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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
The Leos Carax Collection
Boy Meets Girl (1984)
The Night is Young (1986)
Pola X (1999)
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Leos Carax made several short films and also wrote film criticism, then at the age of 24 years made a very strong first feature Boy Meets Girl (1984). The film played at the 1984 Cannes film festival and was a critical triumph. It paved the way for Carax's second feature Mauvais sang (1986) (Bad Blood or The Night is Young). That film was a giant step forward in the same direction that he was going in with his first film. Both films were visual stunning and focused on young love and also alienation. With his reputation and talent at it's peak, he set out to make what seemed it seemed like would be another triumph. Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (1991) (The Lovers on the Bridge) was the result of three long years of a very difficult production, Carax spent a fortune building some of sets and filming some mind-blowing sequences. Unfortunately neither critics or audiences favored what was a truly grand vision of the themes he dealt with in his first 2 films. Carax went into an a 8 year long exile, but finally returned with Pola X (1999). It was a departure from his other films and another critical flop. |
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Theatrical Release: 1984 - 99
DVD Review: Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL
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CLICK to order from:
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| Distribution |
Artificial Eye Region 2 - PAL |
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| Comments |
BOY MEETS GIRL I'm very pleased that this particular film in this box-set looks so good as it's my favorite film by Carax. The contrasted Black and white image is sharp and detailed, even the night scenes have depth. It does full justice to the film. The image might be a little bit contrast boosted and some scenes have brief aliasing. This is a low budget film and does have a grainy appearance. Sometimes the grain resembles compression artifact's, but it's minor, and only where there is minimal motion. I don't think this film will look much better on DVD. The audio is clean and do full justice to the original sound mix. THE NIGHT IS YOUNG I haven't seen this in the theatre so I have nothing to compare the image. It's sharp, but the color's seems saturated, and the skin tones are red. On the other hand, there's is an overall red appearance in the film: lips, clothes, cars, cigarette lighters, so the red color might also be intentional. The image has been marginally manipulated to suit home viewing - some dark scenes are brightened so that the image is detailed and rich. There's some motion blur in close-up's, that 35 mm film stock doesn't do. Overall the fault's are minimal, and these is a strong DVD, where almost the full capacity is used (7.57 GB - dual layered). The sound is strong and clean. POLA X These is the most problematic transfer in the box. Probably because of the way the film's DP shot it, it doesn't do it full justice on DVD. The biggest problem is the huge amount of dark evening scenes, many shot without artificial lighting. On a cinema screen it certainly can look good (like many of the film's from the new wave), but on a DVD projector it's almost total dark, and on a computer screen they don't look much better. The illusion of the film certainly vanishes. Some other dark scenes are brightened giving them a saturated appearance. The outdoor scenes look better. Also here almost the full DVD capacity is used (7.75 GB - dual-layered). The French DD 2.0 sound mix is flawless, although R1 disc has a DD 5.1 mix, but I'm fairly certain it is not original. |
directed by Leos Carax
France 1984
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The revelation of the 1984 Cannes festival was this first feature by 23-year-old Leos Carax. In its fervor, film sense, cutting humor, and strong autobiographical slant, it suggests the first films of the French New Wave (there's something in the arrogant iconoclasm that specifically recalls Godard), yet this isn't a derivative film. Carax demonstrates a very personal, subtly disorienting sense of space in his captivating black-and-white images, and the sound track has been constructed with an equally dense expressivity. The hero is a surly young outsider who has just been abandoned by his girlfriend; as he moves through a nocturnal Paris, his adolescent disillusionment is amplified into a cosmic cry of pain. The subject invites charges of narcissism and immaturity, but Carax's formal control and distance keep the confessional element in a state of constant critical tension. Excerpt from Dave Kehr's review at The Chicago Reader located HERE |
Theatrical Release: France May 1984 (Cannes Film Festival)
DVD Review: Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL
Big thanks to Per-Olof Strandberg for the Review!
| 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 | 1:39:51 (4% PAL speedup) | |
| Video |
1.66:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
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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 16 |
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| Comments |
I'm very pleased that this
particular film in this box-set looks so good as it's my
favorite film by Carax. The contrasted Black and white image
is sharp and detailed, even the night scenes have depth. It
does full justice to the film. The image might be a little
bit contrast boosted and some scenes have brief aliasing.
This is a low budget film and does have a grainy appearance.
Sometimes the grain resembles compression artifact's, but
it's minor, and only where there is minimal motion. I don't
think this film will look much better on DVD. The audio is clean and do full justice to the original sound mix. |
DVD Menus
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Screen Captures
Subtitle sample
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(aka "Bad Blood" or "The Night is Young")
directed by Leos Carax
France 1986
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In his second feature (following Boy Meets Girl), Carax combines his personal concerns - young love, solitude - with the stylised conventions of the vaguely futuristic romantic thriller. Loner street-punk Alex (Lavant) joins a gang of elderly Parisian hoods whose plan to steal a serum that will cure an AIDS-like disease is complicated by the deadly rival strategies of a wealthy American woman, and by Alex falling for the young mistress of a fellow gang-member (Piccoli). Again Carax's virtues are visual and atmospheric rather than narrative; while the script may occasionally smack of indulgent pretension, there is no denying the exhilarating assurance of individual sequences, and the consistency of Carax's moodily romantic vision. Certainly he would do well to create stronger female characters and avoid lines lumbered with laconic poeticism. But the film is, finally, affecting, thanks to a seemingly intuitive understanding of colour, movement and composition, and to an ability to draw from earlier films without ever seeming plagiaristic. |
Theatrical Release: February 1987 (Berlin International Film Festival)
DVD Review: Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL
Big thanks to Per-Olof Strandberg for the Review!
| 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 | 1:53:36 (4% PAL speedup) | |
| Video |
1.66:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced
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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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| Bitrate |
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| Audio | French (Dolby Digital 2.0) | |
| Subtitles | English, None | |
| Features |
Release
Information: Studio: Artificial Eye
Aspect Ratio:
Edition
Details: Chapters 16 |
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| Comments |
I haven't
seen this in the theatre so I have nothing
to compare the image. The transfer is sharp,
but the color's seems saturated, and the
skin tones are red. On the other hand,
there's is an overall red appearance in the
film: lips, clothes, cars, cigarette
lighters, so the red color might also be
intentional. The image has been marginally
manipulated to suit home viewing - some dark
scenes are brightened so that the image is
detailed and rich. There's some motion blur
in close-up's, that 35 mm film stock doesn't
do. Overall the fault's are minimal, and
these is a strong DVD, where almost the full
capacity is used (7.57 GB - dual layered). The sound is strong and clean. |
DVD Menus
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Screen Captures
Subtitle sample
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(aka "Pierre oder Der Kampf mit der Sphinx" or "Pierre ou les ambiguïtés")
directed by Leos Carax
France / Switzerland / Germany / Japan 1999
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Carax's long-awaited follow-up to Les Amants du Pont-Neuf is a misguided and narcissistic update of Melville's Pierre, or the Ambiguities. A well-to-do Normandy writer, Depardieu, abandons his carefree life with his adoring mother and girlfriend after meeting a ghostly refugee from the Balkans, who may or may not be his sister. Taking off for Paris and a life of frenzied, impoverished creativity (in a grim commune peopled by artistic types who wouldn't look out of place as the Nihilists in The Big Lebowski), he retreats further and further from society. The first part is merely dull and vacuous; thereafter the film slides into absurdly pretentious bluster (or a 'raging morass, full of plagiarism', as the hero's publishers would put it) which, it seems, has far less to do with modern realities than with Carax's nonsensically romanticised vision of himself. Woeful. (In the end, perhaps, it is most notable for securing an increasingly rare Scott Walker recording for its soundtrack. |
Theatrical Release: France 13 May 1999 (Cannes Film Festival)
DVD Review: Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL
Big thanks to Per-Olof Strandberg for the Review!
| DVD Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from:
|
| Distribution |
Artificial Eye Region 2 - PAL |
|
| Runtime | 2:08:36 (4% PAL speedup) | |
| Video |
1.66:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
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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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| Bitrate |
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| Audio | French (Dolby Digital 2.0) | |
| Subtitles | English, None | |
| Features |
Release Information: Studio: Artificial Eye Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 16 |
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| Comments |
These is the most problematic
transfer in the box. Probably because of the way the film's DP
shot it, it doesn't do it full justice on DVD. The biggest
problem is the huge amount of dark evening scenes, many shot
without artificial lighting. On a cinema screen it certainly can
look good (like many of the film's from the new wave), but on a
DVD projector it's almost total dark, and on a computer screen
they don't look much better. The illusion of the film certainly
vanishes. Some other dark scenes are brightened giving them a
saturated appearance. The outdoor scenes look better. Also here
almost the full DVD capacity is used (7.75 GB - dual-layered). The French DD 2.0 sound mix is flawless, although R1 disc has a DD 5.1 mix, but I'm fairly certain it is not original. |
DVD Menus
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Screen Captures
Subtitle sample
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| DVD Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from:
|
| Distribution |
Artificial Eye Region 2 - PAL |
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Gary Tooze
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Thank You!
