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Je t'aime, je t'aime - Kino Lorber (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: France, 1968
Director: Alain Resnais
Writers: Jacques Sternberg, Alain Resnais
Cast: Claude Rich, Olga Georges-Picot, Anouk Ferjac, Alain MacMoy, Vania Vilers, Ray Verhaeghe, Van Doude, Yves Kerboul, Dominique Rozan

Release Date: November 10th, 2015
Approximate Running Time: 94 Minutes 55 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono French
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: OOP

"Claude Ridder (Claude Rich) is recovering from a failed suicide attempt after the collapse of his relationship with Catrine (Olga Georges-Picot). He is approached by an obscure scientific lab, who wants him to participate in the human trials of a new time travel device. The test will send him back one years time, for one minute. But the machine goes haywire, and Ridder gets caught in a never-ending series of temporal leaps, re-living his tragic life out of sequence. His past is a nightmare he is trying to escape, and the only exit might be his own death.." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "A 2K restoration carried out by Eclair Group and L.E. Diapason for Cine-Mag Bodard with the support of the CNC."

Je t'aime, je t'aime comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 38.5 GB

Feature: 25.8 GB

The source used for this transfer is in excellent shape. Flesh tones look correct; colors look very good; 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 DTS-HD mono mix in French with removable English subtitles. It should be noted that there is some dialog in English and Dutch. That said, most of the dialogue is in French. The audio is in excellent shape. Dialog comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced and robust when it should.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 37 seconds, DTS-HD mono French with non-removable English subtitles), audio interview with director Alain Resnais (12 minutes 43 seconds, DTS-HD stereo French with removable English subtitles), an interview with actor Claude Rich (15 minutes 45 seconds, DTS-HD stereo French with removable English subtitles), a featurette titled The Meeting of Alain Resnais and Jacques Sternberg (20 minutes 31 seconds, DTS-HD stereo French with removable English subtitles), reversible cover art and a 12-page booklet with an essay titled Trapped in Time Alain Resnais Je t’aime je t’aime written by Johnathan Rosenbaum.

Summary:

Directed by Alain Resnais, whose other notable films include Night and Fog, Hiroshima Mon Amour, and Last Year at Marienbad.

The narrative revolves around A man who has recently attempted suicide agrees to participate in a time-travel experiment where the only test subjects to date have been mice. Along the way, a machine malfunction allows the man to experience moments from his past in random order.

Once something has happened, there is a finality to that moment in time, which in the majority of instances makes it near impossible to change the course that has been set in motion from said moment in time. This is precisely what happens to the protagonist in the Je t'aime, je t'aime. His life is turned upside down when his girlfriend decides to leave him. From there, he can simply move on and try to cope with his pain. Instead, he decides to take the easy way out by attempting suicide. Fortunately for him, he fails in his attempt to end it all, and he is now given an additional alternative to achieve what he desires most. He is regaining the love he has lost by returning to the moment when things were perfect in his now-failed relationship.

Though there have been numerous films that delve into the subject matters of time travel and suicide, it is safe to say that no film before or since has combined these two subjects like the way they are presented in Je t'aime, je t'aime. In fact, by the time Je t'aime, je t'aime has settled in, these two things are pushed to the background as a new focus has shifted to the protagonist's past. The bulk of Je t'aime, je t'aime revolves around a series of events from the protagonist's past. These events from his past feature him with several different women, and the tone of these moments is both happy and sad, with the bulk of these moments falling into the later category.

Performance-wise, everything revolves around leading man Claude Rich (The Bride Wore Black) in the role of Claude Ridder, the protagonist. The weight of Je t'aime, je t'aime rides on the shoulders of his performance, which is extraordinary. Another performance of note is Olga Georges-Picot (Farewell Friend) in the role of Catrine, the woman that Claude Ridder’s character obsesses over the love they once shared.

Structurally, though, the narrative starts off on a straight path. Then things become more entangled once the protagonist starts to revisit moments from his past. Which are presented in random order, and they vary in their duration. That said, there are bound to be those who find this nonlinear section of the film difficult to digest. And repeated viewings are a must to fully appreciate all of Je t'aime, je t'aime’s nuances.

Je t'aime, je t'aime gets a solid release from Kino Lorber that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and insightful extras, recommended.