Le mépris Blu-ray

Le mépris

 (1963)

Drama



A screenwriter finds his marriage falling apart as he attempts to get started a film version of the "The Odyssey."

For more details about Le mépris on Blu-ray, see the Le mépris Blu-ray Review

Le mépris Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jean-Luc Godard's Le mépris arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment.

This high-definition transfer is just a tiny bit weaker than the one the British distributors and French juggernaut Studio Canal delivered for Belle de jour. Once again, it appears that the two parties have used dated elements to bring the film to Blu-ray. As a result, there are some minor inconsistencies with the presentation which I am going to address in a minute.

First, however, the good news - there are no traces of serious filtering. As a result, the grain structure of Le mépris is very much intact. From the provocative close-ups of Bardot's naked body in the very beginning of the film to the intoxicatingly beautiful panoramic vistas from the Isle of Capri, Le mépris looks gorgeous. Edge-enhancement and macroblocking are not a serious issue of concern. I did see some thick lining popping up here and there, but this isn't something that would detract from your viewing experience.

Now, the film's color-scheme is where most of the issues with this transfer appear. Because Le mépris has not been thoroughly restored (like Godard's Pierrot le fou), there are some random color pulsations that you would notice. Reds, yellows, greens and blues are the ones that are affected the most by them. Finally, unlike the R1 SDVD Criterion released some time ago, this Blu-ray transfer retains the film's correct color scheme.

Aside from a few minor specks popping up here and there, Le mépris looks solid. There are no serious debris, scratches, or warps to report in this review.

To sum it all up, despite the few minor reservations I have with the transfer, I think that this is a solid release that outperforms every single SDVD release that I have seen of Le mépris. And just so it is perfectly clear to those who share the opinion that this should be obvious, the high-definition transfer gives the film an entirely new look, one with pleasing depth and detail that I have not previously witnessed.

Note: This disc has been coded for Regions A and B. Therefore, you must have a native Region A or B, or Region-Free, PS3 or SA in order to access its content. Please note that if you reside in a Region-C territory, and have only a native Region-C PS3 or SA, you won't be able to access the disc's content. Additionally, you could set the disc's main menu in one of the following languages: English (Australian specs), Danish, German, Spanish, French, Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish, English (UK specs), English (USA specs), and Japanese. Please note that if you select to set up the menu with the USA specs, the default language track would be the English one. Therefore, you need to manually select the original French audio track).

Le mépris Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


There are four audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. I opted for the original French audio track.

The French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is solid. It reveals a lot more depth and clarity than I could hear on my R2 SDVD (courtesy of Momentum Pictures) or R1 SDVD (courtesy of Criterion). The dialog is crisp, clear and extremely easy to follow). Georges Delerue’s haunting soundtrack sounds particularly impressive, perhaps a lot stronger than I expected it would. There are a couple of scenes where I detected a bit of mild background noise, but overall I have absolutely no reservations with the French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track whatsoever.

I did a few random comparisons with the Spanish dub, which I assumed contained the alternative music score by Piero Piccioni. As far as I could tell, however, this isn't it - this is a basic dubbed only version of the film. Also, there is a lot more background noise on it that will surely annoy those of you who choose to ignore the original French track.

Please note that Optimum Home Entertainment have provided optional English, German, Castellan, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish and Japanese subtitles for the main feature. They are excellent - not too big, not too small. When turned on, the subtitles appear inside the image frame.

Le mépris Blu-ray, News and Updates

• Studio Canal Collection Gets Detailed - September 16, 2009


• Optimum Unleashes Blu-ray Deluge - June 2, 2009

Le mépris Blu-ray, Forum Discussions

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