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Madame Blu-ray delivers stunning video and reference-quality audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
MADAME takes us onto an intimate journey where Caroline, a flamboyant 90-year-old grandmother and her filmmaker grandson Stéphane explore the development and transmission of gender identity in a patriarchal environment. This family saga based on private archive footage offers a dialog between this extravagant matriarch and her gay grandson, challenging the taboos of gender and sexuality.
For more about Madame and the Madame Blu-ray release, see Madame Blu-ray Review published by Brian Orndorf on March 31, 2021 where this Blu-ray release scored 4.0 out of 5.
Filmmaker Stephane Riethauser offers personal therapy with "Madame," a documentary exploring his relationship with his grandmother, Caroline,
identifying the parallel journey of their lives. It's a relationship saga first and foremost, but Riethauser is also using screen time to deal with his own
baggage as a young man raised to fear his sexuality, which complicated a search for identity for decades. It's an intimate collection of feelings and
desires, and "Madame" has a lot to say about the pain of conformity and the bravery of resistance, spotlighting a woman who managed to survive the
stress of expectations, sharing wisdom with her beloved grandchild, who was right there with a video camera to capture their special relationship.
"Madame" picks up 15 years after Caroline's death, with Riethauser trying to make sense of his connection to his grandmother. The director has
plenty of visual evidence to work with, examining Caroline's life and his own upbringing with help from an extensive library of photos and home
movies, sharing an interest in filmmaking with his father. "Madame" uses this imagery to weave together an understanding of Riethauser's family,
with the helmer charting his own upbringing, instilled with a sense of duty to follow in his father's footsteps, taught to walk along a distinctly
heterosexual path that eventually collided with his own homosexual feelings. For Caroline, her intelligence and strong voice was often silenced by
the patriarchal world, fighting to maintain her freedom and interests while saddled with things expected of women, including a brutally honest
reflection on the demands of motherhood.
Caroline's experience is charted through interviews, with the grandmother reflecting on the choices she made and the ones handed to her. She
battled to become herself, and Riethauser shares a similar odyssey, spending his teenage and college years learning more about himself, confessing
his feelings in his diary while living with great deal of confusion and shame, fearful of exposing his true self. "Madame" doesn't provide the usual
coming out story, as Riethauser worked extremely hard to reach an epiphany, dealing with intense introspection as a young man. There are father
issues to be decoded, living with a man who was casually hateful, and the documentary examines various sexual relationships Riethauser had with
men and women, looking to find himself. During this time, the grandson stayed in touch with his grandmother, though as Riethauser inched toward
his outing, his relationship with Caroline grew complicated, with "Madame" analyzing the struggles of denial and acceptance.
The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation manages many film, photo, and video sources for "Madame," creating a smooth viewing
experience with normal source shortcomings. Sharpness is strong, exploring the fibrous qualities of diary pages and skin particulars. Colors are direct,
offering more vibrant hues with photo displays. Skintones are natural. Mild banding is periodic.
The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix preserves the intimacy of "Madame," with Riethauser's narration offered a pleasingly deep, central position. Video
interviews are crisp as well. Scoring selections are wide and clear, with distinct instrumentation, and low-end explores heavier beats.
"Prora" (23:00, HD) is a 2012 short film from Stephane Riethauser.
"Rohini & Caroline" (27:31, HD), "The Hairdressing Contest at Kursaal" (4:41, HD), and "When You Are Truly Old" (1:34,
HD) are additional offerings of life with Caroline, collected before and after the production of "Madame."
Riethauser doesn't have a profound story with "Madame," but he offers an emotional study of perseverance and discovery, with the director learning
more about his family during the production process, getting the rare chance to step back and see how things really were at times. As a filmmaker,
Riethauser maintain a steady flow of memories and feelings, presenting a vulnerable study of growth and enlightenment, which ultimately makes
"Madame" come alive as a valentine to Caroline, also connecting as a celebration of spirit as two people ultimately make their way to lives of love and
passion.
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