7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A young woman makes a surprising discovery about the husband of her late best friend.
Starring: Romain Duris, Anaïs Demoustier, Raphaël Personnaz, Isild Le Besco, Aurore ClementForeign | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
We’re still evidently in a—(throat clearing)—transitional stage of understanding and tolerance when it comes to gender identity issues, including everything from "simple" homosexuality, to perhaps more complex issues like transvestism and transsexualism, as potentially nowhere better illustrated by the recent probably thoughtless internet meme showing the horrific images of Caitlyn Jenner’s auto accident in Malibu (one which killed another driver) with the subtitle, “Guess it’s true what they say about women drivers”. If it’s a given that humans are still in a “learning phase” (so to speak) about transsexualism in this particular instance and gender identity issues more generally, one might think that François Ozon’s The New Girlfriend might act as a primer of sorts, for it deals in a surprisingly straightforward and unsensationalistic way with a potentially “touchy” subject matter. Ozon has regularly pushed the envelope in terms of portraying various characters splayed across the spectrum of human sexuality, and the director seems unusually able to blend whimsy with something a bit darker, even menacing, at times, as evidenced by such disparate films as Swimming Pool and 8 Women. Ozon can also tend to be deliberately obfuscatory at times, as I mentioned in the Blu-ray.com In The House Blu-ray review, something that may tend to keep some audience members at arm’s length from an emotional tether to what’s going on up on the silver screen. That opaque tendency is largely absent from The New Girlfriend, but some (probably older) viewers may still chafe at its central conceit of a mourning widower who is revealed to be (at the least) a “cross dresser” if not someone in need of gender reassignment surgery.
The New Girlfriend is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Media Group with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. According to the IMDb, this was shot on 35mm and it has a nicely "thick" texture a lot of the time, albeit one whose at times slightly clumpy grain field can marginally affect detail levels. The film is seemingly naturally lit a good deal of the time, and as a result there are no overtly "showy" moments. That said, the film is often quite scenic, visiting various beautiful locations and offering good depth of field and precise looks at elements like leaves and grass in some outdoor sequences. Colors aren't especially vivid, save for individual elements like a bright red sports car, but look very accurate and are decently saturated. Close-ups reveal great fine detail (see screenshot 14). Aside from some very slight issues with grain resolution, things look great here, albeit within a kind of restrained, tamped down ambience that doesn't deliver a big "wow" factor.
The New Girlfriend's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix (in the original French, with optional English subtitles) is, much like the video presentation, completely fine without ever really rising to "wow" heights. Surround activity tends to be limited to things like ambient environmental sounds when, for instance, Claire is tooling around in her car or out for a run. The film's score by Philippe Rombi (one perhaps a bit less flashy than the one I discussed in Ozon's In The House Blu-ray review ) also resides quite comfortably in the side and rear channels and helps to support a couple of quasi-montage sequences. Dialogue is always offered cleanly and clearly and is typically very well prioritized.
I kind of wish Ozon had either gone full on farce mode or kept things more resolutely realistic, rather than the kind of "one from Column A, one from Column B" approach that's on display here. The film tends to lurch a bit uneasily between some of its comedic elements and more histrionic dramatic developments, especially in a needlessly overwrought climax. That said, performances are excellent and the film is certainly unusual. Ozon fans will almost certainly be pleased, and those who aren't that familiar with Ozon's work may actually find this surprisingly accessible despite its kind of odd central conceit. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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