The Hairdresser's Husband Blu-ray - Jean Rochefort / Anna Galiena

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "The Hairdresser's Husband" )

directed by Patrice Leconte
France 1990

Jean Rochefort plays Antoine, an older man with a fetish for getting his hair cut due to a pubescent crush he had on a hairdresser as a child. As an adult, he becomes infatuated with gorgeous hairdresser Mathilde (Anna Galiena). Although Antoine’s father has drilled into him that “women are like crosswords; the harder to get, the sweeter they are,” Mathilde does not require much pursuing to get her to wed Antoine. They marry in the salon (Mathilde even gives a customer a shave during the festivities). Antoine spends his days ogling his wife while she works in the salon and Mathilde seems to get as much pleasure out of being intensely watched while serving a handful of quirky customers; Antoine even pleasures Mathilde while she is shampooing a customer. Things go swimmingly until Mathilde – who has been visiting the retired hairdresser Isadore (Maurice Chevit) who gave her his shop in a rest home – starts to realize that her clients are getting older and she grows fearful of the time when Antoine will stop loving her whereupon things take a tragic turn.

Part of Leconte’s “Obsession Trilogy” (which includes MONSIEUR HIRE - - and PARFUME D’YVONNE), THE HAIRDRESSER’S HUSBAND is by turns funny and moving. Despite its reputation, Leconte’s film is nowhere near as outrageous as the “sex is funny” art films of the likes of Bigas Luna, Pedro Almadovar, or the classy erotica of Tinto Brass. Like those films though, it embodies that effortless sensuality that feels equally organic in a European comedy, thriller, or tragic love story (a la BETTY BLUE). Rochefort (so good in Leconte’s excellent, underrated MAN ON THE TRAIN) is both funny and believable while Galiena (of Tinto Brass’ SENSO ’45 – see BLACK ANGEL - ) is sweet and affecting as well as sensual without losing her skirt. It goes without saying that Chabrol cinematographer Eduardo Serra’s cinematography is stunning whether presenting panoramic seaside views or the expanse of the salon set lit either by warm sunlight or nourish blue and bottomless blacks. Michael Nyman (who also scored Leconte’s MONSIEUR HIRE but is probably most well known for his score for Jane Campion’s THE PIANO) proves once again here that he is criminally underrated outside of the art film genre.

Excerpt of review from Eric Cotenas at Lovelockandload located HERE

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Theatrical Release: October 3rd, 1990

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Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the DVD Screen Caps!

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:21:52.083
Video	2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 33,062,614,570 bytes Feature: 26,567,049,216 bytes Video Bitrate: 38.93 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	DTS-HD Master Audio French 1975 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1975 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kino 2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 33,062,614,570 bytes Feature: 26,567,049,216 bytes Video Bitrate: 38.93 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Audio commentary by film historian Adrian Martin • For the Love of a Hairdresser: An Interview with director Patrice Leconte (18:19) • The Hairdresser's Confessions: An Interview with star Anna Galiena (18:08) • Trailer (1:22)A Blu-ray Release Date: July 9th, 2024 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 9

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (July 2024): Kino have transferred Patrice Leconte's The Hairdresser's Husband to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "Restored in 4K from the film negative. Photochemical and digital work carried out by the Hiventy laboratory (TransPerfect Media France), 2023". Eric Cotenas compared the 2009 Severin and 2001 DVDY Films DVDs HERE and we have matched captures below. The film maintains its stylistic color and contrast diffusion but it's still quite a leap over the older SD transfers with an effective improvement in detail, skin tones lose their orange-ness and the HD presentation is dramatically more film-like.

NOTE: We have added 62 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track (24-bit) in the original French language. The Hairdresser's Husband has no aggressive moments at all (a slap, crying child and a leap into rushing water.) The peaceful score was by Michael Nyman (The Piano, Gattaca, Man with a Movie Camera, Keep It Up Downstairs, Greenaway's Drowning By Numbers, A Zed & Two Noughts etc.) and adds to the film's placid soundstage. Dialogue is clear via the lossless transfer. Also played is Saalouny El Nas performed by Fairuz - and danced by Jean Rochefort. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by film historian Adrian Martin. He marvels at the suspension of fantasy within the film... and its reverse side. He talks about Patrice Leconte and quotes him: "You mix elements that have nothing to do with each other and you see what will happen." Adrian talks about a main theme of puberty, the sensuality of the film, Laura Mulvey's concept of the 'male gaze' being the act of depicting women and the world in the visual arts. He dismisses whether The Hairdresser's Husband is a Freudian case study in fetishism seeing that its focus is not the origin of the main character's pathology. Adrian remarks on the short-ish running time of 80-minutes and appreciates that Leconte didn't artificially inflate the length. He talks about the writer Patrick Cauvin and his book E=mc Mon Amour , Adrian judges Monsieur Hire to be Patrice Leconte best film... and there is much more with intriguing analysis (the sand displacement scene.) It's at Adrian's usual excellent level. For the Love of a Hairdresser is an 18-minute interview with director Patrice Leconte. He states that he has always made short films, claiming he is incapable of keeping audiences interested for 2+hours. He talks about writing The Hairdresser’s Husband with Patrick Cauvin and their intentions with the story. The Hairdresser's Confessions is an 18-minute interview with star Anna Galiena who still looks great and talks about her career and working in the late 80s and beyond. Both interviews are in French with optional English subtitles and are from Rimini Editions. Lastly is a trailer for the film.

Patrice Leconte's The Hairdresser's Husband is about male fantasy that subsists throughout one man's life; 'Antoine' played by Jean Rochefort. His introduction to his own puberty was such a rich experience - seeing the breast of his hairdresser, breathing in her smell and agog at her femininity etc. - that he refuses to let go of that bridge-of-innocence joy throughout his life. He's made his dream (marrying a hairdresser) a reality - and he happily lives inside this world. His eye does not stray from his wife - he seemingly watches her, totally enamored, cut men's hair all day. We get flashbacks of his childhood only briefly altering the sensual tone. We have no insight into the hairdresser wife, Mathilde, played by Anna Galiena (Nothing Underneath.) Like Antoine we watch her alluring body and warm smiles. There are other elements in The Hairdresser's Husband like free-form dancing to exotic Eastern music (from Lebanon and Iraq) that Antoine performs to share his joy of life. There is something highly appealing to tightly embracing adolescence and maintaining such content-ness without being distracted or seduced into other areas. It may be devoid of ambition but it's hard to resist the comfort - especially as realized so beautifully by Leconte. The Kino Blu-ray is a massive a/v leap over the previous DVDs of The Hairdresser's Husband and has a revealing commentary and two interviews. Absolutely this package is recommended.

Gary Tooze