The Lovers on the Bridge – Kino Lorber (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: France, 1991
Director: Leos Carax
Writer: Leos Carax
Cast: Juliette Binoche, Denis Lavant, Daniel Buain, Klaus-Michael Grüber, Marion Stalens

Release Date: March 14th, 2017
Approximate Running Time: 126 Minutes 6 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Stereo French
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: OOP

"It follows the intense, convulsive relationship between one-eyed artist Michele (Juliette Binoche) and alcoholic street performer Alex (Denis Lavant). Paris oldest bridge, the Pont Neuf, is their home and their stage as they break up and get back together in increasingly explosive reunions both figurative and literal, including a jaw-dropping re-creation of the fireworks display that marked the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

The Lovers on the Bridge comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 38.2 GB

Feature: 34.3 GB

There is no information provided about this transfer’s source. That said, the source is in great shape. Flesh tones look correct, colors are nicely saturated, image clarity, 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 stereo 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 a theatrical trailer (1 minute 8 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo with English text), a video essay about the film titled Water and Stone (9 minutes 27 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with non-removable English subtitles for French text), and a 12-page booklet with cast & crew information and an essay titled A Fake Bridge and a Real Rembrandt written by Ignatiy Viishnevetsky.

Summary:

A homeless addict forms a relationship with a woman who is losing her sight.

Though love stories have been one of the cornerstones of cinema since its inception, it is safe to say that there has not been a love story like the one that unfolds in The Lovers on the Bridge. At the heart of this different kind of love story are two down-on-their-luck characters who are brought together by a chance encounter. And though there are moments that one would usually associate with a love story, there are other themes that play just as large a role in the story at hand, most notably obsession.

The narrative is meticulously contracted, and pacing is never an issue as things move along with deliberate momentum. Key moments are given just the right amount of time to fully sink in. And the well-defined motivations of the main characters are never in doubt.

Performance-wise, as good as the entire cast is in their respective roles, The Lovers on the Bridge’s greatest asset are its two leads, Denis Lavant (Boy Meets Girl) in the role of a homeless addict named Alex and Juliette Binoche (Mauvais Sang) in the role of Michèle Stalens, a young woman whose deteriorating eye sight has contributed greatly to her bleak outlook on the current state of her life. They both deliver multilayered performances that are utterly convincing. Another notable performance is by Daniel Buain in the role of Alex’s vagrant friend. Not to be overlooked is the role that this film’s central location, the Pont-Neuf Bridge in Paris, plays in the story at hand.

The visuals do an extraordinary job of reinforcing the mood. And nowhere is this more evident than how the Lovers on the Bridge take full advantage of their locations, most notably the aforementioned Pont-Neuf Bridge. Standout moments visually include a scene where the two main characters drunkenly waterski down the Seine River as fireworks light up the sky. Another standout moment is a scene where Alex realizes that someone is looking for Michèle and, not wanting to lose her, destroys posters in a subway tunnel by lighting them on fire.

Though The Lovers on the Bridge starts off with its characters on self-destructive paths, the end result is a deeply rewarding experience that proves that love truly conquers all!

The Lovers on the Bridge gets a first-rate release from Kino Lorber that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and a pair of informative extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer

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

Boy Meets Girl – Carlotta Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: France, 1984
Director: Leos Carax
Writer: Leos Carax
Cast: Denis Lavant, Mireille Perrier, Carroll Brooks, Maïté Nahyr, Elie Poicard, Christian Cloarec

Release Date: November 18th, 2014
Approximate Running Time: 104 Minutes 4 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

"Paris by night. Alex, 22, wants to become a filmmaker. He is fascinated by first times and his girlfriend, Florence, has just left him for his his best friend, Thomas. First break-up, first attempted murder: Alex tries to strangle Thomas, but gives up and wanders the streets. That evening Mireille, a girl from provincial France who has come up to Paris to make commercials, is left by her boyfriend. Alex witnesses this separation. These two tormented souls run into each other at a party." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

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

Boy Meets Girl comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 32.1 GB

Feature: 27.5 GB

Reportedly, the source for this transfer is the same source that Artificial Eye used for their 2014. That said, the source 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 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 a 2014 reissue theatrical trailer (1 minute 59 seconds, Dolby Digital mono French with removable English subtitles), Denis Lavant’s Screen Test (8 minutes 8 seconds, Dolby Digital mono French with removable English subtitles), a collection of raw footage from the kitchen sequence titled On Set: In the Kitchen (17 minutes 31 seconds, Dolby Digital mono French with removable English subtitles), and a slipcover (limited to the first pressing).

Summary:

An aspiring filmmaker named Alex looks for someone to fill the void created by his girlfriend, who left him for his best friend. After a chance meeting, he meets a woman named Mireille with suicidal tendencies who is going through her own relationship crisis. Will they be able to find in each other the things they need to be happy, or will their time together be short-lived?

Boys Meets Girl was the feature film debut of Leos Carax (Mauvais Sang, The Lovers on the Bridge), who, along with Luc Besson (Subway, Nikita) and Jean-Jacques Beineix (Diva, Betty Blue), were all part of Cinéma du Look, a French film movement of the 1980s. Two key collaborators on Boy Meets Girls include actor Denis Lavant, who has appeared in four of Leo Carax’s five feature films, and cinematographer Jean-Yves Escoffier, who worked with Leo Carax on his first three films. Content-wise, Boy Meets Girl is a film that proudly wears its cinematic influences on its sleeve, most notably silent cinema and Jean-Luc Godard.

A trio of heavy confrontational moments set the narrative in motion, the first involving a woman with her child in their car, and she has just called her significant other to inform him that she is leaving him. The rejection does not end there, as she further informs him that she has taken all of his poems and paintings and is going to throw these items into the river. The other main confrontation involves the protagonist, Alex, who has just learned that his girlfriend has left him for his best friend, and Alex nearly kills said friend during their confrontation. The third confrontation and the most distant of these three involves a woman named Mireille, whom Alex falls in love with later on in the film. Her breakup is coming via an intercom, which she uses to talk to her boyfriend, who is standing outside of where they live. And unknown to him, the man who is going to replace him, Alex, is standing behind him, observing the events as they unfold.

There are a series of sequences where the protagonist, Alex, becomes an observer as he watches how other couples interact and hears the sounds of his neighbors making love. Unfortunately for him, they remind him of the woman he has just lost, and in one last attempt to woo her back, she steals records for her, and he leaves them with a note that he slid under her apartment door. And when this last ditch attempt to regain what he had lost fails, he then continues his search as an observer, which eventually leads him to a party where destiny brings him together with Mireille, the woman whose voice she had heard before but had yet to see face-to-face.

Though the words can often be sparse in Boys Meets Girls, the emotions are always put front and center for the viewer to fully appreciate the state that each character is in at any given moment. In place of words, Boys Meets Girls effortlessly uses body language and facial expressions to convey the message it is trying to get across. And to further enhance this waterfall of emotions that are displayed in every frame of Boys Meets Girl is its exquisite use of black and white cinematography. And nowhere is Boys Meets Girls' use of black and white more potent than in its tragic finale.

When it comes to performances, the weight of Boys Meets Girl sits on the shoulders of its two leads, Denis Lavant in the role of Alex and Mireille Perrier in the role of Mireille. These two actors give emotionally charged performances that are convincing, and they have an undeniable chemistry. The most memorable scene is when they finally have their first face-to-face conversion in the kitchen at a party they both are attending.

Though love is a universal theme that has served as the basis of countless feature films, far too many of these films are bogged down by the obligatory cinematic happy ending. Thankfully, not everyone walks to the beat of that all-too-familiar drummer, and there exist films like Boy Meets Girl that go against the grain with their depiction of the many sides of love. Ultimately, Boy Meets Girl is an exceptional melodrama that lingers on in your mind long after its poignant climax.

Boy Meets Girl is an excellent release from Carlotta Films that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and a pair of behind-the-scenes extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer