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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (August 2022): Kino have transferred Jules Dassin's He Who Must Die to Blu-ray. It is on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate and looks very strong in 2.35:1 black and white. Texture is not dominant but contrast is impressive. The 1080P transfer provides a highly pleasing HD presentation.

NOTE: We have added 38 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original French language. He Who Must Die has aggressive moments (rifles) that come through with modest surprising depth. The film's audio is authentically flat. The occasionally uplifting score is by Georges Auric (The Mind Benders, The Lavender Hill Mob, Heaven Knows Mr. Allison, It Always Rains on Sunday, Dead of Night, The Innocents, Lola Montes, Rififi, Wages of Fear) sounding clean with consistent dialogue in the lossless transfer. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by Film Historian/Filmmaker Daniel Kremer. He talks about this being Dassin's first widescreen film and the first time working with his future wife Melina Mercouri - of which they would work together in a nine other film projects. Daniel finds connections to French screenwriter Marguerite Duras and director Joseph Losey plus he shares a lot on the director's fascinating career - his Greek period - details of the production of He Who Must Die, dimensions of Passion Play, Scorsese's controversial film, novelist Nikos Kazantzakis, and the use of the widescreen (CinemaScope) with many extras and supporting cast filling the frame. Daniel shares a personal connection to the film and it's at his usual high standard of observant analysis. Well worth the indulgence. There is also a trailer for the film.   

Jules Dassin's He Who Must Die is set shortly after World War I. A Greek village is occupied by a hypocritical Turkish governance - and the story plays out mirroring the Passion Play allegorically, with villagers taking the roles of the Jesus - a stuttering shepherd (Pierre Vaneck) - the apostles, a town widow playing prostitute Mary Magdalene (Melina Mercouri), etc. They rebel against the invaders. Although many assume he was French, Jules Dassin was born in the USA, one of eight children of Russian-Jewish immigrants. He was blacklisted, and moved to France to work, having briefly belonged to the Communist Party. He Who Must Die was shot in Crete, Greece with excellent cinematography by Jacques Natteau and Gilbert Chain. It's a very intelligent film filled with relevant parables - although quite a step away from the director's 'dark cinema' gems; Brute Force, Thieves' Highway, The Naked City, Night and the City etc. The Kino Blu-ray looks and sounds wonderful and includes a valuable commentary by Daniel Kremer. This package is very highly recommended.

Gary Tooze