7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A celebrated literary scholar, seemingly happily married, embarks on an affair with a gorgeous stewardess, who is captivated by his charm and reputation.
Starring: Jean Desailly, Françoise Dorléac, Nelly Benedetti, Daniel Ceccaldi, Laurence BadieForeign | 100% |
Drama | 93% |
Romance | 31% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.67:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
French: LPCM Mono
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Nominated for the prestigious Palme d'Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival, François Truffaut's "La Peau Douce" a.k.a. "The Soft Skin" (1964) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an exclusive video essay by filmmaker and critic Kent Jones; audio commentary by scenarist Jean-Louis Richard; an archival episode of the French television program Cineastes de notre; and Robert Fischer's documentary "Monsieur Truffaut Meets Mr. Hitchcock" (1999). The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by critic Molly Haskell. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Nicole
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, François Truffaut's The Soft Skin arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:
"This new high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit DataCine film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative at Digimage in Paris, where the film was also restored. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the 35mm magnetic track. Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD, AudioCube's integrated workstation, and iZotope RX 4.
Colorist: Manu Fortin/Digimage, Paris."
The high-definition transfer appears to have been struck from the same MK2 master British distributors Artificial Eye accessed when they prepared their Blu-ray release of The Soft Skin. This is certainly very good news as I liked how the film looked in high-definition quite a lot. Indeed, there are substantial improvements in terms of detail, clarity and image depth, with the darker sequences in particular looking vastly superior. (On the old R2 DVD release, the darker sequences frequently look very flat and blocky). The sharpness levels are slightly elevated again and there are a few sequences where the elevation is rather easy to spot, but the film does have a pleasing organic appearance (you can compare screencaptures #1 and 10 to see what type of minor fluctuations are present). There are no traces of problematic degraining corrections. Also, there are no stability issues. The encoding is very good. Finally, there are no large cuts, damage marks, debris, stains or scratches to report in this review. All in all, while I think that there is some room for minor improvements, the current technical presentation will surely please fans of the film who have previously seen it only on DVD, as well as viewers who are going to experience it for the first time on Blu-ray. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 1.0. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.
I think that it is essential to experience The Soft Skin with a lossless track. Georges Delerue's fantastic soundtrack has a very important role in it and on the old R2 DVD the music simply does not breathe as well as it should. (It is incorrectly pitched as well). The lossless track has far better depth and the delicate balance between the woodwinds is a lot more convincing. The dialog is very crisp, clear, stable, and easy to follow. The English translations is excellent, but I would like to mention that it is not identical to that of the Artificial Eye release.
Francois Truffaut's fourth feature film, The Soft Skin, has always been overshadowed by The 400 Blows and Jules and Jim, but I think that it is one of the French director's most complete films. It is very different -- it certainly does not have any of the unique qualities the Nouvelle Vague films popularized -- but its execution is equally impressive. Perhaps it is a lot easier to appreciate it now because its themes and context are very much part of the modern world we live in. (If you enjoy it, I also recommend seeing Claude Chabrol's La Cérémonie). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Anne and Muriel / Les deux Anglaises et le continent
1971
La Femme d'à côté
1981
Jules et Jim
1962
Tirez sur le pianiste
1960
Le dernier métro
1980
Baisers volés
1968
Domicile conjugal
1970
Une femme est une femme
1961
Summer / Le rayon vert
1986
Madame de...
1953
1938
Ansiktet
1958
L'amour l'après-midi / Chloe in the Afternoon
1972
1966
1965
L'enfer
1994
Les amants du Pont-Neuf
1991
Tystnaden
1963
The Swimming Pool
1969
Såsom i en spegel
1961