Romance Blu-ray - Caroline Ducey

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

Directed by Catherine Breillat
France 1999

On her continuous journey to explore human sexuality, Breillat in "Romance X" (Romance, 1999), explores the relationship of love and sex with an almost clinical distance: Sterile in her mise-en-scene of, yet always natural and uninhibited, sexuality. Thus, while openly pornographic, it never becomes vulgar or offensive.

Unable to have sex with her fiancée, a woman seeks out lovers: "How can you love a man who doesn’t fuck you?", one of her lovers ask, "I don’t like men who fuck me", she replies. So begins her voyage into her own sexuality, that takes her from ordinary sex to rape by random stranger, and thru which she discovers her sexual and emotional limits.

***

Shockingly explicit, blurring the lines between art and pornography, Catherine Breillat's critically acclaimed Romance is one of the most controversial films of modern cinema.

A young schoolteacher frustrated by the lack of intimacy shown by her boyfriend begins to look elsewhere for physical affection and embarks on a series of increasingly extreme sexual encounters.

***

Claiming he lived her but that he has lost his desire for her Matie's boyfriend Pul refuses to engage in sexual relations catapulting Matie into a desperate search for intimacy and erotic connection. Marie's escalating sexual journey tests he own physical and emotional limits and through and ironic twist-of-fate eventually leads her to fulfillment.

Excerpt from B+N located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: April 14th, 1999

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Trimark Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Second Sight Films - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Trimark Home Video DVD Screen Caps!

(Trimark Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Second Sight - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - RIGHT)

Box Cover
		Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Trimark Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC	Second Sight Films - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:38:27	1:38:36.118
Video	1.60:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.59 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 41,873,014,879 bytes Feature: 31,021,164,096 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.31 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	French Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo	LPCM Audio French 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit DTS-HD Master Audio French 3298 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3298 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	English, French, Spanish, none	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Trimark Home Video 1.60:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.59 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s Edition Details: • Original Artwork • Trailer • Trailer for 'Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love' DVD Release Date: February 19th, 2004 Chapters 12	Release Information: Studio: Second Sight Films 1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 41,873,014,879 bytes Feature: 31,021,164,096 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.31 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • New interview with Catherine Breillat (19:50) • New interview with Caroline Ducey (18:47) • New interview with Jean-Francoise Lepetit (17:35) Blu-ray Release Date: July 15th, 2019 Black Blu-ray Case Chapters 12

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Second Sight Films Blu-ray (June 2019): Second Sight Films have transferred Catherine Breillat's Romance to Blu-ray. As compared to the 2004 DVD the image looks a bit faint but detail rises dramatically and it has a somewhat pinkish hue. Grain is more prevalent and it shows more information on all 4 edges of the frame. It is housed on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate and seems to have replicated the source as well as possible for the medium. On our system it looks very good with decent contrast and a consistently textured film-like appearance in the 1080P resolution.

NOTE: We have added 30 more large resolution Kino Blu-ray captures for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE.

On their Blu-ray, Second Sight Films give the audio option of a linear PCM 2.0 channel track or DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround in the original French language (both 24-bit). There are some minor separations and the uncompressed LPCM is flat but effective in exporting the film's dialogue. There is a score credited to Raphaël Tidas (the TV series Coeur océan) and DJ Valentin plus music; Spanish Storme performed by D'Shadeauxmen, Dorn performed by Das Ichand George Clinton's Free your mind and your ass will follow performed by Funkadelic. Second Sight Films offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'B' Blu-ray.

Second Sight Film include new interviews in French with English subtitles - first a 20-minute interview with director Catherine Breillat who is very open and forthright about her opinions on her film especially noting of subjectivity "Either you are used to seeing something and it's banal, or you're used to it and it's obscene. Voila!". Included is a new 19-minute interview with Caroline Ducey who informs us that she was not born into an acting family, and discusses what Romance meant to her. Lastly, is a new 18-minute interview with producer Jean-François Lepetit discussing the production hurdles and impact of the film.

Romance is Breillat's exploration of female psychology via a controversial and intellectual treatise about a young couple in crisis and a young woman exploring her sexual boundaries. It can shock and provoke. The Second Sight Blu-ray provides an HD presentation and some interesting interview supplements. Recommended to the adventurous cinephile.

Gary Tooze

Trimark Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC

Second Sight - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

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