Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Zazie dans le Métro Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 19, 2017

Louis Malle's "Zazie dans le metro" a.k.a. "Zazie in the Subway" (1960) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Curzon/Artificial Eye. There are no special features on the disc. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Zazie

"Zazie dans le Métro" appears in this ten-disc Blu-ray box set that was produced by Curzon/Artificial Eye.

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 an 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 Curzon/Artificial Eye.

This new release of Zazie dans le Métro is sourced from Gaumont's recent restored master that was also used when the French release was prepared in 2015. This master is not identical to the one that Criterion worked with in 2011 to produce the North American release of the film. Here are the main differences between the two masters: The new master clearly has better density and during large parts of the film also produces better fluidity. I believe that the basic primary colors are also superior. Unfortunately, there are traces of filtering adjustments, and the overall color balance is problematic. To be perfectly clear, there are primaries that are better, but there are entire ranges of nuances that have been destabilized. As a result, the film's dynamic range is also affected and in select areas there are purely digital anomalies (you can see examples in screencaptures #12 and 17 where there obvious flatness that has a digital origin). In fact, despite having superior native characteristics the new master frequently has less actual detail than the older master. On the new master image stability is also outstanding. There are no distracting large debris, cuts, damage marks, stains, or other annoying age-related imperfections. To sum it all up, even though the older master has a dated appearance I think that overall it offers a more convincing presentation of the film. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Zazie dans le Métro Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless track is very good, but the film has plenty of the type of native limitations that exist on footage that was shot in 'live' conditions during the 1960s. So occasionally organic sounds and noises can affect overall balance, even depth and clarity. The dialog is clean and very easy to follow. There are no audio dropouts, distracting background hiss, or digital distortions to report.

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

There are no special features on this Blu-ray release.

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

Curzon/Artificial Eye's Blu-ray release of Louis Malle's Zazie dans le Métro is sourced from Gaumont's recent restored master that was also used to produce the French Blu-ray release in 2015. Even though it has strong native characteristics, there are traces of some digital work on it and it is graded in a way that I think ultimately makes it quite inconsistent.