(aka "Freedom for Us" or "Liberty for Us")

 

directed by René Clair
France 1931

 

One of the all-time comedy classics, René Clair’s À Nous la Liberté tells the story of Louis, an escaped convict who becomes a wealthy industrialist. Unfortunately, his past returns (in the form of old jail pal Émile) to upset his carefully laid plans. Featuring lighthearted wit, tremendous visual innovation, and masterful manipulation of sound, À Nous la Liberté is both a potent indictment of mechanized modern society and an uproarious comic delight.

Theatrical Release: 18 December 1931

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DVD Comparison:

Criterion Collection - Region 0 - NTSC vs. C'Est La Vie - Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Gregory Meshman and Pavel Borodin for the Screen Caps!

(Criterion Collection - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT vs. C'Est La Vie - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)

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Distribution

Criterion Collection - Spine # 160

Region 0 - NTSC

 C'Est La Vie
Region 2 - PAL
Runtime 1:23:21 1:19:39 (4% PAL speedup)
Video

1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 7.22 mb/s
NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s

1.30:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 6.1 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 Collection

 

Bitrate:

 

C'Est La Vie

 

Audio French Dolby Digital 1.0

French Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles English, None English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Criterion Collection

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen - 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• Deleted scenes
• Entr’acte (1924), the short Surrealist masterpiece by Clair and artist Francis Picabia
• Video interview with Madame Bronja Clair
• Film historian David Robinson on the Tobis lawsuit against Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times

DVD Release Date: August 20, 2002
Keep case

Chapters 16

Release Information:
Studio: C'Est La Vie

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen - 1.30:1

Edition Details:
• Entr’acte (1924)
• Photo Gallery
• René Clair Biography
• Madame Clair Interview
 

DVD Release Date: June 30, 2003
Keep case

Chapters 16

 

 

 

Comments

This is pretty strange. The Criterion is cropped heavily on the bottom and the C'Est La Vie is cropped heavily on the top !? It seems quite inconsistent as if there was some zooming  by both parties. What I will guess at is that the outer borders of the prints were damaged and to keep it from appears pillar-boxed both production companies did some 'pan and scanning' - both in different directions. Criterion's sharpness and contrast are superior (although its not a runaway) and almost darkened compared to the Region 2 which looks to have some contrast boosting. i prefer the subtitles on the PAL edition. The Criterion has the better Extras.

Gary W. Tooze

Pepsi says:

The Criterion looks like a film copy print. The UK DVD looks like taken from an old betacam copy, there is "veil"  covering the picture!

 

 


 

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		 Truffaut: A Biography by Antoine do Baecque and Serge Toubiana

 

 

Check out more in "The Library"


DVD Menus

(Criterion Collection - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT vs. C'Est La Vie - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)
 

 

 

 

Screen Captures

(Criterion Collection - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. C'Est La Vie - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
Subtitle sample

 

 

(Criterion Collection - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. C'Est La Vie - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)

 

 

(Criterion Collection - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. C'Est La Vie - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)

 

 

(Criterion Collection - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. C'Est La Vie - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)

 

 

(Criterion Collection - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. C'Est La Vie - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)

 

 

(Criterion Collection - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. C'Est La Vie - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)

 

 

(Criterion Collection - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. C'Est La Vie - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
Screenshot from 'Entr’acte'

 

 

 

 

Hit Counter

Report Card:

Image:

Criterion

Sound:

Extras: Criterion
Menu: Criterion
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Distribution

Criterion Collection

Region 0 - NTSC

 C'Est La Vie
Region 2 - PAL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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