret agents working for the government that he is planning to overthrow and transported to a secluded bubblegum factory deep inside the countryside. When they begin torturing him, Pivert, who has just entered the factory looking for someone to help him resume his journey, gets in their way and unintentionally helps Slimane run away. Slimane then takes the stunned Pivert hostage and the two become targets for the very angry agents.

During a wild and exhausting chase Pivert and Slimane attempt to lose the agents at Orly Airport, where they dress up as rabbis and enter a massive crowd of incoming and departing travelers. However, their plan backfires when Pivert is mistaken for the famous Rabbi Jacob, who is visiting his motherland after thirty years of living in New York.

The consistency with which The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob produces funny moments makes it awfully difficult to accept that they were all carefully scripted, but this actually makes the end product appear even more remarkable because the coordination and chemistry between the actors is absolutely sensational. Indeed, it is very difficult to spot the exact areas where improvising occurs, and yet there must be plenty because the action is of the type that is essentially impossible to fully choreograph.

The film’s ability to plow through a remarkable number of risky stereotypes and make it look like a most casual affair is equally impressive. A lot could have gone terribly wrong but instead of tasteless or just flat-out offensive material the treatment of these stereotypes is what ultimately gives the film its irresistible charm. (This is the very reason why the film looks so fresh today as well. A contemporary American remake would either be unbearably cynical or instantly self-destruct while trying to remain politically correct).

Director Oury wrote the outstanding script together with frequent collaborator Daniele Thompson, whose long credits include such classics as Cousin cousine, The Party, and Queen Margot.

The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Movement.

There is only one area of the recent 4K restoration of The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob that I am unimpressed with -- it is the color grading. (The restoration was completed in a European lab, so I can't say that I am surprised that the issue exist because it is very common on recent restorations of various French and Italian films. For example, a very large number of the color films that are restored for Gaumont are virtually unwatchable because of this very issue). Basically, as far as I am concerned a few of the LUT values are not accurate, which is the reason why in certain parts of the film there is a light yellowish hue that causes some anomalies. Before I identify them, however, I would like to make it perfectly clear that the end result is still very nice, and nowhere near close to matching the 'quality' of the recent 4K restorations that were done for That Man from Rio and 23 Paces to Baker Street. (The latter, which was completed at Fox, has more of the issues that I will mention). So, the overall color balance on The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob ranges from quite good to occasionally very good, but there are a few areas where the yellowish hue destabilizes primaries and then impacts the film's dynamic range. When the issue is most prominent the indoor/darker areas become flatter than usual and some native nuances are lost. A good example can be seen in screencapture #3, and and even better example where the flattening becomes too obvious can be seen in screencapture #31. There are even a couple of daylight sequences where some native nuances are lost because of the flattening that was introduced during the grading job (see screencapture #33). The rest of the technical presentation looks quite good. There are still plenty of convincing primaries and decent nuances. Clarity is rather strong as well, plus there are no traces of sharpening of contrast boosting. The entire film also looks spotless. So, while still a major upgrade over previous masters. the 4K restoration could have been quite a stunner if all LUT values were correct. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio has been completely redone and it is very easy to tell because stability and clarity are exceptional. Additionally, his film has quite a bit of action where the soundtrack becomes very active and the easiness with which the lossless track handles the showy moments and transitions is really quite impressive. There are no pops, background hiss, or high-frequency distortions that usually sneak in on these types of older films when they are transferred to Blu-ray unresotred.

The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with Daniele Thompson - in this new video interview, co-screenwriter Danièle Thompson remembers her work with director Gérard Oury on The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob and explains why it became so successful. In English, not subtitled. (14 min, 1080p).

• Restoration Trailer - an original trailer for the recent 4K restoration of The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob. In French, with imposed English subtitles. (2 min, 1080p).

• Additional Trailers - additional trailers for the following films from Film Movement's catalog:
  
  1. The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe
  2. Full Moon in Paris
  3. Ugly, Dirty and Bad

• Booklet - 16-page illustrated booklet featuring an essay by Phoebe Maltz Bovy and technical credits.

The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Even though I find a few of Louis de Funès' 'gendarme' films even funnier, there is no denying that The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob is a genuine genre classic. The manner in which it plows through mountains of risky stereotypes while at the same time unleashes an avalanche of funny moments is simply impossible not to admire. It all looks very easy and organic, but this type of mastery is very, very rare. Film Movement's Blu-ray release is sourced from a good recent 4K restoration, but I think that the end result could have been even more convincing. RECOMMENDED.