What War May Bring Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

What War May Bring Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 14, 2011

Screened at the Moscow Film Festival, Claude Lelouch's "Ces amours-là" a.k.a. What War May Bring" (2010) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Revolver Entertainment. The only supplemental feature on the disc is a standard making of featurette. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

A moment to remember

One must be familiar with French director Claude Lelouch’s entire body of work to truly appreciate what his latest film Ces amours-la a.k.a. What War May Bring has to offer. This is not to say that otherwise one would dislike it, but one would likely have a difficult time understanding what it attempts to accomplish.

The film begins with a short B&W episode in which a man with a camera falls in love with a beautiful woman. They marry, she becomes pregnant, and he goes to war. Moments after he learns that he has become a father, the man is killed.

The next episode is in color and it is interrupted by numerous flashbacks that gradually introduce the film’s main characters. In a courtroom, a lawyer (Laurent Couson) defending a woman (Audrey Dana, Roman de gare, Welcome) accused of murdering a man she once loved delivers his final speech. The woman’s name is Ilva. Years ago, she apparently immigrated to France with her mother, an Italian porn actress, who met and married a French projectionist (Dominique Pinon, Delicatessen, Un long dimanche de fiançailles). They lived a quiet life until the Nazis invaded France.

A flashback reveals that Ilva’s father was arrested by the Nazis. A day before he was to be executed, Ilva approached a Nazi officer (Samuel Labarthe, Deux jours à tuer, Sagan) and begged him to spare his life. When he was released, Ilva visited the officer to thank him. They met again, and again, and then eventually realized that they have fallen in love. Ilva’s father died in a terrible accident after a friend informed him that her lover is a Nazi.

Meanwhile, another flashback reveals how the Americans landed on the shores of Normandy. Bob (Jacky Ido, The White Massai, Inglourious Basterds), a professional boxer, and Jim (Gilles Lemaire, Disco), a wealthy photographer who went to school in Switzerland, were amongst the first to reach French soil. In Paris, Bob and Jim met Ilva in a movie theater. They became lovers and Ilva promised to marry one of them.

Another flashback reveals that Ilva married Jim and the two went to America. For awhile, they could not be happier. Then Jim started suffering from intense nightmares, while Ilva realized that America was not for her.

The rest of the film fills in the gaps between these flashbacks, producing an epic story about various men and women who lived during WW2. Though they had no way of knowing, their lives became closely intertwined because they all experienced true love. At the end of the film, there is also a fascinating revelation that brings director Lelouch into the story.

What War May Bring is a big budget production that took approximately ten years to complete. It does tell an epic story but it also feels as an intimate confession, that of a woman who loved men she could not possibly have, and that of a director who fell in love with cinema the moment he picked up his first camera.

The cast is excellent. Dana, in particular, is outstanding as the young Ilva. Pinon and especially Labarthe, as the Nazi officer, also deliver powerful performances. Couson’s character transformation is convincing as well.

Note: Even though in the United Kingdom Ces amours-la is released as What War May Bring, elsewhere around the world the film has appeared under the alternative title What Love May Bring.

What War May Bring Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Claude Lelouch's What War May Bring arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Revolver Entertainment.

I had the opportunity to view What War May Bring theatrically not too long ago and I can confidently state that the high-definition transfer replicates the theatrical look of the film very well. The various flashbacks, for example, have the same warm, at times hazy look, while the contemporary footage is somewhat sharper and crisper. As the film progresses, the color-scheme also has a tendency to fluctuate a bit. Edge-enhancement is never a serious issue of concern; neither is macroblocking. I also did not see any traces of heavy noise reduction. Unsurprisingly, the majority of the film has a pleasing organic look. This being said, I did spot various minor compression artifacts during selected (indoor) scenes. Admittedly, none of them are overly distracting, but sensitive viewers with large screens will most likely spot them as well. Lastly, there are absolutely no stability issues to report in this review whatsoever. All in all, despite the few minor issues noted above, What War May Bring looks very good on Blu-ray. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. 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).

What War May Bring Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French Dolby Digital 2.0 (with portions of English and German). For the record, Revolver Entertainment have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.

The French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track opens up the entire film very well. Its strong dynamic amplitude gives the battle scenes a great deal of intensity, while at the same time it also adds pleasing depth and vibrancy to Laurent Couson and Francis Lai's fantastic soundtrack (the German officer's performance, for instance, sounds terrific). The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and exceptionally easy to follow. Also, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, hissings, or audio dropouts to report in this review.

What War May Bring Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making of - a standard featurette containing footage from the shooting of the film and the recording of the film's soundtrack. The featurette also contains short comments from various cast and crew members. In French, with optional English subtitles. (16 min, PAL).

What War May Bring Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Claude Lelouch is one of the greatest film directors of my generation. With the exception of his legendary A Man and a Woman, however, on this side of the Atlantic most of his film are practically unknown. His Live for Life, Bolero, and especially The Beautiful Story are next to impossible to track down. I find this rather sad. The French director's latest film, What War May Bring, also appears to have been ignored by North American distributors. Fortunately, British distributors Revolver Entertainment have produced a good Blu-ray release that is also Region-Free. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.