Lourdes Blu-ray - Sylvie Testud, Léa Seydoux

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

Directed by Jessica Hausner
Austria / France / Germany 2009

Afflicted with multiple sclerosis, Christine makes a pilgrimage to the holy site of Lourdes in hopes of a miracle. Among thousands of ailed visitors, she proceeds through the well-oiled machinery of the religious tourist destination until the unbelievable happens: she is suddenly able to walk. As Christine becomes the object of wonder and envy, bolstering and testing the faith of her fellow pilgrims, the question remains whether all is as it seems.

A personal favorite of Martin Scorsese, Jessica Hausner’s acclaimed third feature distills the central theme of her filmography: the contentious gray area between faith and fact. Dryly humorous and quietly riveting, LOURDES is the “superbly subtle, mysterious and brilliantly composed film” (The Guardian) that established Hausner as a vital contemporary auteur on a global scale.

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Christine has been confined to a wheelchair for most of her life. In order to escape her isolation, she makes a journey to Lourdes, the iconic site of pilgrimage in the Pyrenees mountains. She wakes up one morning seemingly cured by a miracle. The leader of the pilgrimage group, a handsome 40-year-old volunteer from the Order of Malta, begins to take an interest in her. She tries to hold on to this newfound chance for happiness, while her cure provokes envy and admiration...

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Theatrical Release: September 5th, 2009 (Venice Film Festival)

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Review: Film Movement - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Film Movement - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:39:27.920
Video	1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 46,586,638,580 bytes Feature: 32,354,641,920 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	LPCM Audio French 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit Dolby TrueHD Audio French 2972 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2588 kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Embedded: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 384 kbps / DN -31dB)
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Film Movement 1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 46,586,638,580 bytes Feature: 32,354,641,920 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Jessica Hausner interview (3:21) • Short film: Inter-View (50:03) • Lourdes trailer (1:41) • Club Zero trailer (1:28) • Lovely Rita trailer (1:32) • Hotel trailer (1:37) Blu-ray Release Date: October 29th, 2024 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 12

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Film Movement Blu-ray (October 2024): Film Movement have transferred Jessica Hausner's Lourdes to Blu-ray. We reviewed the Artificial Eye (UK) Blu-ray release back in 2010 HERE. This is a modern film and there is not much deviance in the transfers. They are both quite strong; pristinely clean, bright, excellent detail but the Film Movement, with the higher bitrate, colors may have a superior richness. Quite a flawless HD presentation.

NOTE: We have added 34 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Film Movement use a linear PCM 2.0 channel track (24-bit) in the original French language. Lourdes has no aggressive sequences and mostly classic music from Franz Schubert (Ave Maria), Bach (Toccata un Fuge in D-moll BWV 565, Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ BWV 639) - performances by Laislavo 'Lado' Kravanja (as Lado), Andrew Wright, Frédéric Dupuy etc. It sounded as clean and effective as the image transfer. Film Movement offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A'-locked Blu-ray.

The Film Movement Blu-ray includes Hausner's interesting 1999 50-minute film Inter-View where a young man interviews people on the street asking what is important in their lives - a young lady returns and they make a connection. There is also a brief video piece with the director / writer and trailers for four of her films including Lourdes.

Jessica Hausner's Lourdes is thoughtful and contemplative addressing true faith and the foibles of organized religion. The plot surrounds wheelchair-bound Christine's pilgrimage, her miraculous recovery and the agenda on which the event is shaped. There are parts that feel like documentary and others that offer sardonic humor regarding jealousy and selfishness. It's subtle and brilliant. The Film Movement Blu-ray has the film looking and sounding pristine, a short by the director and some brief words from her. If you haven't seen this - I think most will like it very much. Recommended!