The
Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Koch Lorber)
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C Film: B
I once saw someone refer to Jacques Demy’s 1964 film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg referred to
as Singin’ in the Rain set in the
backroom of a shop instead of the back lot of a Hollywood studio, it is West Side Story without the violence,
it is small-town Moulin Rouge, and
it is Brief Encounter on acid. I suppose if you are quite familiar with all
those films and can think about them in that particular way, than indeed it is
true. Although for some this film marks
a personal experience for them and when they refer to the film it’s almost like
a vice of theirs. Oddly enough this is
a film that is more well-known to American audiences, but in more recent years
musicals have declined to a point of non-existence in mainstream
filmmaking. Unless of course you
consider 2002’s Chicago, which is a
rarity, or perhaps the dreadful Moulin
Rouge, but these are just fanfare compared to the days of old when The
Musical was commonplace.
One reason that the film played well for American
audiences was the fact that during its release it was nominated for 5 Academy
Awards, which for any Foreign titles is literally unheard of. It’s also a romantic tale that appeals to
women and to men as well, but males tend to like it specifically for the lovely
Catherine Deneuve, and who can blame them.
The plotline is relatively candy-coated as Deneuve plays a
head-over-heels shop assistance whose madly in love with a gas station
mechanic, which for those familiar with Bjork’s music video It’s Oh So Quiet directed by Spike
Jonze, you can see similarities. Can
they hold their love together?
There are several DVD versions available worldwide of this
film, two of which were compatible in the U.S. or Region One, the first was a
relatively poor issue from Fox Lorber, which has been replaced by this new
edition from Koch Lorber, and the purpose of this review is to check out the
improvements and/or differences.
The biggest difference between Koch Lorber’s issue for the
film is that it has a newly created 5.1 Dolby Digital mix, which is the
alternative listening option, which is boosted from its original 2.0 Dolby
Digital. The 5.1 gives a nice
dimension, especially for the music and is a nice touch. It is nice to have the option for either a
more mono/2.0 setting and a 5.1 upgrade.
Picture is altogether a different story and depending on
your preference you may not exactly be that impressed with this transfer. First the transfer is a 1.62 X 1 anamorphic
transfer that has been slightly cropped on the left and right by about
10%. Nothing overly terrible and if you
don’t know what you are missing it might not be that big of a deal to begin
with. However, depending on your
feelings on saturation you might feel this transfer is a bit too deep and
concentrated with its colors. Because
of the over-saturation the level of detail becomes a bit softer and colors tend
to bleed or blare out more than expected.
For some preferences this is not that bad, if you are a fan of huge
Technicolor saturation than you might enjoy this, but depending on your TV or
viewing setup it might be too distracting with the amount of softness.
This release is also rather light overall on extras as
well, especially when compared to some of the features on other DVD’s issued
for this film elsewhere. The only
supplement here is an excerpt from Agnes Varda’s (director of such films as
Cleo 5-7) The World of Jacques Demy,
and is NOT the full version, which is available on a DVD issued in France.
All in all this is probably a decent enough release for
minor to moderate fans of the film and will please a majority of them for years
to come. While this isn’t the supreme
edition of the film and lots of work can still be done it is not likely that
work like that will be feasible until newer format technologies such as HD-DVD
or Blu-Ray become mainstream, which at this rate could be awhile, until then
enjoy this version for what its worth.
- Nate Goss
