Le Combat Dans L'ile: Limited Edition – Radiance Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: France, 1962
Director: Alain Cavalier
Writers: Alain Cavalier, Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Cast: Romy Schneider, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Henri Serre, Diane Lepvrier, Robert Bousquet, Jacques Berlioz, Armand Meffre, Maurice Garrel, Marcel Cuvelier, Pierre Asso

Release Date: November 27th, 2023 (UK), November 28th, 2023 (USA)
Approximate running time: 104 Minutes 18 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: PG (UK), NR (USA)
Sound: LPCM Mono French
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region A,B
Retail Price: £16.99 (UK), $34.95 (USA)

"Clement (Jean-Louis Trintignant, Il sorpasso) is a wealthy son of an industrialist who lives a secret life as a right-wing terrorist. Double-crossed following an assassination attempt he flees to the countryside with his wife, Anne (Romy Schneider, La piscine) where they stay with his childhood friend, Paul (Henri Serre, Jules et Jim). Clement plots his revenge but Anne falls for Paul and a love triangle is just one of many complications in this multi-layered discovery from the French New Wave." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, “Le Combat Dans L'ile was scanned in 2K and restored and color graded by Gaumont. Additional color correction was performed by Radiance Films in 2023."

Le Combat Dans L'ile comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 41.7 GB

Feature: 28.3 GB

The source used for this transfer looks excellent. Image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic.

Audio: 5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix in French with removable English subtitles. This audio track is in excellent shape. Dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well represented.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an image gallery 99 images - stills), a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 22 seconds, LPCM mono French with removable English subtitles), a short film directed by Alain Cavalier titled Un américain (16 minutes 38 seconds, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital mono French with removable English subtitles), an archival interview with French film critic Philippe Roger who provides an analysis of the film and Cavalier’s work titled The Succulence of Fruit: A (37 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), an archival interview with actor Jean-Louis Trintignant from the Belgian television show Cinescope (7 minutes 36 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), an archival interview from 1962 with director Alain Cavalier from French television show Cinema Page (4 minutes 51 seconds, Dolby Digital mono French with removable English subtitles), an archival interview from 1961 with Alain Cavalier (13 minutes 15 seconds, Dolby Digital mono French with removable English subtitles), an archival commentary featurette by Alain Cavalier on photos from the Cinémathèque française titled  Faire la mort (4 minutes 46 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), reversible cover art, removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings and a 36-page booklet (limited to 3000 copies) cast & crew information for Le Combat Dans L'ile and Un américain, an essay titled Classicism and Modernity in Le Combat Dans L'ile written by Ben Sachs, and essay titled Le Combat Dans L'ile: A Tale of Fascism and Pacifism written by Mani Sharpe, an archival piece titled On the Nouvelle Vague and Working with Alain Cavalier written by Pierre Lhomme, and information about the transfer.

Summary:

Directed by Alain Cavalier, whose other notable films are L'Insoumis, Fill 'er Up with Super, and Thérèse.

The narrative revolves around the son of a wealthy industrialist who flees Paris when he’s double-crossed following an assassination attempt.

Despite Alain Cavalier’s career starting during the Nouvelle Vague, which began in the late 1950s and ended in the late 1960s, he is not the filmmaker that one usually associates with the Nouvelle Vague. That said, many of his films firmly fit within the Nouvelle Vague, as in Le Combat Dans L'ile.

What starts off as a political thriller transforms into a melodrama that revolves around three characters: a man wanted for an assassination attempt, his estranged wife, and his childhood friend who his wife has fallen in love with. Besides political thriller and melodrama elements, there are many elements that are synonymous with French crime films of the 1960s. That said, is Le Combat Dans L'ile a political thriller, a melodrama, or a love story? It is all of the above.

When it comes to the performances, the cast is very good, especially Romy Schneider (The Trial) in the role of Anne, the estranged wife. Though it is her character's husband's action that drives the narrative, out of all of the characters, it is her character who looms largest. Not to be overlooked is Jean-Louis Trintignant (The Conformist) in the role of Clément Lesser, the son of a wealthy industrialist who is part of a far-right terrorist organization.

From a production standpoint, there is no area where Le Combat Dans L'ile does not excel. The premise is superbly realized, and a tense narrative that is perfectly constructed builds towards a phenomenal ending. Though the narrative starts off as a political thriller, the latter half of the narrative can be broken into two distinct halves: the husband's quest for revenge against a traitor who betrayed him and the life his wife now lives in his absence. Another strength is cinematographer Pierre Lhomme’s (Army of Shadows) striking cinematography, which greatly heightens the mood. Ultimately, Le Combat Dans L'ile is a melting pot of genres and familiar themes that works as well as it does because of its two leads' performances.

Le Combat Dans L'ile is an exceptional release from Radiance Films that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and a wealth of insightful extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer