Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

The Oldest Profession Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 12, 2018

"The Oldest Profession" a.k.a. "Le plus vieux métier du monde" (1967) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Video. The supplemental features on the disc include an original French trailer as well as an original English-dubbed version of the film. In French or English, with optional English subtitles for the French version. Region-A "locked".

How do I look now?

Italy and France were the two countries that produced the biggest number of high-profile ‘package’ films like The Oldest Profession. They were most popular during the ‘60s and early ‘70s when the likes of Jean-Luc Godard, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Ugo Gregoretti, Claude Chabrol, Dino Risi, and Mauro Bolognini frequently contributed to them. However, while they did good business in Europe international sales were often underwhelming, so by the late ‘70s producers lost interest in these types of films and they quickly disappeared from the market.

The traditional ‘package’ films were comedies with some sort of a relevant social message. Opinions on their quality frequently vary, but the most effective ones were typically the boldest ones, with the overwhelming majority of them coming from Italian directors. Some good examples of such effective socially aware projects are Ro.Go.Pa.G., The Dolls, The Maniacs, and Let's Talk About Women.

The Oldest Profession was released in 1967 and features six segments from three French, one German, and two Italian directors: Claude Autant-Lara, Jean-Luc Godard, Philippe de Broca, Michel Pfleghar, Mauro Bolognini, and Franco Indovina. Much like the films mentioned above, it also teamed up some of the sexiest European actresses of the era: Michele Mercier, Raquel Welch, Jeanne Moreau, Elsa Martinelli, France Anglade, Nadia Gray, Marilu Tolo, and Anna Karina.

The Prehistoric Era - An artist (Enrico Maria Salerno) helps a young woman (Michele Mercier) become aware of her stunning beauty and she forces a seemingly ignorant caveman (Gabriele Tinti) who has previously ignored her to see her in an entirely new way.

Roman Nights - The great emperor Flavius (Gastone Moschin) is told about a notorious Roman brothel where even the wildest fantasies can become a reality. So one night, after dinner, he tells his beautiful wife Domitilla (Elsa Martinelli) that he is going to finish an important speech and then go to bed early, but then disguised as a low-ranking statesman heads to the brothel. Soon after, he is shocked to discover that his wife has also been craving some ‘amoral entertainment’.

Mademoiselle Mimi - A popular courtesan (Jeanne Moreau) is visited by a young violinist (Jean-Claude Brialy) who genuinely surprises her -- instead of rushing to her bed, he heads to her window and begins observing a public execution. When the guillotine eventually drops, he immediately announces that he has become a rich man because the severed head belonged to his famous uncle and now his wealth has been permanently transferred to him. The courtesan treats him well and to thank her for the great service the man vows to not only pay her a generous fee, but also take her on an exciting hunting trip. All she has to do is wait a bit for the inheritance papers to be finalized.

La Belle Epoque/The Gay Nineties - An ambitious courtesan (Raquel Welch) meets a rather naive elderly client (Martin Held) in an upscale night club and decides to secretly overcharge him for her services. When she accidentally discovers that he is a wealthy banker, she pretends to be an old-fashioned lady and goes to work to permanently change her life.

Paris Today - Two professionals (Nadia Gray and France Anglade) decide that it would be a terrific idea used an ambulance to expand their business. But after picking up a new client (Francis Blanche) and then getting pulled over by the police, they make an unusual discovery.

Anticipation - In the distant future, the Soviet Union and the United States have created a Super-Army and military guards closely monitor intergalactic travel. In France, an alien visitor named Mr. Demetrius (Jacques Charrier) is taken to a hotel and introduced to a professional lovemaker (Marilu Tolo) who must entertain him. When she fails to excite him, a new and more authentic lovemaker (Anna Karina) is brought to his room.

All six segments are wonderfully scripted and feature a traditional twist that effectively rearranges the viewer’s initial impressions of the main characters and their strengths and weakness. There is plenty of humor, but each director also carefully targets various vulnerable stereotypes about the two sexes, popular cultural norms, and societal order.

The diverse orchestral soundtrack was created by Oscar-winning composer Michel Legrand (The Young Girls of Rochefort, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg).

The Oldest Profession Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Oldest Profession arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Video.

The release is sourced from the same restored master that Gaumont prepared and used for its local release of the film in 2016. Unfortunately, I find the master to be pretty underwhelming.

The main issue is a familiar one. The remastering work is actually very strong and the entire film has the consistent density that a proper remamster should have, but it is color-graded in a way that creates all sorts of different anomalies. Aside from the fact that the LUTs have incorrect values, there are various segments where it is very easy to see that the film's native dynamic range has been destabilized. The most obvious ones are during the darker/indoor footage where shadow definition is affected and as a result existing detail is lost (see screencaptures #3, 13, and 14), but even during daylight footage the effects of the awkward grading are quite prominent (see screencapture #12). So this impacts overall depth -- which had the master been graded properly would have been quite striking -- as well as fluidity. There are no traces of problematic sharpening adjustments. Image stability stability is also fantastic. Last but not least, the entire master is virtually spotless.

The Oldest Profession Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the original French track.

The French lossless track is excellent. The audio is nicely rounded, stable, and exceptionally clean. It also has a great range of proper dynamics that allow Michel Legrand's orchestral soundtrack to quite easily alter the mood of each segment where it is tasked to do so. There are no audio dropouts or digital distortions to report in our review.

The Oldest Profession Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original French trailer for The Oldest Profession. In French, with imposed English subtitles. (3 min, 1080p).

• U.S. Cut of the Film - presented here is the original U.S. version of the film. In English, not subtitled. (94 min/English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0/1080p).

The Oldest Profession Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I find the quality of the writing and especially the witty humor of The Oldest Profession to be in the same league with those of The Dolls and Ro.Go.Pa.G.. I used to have this film on a VHS cassette, but over the years it demagnetized and after it became unusable it was pointless to keep it. Needless to say, I am really happy to see that Kino Video acquired it for their catalog, but I would be lying if I did not say that I find Gaumont's recent restoration more than a bit underwhelming. I don't understand why the studio does not hire a knowledgeable professional that can actually do some serious color-reference work so that these types of older films look as they should when they transition to Blu-ray. The actual scans, cleanup and remastering work that are done for just about every period film that I have seen from Gaumont are typically of very high-quality, but when the color-grading is done it almost looks like there are people that are consistently guessing wrong. It is very frustrating. If you are interested in acquiring a copy of The Oldest Profession, I think that what makes the most sense is to wait for some sort of a sale and see if you can get it heavily discounted.