Beautiful Lies Blu-ray delivers great video and audio in this enjoyable Blu-ray release
30-year-old Emilie runs a hairdressing salon where she provides an endless stream of well-meaning advice to her clients and friends, but the only person she cannot seem to help is her own mother. Jean, a young man who works for Emilie, is secretly in love with her but a pathological shyness prevents him from declaring his feelings. Finally, unable to contain himself, he opens his heart in a passionate anonymous letter, but Emilie has other plans...
Pierre Salvadori's "De vrais mensonges" a.k.a "Beautiful Lies" (2010) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Trinity Home Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include the film's original UK theatrical trailer and a video interview with actress Audrey Tautou. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
Close encounters
Emilie (Audrey Tautou, Amelie, A Very Long Engagement) runs a small hairdressing salon somewhere in Southern France. Occasionally she feels lonely, but does not have time for love. Jean (Sami Bouajila, Days of Glory, Outside the Law), one of her employees, is madly in love with her, but is too shy to confess his feelings. One night, he writes Emilie a love letter which much to his disappointment quickly ends up in her trash can.
A day later, however, the letter is retrieved and sent to Maddy (Nathalie Baye, Venus Beauty Institute, Le petit lieutenant), Emilie's mother, who is alone and miserable because her husband has left her for a younger woman. The beautiful letter immediately convinces Maddy that she has a secret admirer and she comes out of hibernation.
Surprised by Maddy's reaction, Emilie decides to continue her game. After spending almost an entire night improvising, she completes what she believes is a perfect love letter and gives it to Jean to drop it in the mail - right after she fires him because she discovers that he could speak Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, and Italian, and used to work for UNESCO, but did not mention his qualifications in his job application. Jean personally drops the letter in Maddy's mailbox and she secretly follows him back to the salon, where she reveals to Emilie that she has discovered the identity of her secret admirer.
But later on Maddy reads the second letter and immediately concludes that her admirer has had a change of heart - the love letter is that poor - and goes into hibernation again. This prompts Emilie to rehire Jean and ask him to go out with Maddy. When he reluctantly agrees, all hell breaks loose.
Most directors cast Tautou to play charming, sensitive and thoughtful characters who love life. Tunisia-born French director Pierre Salvadori apparently sees Tautou differently, because Beautiful Lies is the second film (the first was Priceless) he has directed in which she plays a mean and insensitive young woman who has never been truly in love.
The first half of the film is the better one. This is where the majority of the better lies are spoken and the awkward relationships established. After Jean agrees to go out with Maddy, however, the film begins to stutter – though not disappointing, the character transformations that follow are indeed unbelievable.
The inconsistent script aside, the film is very beautiful and easy to like. The stunning Mediterranean locations, for example, look incredibly romantic - which is why it is hard to imagine that a young and beautiful woman like Emilie could be alone and attracted to the large bottle of vodka she hides in her office but not interested in being with someone special, or that Jean would not want to look elsewhere for a woman that could see in him what Emilie can't, or that Maddy would not be tempted to meet a man willing to love her. It all just feels wrong, because if one lives in a place this romantic, one cannot possibly be alone and miserable.
Tautou's performance has the right amount of energy and spunk, though it is difficult not to admit that even when she attempts to act tough she looks too elegant and too brittle to be truly intimidating. Baye is in some of the most hilarious sequences, often looking appropriately aggressive for a woman of her age who wants to be with a younger man. Bouajila is also likeable, but he is much better when he plays stronger characters with a point to prove.
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Pierre Salvadori's Beautiful Lies arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Trinity Home Entertainment.
There are some random traces of extremely mild noise corrections. While viewing the film they are next to impossible to spot, but it is surprising to see that they were approved. This said, detail is never seriously compromised, and clarity and contrast levels are consistent throughout the entire film. The color scheme is also pleasing, with many of the outdoor sequences looking particularly rich and vibrant. Additionally, there are no serious banding and aliasing patterns to report in this review. There are no stability issues either. All in all, the presentation is pleasing, but the mild noise corrections mentioned earlier are somewhat surprising, especially on a modern film such as this one. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, Trinity Home Entertainment have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.
Despite the lack of intense action sequences, the lossless audio track opens up the film very well. The audio has a terrific depth and fluidity in all the right places. Admittedly, surround activity is limited, but there is a wide range of nuanced dynamics that partially make up for it. Also, Philippe Eidel's soundtrack is fairly modest but easy to appreciate. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and easy to follow. There are no sync issues or audio dropouts to report in this review.
The Truth About Beautiful Lies - in this video interview, actress Audrey Tautou discusses her character and second collaboration with director Pierre Salvadori. In 2006, she also appeared in director Salvadori's romatic comedy Priceless. In English and French, with imposed English subtitles where necessary. (9 min, 720p).
Trailer - the original UK theatrical trailer for Beautiful Lies. In English and French, with imposed English subtitles where necessary. (2 min, 1080/50i).
Pierre Salvadori's Beautiful Lies is a charming and elegant romantic comedy that is guaranteed to appeal to fans of Audrey Tautou. The film's message, however, is a familiar one. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of British distributors Trinity Home Entertainment, looks and sounds good. If you reside in a Region-A territory and wish to import it, please keep in mind that it is Region-B "locked". RECOMMENDED.
Independent British distributors Trinity Home Entertainment will release on Blu-ray Pierre Salvadori's (Après Vous) latest romantic comedy De vrais mensonges a.k.a. Beautiful Lies (2010), starring Audrey Tautou (Amelie), Nathalie Baye (Tell No One), and Sami Bouajila ...
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