Persian Lessons Blu-ray - Nahuel Pérez Biscayart

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

(aka "Persischstunden")

Directed by Vadim Perelman
Russia / Germany / Belarus 2020

Occupied France, 1942. Gilles (Nahuel Pérez Biscayart) is arrested by SS soldiers alongside other Jews and sent to a camp in Germany. He narrowly avoids sudden execution by swearing to the guards that he is not Jewish, but Persian. This lie temporarily saves him, but Gilles gets assigned a life-or-death mission: to teach Farsi to Head of Camp Koch (Lars Eidinger), who dreams of opening a restaurant in Iran once the war is over. Through an ingenious trick, Gilles manages to survive by inventing words of “Farsi” every day and teaching them to Koch. The particular relationship between the two men sparks the jealousy of other prisoners and SS guards towards Gilles. And while the suspicions of Koch grow every day, Gilles understands that he will not be able to keep his secret very long...

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Occupied France, 1942. Gilles is arrested by SS soldiers alongside other Jews and sent to a camp in Germany. He narrowly avoids sudden execution by swearing to the guards that he is not Jewish, but Persian. This lie temporarily saves him, but Gilles gets assigned a life-or-death mission: to teach Farsi to Head of Camp Koch, who dreams of opening a restaurant in Iran once the war is over. Through an ingenious trick, Gilles manages to survive by inventing words of "Farsi" every day and teaching them to Koch.

Posters

Theatrical Release: February 22nd, 2020 (Berlin International Film Festival)

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Review: Cohen Media Group - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Cohen Media Group - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	2:08:28.242
Video	2.65:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 24,750,657,881 bytes Feature: 22,601,318,400 bytes Video Bitrate: 17.9 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 German 2363 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2363 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) DTS-HD Master Audio German 1589 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1589 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	English (non-removable for foreign languages), English for English dialogue (optional)
Features	Release Information: Studio: Cohen Media Group 2.65:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 24,750,657,881 bytes Feature: 22,601,318,400 bytes Video Bitrate: 17.9 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Trailer (1:39) Blu-ray Release Date: July 17th, 2023 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 11

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Cohen Media Group Blu-ray (July 2023): Cohen Media Group have transferred Vadim Perelman's Persian Lessons to Blu-ray. It looks very strong, clean, crisp lines etc. - as one might expect from a modern film to 1080P. It does lean heavily blue/green - which I doubt is part of the original expression. The aspect ratio clocks in at a whopping 2.65:1. It is on a single layered disc with a modest bitrate. Hopefully the capture samples below will give you an idea of the HD presentation on your system.

NOTE: We have added 56 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Cohen Media Group offer DTS-HD Master tracks (24-bit) in 5.1 surround or 2.0 stereo options. The languages spoken in the film are German, French, Italian, English and Persian. Persian Lessons has aggressive sequences that export notable depth and a few deft separations in the surround. The score is credited to Sacha Galperine and his brother Evgueni - French composers with Russian and Ukrainian roots. Evgueni also did the score for Asghar Farhadi's The Past with his father Youli Galperine. This supported the film very well via the lossless options. Cohen Media Group still seem to have issues with subtitles; for non-English language, the English subtitles are non-removable. For the brief English language the English subtitles are optional. The disc is a Region 'A'-locked Blu-ray.

The Cohen Media Group Blu-ray offers only a trailer for Persian Lessons - nothing more.

Vadim Perelman's Persian Lessons was partially inspired by the German writer Wolfgang Kohlhaase in his short story Erfindung einer Sprache. The 'faux' Farsi language used in Persian Lessons was fabricated by a Moscow State University Professor who based the vocabulary on the real documented names of Holocaust victims. I loved Perelman's House of Sand and Fog, and I quite liked Persian Lessons... and maybe his The Life Before Her Eyes less so. He is a director known for being selective in his project choices. The Cohen Media Group Blu-ray has the engaging film, if bare-bones is absolutely recommended.