The Moon in the Gutter Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		1.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.0

The Moon in the Gutter Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 25, 2012

Nominated for the prestigious Palme d'Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Jean-Jacques Beineix's "La lune dans le caniveau" a.k.a. "The Moon in the Gutter" (1983) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Cinema Libre. The supplemental features on the disc include production stills, video interview with director Jean-Jacques Beineix, and the short film "Mr. Michel's Dog" (1977). In French, with imposed English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The couple

The slums of Marseilles. A young woman has committed suicide after she has been brutally raped. Filled with anger, her brother, Gerard (Gérard Depardieu, Going Places, 36), has started looking for the rapist. He has also pushed away his lover, Bella (Victoria Abril, High Heels, Amantes), a jealous gambler, who has started believing that another woman has taken her place. Gerard has also stopped communicating with his irresponsible and slightly crazy brother (Dominique Pinon, Delicatessen, Un long dimanche de fiançailles) and alcoholic father.

After spending an entire day wandering around the slums, Gerard ends up in a bar where he meets an extravagant drunk (Vittorio Mezzogiorno, Three Brothers) and his beautiful sister (Nastassja Kinski, Paris, Texas, Maria's Lovers). He becomes obsessed with her after she takes him for a ride with her beautiful red Ferrari. For a while, Gerard begins dreaming beautiful dreams and forgets about his dead sister.

Eventually, however, the beautiful dreams are overtaken by the same ugly nightmares that had earlier driven Gerard to the edge of madness. Even though occasionally he meets the young woman again and his heart warms up, he slowly evolves into a violent monster.

Meanwhile, the jealous Bella concludes that if she can’t have Gerard, no one else should and pays a couple of thugs to kill him. After they corner him on the city’s lonely docks, something inside him suddenly snaps -- his mind reconnects with the real world, and he begins to wonder whether everything he has experienced recently was real.

Released in 1983, two years after Diva and amidst great expectations, Jean-Jacques Beineix’s The Moon in the Gutter is a beautiful puzzle of a film. It tells a somewhat chaotic story that is open for interpretation, but dazzles with a style which to this day remains unmatched.

One of the reasons the film seems confusing has to do with the fact that it was severely cut. According to Beineix, initially the film had a running time of approximately 240 minutes, but its producer, the legendary French studio Gaumont, demanded a new, shorter cut which was prepared for its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. (Years later, Beineix apparently tried to reassemble the longer version, as he did with his highly acclaimed Betty Blue, but Gaumont informed him that the cut footage was destroyed).

The film is like a beautiful but often maddening dream. After Gerard meets the beauty with the Ferrari, the world around him slowly begins to change; past and present begin to overlap, and he loses grip on reality. There are entire sequences that feel unfinished, and seemingly important conflicts often remain unresolved.

The heavy symbolism further muddles things. The large billboards in the slums where Gerard spends most of his time, the overwhelming blue lights that follow him, the 'live' puddles of blood which he sees on the dark and dirty streets all carry hidden messages that could be difficult to deconstruct. Unsurprisingly, the film often looks more like the creation of a brilliant surrealist who has lost his mind rather than the creation of a gifted director.

Even this compromised version of the film, however, has moments of brilliance -- the opening sequence where Gerard eats a massive block of ice, Gerard’s lonely walks through the empty streets, the stunningly beautiful Kinski driving the red Ferrari with the moon observing from afar. Yet another wonderful soundtrack by Lebanese composer Gabriel Yared (Betty Blue, The English Patient) compliments the film as well.

The Moon in the Gutter Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.28:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and grated a 1080p transfer, Jean-Jacques Beineix's The Moon in the Gutter arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Cinema Libre.

The high-definition transfer is extremely disappointing. In fact, it is the second worst I saw in 2011 (the other is the high-definition transfer used by Studio Canal for The Outsiders). Detail is very poor, never really coming even close to the type of quality we expect Blu-ray to deliver. Contrast levels and clarity are also very problematic. There are entire sequences that are so dark that the backgrounds, with important objects which the camera often studies, are practically missing (see screencaptures #17 and 18). Color reproduction is also disastrous - the prominent blues, greens, and reds look soft, fuzzy, and washed out. Finally, macroblocking patterns are all over the film, forcing the image to pulsate and break down. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

The Moon in the Gutter Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: French Dolby Digital 2.0. For the record, Cinema Libre have provided imposed English subtitles for the main feature. They appear inside the image frame.

The French Dolby Digital 2.0 track is also disappointing. While the dialog is mostly clean and easy to follow, the stunningly beautiful soundtrack by Gabriel Yared never comes alive. In fact, most of the time, it feels as if someone intentionally toned down the dynamics. The pleasing depth and fluidity we have come to expect from good loseless tracks are completely missing here. What a shame. After Betty Blue, I thought that at least The Moon in the Gutter will get a proper release.

The Moon in the Gutter Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview - a very informative interview with director Jean-Jacques Beineix conducted by Tim Rhys of MovieMaker Magazine. The French director discusses the production history of The Moon in the Gutter, the Gaumont fiasco, and the effect the film's unfavorable reception at Cannes had on him. The French director also briefly comments on Betty Blue, his third film. In English, not subtitled. (17 min, 1080i).

• Mr. Michel's Dog (1977) - Jean-Jacques Beineix's first short film. In French, with imposed English subs. (16 min, 1080i).

• Production Stills - a collection of stills from the film. (14 min, 1080p).

The Moon in the Gutter Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Moon in the Gutter was one of my most anticipated releases in 2011. It is one of those legendary bad films -- though it is actually incredibly original and stunningly beautiful -- that were incredibly difficult to see for many years. Until 2009, I believe it was not available even on DVD. I certainly did not have a copy of it in my library. However, thanks to Cinema Libre, not only The Moon in the Gutter, but also Mortal Transfer, Roselyne and the Lions and IP5: The Island of Pachyderms finally received English-friendly DVD releases. (There wasn't an English-friendly release of Mortal Transfer anywhere in the world). Unfortunately, the Blu-ray release of The Moon in the Gutter is extremely disappointing. I will be keeping it in my library as I am a big fan of Jean-Jacques Beineix's work and because I don't foresee any of his films, possibly with the exception of Diva, getting stronger releases, but am I disappointed.