La Vie de Chateau
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DVD Cover Information Actor: Catherine Deneuve, Henri Garcin, Mary Marquet, Philippe Noiret, Pierre Brasseur Director: Jean-Paul Rappeneau DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Subtitled); French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Format: Anamorphic, Black & White, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen Picture Format: 1.66:1 Running Time: 93 minutes DVD Release Date: 2003-02-04 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Studio: WellSpring |
| Used | Used Usually ships in 1-2 business days | $22.79 |
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Movie Reviews of La Vie de Chateau
Movie Review: A young Deneuve... a very pleasant diversion
Summary: 4 Stars
A romantic comedy that borders on but does not quite turn into farce, this french film made in 1966 starred the still very young Catherine Deneuve, fresh from Polanski's Repulsion and the film that made her internationally famous, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, made just 2 years earlier. Here she plays a bored young housewife married to a French nobleman. Feeling constrained by her "wet rag" of a husband, she is wooed by a heroic resistance leader and a german officer, both encamped in their chateau which just so happens to be chosen as the site for an airborne landing set to take place on the night prior to D-day. Despite the grim setting, this is just a light happy romance, helped along by the languid dreamy score by Michel Legrand which does more than anything else to evoke the flavour of the French countryside. At the end we get to see Catherine Deneuve live out her dreams as she rides with the victorious Americans down the Champs Elysee.
This is the first Black-&-White transfer I've seen from Wellspring and while it doesn't compare to Criterion's pristine restorations of black-&-white films, it is quite good. There is minimal scattered film defects including a shuddering frame or two but otherwise quite serviceable. It is a bit on the dark side with loss of detail in blacker scenes, this is especially evident in the night-time airborne landing at the chateau where for long minutes you are left in near total blackness. The transfer is in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1 (enhanced for widescreen TV). The sound is poor, tinny and doesn't really serve the lovely music at all, which breaks up at higher frequencies. Still, the french dialogue is very clear and natural sounding. This release comes with optional English subtitles.
Maybe not an essential purchase but a very pleasant diversion.