6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
A man leaves his pregnant wife because he does not want to be a father, then he begins a relationship with another woman who loves someone else.
Starring: Clotilde de Bayser, Michel Feller, Marie Matheron, Jean-Philippe Écoffey, Gérard BlainForeign | 100% |
Drama | 85% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
French: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region B (A, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Note: This film is available as part of
The Early Films of Olivier Assayas.
Irma Vep is probably at least arguably the best known film by
Olivier Assayas, but as Assayas’ IMDb listing page makes clear, he has
bounteous writing and directing credits going back to the late seventies. In what might be thought of as the “halfway point” between Assayas’ first
credits and 1996’s Irma Vep, Arrow Video has aggregated two of Assayas’ efforts from the 1980s in The Early Films of Olivier
Assayas. Both Disorder, which came out in 1986 and was Assayas' first credit as a feature film writer and director, and Winter’s
Child, his second similar dual feature film writing and directing credit from 1989, offer intimate stories of psychological intrigue
and at times just the hint of danger. They’re still probably formative works, and if they’re at least intermittently viscerally compelling, they may be
more of a hit or miss property for some. That said, they may be of interest to
anyone who, after having seen Irma Vep, felt their appetites whetted for more from this (then?) nascent auteur.
Note: I'm beginning the reviews of both films in this set with some general information before moving on to comments about each
individual film.
Both titles in The Early Films of Olivier Assayas are presented on Blu-ray by Arrow Academy, an imprint of Arrow Video, with AVC encoded
1080p transfers in 1.85:1. Both films begin with brief text cards stating they've been digitally restored, without offering much of any further
information, and the insert booklet is similarly circumspect, offering only the following verbiage (which includes a couple of errors, as noted):
Disorder and Winter's Child has [sic] been digitally restored in 2K resolution from original film materials. Olivier Assayas supervised and approved the restorations. The films are presented in their original aspect ratios of 1.66:1 [sic], with original stereo sound [sic].This is one time when I wish Arrow's typically informative blurbs about the provenance of the transfers had been a little more concrete, as "original film materials" can mean just about anything, and while I'm not suggesting this actually is the case and am only mentioning it to provide a general idea of how both of these look, I'm kind of wondering if "original film materials" might include a CRI, as both of these films exhibit some of the strange toning and palette skewing that are often seen in transfers culled from a color reversal intermediate. I therefore recommend those interested to carefully parse the screenshots included with each review to get an idea of how these look.
Winter's Child features an LPCM Mono track in the original French. This film, like Disorder, features a string drenched score, though in this case it's by Jorge Arriagada rather than by Gabriel Yared. The score, which also includes a few quasi-source cues as in some piano tinkling at a party late in the film, sounds full bodied and rather warm. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly throughout the presentation, and some of the outdoor material has realistic sounding ambient environmental effects.
Both films are presented on one disc by Arrow. The supplements on the disc are as follows:
- Olivier Assayas (1080p; 41:48). In French with English subtitles.
- Ann-Gisel Glass, Lucas Belvaux, Wadeck Stanczak, and Remi Martin (1080p; 18:02). In French with English subtitles.
This film almost reminded of a Gallic version of an old Douglas Sirk melodrama from the fifties, but it has little of Sirk's subtexts or even much of his visual flair. This is kind of an appropriately wintry and drab film about some emotionally roiled characters, and as such it may be a bit of a slog for some viewers. Technical merits are generally fine, though video is a little inconsistent at times, for those considering a purchase.
(Still not reliable for this title)
Désordre
1986
Riten / The Ritual
1969
La notte di San Lorenzo / The Night of Saint Lorenzo
1982
I pugni in tasca
1965
Nära livet
1958
Oslo, August 31st / Oslo, 31. august
2011
Handsome Serge / Masters of Cinema
1958
Kasaba
1997
Efter repetitionen
1984
2017
Wind from the East
1970
A Film Like Any Other
1968
Törst
1949
Alice in den Städten
1974
Hamnstad
1948
2006
1994
Scener ur ett äktenskap
1973
Kvinnodröm
1955
Gycklarnas afton
1953