The Return of Martin Guerre Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.5

The Return of Martin Guerre Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 30, 2019

How well do you know your so-called “significant other”, if you have one? Some of you reading this review may be old enough to remember the semi-legendary Bob Eubanks effort The Newlywed Game, where hilarity often supposedly ensued due to partners being clueless about each other, but of course it was a built in premise of that show that the contestants were, well, newlyweds who might not yet know everything about their spouse. Those who have been with each other for at least a few years probably think they do know everything about each other, but what if you were separated from your partner for a significant amount of time? Would remeeting them be the relationship equivalent of “riding a bike”, meaning you just kind of climb back on (so to speak)? What if you were uncertain the person you were getting to know again was in fact not the same person (literally) you had been with before? All of these questions come into play in the fascinating The Return of Martin Guerre, a film which was famously based upon a perhaps unbelievable but still ostensibly true real life event that may have been one of the first documented cases of what we now call identity theft. Except that in this case the theft (obviously) wasn’t accomplished via the internet and dealt only with elements like credit cards or Social Security numbers, but in fact had an actual person showing up claiming to be a long missing man named Martin Guerre (Gérard Depardieu). When Guerre's wife Bertrande (Nathalie Baye) welcomes this man back into her home, and the two supposedly reestablish their relationship, it would seem that "Martin" was indeed Martin, but ensuing events throw everything into turmoil.

If the basic set up of The Return of Martin Guerre sounds familiar, and yet you don’t remember having seen it, you may well have stumbled across Sommersby, the 1993 film with Richard Gere and Jodie Foster which is for all intents and purposes an Americanized remake of the French film. It’s interesting to compare the two, however, not just in terms of the “surface” differences, whereby the American film transports the story to the post-Civil War Era in the United States, but perhaps more compellingly in terms of how each film handles the inherent ambiguity of “is he or isn’t he?” vis a vis the “true” identity of the main male character. Sommersby is arguably a bit more contrived and even labyrinthine in this regard, while The Return of Martin Guerre actually plays its cards relatively close to its vest for a considerable amount of time.

Sommersby may therefore unavoidably come off as “fictionalized”, though there actually was an historical Martin Guerre, and his real story, such as it has been uncovered in the intervening centuries, does depart in at least some ways even from the depiction offered in this film. The Return of Martin Guerre posits that its titular character has perhaps appropriately (given his surname) been away at war (the real life man’s disappearance may have been due to something a bit more circumspect and in a way mundane — theft). When Martin (the rest of this review will forsake quote marks around the name, though they may be presumed to be implied) returns to the small French village where his wife Bertrande lives, he’s welcomed with open arms (in more ways than one), but soon doubts about Martin’s real identity begin to intrude.

While there is indeed subterfuge that leads to Martin’s travails, and ultimately an actual trial, in the film, that aspect as well is played in a somewhat more tamped down manner than in Sommersby, and in fact part of a series of interconnected subplots in Sommersby were obviously added whole cloth to the story, and so are missing in this version. The film does a splendid job of detailing the day to day lives of 16th century villagers, and there’s an appealing naturalness to the interplay between Martin and Bertrande. The film builds to a surprisingly emotional climax, especially when Bertrande’s motives (such as they are, and they won’t be spoiled here) are given more development, which in turn gives a whole new substratum to the whole “imposter” subtext.

In reading up on the real life Martin Guerre in preparation for this review, I have to say as compelling as this film is, there are aspects of the historical record that the film doesn't even touch, and some enterprising dramatist might be able to make significant hay out of elements of the story that for one reason or the other aren't addressed in this version. This is still a hugely captivating film, one with an intriguing premise and a nicely structured screenplay which attempts to investigate not just inherent ambiguity, but perhaps more importantly ambiguous motives.

The Return of Martin Guerre Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Return of Martin Guerre is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Film Collection, an imprint of Cohen Media Group, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.67:1. This is a really beautiful looking 4K restoration that preserves the film's kind of burnished but Bruegel-esque palette, one that tends to promote darker tones in general, and often browns and beiges in particular. Even pops of more vivid hues, like some of the reddish tones in things dress that Bertrande wears or the outfits of some of the court personnel, can tend to look a little brownish as well. Detail levels are excellent across the board, offering almost palpable views of fabrics on costumes, and offering good support for some complex elements like dense foliage in some of the outdoor material. Grain resolves naturally throughout the presentation, and I noticed no issues with compression anomalies.

The Return of Martin Guerre Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Return of Martin Guerre features the original French version in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono, as well as an English dub in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono. Original language purists are of course going to want to stick with the French track, but I'd recommend that track in any case, as I found some of the voice work on the English track less successful than in the original. That said, there aren't any huge differences in mix and overall amplitude between the two tracks. Dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly, and the film offers some nice and realistic sounding ambient environmental effects throughout a lot of the outdoor material.

The Return of Martin Guerre Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Discussion with Actress Nathalie Baye (1080p; 16:21) stems from a sit down in April of 2016 at the Cohen Media Group offices. In French with English subtitles.


• Original Trailer (1080p; 2:49)


• Restoration Trailer (1080p; 1:45)

The Return of Martin Guerre Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sommersby isn't the only "re-do" of the basic foundational elements found in The Return of Martin Guerre. Fans of Les Misérables may be interested to know that the co-writers of that gargantuan musical, Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, also tackled the Martin Guerre story in a similarly lavish musical with the unsurprising title Martin Guerre, though again certain liberties were taken in terms of the timeframe and various character motivations. The musical also emphasizes a religious subtext that is hinted at in the film but perhaps not developed as much as some might have preferred. That said, this "original" version of the story is well crafted, with an appealing production design and some viscerally effective performances. Cohen has provided a disc with solid technical merits, and even without a glut of supplemental material, The Return of Martin Guerre comes Highly recommended.