Fatal Femmes: Neige/The Bitch – Fun City Editions (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Dates: France, 1981 (Neige), France, 1984 (The Bitch)
Directors: Juliet Berto, Jean-Henri Roger (Neige), Christine Pascal (The Bitch)
Cast: Juliet Berto, Jean-François Stévenin, Robert Liensol, Patrick Chesnais, Jean-François Balmer, Paul Le Person, Anna Prucnal, Raymond Bussières, Eddie Constantine (Neige), Isabelle Huppert, Richard Berry, Vittorio Mezzogiorno, Jean Benguigui, Jean-Claude Leguay, Jean-Pierre Moulin, Clément Harari, Daniel Jégou, Jenny Clève, Jean-Pierre Bagot (The Bitch)

Release Date: September 19th, 2023
Approximate Running Times: 91 Minutes 1 Second (Neige), 92 Minutes 54 Seconds (The Bitch)
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Both Films)
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono French (Both Films)
Subtitles: English (Both Films)
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $49.95

"From the neon underworld of early '80s Paris come two stylish, atmospheric films noirs. In Juliet Berto and Jean-Henri Roger's Neige, Berto is a barmaid in the red light Pigalle district who attempts to score for her deceased drug dealer friend's clients. In Christine Pascal's The Bitch, Isabelle Huppert is the woman at the heart of a Hitchcockian tale set in the world of French high couture." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5 (Neige), 5/5 (The Bitch)

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "This 4K restoration of Neige, undertaken by JHR Films and StudioCanal, was sourced from the original picture and sound negatives. It was completed by L'Immagine Ritrovata under the supervision of Renato Berta in 2020."

Neige comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 26.5 GB

Feature: 25.9 GB

The source used for this transfer is in excellent shape. Flesh tones look healthy, colors look correct, image clarity and compression are solid, black levels look very good, and the image looks organic.

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "This 4K restoration of The Bitch, undertaken by JHR Films and StudioCanal, was sourced from the original picture and sound negatives. It was completed by L'Immagine Ritrovata under the supervision of Renato Berta in 2020."

The Bitch comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 27.2 GB

Feature: 26.7 GB

The source used for this transfer is in excellent shape. Flesh tones look healthy, colors look correct, image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image looks organic.

Audio: 4.5/5 (DTS-HD Mono French - Neige, DTS-HD Mono French - The Bitch)

Neige comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in French with removable English subtitles.

The Bitch comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in French with removable English subtitles.

Both of these audio tracks are in excellent shape. Dialog always comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced. Range-wise, both audio tracks do a great job with ambient sounds, and their scores sound appropriately robust.

Extras:

Extras for Neige include an image gallery (posters/stills/press book/home video art), a newly created trailer (1 minute 31 seconds, Dolby Digital mono French with non-removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with Samm Deighan.

Extras for The Bitch include an image gallery (posters/stills/other promotional materials), a newly created trailer (1 minute, Dolby Digital mono with English text), and an audio commentary with Samm Deighan.

Other extras include reversible cover art, a slipcover (limited to the first pressing), and a 20-page booklet with an essay titled Night at the Crossroads written by Steve MacFarlane, an essay titled Juliet Berto: Adorable Offender written by Jessica Felrice, an essay titled Uncomfortable Viewing written by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, and cast and crew information for both films.

Summary:

Though these two films, Neige and The Bitch, share several themes and are both suspense films, their other connection is that both of their directors died tragically in their early 40s. Juliet Berto died of breast cancer six days before her 43rd birthday, and Christine Pascal died at the age of 42 by suicide.

Neige: A barmaid at a bar tries to score drugs for the clients of her deceased drug dealer friend.

Though Neige has many of the elements that one would associate with neo-noir cinema, the result is a film that does not fit so easily into the neo-noir genre. In fact, Neige is better described as a melodrama. Though there is a crime element to the story at hand, it takes a back seat to the characters and their interactions, which are the main focal point.

Besides co-directing Juliet Berto (Celine and Julie Go Boating) in the role of a barmaid named Anita, her performance is the heart and soul of Neige. She had an impressive resume as an actress, in which she worked with filmmakers like Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette, and Joseph Losey. That said, the rest of the performances pale in comparison to her portrayal of Anita.

From a production standpoint, there is not an area where Neige is lacking; it is a film that always maximizes its resources. The use of real locations enhances the story at hand, and the narrative does a great job building towards a jarring finale that puts an exclamation mark on the events that preceded. Ultimately, Neige is a riveting melodrama that works as well as it does because of its characters.

The Bitch: A disgraced former police officer turned private detective crosses paths with the girl, now a woman, whose moments of indiscretion ended his career in law enforcement.

The opening sequence does a phenomenal job of setting the tone and setting the stage for the events that follow. In this sequence, a police detective sees a girl thrown from a car, and when she runs up to his car, he lets her in. From there, things spiral out of control, and he rapes her. To complicate matters further for the detective, she is underage, and he is sent to prison for six years.

Later on in the narrative, he crosses paths with a woman who reminds him of the girl from that fateful night. Unable to move on or forget her, he starts to follow this woman around to learn more about her. And the further he digs, the more his life spirals out of control as the answers start to fall into place.

Christine Pascal’s The Bitch, like the films of Claude Chabrol, owes a lot to the cinema of Alfred Hitchock. The Bitch is a suspense film that plays with duality in the same way that Alfred Hitchcock did in a film like Vertigo. Both films feature a woman who looks like another woman and a man whose obsession with said woman drives their narratives.

When it comes to the performances, the cast is all great, especially Isabelle Huppert (La Cérémonie) in the dual roles of Aline Kaminker and Édith Weber. She delivers an outstanding performance that reflects the moments she’s on screen. The other performances of note are the two male leads, Richard Berry in the role of the disgraced detective and Vittorio Mezzogiorno in the role of Max Halimi, the man who crontols Aline (aka Edith) every move.

From its opening moment to its bittersweet, emotionally charged finale, there is rarely a moment for the viewer to catch their breath. The well-constructed narrative does a phenomenal job of building tension and maintaining momentum that builds towards the aforementioned gut punch of an ending. Another strength is the neo-noir-infused visuals, which greatly add to the mood. Ultimately, The Bitch is an extraordinary film, and it is one of the best examples of a French suspense film.

Fatal Femmes: Neige/The Bitch is an excellent release from Fun City Editions that gives both films solid audio video presentations and informative extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer