Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Zazie dans le Métro Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 6, 2015

Louis Malle's "Zazie dans le metro" a.k.a. "Zazie in the Subway" (1960) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Gaumont. The supplemental features on the disc include an original French theatrical trailer for the film and a documentary film produced by Pierre-Henri Gibert. In French, with optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Zazie

Ten-year-old Zazie (Catherine Demongeot) arrives in Paris to spend the weekend with her eccentric Uncle Gabriel (Philippe Noiret, Cinema Paradiso, Coup de Torchon), while her mother (Odette Piquet, Borsalino) enjoys the company of her secret lover, and immediately announces her desire to see the famous metro (subway). Much to her disappointment, however, she is quickly informed that the metro has been closed due to a massive strike.

But the rest of Paris is not affected by the strike, and while Uncle Gabriel prepares for his latest drag show, Zazie begins exploring the city. Along the way she befriends a number of Uncle Gabriel's friends, some of which are in the middle of complicated love affairs.

Zazie quickly discovers that Paris is a jungle overpopulated with strange people - some incredibly rude, some remarkably naive, and some simply impossible to figure out. She also realizes that some of them are tourists, who are absolutely clueless about what they are shown and sold.

Determined to make the most of her weekend, Zazie embarks on a fascinating journey through the chaotic streets of Paris, followed by Uncle Gabriel, a few of his friends, and some of their friends.

Based on Raymond Queneau's famous novel, Louis Malle's Zazie dans le metro a.k.a. Zazie in the Subway is a smart and remarkably original dramedy that pokes fun at most things French - from French language, culture and mannerisms to the cinematic language and aesthetics favored by French directors at the time the film was made.

Zazie dans le metro is fragmented into a series of episodes that remind of Jacques Tati's Play Time. In the majority of these episodes, Zazie, like Monsieur Hulot, finds herself in the middle of awkward situations and amongst people who see the world differently. Unlike Monsieur Hulot, however, the overwhelming amount of Zazie's reactions and observations make perfect sense.

There is also a degree of social awareness in Zazie dans le metro that isn't present in Play Time. For example, there are subtle but very effective commentaries on gender equality, sexuality, urbanization, and culture that change the entire complexion of the film.

Technically, Zazie dans le metro is the boldest and most advanced of director Malle's films. The rapid camera moves, sudden tempo changes (emulating the wild tempo switches in Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton's early films), bizarre color manipulations, and outstanding special effects transform the film into a glorious surrealistic experiment that truly has to be seen to be believed.

The cast is fantastic. Demongeot's improvisations are incredibly convincing, lacking the over-the-top eagerness, or insouciance for that matter, which young actors typically exude when followed closely by the camera. Noiret, looking so young here, is also spectacular as the eccentric Uncle Gabriel.

Cinematographer Henri Raichi's (Jacques Deray's L'homme de Marrakech) lensing is incredibly wild, literally transforming Paris into a Wonderland where anything and everything is possible.

*: Director Louis Malle dedicated Zazie dans le metro to Charlie Chaplin, who, after seeing the film in Switzerland, revealed that he was impressed by Zazie and shaken up by the film's terrible vision of modern life.

Zazie dans le Métro 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, Louis Malle's Zazie dans le métro arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Gaumont.

Gaumont's transfer is not identical to the one Criterion used for the U.S. release of the film in 2011. Density is clearly superior and in select areas edges are far better defined. Unfortunately, there are some quite obvious traces of filtering adjustments that have collapsed shadow definition. In fact, even in areas of the film with plenty of natural light detail has been affected. As a result, more often than not depth and detail are a lot more convincing on the Criterion release. You can see the damaging effects of the filtering adjustments in screencaptures #8 (see the flat gray area on the left side of the frame) and screencapture #15 (see how shadow detail has collapsed and the hat is essentially filtered out on the left side of the frame). Furthermore, it is easy to tell that the new transfer has a very good range of nuanced colors, but the digital adjustments have also destabilized the color scheme. The balance between the blacks and grays is especially problematic and at times even clarity suffers (compare screencapture #10 and screencapture #1 from our review of the Criterion release). Overall image stability is excellent. Also, there are no large debris, cuts, damage marks, or torn frames. All in all, because the Criterion release was sourced from an older master, I expected Gaumont's release to be superior. It is not, and even though there is clearly room for improvement on the Criterion release, I think that the older transfer is unquestionably superior. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your Blu-ray player regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Zazie dans le Métro Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (Mono). Optional English and French SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless track has a fairly modest range of nuanced dynamics, but Fiorenzo Carpi and André Pontin's score easily opens up the film in all the right places. The dialog is stable, clean, well balanced, and easy to follow. There are no pops, cracks, disturbing background hiss, or digital distortions to report in our review. (I also did some direct comparisons with the lossless track from the Region-A release and depth and clarity are indeed identical).

Zazie dans le Métro Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Bande-annonce - original French trailer for Louis Malle's Zazie dans le métro. In French, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• Doukifilmdonktan - documentary film featuring interviews with actor Antoine Roblot (Charles), painter Ghislain Uhry (close friend of Louis Malle), writer Johan Faerber (author of Zazie dans le metro de R. Queneau et L. Malle), first assistant director Philippe Collin, actress Catherine Demongeot (Zazzie), and assistant director Volker Schlöndorff (The Tin Drum, Swann in Love), amongst others. The documentary was produced by Pierre-Henri Gibert. In French, not subtitled. (33 min, 1080p).

Zazie dans le Métro Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I expected Gaumont's release of Louis Malle's Zazie dans le metro to be superior to the one Criterion produced in 2011, but it uses a new transfer that is quite inconsistent. At present, the release is the only alternative for folks who reside in Region-B territories and wish to own a copy of the film, but I think that it should be considered only if it can be found on sale.