The Man Who Lies – Redemption Films/Kino Lorber (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Czechoslovakia/France, 1968
Director: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Writer: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Cast: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Ivan Mistrík, Zuzana Kocúriková, Sylvie Turbová, Sylvie Bréal, Jozef Cierny, Jozef Kroner, Dominique Prado

Release Date: May 27th, 2014
Approximate Running Time: 97 Minutes 55 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: LPCM Mono French
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $34.95

"On the run from pursuing soldiers, Bois finds refuge in a small European town which, years before, was home to Jean, a resistance fighter hunted by Nazis. Boris ingratiates himself in the community, weaving elaborate tales of his encounters with the martyred rebel, and thereby seducing Jean's widow...and sister...and maid. But Boris's erotic games are interrupted when a mysterious stranger - who may, in fact, be Jean - arrives in the village." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Newly mastered in HD from the original 35mm elements."

The Man Who Lies comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 40 GB

Feature: 28.6 GB

The source used for this transfer is in great shape; any source-related imperfections are minor and never intrusive. Image clarity is strong, black levels are excellent, compression is very good, and outside of a few moments, contrast looks great. Also, the image retains an organic look.

Audio: 4.25/5

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

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 22 seconds, LPCM mono French with non-removable English subtitles), a theatrical trailer for Trans-Europ-Express (3 minutes 21 seconds, LPCM mono French with non-removable English subtitles), a theatrical trailer for Eden and After (2 minutes 41 seconds, LPCM mono French with non-removable English subtitles), a 2014 promo reel for the six Alain Robbe-Grillet films released by Redemption Films and Kino Lorber (2 minutes 9 seconds, LPCM mono with text in English), and an interview with director Alain Robbe-Grillet (35 minutes 22 seconds, LPCM stereo French with non-removable English subtitles).

Summary:

After narrowly escaping soldiers that had been relentlessly pursuing him, a man named Boris finds refuge in a rural village that years before had been the home of a resistance fighter named Jean, who is believed to have died during the war. And not long after his arrival, Boris integrates his way into the lives of Jean’s widow, her sister, and their maid by seducing this trio of women with a series of tall tales about encounters with Jean. Unfortunately for Boris, his charade is put in jeopardy when another stranger arrives, claiming to be the widow's long-lost husband.

Where the overwhelming majority of his contemporaries have had their work reappraised, the same could not be said for the films of Alain Robbe-Grillet. That was until recently, as his films have become more widely available. And now that the bulk of his oeuvre has been given quality releases, the films of Alain Robbe-Grillet are ripe for their own reappraisal.

Alain Robbe-Grillet began his career as a novelist, and as an author, he is one of the pivotal figures associated with the Nouveau Roman (new novel) trend that emerged in 1950s French literature. This type of writing is best summed up as creating a new style with each new piece. From there, Alain Robbe-Grillet would make the shift into the world of cinema when he was asked to collaborate on the screenplay for Last Year at Marienbad. His screenplay would receive an Academy Award nomination for writing the original screenplay and win the Golden Lion for best screenplay. This success would lead to Alain Robbe-Grillet making the transition to directing, making his directorial debut in 1962 with the film L’Immortelle and following that up four years later with Trans-Europ-Express.

For his third feature film Alain Robbe-Grillet would re-team with Jean-Louis Trintignant (The Conformist) the leading man from his previous film Trans-Europ-Express. Only this time around Jean-Louis Trintignant would be given the task of portraying the dual role of Jan Robin, a presumed to be deceased resistance fighter and Boris Varissa, a man that nobody seems to remember and yet he claims to have been a close friend of Jan Robin. From a performance stand point Jean-Louis Trintignant does a remarkable job maintaining his characters likability, which is not an easy task considering the unreliability of the protagonist? Also his role is very important to the story at hand, since the remaining cast of characters are never fully explored and their own motivations never enter the fray. That said, despite the limitations of their characters the rest of the cast are very good in their respective roles.

Though there is a semblance of a linear narrative, the end result, like all of Alain Robbe-Grillet, is anything remotely straight forward. Also, the film’s appropriate title, The Man Who Lies, gives the viewer the ultimate clue on how to process what they are about to see. The protagonist is not to be trusted; don’t rely on what you hear, but on what you see, as it holds what’s left of the truth. And from a visual point of view, Alain Robbe-Grillet creates a world only seen in dreams and nightmares. There is never a moment in The Man Who Lies where anything comes close to being grounded in reality. The events that unfold in The Man Who Lies are firmly rooted in a subconscious world that deeply resonates and leaves itself open for multiple interpolations.

There are many great moments visually in The Man Who Lies, like a scene where the widow, her sister, and their maid are playing a game of hide and seek while the seeker is blindfolded. Or the finale, which features a striking image of the protagonist as he appears to have come to terms with the truth he has been trying to avoid. Another area where The Man Who Lies excels is its use of repetitive sounds and images as a means to reveal things that are just beneath the surface. Also, though The Man Who Lies is not as provocative as some of his later films, The Man Who Lies still delves into many of the themes that would dominate Alain Robbe-Grillet’s filmography, like sexuality and bondage. Ultimately, The Man Who Lies is an engrossing exercise in where the truth ends and a lie begins.

The Man Who Lies gets a solid release from Redemption Films that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and an informative interview, highly recommended.

 Written by Michael Den Boer