Lancelot du Lac Blu-ray - Robert Bresson

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

(aka 'Le Graal" or "The Grail" or "Lancelot of the Lake" or "Lancillotto e Ginevra")

France / Italy 1975

Elliptical narrative is also a typical Bressonian approach, but it does seems particularly pronounced in Lancelot, perhaps because Bresson assumed the legend of King Arthur was widely known. Bresson also elides much of the heroism, action, violence, and grandiose milieu of the traditional tale, fashioning an epic story as a restricted, modest film, with weary characters fighting to maintain their chivalric ideals despite the pressing desires of their hearts at the end of an age.

Bresson was always highly-attuned to the rhythm of his films and many commentators have stressed Lancelot's visual and aural patterns in particular, suggesting it was Bresson's way of adapting the poetic source material. Lindley Hanlon's detailed analysis of rhythm in Fragments: Bresson's Film Style (1986) goes so far as to consider passages of the film's dialogue through their parataxis (juxtaposition of phrases), dovetailing (shared words), and meter (spoken rhythm). As Hanlon explains, an element such as dovetailng, when used consistently, intensifies the film's themes.

From Doug Cummings article on Masters of Cinema located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: September 26th, 1974 - France

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Comparison:

New Yorker - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL vs. Gaumont - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover
			BONUS CAPTURES:
Distribution	New Yorker - Region 1- NTSC	Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL	Gaumont - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:20:18	1:20:24 (4% PAL speedup)	1:24:05.081
Video	1.66:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.4 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.66:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.47 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 35,244,192,875 bytes Feature: 26,265,722,880 bytes Video Bitrate: 36.86 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: NY'er
Bitrate: Artificial Eye
Bitrate: Blu-ray
Audio	French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)	French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)	DTS-HD Master Audio French 1315 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1315 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit) DTS-HD Master Audio French 1343 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1343 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	English, None	English, None	French, English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: New Yorker Video Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.66:1 Edition Details: • Theatrical trailers DVD Release Date: May 25, 2004 Keep Case Chapters: 15	Release Information: Studio: Artificial Eye Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.66:1 Edition Details: • Bresson Filmography (text screen) DVD Release Date: April 28th, 2008 Keep Case Chapters: 10	Release Information: Studio: Gaumont 1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 35,244,192,875 bytes Feature: 26,265,722,880 bytes Video Bitrate: 36.86 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Le Temps de l'oisivete (31:23) • Bande-announce (1:59) Blu-ray Release Date: November 3rd, 2021 Slim White Blu-ray Case Chapters 12

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Gaumont Blu-ray (October 2022): Gaumont have transferred Robert Bresson's "Lancelot du Lac" to Blu-ray. Thanks to Louis for informing me. It is Remastered in 4K from a 2018 Restoration from the CNC (Centre national du cinéma.) Great to have more Bresson on Blu-ray - it seems like we were waiting for decades for this particular title. We compared the NY to the Artificial Eye DVD 14 years ago! The 1080P image is very dark, has a tinge of green-blue-leaning but is overall the best home theatre presentation with fine grain and superior detail. Contrast is also more layered. It looks lush and pleasing on my system. Both DVDs in this comparisons had PAL speed-up. This Blu-ray transfer finally has the film in its theatrical running time.

NOTE: We have added 58 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Gaumont use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track (24-bit) in the original French language. There are natural sounds; horses, heavy sword hitting body armor etc. The score is by Philippe Sarde (The Widow Courderc, The Clockmaker of St. Paul, Madame Rosa, The Tenant, Max and the Junkman, Tess, La Grande Bouffe, Quest For Fire) sounding clean via the lossless transfer while adding to the dark imposing mood of the knights. Gaumont offer optional French or English subtitles (see sample below) on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

Extras have a 1/2 hour video featurette entitled "Le Temps de l'oisivete" (The Time of Idleness) and it discusses the film in French with Herve Gauville but offers no subtitles. There is also a trailer for "Lancelot du Lac".

Robert Bresson's "Lancelot du Lac" retells the story of the love affair of Lancelot and Guinevere during the destruction of Camelot and the Round Table ideal. It is based the Arthurian legend notably the Grail quest fantasy, and the works of the French poet Chrétien de Troyes. Typical of Robert Bresson's later films, the cast was majority amateur actors, most of whom never appeared in any other films. Bresson's style enforced a stringent lack of emotion for their portrayals augmenting his ascetic approach. It is notable for the opening and closing graphic violence, that was surely seen as an inspiration in the following year's Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I thoroughly enjoyed rewatching Robert Bresson's "Lancelot du Lac" in 4K-restored 1080P. The Blu-ray is a massive improvement in the film experience, over the ancient DVDs, and we can absolutely recommend to Bresson and world cinema fans.

***

ADDITION: Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL (April 08'): Although also single-layered the new, progressive AE towers above the region 1 NY'er in terms of image for the vast number of deficiencies in the NTSC disc. These include being sourced from an unconverted PAL source (as the times indicate) - it hence has 'ghosting' and 'combing' (interlaced) - is hazier - has faded colors and is cropped on the right edge. Both offer original audio and optional English subtitles but beyond a trailer for the NY'er and a text bio for the Artificial Eye - there are no supplements.

Almost 4 years seems like quite a wait to obtain this particular Bresson title on DVD in an acceptable and improved transfer and the lack of extras is a disappointment. Perhaps one day our patience will be rewarded with a commentary or the like but for now the Artificial Eye is the definitive digital presentation for this film - a dominant improvement over the New Yorker.

NOTE: Also coming this same day from AE in the UK are A Man Escaped (Robert Bresson, 1956) with some extras and the directors 1977 film; The Devil, Probably (reviewed HERE).

***

ON THE NY'ER: I concur with my friends at Masters of Cinema regarding this New Yorker release. Our bitrate indicates that it is "analog-sourced" (taken from none HD-tape) and has prevalent ghosting. MoC has determined that it is cropped on all edges. The colors are dull and the image is extremely dark. On the positive the subtitles are well done and the audio is clear, but there are no Extras. Not as many Bresson fans had highly anticipated. out of

Gary W. Tooze

DVD Menus

(New Yorker - Region 1 - NTSC LEFT vs. Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL RIGHT)

Gaumont - Region FREE - Blu-ray