Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Man Who Lies Blu-ray Movie Review

Truth be gone.

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf May 29, 2014

After the success of “Trans-Europe Express,” director Alain Robbe-Grillet continued his exploration of the abstract with 1968’s “The Man Who Lies,” a fascinating but bloodless film interpretation exercise that’s more academic than involving. Working with the concept of the untrustworthy narrator, Robbe-Grillet invents a puzzle of deception that only he can solve, or perhaps nobody can -- either way, the helmer seems to be satisfied with the confusion he summons and the manipulation he maps out. The effort is impressively knotted and bizarre, but Robbe-Grillet treats emotional involvement like a case of the cooties, once again making viewing of his work an extended appreciation of cinematic form, not storytelling.

Following Boris (Jean-Louis Trintignant) into a rural French village, where he dazzles the locals with tales of wartime evasion involving resistance figure Jean (Ivan Mistrik), “The Man Who Lies” lives up to its title early and often, embarking on a winding tale of duplicity as the visitor alters his narrative when the mood suits him. These extremes of heroism and villainy are dutifully measured by the director, who plays with artful staging and satisfies avant-garde interests with deliberately distanced cinematography and theatrical acting, while employing a richly symbolic and, at times, torturous sound design (at one point, a leaky faucet drips slowly in the background) that often takes center stage, mixed with confident editorial precision that keeps Boris’s adventures in fibbing and seduction (chasing after three comely locals) visually intact.

The Man Who Lies Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.33:1 aspect ratio) presentation does feature some minor print damage, with speckling, debris, and scratches visible throughout the movie, and there's the occasional presence of judder. These are small events, never detracting from the viewing experience, which is largely impressive with clarity, revealing fine detail on faces and locations, making the general wear and tear of interiors and the characters themselves easily surveyed, also pulling textures out of costuming and make-up. Contrast is satisfactory, while blacks are deep and true, preserving frame information and distances. Grain is managed adequately, providing a tastefully filmic look to the picture.

The Man Who Lies Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 LPCM mix has a considerable amount of heavy lifting to deal with, making room for the sophisticated sound design of the picture, with its colliding elements of dialogue and sonic abstraction. Thankfully, the track favors clearness, with only a modest amount of hiss to manage. Dialogue exchanges are direct and stable, never reaching into crispy highs or overtly muddy lows (some thickness due to age remains), pleasantly balanced with heavy and varied atmospherics, which favor the odd and the unexpected, but remain smoothly integrated. Gunfire and assorted acts of violence add some snap to an otherwise dense but exploratory effort.

The Man Who Lies Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview (35:22, SD) with Robbe-Grillet basically explores the meaning behind the images, with some production background information as well.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (3:22, HD) is included.

The Man Who Lies Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"The Man Who Lies" is frustrating, mischievous, and arresting, often all in the same moment. It's entirely Robbe-Grillet's vision for the art of manipulation, and while its esoteric ways do border on parody at times, at the core of the feature is a pure articulation of confusion with great cinematic style.