DVD Review Criterion - NTSC Jean Renoir's - Boudu Saved from Drowning - Boudu sauvé des eaux DVD Review Jean Renoir Boudu Saved from Drowning Boudu sauvé des eaux DVD Review Jean Renoir Boudu Saved from Drowning Boudu sauvé des eaux

(aka "Boudu Saved from Drowning" )

France 1932

The 30s was an especially strong period for Howard Hawks (represented by two films here), for Ernest Lubitsch (also represented by two films), for Leo McCarey (ditto), and, most of all, for Jean Renoir (represented by three), who turned out 13 features during that decade, the second, third, and thirteenth of which are cited here. Boudu (1932), the third, stars the great Michel Simon (see L’Atalante, above) as a mangy and unapologetic tramp saved from drowning by a middle-class Parisian bookseller who’s determined to reform and “civilize” him. A ruthless and often hilarious tweaking of liberal delusions that scandalized Bosley Crowther, lead film reviewer of the New York Times, so thoroughly when it opened in the U.S. for the first time (in 1967!) that he walked out before the end, it continues to charm and provoke. (By contrast, Paul Mazursky’s toothless 1986 remake, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, offends only those who care about the original.) Renoir’s light-hearted comedy is also a kind of irreverent celebration of Boudu’s sloth, diffidence, and instinctually animalistic behavior. Renoir’s off-the-cuff manner of shooting remains as carefree and as fresh as the lead character.

Excerpt from Jonathan Rosenbaum's article "30 Great Movies on DVD" located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: 11 November 1932 (Paris)

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DVD Comparison:

Criterion - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Optimum Releasing - Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Gregory Meshman for Optimum Screen Captures!

(Criterion - Region 0 - NTSC LEFT vs. Optimum Releasing - Region 2 - PAL RIGHT)

DVD Box Cover

Distribution

Criterion Collection - Spine # 305

Region 0 - NTSC

Optimum Home Entertainment

Region 2 - PAL

Runtime	1:25:00	1:20:51 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.93 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.53 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Criterion
Bitrate: Optimum
Audio	French Dolby Digital 2.0	French Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles	English, none	English, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Criterion Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Archival introduction by Jean Renoir • Excerpt from a Cinastes de notre temps program, featuring Renoir and Michel Simon • New video interview with filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin • Archival interview with Eric Rohmer • Interactive map of 1930s Paris, featuring locations from the film • Liner notes essay by Renoir scholar Christopher Faulkner DVD Release Date: August 23rd, 2005 Keep Case Chapters 16	Release Information: Studio: Optimum Home Entertainment Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Stills gallery • Film information • Trailers for Wages of Fear, Breathless, He Loves Me He Loves Me Not DVD Release Date: January 27, 2003 Keep Case Chapters 16

Comments

As expected the Criterion appears sharper than the Optimum, has superior contrast, better subtitles and better extras. It does however still show the same damage marks as the Optimum but they mostly less visible. The Criterion also has some minor cropping on the top and occasionally the right edge. The Criterion has some amazing archival extras with stuff from Rohmer et all. We encourage you to buy the Criterion to view Renoir's masterful film.

- Gary Tooze

Criterion DVD Menus

Optimum DVD Menus

Subtitle Sample

(Criterion - Region 0 - NTSC TOP vs. Optimum Releasing - Region 2 - PAL BOTTOM)

Screen Captures

(Criterion - Region 0 - NTSC TOP vs. Optimum Releasing - Region 2 - PAL BOTTOM)

Report Card:

Image:	Criterion
Sound:	-
Extras:	Criterion
Menu:	Criterion

Recommended Reading in French Cinema (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)


The Films in My Life by Francois Truffaut, Leonard Mayhew	French Cinema: A Student's Guide by Philip Powrie, Keith Reader	Agnes Varda by Alison Smith	Godard on Godard : Critical Writings by Jean-Luc Godard	Notes on the Cinematographer by Robert Bresson	Robert Bresson (Cinematheque Ontario Monographs, No. 2) by James Quandt	The Art of Cinema by Jean Cocteau	French New Wave by Jean Douchet, Robert Bonnono, Cedric Anger, Robert Bononno	French Cinema: From Its Beginnings to the Present by Remi Fournier Lanzoni