Contempt
4K
(1963 aka Le
Mepris 4K/Lionsgate
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)/Early
Short Films Of The French New Wave
(1956 - 1966/Resnais, Truffaut, Varga/Icarus Blu-ray Set)/Full
Body Massage
(1995/Roeg/MVD/Unearthed Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: X/B/B Sound: B- Extras:
C-/C+/C Films: B/B-/B-
The
French New Wave remains one of the most important and influential
movements in cinema history and beyond. Here are more examples of
why...
Jean-Luc
Godard's Contempt
4K
(1963 aka Le
Mepris 4K)
upgrades one of the the late, great French New Wave and world cinema
innovators' most successful and still-discussed films. By having
Brigid Bardot, a huge international movie star and sex symbol in his
film, his first film in both full color and widescreen cinemascope,
this film had serious buzz at the time. You have to remember that
color was still very new and most formats were not great, while the
scope frame was still treated as a gimmick at the time before it
became legitimized by the 1970s.
This
comical film about a stuffy epic production with Jack Palance,
legendary director Fritz Lang and Bardot showing up often naked
(about a decade before XXX films were legal and the counterculture
was about to break out worldwide) is one we have reviewed twice
before and you can read more about those versions starting at this
link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9550/StudioCanal+Collection+Blu-ray+Wave+One:+Godar
Though
I have looked at it on and off since I covered the older Blu-ray
edition, this is by far the best version of the film ever issued on
home video and the film itself has aged very well and even
appreciated in value in many ways, but that is more suited for a
longer, separate essay. However, I would start by saying now that we
are in a age of new conflicts that should have ended decades ago,
most feature films are usually badly shot digitally and we have a
re-suppression of sexuality and the beauty of the nude image, the
film has a new value typical of the honesty of Godard in this auteur
period. Along with the recent Criterion 4K upgrade of his landmark
film Breathless
(1959, reviewed elsewhere on this site) hopefully means more of his
classics will get the same treatment.
Extras
are less than the older Blu-ray, especially since half of them need
HD upgrades and the booklet from that set is not reprinted and/or
updated, but you do get Digital Copy and the same excellent
introduction to the film by world film scholar and Godard expert
Colin McCabe, so the extra room is used for higher fidelity
performance of the actual film.
Early
Short Films Of The French New Wave
(1956 - 1966)
is a solid (and hopefully not the last) collection of short films
that used to be seen al the time in their time, especially in art
house theaters and on college campuses, but have fallen a little more
to the wayside than they should. Now, they are being restored one by
one and reissued in various sets, et al. This double Blu-ray disc
set offers the following:
Disc
1
ALL
THE WORLD'S MEMORY - Alain Resnais (1956)
FOOL'S
MATE - Jacques Rivette (1956)
Starring
Virginie Vitry and Jacques Doniol-Valcroze! Featuring cameos by
Claude Chabrol, Jean-Luc Godard, and Francois Truffaut.
THE
MARINES - Francois Reichenbach (1957, made with military access
permission)
Reichenbach's
original version with anti-militarist commentary.
ALL
THE BOYS ARE CALLED PATRICK - Jean-Luc Godard (1957)
Written
by Eric Rohmer! Starring Anne Colette and Nicole Berger
THE
SONG OF STYRENE - Alain Resnais (1957, in color and scope!)
O
SAISONS, O CHATEUX - Agnes Varda (1958)
THE
OVERWORKED - Jacques Doniol-Valcroze (1958)
Co-written
by Francois Truffaut! Starring Yane Barry, Jean-Pierre Cassel, and
Jean-Claude Brialy.
A
STORY OF WATER - Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut (1958)
Starring
Caroline Dim and Jean-Claude Brialy.
CHARLOTTE
AND HER BOYFRIEND - Jean-Luc Godard (1958)
Starring
Jean-Paul Belmondo (voiced by Jean-Luc Godard!) and Anne Colette.
LOVE
EXISTS - Maurice Pialat (1960)
JANINE
- Maurice Pialat (1961)
500
FRANCS - Melvin Van Peebles (1961, following the money)
PARIS,
A WINTER'S DAY - Guy Gilles (1962)
Disc
2
IN
MEMORY OF ROCK - Francois Reichenbach (1963, very amusing)
Featuring
French rock stars Eddy Mitchell, Vince Taylor and Johnny Hallyday
THE
LITTLE CAFE - François Reichenbach (1963)
THE
GOUMBE OF THE YOUNG REVELERS - Jean Rouch (1965)
THE
BOTANICAL AVATAR OF MADEMOISELLE FLORA - Jeanne Barbillon (1965)
Music
by Michel Legrand and Jacques Loussier! Starring Bernadette Lafont
and Louis Mesuret.
THE
FIFTEEN YEAR OLD WIDOWS - Jean Rouch (1966)
Cameo
by Maurice Pialat!
We
covered the color Resnais short in a recent Resnais short collection
on Blu-ray, also from Icarus, at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16096/Alain+Resnais:+Five+Short+Films+(1948+-+1956/
Some
of the titles are self-explanatory and others not quite, but I don't
want to ruin any surprised, but the 'Nouvelle Vague' very much
respected the short film in a way it does not get respect today or is
only considered filler for TV and cable. That makes this set a
re-reminder of how valuable such films are and if anything, need to
be valued that strongly again. We have become so fragmented a
society that even Music Videos are too much for some, so time to do a
second take on all of that. Additionally, these are some of the
lesser-seen works of some of the most important filmmakers of all
time, so they are worth going out of your way for.
Extras
include an excellent 12-page booklet on the films, while the disc
adds the 1968 black and white on-camera interview with Jean Renoir
that runs about a half-hour and is very much worth seeing.
Nicolas
Roeg's Full
Body Massage
(1995) is one of the last feature-length films by the late, great
British filmmaker, originally meant as a low-budget theatrical
release, cable network Showtime scooped it up (as they had Adrian
Lyne's remake of Lolita,
reviewed elsewhere on this site) and made it part of their late night
rotation of sexy films. After many years of working with Teresa
Russell (Eureka,
Black
Widow,
Insignificance)
Roeg turned to another underrated beauty who could act and made her
career on her talent and not strictly on her looks: Mimi Rogers.
After
a few months delay, Rogers plays art dealer Nina, who is a self-made
woman and knows how to take care of herself, including making sure
she works out and gets the best possible massages. She has a regular
masseuses in the very skilled Douglas (Christopher Burgard) who she
feels more connected to than she might be telling him, but maybe he
understands. However, without telling her in advance, he has older
massage expert Fitch (the underrated Bryan Brown) who he sends to
substitute for him.
At
first, she is uncomfortable, but as they talk and he turns out to be
her intellectual equal, the thorough massage also turns out to be an
elongated discussion on sex, intimacy, honesty, relationships,
privacy, private space, sensuality, sexiness and life. That may seem
pretentious and unsexy, but not here. Rogers is fearless and as
often nude as Bardot in Contempt,
which may have patly influenced Roeg's work here. It becomes a rare,
honest, beautiful character study of intimate relationships, albeit
mostly heterosexual. The film allows what is going on here to apply
otherwise, though it has a twist at the end I did not quite buy and
hurts the film a little.
Otherwise,
it is a remarkable film and Roeg knew with the talent he had, he
could really make this film work, not intended as softcore Showtime
Network fluff, but the kind of mature grown up film we see too little
of. I am thrilled it has received the Hd treatment and respect it is
long overdue to receive, like several Roeg gems that need and deserve
to be restored, reissued and rediscovered. He is one of the most
underrated filmmakers ever and this proves it all over again.
Extras
include a Stills Gallery, TV Spot and Trailer, though I hope this is
successful because this deserves an expanded special edition like all
Roeg films.
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1, Dolby
Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition
image on Contempt
is a big improvement over the previous two, and even dueling versions
of the film on home video, with the older Criterion DVD having a
cleaner print and transfer, while the older Lionsgate Blu-ray had
better color and some better definition, yet had more print damage
and dirt. Studio Canal and company spent three years with the
original 35mm camera negative and extras dupe materials to cover for
any fading, damage, et al. They also made sure the colors matched
the
dye-transfer, 35mm, three-strip Technicolor release of the film in
its original releases and the result surpasses all previous video
releases.
Detail
is great, depth is also as intended and color is especially as rich
and accurate as intended, down to the flesh tones and tone of Miss
Bardot's skin. Godard and Coutard's attempt to show how naturalistic
and beautiful, as well as personal, the scope frame could be without
the pretense of any kind of epic (like the fictional one the film
mocks within itself) is more successful here than you will see
outside of a mint Technicolor print if you can find one. Note too
that this was not shot in the old CinemaScope format, but in
Franscope, with lenses that were better, but have aged a bit since
the film was issued 60 years ago. A few shots exceed my letter grade
too and even offer demo shots for the best systems around. The DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix is even a little better than
the sound on the older Blu-ray, but only so much can be done about
the original theatrical monophonic sound. Still, I doubt the film
will ever sound better than it does here, though I wonder if the
music score is out there somewhere in stereo.
The
1080p image on the French
New Wave
shorts collection are usually in 1.33 X 1 black & white form, but
some are 1.33 X 1 color and Styrene
repeats the excellent Dyaliscope and EastmanColor transfer from the
Resnais
shorts set linked above. Like several of the silent shorts sets
we've reviewed in recent years, special notes appear before and after
each film to show how they were restored, who did it and how
recently. The PCM 2.0 Mono sound is as good as these monophonic
productions will ever sound and they are a real pleasure to watch,
saved, preserved and as remarkable as ever.
Then
we have the 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on
Full
Body Massage
comes form a 2K scan and was shot by no less than Director of
Photography Anthony B. Richmond, B.S.C. (The
Beatles: Let It Be,
The
Man Who Fell To Earth,
Old
Dracula,
The
Greek Tycoon,
The
Indian Runner)
who is as excellent in shooting intimate, personal, private and human
spaces as wide ones, which might recall a bit of his work on Roeg's
Don't
Look Now
(reviewed on Criterion 4K elsewhere on this site) but does use
softness and slight diffusion for effect often without it going
overboard, but especially on Rogers. Maybe the transfer would reveal
more if a 4K edition is issued, but this looks as good as it ever did
for a 35mm film shot this well, only to only show up on analog TV.
All Roeg films need and deserve HD Blu-ray and 4K releases and
treatment.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Stereo lossless mix is not bad for an
Ultra Stereo-intended release, a cheaper, lesser version of Dolby's
old analog, A-type Dolby System noise reduction format. Usually,
that means more harmonic distortion and shows that the film was
original going to be a theatrical release, but it is fine enough
here. Note that DTS, Sony Dynamic Digital Sound and Dolby Digital
had been in theaters for a few years, so the production was pinching
pennies. Since they are exceptionally talented, it does not show as
much.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
