Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Murderer Lives at 21 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 1, 2013

Henri-Georges Clouzot's directorial debut "L'assassin habite... au 21" a.k.a. "The Murderer Lives at 21" (1942) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment. The only supplemental feature on this release is a video introduction to the film by Ginette Vincendeau, professor of French Cinema at King's College London. The release also arrives with a 280page illustrated booklet, including the words of Henri-Georges Clouzot and rare imagery. In French, with optional English subtitles. Region-B "locked".

Another murder?

A large part of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s directorial debut has the atmosphere of classic noir films – there are long shadows and specific camera moves that create the impression that the film would be notably dark. For a while, the direction seems quite clear. The second half, however, is infused with plenty of light humor that gradually changes the tone of the film. There are some drastic changes in the manner in which the main characters are treated as well. The resulting imbalance makes the film look rather strange.

The plot follows a serial killer who leaves small white cards next to each of his victims. The cards always have only a simple name on them: Monsieur Durand. The ambitious Inspector Wenceslas Wens (Pierre Fresnay, La Grande Illusion, The Man Who Knew Too Much) begins studying the victims and eventually discovers that the serial killer either frequently visits or lives in a boarding house at 21 Avenue Junot. Disguised as a Protestant pastor, Wens takes a room in the boarding house and begins observing its occupants.

But Wens’ work is soon jeopardized by his mistress, Mila Malou (Suzy Delair, Quai des Orfèvres, Copie conforme), an ambitious singer who desperately needs some positive publicity to redirect her career. When she arrives in the boarding house, Wens' investigation takes a rather unusual turn and the observed begin observing him and his mistress.

The suspects are all colorful characters, each possibly with something important to hide: Theodore Linz (Noel Roquevert, Antoine et Antoinette) is a respected physician and passionate hunter who has traveled the world; Monsieur Colin ( Pierre Larquey, Si Paris nous était conté) is a quiet man who spends most of his time creating dolls meant to resemble the mysterious Monsieur Durand; Mademoiselle Cuq (Maximilienne, Pardon My French) is a retired social butterfly who has never been properly loved; Kid Robert (Jean Despeaux) is a retired blind boxer; and Professor Lalah-Poor (Jean Tissier, ...And God Created Woman) is an extravagant magician with an endless bag of tricks who loves to wear a large turban.

After spending some time with the suspects and carefully studying them, Wens identifies the serial killer. But after the killer is arrested, another murder occurs.

Clouzot was a true master of misdirection. In the brilliant Les diaboliques, for example, he repeatedly forces the viewer to guess incorrectly where the film is heading and how it would end. The manner in which he observes the main protagonists is also absolutely brilliant – because they have been followed so closely after a certain point the viewer feels that he already knows them and their intentions, but they undergo shocking yet credible characters transformations that essentially rearrange the entire plot of the film. While glimpses of this brilliance are also evident in The Murderer Lives at 21, structurally and thematically the film is indeed notably uneven. Unsurprisingly, the connection the viewer feels with the characters in Les diaboliques never happens in The Murderer Lives at 21. Like Inspector Wens, the viewer simply observes the suspects in the boarding house until eventually the masks fall off and the mystery is solved.

The Murderer Lives at 21, which was produced for the Nazi run company Continental Films, is based on the novel by Stanislas-André Steeman. The Belgian director’s Legitime Defense also inspired Clouzot to film his brilliant Quai des Orfevres in 1947.

The Murderer Lives at 21 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Henri-Georges Clouzot's The Murderer Lives at 21 arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment.

There are traces of light denoising corrections throughout the entire film. They are very similar to the ones observed on Gaumont's Blu-ray release of Jacques Becker's Les amants de Montparnasse. My guess is that they were already applied to Gaumont's master that was consequently used to source the high-definition transfer (which must have been prepared before the excellent Pialat Blu-ray releases). This being said, detail and image depth are not seriously compromised. Most close-ups look rather good (see screencaptures #1 and 12), while contrast levels remain pleasingly stable. The effects of the denoising corrections are most obvious during scenes where light is restricted. Here shadow definition very clearly suffers, while the blacks are often replaced with large blocks of gray (see screencapture #8). Fortunately, the denoising is really quite light and in motion it isn't overly distracting. Additionally, no attempts have been made to sharpen up the film. There are no large debris, damage marks, cuts, or stains. Overall image stability is also very good. All in all, my feelings for this release mirror the ones I have for Gaumont's release of Les amants de Montparnasse - the denoising corrections that have been applied are unfortunate, but in motion the film still looks quite good. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

The Murderer Lives at 21 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 2.0. For the record, Eureka Entertainment have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

The lossless track is very good. The dialog is stable, free of problematic background hiss, and easy to follow. Maurice Yvain's score also gets a decent boost - the occasional clarinet solos are quite well rounded while the percussion and brass sections are pleasingly bright. There are no pops, clicks, or audio dropouts to report in this review.

The Murderer Lives at 21 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Introduction - Ginette Vincendeau, professor of French Cinema at King's College London, introduces Henri-Georges Clouzot's The Murderer Lives at 21. In English, not subtitled. (14 min).

• Booklet - 28-page illustrated booklet featuring: "L'Assassin habite au 21", an extract from Judith Mayne's 2007 book Le Corbeau; "Occupation and Its Discontents", an extract from Christopher Lloyd's 2007 book Henri-Georges Clouzot; and Testimonials of a First Film, a collation of quotes taken from interviews with Henri-Georges Clouzot, Stanislas-André Steeman, and Suzy Delair, conducted beteween 1953 and 1999.

The Murderer Lives at 21 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Unless Criterion bring Henri-Georges Clouzot's directorial debut, The Murderer Lives at 21, to Blu-ray in the United States, I think that this could turn out to be the only English-friendly release of the film on the market. The film is somewhat uneven, but definitely worth seeing. The technical presentation is also uneven, but the film still looks quite good on Blu-ray. RECOMMENDED.