Une si jolie petite plage Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Une si jolie petite plage Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 17, 2014

Yves Allegret's "Une si jolie petite plage" a.k.a. "Such a Pretty Little Beach" (1949) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Pathe. The supplemental features on the disc include a newly restored original trailer for the film; extended scenes; stills from the film; archival video program with clips from interviews with director Yves Allegret, scenarist Jacques Sigurd, and actor Jean Servais; and new video program featuring interviews with writer Gerard Bonal, documentary filmmaker and writer Alain Ferrari, journalist and writer Olivier Barrot, and actor and writer Francis Huster. In French, with optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

On the beach

A young man arrives in a small beach town and immediately rents a room in the only hotel there that is open during the winter. While he registers, we learn that his name is Pierre (Gerard Philipe, Beauty of the Devil, Fever Mounts at El Pao) and that he is from Paris. The owner of the hotel and a few local drunks attempt to talk to him, but he quickly makes it clear that this will not be the night when they will find out more about his life.

On the following day, Pierre kindly approaches the hotel’s 15-year-old servant (Christian Ferry) and attempts to talk to him. But the boy dislikes his calm voice and manners and makes it clear that he prefers to stay away from him. The negative reaction does not surprise Pierre. He smiles and then heads to the nearby beach.

Soon after, a second man (Jean Servais, Rififi, Night Heat) arrives in the hotel. He is older than Pierre and looking more respectable. The man promises to give the boy a good tip if he keeps an eye on Pierre and knocks on his door each time he leaves the hotel.

After the initial encounter between the new guest of the hotel and the boy different relationships are revealed that change the entire complexion of the story. Later on, there are also important revelations that further complicate these relationships and force us to reexamine a lot of what is said and done in the first half of the film.

The only character in Yves Allegret’s Une si jolie petite plage a.k.a. Such a Pretty Little Beach that remains unchanged is the small town. It is a gloomy place when Pierre enters it and it looks just as gloomy before the final credits roll. The heavy rain never seems to stops and at night the shadows are always unusually long and unsettling.

The great cinematographer Henri Alekan (Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast, Joseph Losey’s Stranger on the Prowl) is responsible for the film’s terrific noir atmosphere. The camera moves only when necessary but the visuals are strikingly elegant. Light and shadow are also used with impressive precision. An appropriately moody soundtrack from the great Maurice Thiriet (Marcel Carne's Children of Paradise) adds the final touch to the noir ambience.

The cast is great. Philipe looks exactly like a man who has been on a long journey and has seen a lot but is too tired to talk about his experiences. Servais remains appropriately mysterious. Immediately after he enters the hotel we feel that he will have something important to say, but we don’t know when and where, and if it will be good or bad. Ferry is very convincing as the young orphan who dislikes the man from Paris. Madeleine Robinson plays a young and very beautiful local girl who warms up to the stranger because she feels that he is a man she can fall in love with.

The script for the film was written by Jacques Sigurd, who also collaborated with Allegret on a number of his early films, including the terrific Dedee d’Anvers a.k.a. Woman of Antwerp (1948), Maneges a.k.a. The Cheat (1950), Les miracles n'ont lieu qu'une fois a.k.a. Miracles Only Happen Once (1951), Nez de cuir a.k.a Leathernose (1952), and La jeune folle a.k.a Desperate Decision (1952).

Une si jolie petite plage Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Yves Allegret's Such a Pretty Little Beach arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Pathe.

Pathe's new 2K restoration of Such a Little Pretty Beach is quite beautiful. Excluding a quick skip that I noticed towards the middle of the film (almost as if there is a missing frame), the technical presentation is indeed very pleasing. Large parts of the film are quite dark but clarity is consistently very good (see screencaptures #5 and 15). The daylight footage also boasts outstanding depth. The beach footage, in particular, looks very good (see screencapture #1). The new restoration also makes it very easy to appreciate the great Henri Alekan's careful treatment of light and shadow. The delicate balance between the blacks and grays is beautifully reproduced (see the wide range of blacks, grays, and whites in screencapture #5). The best news, however, is that there are no traces of problematic degraining corrections. Indeed, noise, dirt and debris have been carefully removed, but the integrity of the image has been preserved. There are no traces of compromising sharpening corrections. Lastly, image stability is very good. All in all, this a very pleasing organic presentation of Such a Pretty Little Beach which gives me a lot of hope that this year we will see plenty of other equally pleasing presentations of classic French films coming through Pathe. (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).

Une si jolie petite plage Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (dual mono). Also included on the disc is a French Descriptive Audio DTS 2.0 track. For the record, Pathe have provided optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The lossless track is enormously impressive. Throughout the entire film clarity is excellent while depth is amongst the best I have heard on a lossless dual mono track used for a film from the late 40s. The heavy rain and the strong winds sound particularly good but never overwhelm the dialog. In terms of dynamic intensity Maurice Thiriet's score is fairly modest, but there are select parts of the film where it enhances the noir ambience very well. The English translation is excellent.

Une si jolie petite plage Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Film annonce - newly restored original trailer for Yves Allegret's Such a Pretty Little Beach. In French, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Galerie photos - a collection of stills from the film. Courtesy of Collection Fondation Jerome Seydoux-Pathe. With music. (1 min).

• Scene inedite - two extended scenes. In French, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Guignol recoit les enfants de l'assistance publique - Gaumont Pathe Archives - archival footage provided by Gaumont Pathe Archives. Music only. (2 min).

• Au cinema ce soir: Une si jolie petite plage (1973) - this video program from 1973 contains clips from archival interviews with director Yves Allegret, scenarist Jacques Sigurd, and actor Jean Servais. In French, not subtitled. (26 min).

• Gerard Philipe: Les debuts de l'enfant prodige - in this new video program, writer Gerard Bonal, documentary filmmaker and writer Alain Ferrari, journalist and writer Olivier Barrot, and actor and writer Francis Huster (La femme publique, The Dinner Game discuss Yves Allegret;s Such a Pretty Little Beach and its visual style. The program also contains a clip from an archival interview with Gerard Philipe. In French, not subtitled. (20 min).

Une si jolie petite plage Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Pathe's new 2K restoration of Yves Allegret's dark and moody noir masterpiece Such a Pretty Little Beach is lovely. The film, which has never been available on DVD in North America, undoubtedly looks the best it ever has. Let's hope that this is a successful release for Pathe so that we can also see new restorations of Allegret's terrific Dedee d'Anvers a.k.a. Woman of Antwerp and Maneges a.k.a. The Cheat. Buy with confidence, folks. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.