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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Landru" or "Bluebeard")

 

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/direct-chair/chabrol.htm
France / Italy 1963

 

Legendary French New Wave director Claude Chabrol (Les Bonnes Femmes, The Champagne Murders) brings the shocking true story of serial killer Henri Désiré Landru to the screen with Bluebeard. Landru, played with dastardly charm by Charles Denner (The Bride Wore Black), is a seemingly respectable Parisian who devises a sick and ingenious scheme to supplement his dwindling income during the First World War. First, he lures wealthy dowagers to his villa. Then, he cons them into forking over their fortunes. Finally, he kills them, chops them up and immolates the pieces. This jet-black comedy was written by acclaimed author Françoise Sagan (Bonjour Tristesse) and features a host of superb actresses including Michèle Morgan (Port of Shadows), Danielle Darrieux (The Earrings of Madame de...), Hildegard Knef (Fedora), Juliette Mayniel (Les Cousins), Stéphane Audran (The Third Lover), Catherine Rouvel (Borsalino), Françoise Lugagne (Diary of a Chambermaid) and Mary Marquet (Fellini’s Casanova).

***

Enigmatic, slyly amused, fastidious, swinging from bleak introspection to boisterous knockabout, such is the style of Landru, the character and the film both. Its first half is a series of repetitions: WW1 newsreels to confirm the period, Landru selecting a victim, winning her confidence; then a freeze-frame on a trusting face, followed by a smoking chimney and the English neighbours complaining about nasty smells. The remainder - arrest, trial, execution - is slightly anti-climactic, but carried along by Denner, his mincing movements, booming bass voice and his mesmerising strangeness making for a plausible mass murderer. It's violence-free, though not without visual shocks: bilious purple upholstery intruding into a world of pale pastel, a victim-to-be ominously aligned with a row of brimming coal scuttles.

Posters

Theatrical Release: January 25th, 1963

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Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover

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Bonus Captures:

Distribution Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:59:27.618        
Video

1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 39,973,033,331 bytes

Feature: 38,384,590,848 bytes

Video Bitrate: 38.93 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

DTS-HD Master Audio French 1555 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1555 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps

Subtitles English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio:
Kino

 

1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 39,973,033,331 bytes

Feature: 38,384,590,848 bytes

Video Bitrate: 38.93 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Kat Ellinger
Trailers


Blu-ray Release Date:
September 14th, 2021
Standard Blu-ray Case

Chapters 9

 

 

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (September 2021): Kino have transferred Claude Chabrol's Bluebeard to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "4K Restoration from the Original Camera Negative". Unfortunately the source does not translate well to 1080P. It can look very clunky, faded in the first 1/4 of the film, uneven and occasionally very flat. Some of the film can look very acceptable but much of it is hampered by the elements, or perhaps the original production - regardless, it is certainly far from the heights of the format.  

NOTE: We have added 50 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track (16-bit) in the original French language. Bluebeard, surprisingly, has no aggressive moments - none of the murders are graphically or explicitly shown. The audio is authentically flat without necessity for depth. The score is by Pierre Jansen (Claude Chabrol's Blue Panther, Line of Demarcation, The Third Lover, Ophelia, Ten Days Wonder, Le Boucher, La femme infidèle and Les Biches to name a few). Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by Kat Ellinger. She talks about the French poet Charles Baudelaire, Peter Sutcliffe aka the "Yorkshire Ripper", The fairytale of the same name, Chaplin's Monsieur Verdoux, the history behind the real "Bluebeard of Gambais" - Henri Désiré Landru, the French serial killer, who murdered at least seven women in the village of Gambais between December 1915 and January 1919.

Kat relates the court case, the infamous fireplace and how the film references much of the known story - but very subtly. She identifies many of the cast - famous but in brief appearances, almost cameos, in the film as the murdered women but also Jean-Pierre Melville as Georges Mandel. She discusses some of the cast; Charles Denner, Michèle Morgan, Danielle Darrieux and Hildegard Knef plus much on director Chabrol and the complicit wife, the arrogance of lead and the oddness of his appeal. She shares that Giulietta Masina (Fellini's wife) was cast to be one of the women but fell ill before production. Kat fills the 2-hour commentary with interesting details and I felt that I learned a lot. There are also a handful of trailers but none for Bluebeard.

Claude Chabrol's Bluebeard is a strange film - uniquely differing from other films about serial killers - focusing on complex and lesser-explained details, symbolism and innuendos of eroticism - ex. the flower representing a stroked vagina, oral sex by bending over and eating raspberries out of his hand as well as other subtleties. After listening to Kat Ellinger, I understand significantly more about the history that Bluebeard is based, the authenticity, the curiosities of the subtext - giving me a more appreciated viewing experience. I had never seen this Chabrol's Bluebeard and am glad I did - despite the inherent weakness of the Kino Blu-ray video that may reflect on why it has not reached this format previously. Fans keen on the history of the subject and Chabrol-completists should indulge.

Gary Tooze

 


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Box Cover

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Distribution Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


 


 

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