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

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (October 2023): Criterion have transferred Claude Chabrol's La cérémonie to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "New 4K digital restoration". We compared the 2004 Home Vision DVD to the 2012 Artificial Eye Blu-ray, HERE, over a decade ago. There is no denying that Criterion's new 1080P has a green hue throughout. It was less noticeable than when directly compared to the DVD and UK Blu-ray. Eyes, sweaters, scarves etc. come across as bluish green (teal.) The Criterion also shows more information the frame (a shade less on the right edge compared to the UK BD) and is sharper with deeper, with more vibrant, colors plus richer black levels. I still enjoyed my viewing even with the less-natural, heavy, green palette. 

NOTE: We have added 36 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Criterion use a DTS-HD Master stereo track (24-bit) in the original French language. La cérémonie has impactful aggression that comes through with surprising bass depth and a score by composed by, the director's son (for the 11th time), Matthieu Chabrol (Merci pour le Chocolat, The Color of Lies, The Swindle, L'Enfer, Betty, Madame Bovary, The Cry of the Owl, Inspector Lavardin.) We also hear Benjamin Britten ("Cello Symphony") and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ("Don Giovanni"). In the extras Professor Jeff Smith discusses the film's ambient and off-screen effect sounds. Audio is flawless according to my ears, in the lossless transfer. Criterion offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

Criterion include a 1/2 hour selected-scene commentary (a separate video piece with five scenes) featuring Claude Chabrol in French with English subtitles discussing the film, story and production specifics. There is a new 13-minute introduction to La cérémonie by filmmaker Bong Joon Ho (Memories of Murder) who pays tribute to the director - in Korean with optional English subtitles. There is a 'Making-of' program with behind-the-scenes footage lasting shy of 10-minutes, archival interviews (all in French with optional English subtitles) with Chabrol, actor Sandrine Bonnaire (2020 - she describes Chabrol's approach to directing actors and how she envisioned the character of Sophie in La cérémonie) and co-writer Caroline Eliacheff who shares her thoughts on true crime stories and what they reveal about society - plus a 10-minute episode of the Criterion Channel series Observations on Film Art about the use of off-screen sound where scholar Jeff Smith delves into the ways in which off-screen sound can build suspense, create a sense of heightened realism, or introduce a plot twist. The episode focuses on Claude Chabrol’s 1995 masterpiece La cérémonie with examples from His Girl Friday, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, and Polanski's Knife in the Water, films that also demonstrate how sound design can be a powerful tool in the hands of a master auteur. Lastly is a trailer and the package has liner notes with an essay by crime-fiction and true-crime authority Sarah Weinman (author of Unspeakable Acts: True Tales of Crime, Murder, Deceit, and Obsession.)

Claude Chabrol's La cérémonie is based on the case of Christine and Lea Papin, two French live-in maids who brutally murdered their employer's wife and daughter in Le Mans on February 2nd, 1933. The murders, leaving unrecognizable corpses, had an influence on French philosophers, writers, poets and Left Bank intellectuals such as Jean Genet (Un chant d'amour,) Jean-Paul Sartre, and Simone de Beauvoir (Chabrol's The Blood of Others.) It was considered symbolic by leftist ideology. Under questioning, Christine and Léa immediately confessed to the killings. Of course the significant twist here in Chabrol's La cérémonie is that only one maid is hired, illiterate Sophie Bonhomme (played by Sandrine Bonnaire), and who is befriended and manipulated by postal worker Jeanne (Isabelle Huppert) whose influence leads to... unconscionable murder. I always find La cérémonie quite disturbing. We almost forget Jacqueline Bisset and Virginie Ledoyen (Assayas's Cold Water.) The Criterion Blu-ray provides a new 4K-restored HD presentation and some wonderful supplements, of which I was particularly keen to see the working relationship between Huppert and Chabrol. The director's large fanbase should strongly consider indulging. Many consider this a masterpiece.

Gary Tooze