Marius and Jeannette

(aka 'Marius and Jeanette')

Directed by Robert Guédiguian
USA 1997

Set in l'Estaque, an impoverished, industrialised area of Marseilles, this funny, tender, enchanting film starts as if it's going to be a familiar misfits-meeting-cute romance. Soon after her feisty temper costs her her supermarket job, single mother Jeannette (Ascaride, the writer/director's wife) embarks on a relationship with the equally wacky Marius (Meylan), a taciturn security guard at a disused cement works. He's accepted by her kids and friends, but when he disappears for a few days, Jeannette suspects his no-show is simply another example of male unreliability, and it's left to her neighbours to investigate. In fact, while the faltering central romance gives the film a semblance of narrative structure, Guédiguian's prime concern is how community and friendship make economic and emotional hardship bearable. That Marius is called 'Marius' is probably no accident, since the celebratory account of working class life in all its variety recalls Pagnol's classic Marseilles trilogy, albeit without the overheated theatricality and pathos. Less love story than love letter to a particular, Mediterranean way of life, this is peopled with credible individuals as proud, perverse and needy as they are brave, tolerant and likeable.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE.

Posters

Theatrical Release: August 25th, 1997 - Montreal Film Festival

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DVD Review: New Yorker Video - Region 1 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	New Yorker Video - Region 1 - NTSC
	The New Yorker appears to be an unconverted port of the Gaumont Region 2- PAL DVD that has no English subtitles.
Runtime	1:37:09
Video	1.66:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.3 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: New Yorker Video Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.66:1 Edition Details: • Interview with director Robert Guediguian • Foreign theatrical trailer DVD Release Date: September 19th, 2006 Keep Case Chapters: 20

Comments:

Great film, proper 1.66 aspect ratio, progressive but still and unconverted PAL transfer. On the positive - the 'combing' does seem quite limited compared to other PAL->NTSC digital renderings we have seen. The process also results in the image being slightly hazier than it might be reproduced if none using the correct standard. Aside from the Oliver Groom - Project X New Yorker released DVDs - this limitation has become expected from them. Tube owners won't be bothered and more sensitive systems may only be aware, not necessarily impinging upon the viewing experience. In short - the artifacts and effects seem less intrusive than previously seen.

Supplements include a 6-minute director interview, a theatrical trailer and some liner notes with a three page essay. the definitive DVD will undoubtedly be the French Gaumont but it has no English subtitles - so to enjoy the film for most this NY'er DVD is the only alternative.

Gary W. Tooze

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