Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

The Soft Skin Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 12, 2015

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

Successful magazine publisher Pierre Lachenay (Jean Desailly, The Professional, Le Doulos) meets the beautiful stewardess Nicole Chomette (Françoise Dorléac, The Young Girls of Rochefort, Cul-De-Sac) on a flight from Paris to Lisbon. They go out for drinks and later on make love in her hotel room. A few days later they return to Paris.

Despite the fact that he is happily married, Pierre and Nicole continue their affair. Very soon, they both realize that they have fallen in love.

During a trip to Reims, where Pierre introduces a film, for the first time Nicole questions her decision to begin a relationship with a married man. She likes making love to him and the way he treats her in public, but his professional commitments and responsibilities make it almost impossible for them to be spontaneous. Then there is also Pierre’s wife, Franca (Nelly Benedetti, Fire at Will), who does not know yet that her husband is cheating on her.

Back in Paris, Nicole decides to end her affair with Pierre. Meanwhile, confronted by Franca, who has finally discovered that her husband has been seeing another woman, Pierre decides to leave his wife and tell Nicole that he is ready to marry her.

Francois Truffaut’s fourth feature film, Le Peau Douce a.k.a. The Soft Skin, has very little in common with his previous films. It was heavily influenced by Alfred Hitchcock’s work, which the French director greatly admired.

The Soft Skin is loosely divided into two uneven sections. The first has the identity of a classic romantic melodrama in which a man and a woman unexpectedly discover love but come to realize that they belong to two drastically different worlds. The film then shows how their expectations of each other gradually evolve.

The second section can best be described as a psychological mini-drama, as the romantic element is almost completely removed from it. Here the focus of attention is on a series of conflicts that indirectly question the morality standards of the main protagonists. There are some obvious political overtones as well, but the bourgeois environment the main protagonists exist in does not become a target. (Another film with a similar construction that effectively targets bourgeois lifestyle and cultural practices is Claude Chabrol's La Cérémonie).

Hitchcock’s influence is felt throughout the entire film. The specific framing of various sequences, the management of time and space, and even the lighting choices are very much inspired by Hitchcock’s craft and style. (Shortly before the film was completed, Truffaut did his legendary interview with the Master of Suspense which he later on used as the source material for his book Hitchcock: The Definitive Study of Alfred Hitchcock).

Truffatut and legendary cinematographer Raoul Coutard shot the bulk of the film on location in Paris. Even the initial encounter between Pierre and Nicole in Lisbon was shot at the Lutetia Hotel in Paris. The footage with Pierre and his wife Franca was shot in Truffaut’s own apartment.

The beautiful melancholic score that compliments the film was created by Oscar winning composer Georges Delerue (Jean Becker’s One Deadly Summer, Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Conformist).

The Soft Skin Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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).

The Soft Skin Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

The Soft Skin Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Complexity of Influence - in this video essay, critic Kent Jones discusses the tremendous impact Alfred Hitchock's work had on François Truffaut and some of the key stylistic and technical similarities and differences between their films, as well as the visual style of The Soft Skin. The essay was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2014. In English and French, with optional English subtitles where necessary. (12 min, 1080p).

• Monsieur Truffaut Meets Mr. Hitchcock - this documentary film examines Alfred Hitchock's image in America and France (and specifically amongst the Cahiers du Cinéma critics/directors) in the early stages of his career and reveals how Francois Truffaut's famous interview book, Hitchcock, came to exist. Included in it are clips from archival interviews with director Claude Chabrol (Le beau Serge, Les Cousins), Patricia Hitchcock, Laura Truffaut, Madeleine Morgenstern, and scriptwriter Jean-Louis Richard (The Last Metro, Finally, Sunday), amongst others. The dicumentary was produced by film historian Robert Fischer in 1999. In English and French, with optional English subtitles where necessary. (30 min, 1080i).

• Truffaut on The Soft Skin - presented here is an archival episode of the French television program Cineastes de notre in which director Francois Truffaut discusses key sequences from The Soft Skin (the elevator encounter, the lovemaking sequence, etc). The episode was broadcast in 1965. In French, with optional English subtitles. (11 min, 1080p).

• Commentary - scenarist Jean-Louis Richard recalls his first encounter with with Francois Truffaut (the two met during the filming of The 400 Blows) and discusses his contribution to The Soft Skin, Alfred Hitchcock's influence on the film's visual style (and specifically the framing and camera movement), the importance of Georges Delerue's score, the very precise editing of the film, etc. The commentary was recorded in 2000. In French, with optional English subtitles.

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by critic Molly Haskell.

The Soft Skin Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.