Eric Rohmer - The Early Works
Le Signe du lion (1959)
Le Boulangère de Monceau (1963)
Le Carrière de Suzanne (1963)
(aka "The Sign of Leo" )
France 1959
Rohmer’s debut feature tells the cautionary tale of a Paris-based American, born under the sign of Leo and confident that luck is on his side. In anticipation of an inheritance from a recently deceased aunt, he freely wracks up debts only to find himself in dire straits when his windfall fails to materialize.
Theatrical Release: West Germany 31 December 1963
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DVD Review: Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL
Big thanks to Per-Olof Strandberg for the Review!
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DVD Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from:
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| Distribution |
Artificial Eye Region 2 - PAL |
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| Runtime | 1:38:36 (4% PAL speedup) | |
| Video |
1.66:1 Original Aspect Ratio |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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| Audio | French (Dolby Digital 2.0) | |
| Subtitles | English, None | |
| Features |
Release Information: Studio: Artificial Eye Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 13 |
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| Comments |
As oppossed to Criterion, Artificial-Eye doesn't
produce new master tapes from the original film elements - they
purchase them from different sources. That's why, even as one of the
best companies in the world, their catalog is a little bit mixed. Le Signe du Lion Eric Rohmer's Le Signe du Lion sees the light of DVD for the first time (English friendly). The transfer is much better than I anticipated. Shot on 35 mm film stock, this DVD is far from what it could be, but still a decent one! The most problematic thing is that overall it's a little bit soft, and the non anamorphic picture makes some low level noise visible. Some minor moire effects can be seen on the window shutter's and on the front of cars, but there is no reason why Eric Rohmer fans shouldn't pickup this title. The DD 2.0 sound in mono is flawless and fairly clean. I appreciate the small subtitle font AE has used on these box-set. La Carrière de Suzanne The Artificial-Eye and Criterion image's seems quite identical. The Criterion image is cropped on the left side and the AE on the bottom, though it's marginal on both editions. The black bar on the screen-cap is from the glue. Normal 16 mm images are so small that almost 1/4 of the last and first image is occasionally destroyed by the glue (the image is slightly thinned, to avoid the image jumping during the film-copy process). I, again, like the small sized AE subtitles. The Criterion has DD 1.0, and the AE DD 2.0 sound, They feel identical. I actually prefer the image on the AE disc. La Boulangére de Monaceau The AE and Criterion images appear virtually identical. The NTSC is marginally sharper and brighter. The Criterion image is cropped on the left, right and top (Does it make sense to first crop the image and then transfer it as window-boxed?, to avoid that over-scan crops the image at home viewing?!). The AE disc has some cropping on the bottom. Both have a strong image. In this one I prefer the Criterion video transfer. NOTE: Artificial-Eye should do something about the errors on the DVD covers and on their web pages. This amount of incorrect information gives a poor impression. On these DVD cover: Presented in the original 1:1.33 aspect ratio( Le Signe de Lion is 4:3 / 1:1.66 letter-boxed). Disc 1 is marked as disc 2, and disc 2 as disc 1. |
DVD Menus
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Screen Captures
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(aka
" La Boulangère de Monceau" or "The Baker of Monceau" or "The Baker's Girl
of Monceau" or "The Girl at the Monceau Bakery")
Starring Barbet Schroeder, Claudine Soubrier and Michèle Girardon
Simple, delicate, and jazzy, the first of the Moral Tales
shows the stirrings of what would become the Eric Rohmer style: unfussy
naturalistic shooting, ironic first-person voice-over, and the image of the
“unknowable” woman. A law student (played by producer and future director
Barbet Schroeder) with a roving eye and a large appetite stuffs himself full
of sugar cookies and pastries daily in order to garner the attentions of the
pretty brunette who works in a quaint Paris bakery. But is he truly
interested, or is she just a sweet diversion?.jpg)
France 1963
DVD Menus
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Screen Captures
(Artificial Eye - Region 2- PAL TOP vs. Criterion - Region 1- NTSC MIDDLE vs. Fox/Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC BOTTOM)
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.jpg)
(aka "La Carrière de Suzanne" or "Suzanne's Career")
France 19
Starring Catherine Sée, Philippe Beuzen, Christian Charrière and Diane Wilkinson
Bertrand bides his time in a casually hostile and envious friendship with college chum Guillaume. But when ladies’ man Guillaume seems to be making a play for the spirited, independent Suzanne, Bertrand watches bitterly with disapproval and jealousy. With its ragged black-and-white 16mm photography and strong sense of 1960s Paris, Rohmer’s second Moral Tale is a wonderfully evocative portrait of youthful naiveté and the complicated bonds of friendship and romance.
Screen Captures
(Artificial Eye - Region 2- PAL TOP vs. Criterion - Region 1- NTSC MIDDLE vs. Fox/Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC BOTTOM)
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(Artificial Eye - Region 2- PAL TOP vs. Criterion - Region 1- NTSC MIDDLE vs. Fox/Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC BOTTOM)
NOTE: Subtitle capture is not exact frame!
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DVD Box Cover |
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| Distribution |
Artificial Eye Region 2 - PAL |
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Gary Tooze
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Thank You!
