The Night is Young Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

The Night is Young Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 10, 2014

Leos Carax's "Mauvais sang" a.k.a. "The Night is Young" (1986) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye. The supplemental features on the disc include an original theatrical trailer for the film; a collection of outtakes and rushes; and a deleted scene. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The street warrior

The future. In Paris, a mysterious disease known as STBO has started killing young people who have sex without being in love. A powerful pharmaceutical company has developed a vaccine, but only the wealthy can afford it.

Two aging gangsters, Marc (Michel Piccoli, Belle de jour, Dillinger Is Dead) and Hans (Hans Meyer, Boy Meets Girl), have been planning to steal a culture of the vaccine and sell it to a rival company. When the best man for the job is eliminated by the ruthless American Woman (Carroll Brooks) and her gang, they decide to approach his son, a kooky punk named Alex (Denis Lavant, Holy Motors).

Meanwhile, after making love to his girlfriend (Julie Delpy, Three Colors: White), Alex decides to pack up his bags and leave Paris for good. Later that night, however, he is overwhelmed by the beauty of a lonely girl (Juliette Binoche, Three Colors: Blue) he sees wandering alone the city’s empty streets. He follows her and she leads him to Marc and Hans’ place. After the old-timers tell him about the job his dead father would have been hired to do, Alex decides to stay.

Leos Carax’s The Night is Young (also distributed under the alternative title Bad Blood) is virtually impossible to describe in a way that would make perfect sense. The best one could do is compare it to other films – for example, the atmosphere reminds of Jean-Luc Godard’s Alphaville, while the film’s casual tiptoeing between the real and the surreal appears to have been directly inspired by Andre Technie’s noirish thriller Barocco. Yet the film definitely has an identity of its own.

The cinematography is just as atypical. There are numerous close-ups in which faces and objects are captured in ways that remind of the experimental work of the Nouvelle Vague directors -- the angles are unusual, light and shadow have very specific roles, and colors are carefully selected. But there are also long sequences where conventional techniques are used to give the film very distinctive modern appearance and rhythm. (See the break-in).

The camera loves Binoche. Virtually all of the close-ups with her face can easily be used in a fashion magazine. Lavant rarely speaks but he does not need to because his arsenal of facial expression is simply extraordinary. His movement is also fascinating to behold. For example, there are sudden bursts of energy on display which create the impression that there are groups of muscles in his body that he isn’t always capable of controlling. The intensity in these sequences is quite remarkable. (Lavant is even more impressive in Carax’s third film, Lovers on the Bridge, where he plays a reckless alcoholic who unexpectedly discovers true love).

The Night is Young is wonderfully lensed by Jean-Yves Escoffier, who also teamed up with Carax on Boy Meets Girl and Lovers on the Bridge. The film does not have an elaborate soundtrack, but David Bowie’s Modern Love is very effectively used in one of the most memorable sequences in which Lavant is seen running through the dark streets of Paris.

In 1986, The Night is Young won Prix Louis Delluc award in France. A year later, it won the first Alfred Bauer Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival, which is given to films that open new perspectives on cinematic art.

The Night is Young 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, Leos Carax's The Night is Young arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye.

I am enormously pleased with the technical presentation. I did a few quick comparisons with my R2 DVD release of The Night is Young, which was also produced by Artificial Eye, and I can confirm that there are dramatic improvements in every single area we typically address in our reviews. Because there are so many close-ups throughout the film, the improved clarity and depth are immediately noticeable (see screencaptures #4, 6, and 7). The darker footage also boasts better shadow definition -- on the DVD release there is obvious macroblocking as well as traces of moderate sharpening that are not present on the Blu-ray. Colors are natural and stable. The best news, however, is that there are no traces of problematic degraining corrections. Unsurprisingly, when projected the film has a very stable organic appearance. There are no transition or general stability issues. Finally, large debris, scratches, cuts, stains, and damage marks have been carefully removed. All in all, this is a wonderful upgrade of The Night is Young that truly allows one to experience the film in an entirely new way. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

The Night is Young Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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

Depth and clarity are substantially improved. Even during short scenes where dynamic intensity is modest -- such as the one where Alex 'fights' the car -- the improved depth is immediately noticeable if one compares the lossless track with the lossy track from the R2 DVD release. The music is lusher and better rounded. The dialog is crisp, stable, and exceptionally easy to follow. The English translation is excellent.

The Night is Young Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Theatrical Trailer - original theatrical trailer for The Night is Young. In French, with imposed English subtitles. (3 min).

• Outtakes and Rushes - in French, with imposed English subtitles where necessary. (21 min).

• Deleted Scene - in French, with imposed English subtitles. (6 min).

The Night is Young Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Artificial Eye's Blu-ray release of Leos Carax's sophomore effort, The Night is Young, looks even more impressive than his directorial debut, Boy Meets Girl (see our review of it here. After years of viewing the film on DVD, I am now convinced that we finally have a home video release of The Night is Young that does justice to Carax's vision. Indeed, I am very pleased with the Blu-ray and will make sure that it appears on my Top 10 list at the end of the year. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.