Mauvais Sang – Carlotta Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: France, 1986
Director: Leos Carax
Writer: Leos Carax
Cast: Michel Piccoli, Juliette Binoche, Denis Lavant, Hans Meyer, Julie Delpy, Carroll Brooks, Hugo Pratt, Mireille Perrier, Serge Reggiani, Jérôme Zucca

Release Date: November 18th, 2014
Approximate Running Time: 119 Minutes 2 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono French
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $29.95

"Marc and Hans, two old gangsters, are ordered by a rival, the American woman, to repay a debt. They plan to steal the vaccine for a mysterious virus, STBO, which affects those who make love without being in love and is wreaking havoc among teenagers. After the death of their associate Jea the two accomplices call on his son, Alex known a "Chatterbox", who is a talented conjour. Alex, who has just left his girlfriend Lise, falls madly in love with a girl in a white dress he sees on a bus. Her name is Anna and she turns out to b Marc's mistress." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Mastered in high definition."

Mauvais Sang comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 42.5 GB

Feature: 26.9 GB (Mauvais Sang), 10.5 GB (Mister X)

Reportedly, the source for this transfer is the same source that Artificial Eye used for their 2014. That said, the source looks excellent. Flesh tones look accurate, colors are nicely saturated and appropriately vibrant, image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image retains an organic look.

Audio: 5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in French with removable English subtitles. The audio sounds excellent. Dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, the score sounds robust, and ambient sounds are well-presented.

Extras:

Extras for this release include the original theatrical trailer (2 minutes 17 seconds, Dolby Digital mono French with removable English), a 2013 reissue theatrical trailer (1 minute 45 seconds, Dolby Digital mono French with removable English subtitles), a deleted scene (5 minutes 25 seconds, Dolby Digital mono French with removable English subtitles), outtakes and rushes (20 minutes 21 seconds, Dolby Digital mono French with removable English subtitles), a career spanning documentary about Leos Carax titled Mister X with comments from actors Denis Lavant, Juliette Binoche, Mireille Perrier, filmmakers Jean-Luc Godard, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, composer Neil Hannon, critic Kent Jones, director of Cinémathèque française Serge Toubiana, president of Cannes Film Festival Gilles Jacob and Leos Carax (73 minutes 16 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French and English with removable English subtitles for French), and a slipcover (limited to the first pressing).

Summary:

After the tragic and unexpected death of his father, a young man named Alex is recruited by his father's former colleges for a heist that involves stealing a culture of the vaccine from a drug manufacturer and selling it to one of their competitors.

Content-wise, though Mauvais Sang has a faint hint of sci-fi and often tips its hat to the Nouvelle Vague crime thrillers from the 1960's, On the sci-fi angle, there is a vaccine that protects people from a mysterious virus that attacks those who participate in loveless intercourse. While the crime thriller angle explores the heist that is required to obtain this vaccine, another clear influence on this Mauvais Sang is Alfred Hitchcock, and its allusive vaccine is nothing more than a MacGuffin. That said, while love remains the central theme in Mauvais Sang, Leos Carax follows up his exuberant debut, Boys Meets Girl.

Narrative wise, once again, things are anemic and feel like a series of loosely connected events. Fortunately, there is a wealth of well-defined characters that ensure that there is never a dull moment. Visually, there is an artificiality to the world that he has created for his characters. And his deliberate use of specific colors and meticulous framing of compositions greatly reinforces the mood he wants the subject matter to evoke.

The most memorable moment involves its protagonist, Alex, who, while listening to the radio, decides to do an impromptu dance down the street to David Bowie’s Modern Love. Other standout moments visually include a bittersweet finale, a fight scene between Alex and Mark, and the use of music from Sergei Prokofiev’s ballet ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Also, when discussing Mauvais Sang’s visuals, one must not overlook how mesmerizing its leading ladies, Julie Delpy and Juliette Binoche, look throughout.

As mentioned before, Mauvais Sang is overflowing with colorful characters that are always interesting to watch. And this, in turn, carries over to the performances of the cast, who are all great in their respective roles. Cast once again in the role of the protagonist named Alex is Denis Lavant, who once again gives a pitch-perfect performance. Other performances of note include Julie Delpy (Killing Zoe) in the role of Lise, the woman who is in love with Alex, and Juliette Binoche (Three Colors) in the role of Anna, the woman that Alex is in love with. Ultimately, Mauvais Sang is a truly unique cinematic experience that is unlike anything that has come before or since.

Mauvais Sang gets an exceptional release from Carlotta Films that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and an excellent documentary, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer