Screened at the Tribeca Film Festival last month, Fred Cavayé's "À bout portant" a.k.a "Point Blank" (2010) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors Gaumont. The supplemental features on the disc include the film's original theatrical trailer; teaser; making of featurette; and audio commentary with director Fred Cavayé and Guillaume Lemans. In French, with optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
A wanted man
A wounded man (Roschdy Zem, Go Fast, Hors la loi) is chased by two men with guns. He eludes them but gets hit by a biker. Moments later, he is taken to a nearby hospital where another man tries to kill him.
Soon to be a certified male nurse Samuel (Gilles Lellouche, Mesrine Parts 1 & 2 - Killer Instinct / Public Enemy Number 1, Les petits mouchoirs) chases away the killer and saves the wounded man's life. On the following day, the killer kidnaps Samuel's pregnant wife, Nadia (Elena Anaya, Sex and Lucia, Room in Rome), and demands that he finishes off the wounded man in the hospital. If he does not, he will receive Nadia's body in a plastic bag.
Shaken, shocked and filled with anger, Samuel immediately heads back to the hospital, which is already full of cops trying to figure out who the wounded man is and why someone tried to kill him twice. Pretending that he must take X-rays, Samuel manages to sneak him out of the hospital, hoping that he would help him figure out where Nadia is.
After he gets his wounds sewn up by Samuel, the man reveals that his name is Hugo. He has no idea where Nadia is, but knows who has kidnapped her. After they test each other a couple of times – just to make sure that they could trust each other - Hugo and Samuel confront the men who have turned their lives upside down.
Director Michael Bay should take a close look at Fred Cavaye's latest film A bout portant a.k.a Point Blank if he ever decides to improve the speed of his films. Approaching cinematographer Alain Duplantier (L'annulaire, Ohne Schuld) and film editor Benjamin Weill (Dog Pound, Notre jour viendra) is also a good idea, as the duo deserves a lot of credit for the film's relentless tempo.
At times looking like a very long and very expensive MTV commercial graced by the presence of a surprisingly long list of top actors, A bout portant is undoubtedly amongst the fastest action thrillers to emerge in recent years, packed with terrific chase scenes and a good number of very effective twists. It is a film that literally never stops.
The plot is built around two interesting character transformations. The first occurs approximately fifteen minutes into the film and sets its tone. The second occurs during the final third of the film where enough information is revealed to explain various events from the prologue, which triggers the massive chase Samuel and Hugo become involved with.
There are a few excellent secondary characters as well -- most notably Nadia, who suffers enormously while Samuel and Hugo are on the run, and a tough cop (Gérard Lanvin, Secret Défense, Le fils à Jo), who also goes after the kidnappers, looking for all sorts of different answers.
The film has a very stylish look. The fast camera cuts and zooms, in particular, are very impressive (what is even more impressive is that practically none of them are used twice). Klaus Badelt's (Gladiator, L'immortel) strong music score also gives the film a very distinctive modern edge.
Note: Last month, A bout portant was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Fred Cavayé's À bout portant arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors Gaumont.
There are no surprises here - as usual, Gaumont's high-definition transfer is of exceptionally high-quality. Despite an abundance of very dark footage, detail and clarity are outstanding. Contrast levels are also consistent. The film has a modern, very gritty look that favors a variety of rich and well saturated dark colors, all of which are reproduced beautifully on the AVC-encoded high-definition transfer. The blues, browns, and grays, in particular, look fantastic. Furthermore, edge-enhancement is never a serious issue of concern (only during the subway chase I noticed some very mild sharpening). There are no traces of heavy noise reduction either. I also did not see artifacting, ringing or similar anomalies to report in this review. Finally, there are absolutely no stability issues whatsoever. All in all, this is an exceptionally strong high-definition transfer, one of the very best I've seen this year from the French distributors. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).
There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. For the record, Gaumont have provided optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.
There are five, perhaps six scenes in À bout portant that are of near reference quality. One of them is very early into the film, so have your remote close to you. In other words, the French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track adds a great deal of depth to this quite intense film. Klaus Badelt's trendy music score also gets a tremendous boost. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and exceptionally easy to follow. I also did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or hissings to report in this review. Lastly, the English translation is very good.
Teaser - in French, without optional subtitles. (2 min, 1080p).
Bande-annonce - the original French theatrical trailer for À bout portant. In French, without optional subtitles. (3 min, 1080p).
"Les quais quais de Fred Cavaye (ne veulent pas forcement dire non)" - a long making of featurette with footage from the shooting of the film, as well as various short interviews with director Fred Cavaye and cast members. In French, without optional subtitles. (50 min, 1080/50i).
Commentary - an audio commentary with director Fred Cavaye and writer Guillaume Lemans. In French, without optional subtitles.
If you enjoy fast and gritty action thrillers, you should definitely take a look at Fred Cavaye's À bout portant (though not available on an English-friendly Blu-ray, the French director's Pour elle is also a terrific film that is very much worth seeing). I thought that it was very well made and certainly very well acted. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of French distributors Gaumont, looks and sounds great. It is also Region-Free. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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