(aka "Fire and Ice" )
directed by Alain Cavalier
France 1961
It's that moment in a marriage that every
woman dreads. You're doing a spot of light housework and you find an
anti-tank bazooka in your husband's closet. For Anne (Romy Schneider) it's
the last straw. She walks out on her abusive husband Clément (Jean-Louis
Trintignant), driving him further into the activities of a far-right
paramilitary group. By the time they next meet, he is involved in political
assassination...
Alain Cavalier's first feature is a surprisingly effective combination of
political thriller, social commentary, romantic melodrama and New Wave
stylism. You can spot influences of Bresson throughout, though of course
Bresson would never have cast Trintignant or Schneider. The two actors are
both at their absolute peak in this film. Romy Schneider, in particular,
seems to be relishing the opportunity to escape from those endless Sissi
confections. The love-fear relationship between their characters (with Henri
Serre forming the third corner of the triangle) is drawn with great skill
and subtlety, often through fragmentary but telling details.
There is evocative location work in the hustle of 60s Paris and some
breathtakingly beautiful cinematography (by Pierre Lhomme) around the
countryside retreat that Anne and Clément flee to. The theme of right-wing
extremism gives "Le Combat dans l'île" a continued social relevance.
This is one of the hidden gems of the Nouvelle Vague that deserves to be
better known.
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Theatrical Release: September 7, 1962
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DVD Review: C'Est La Vie - Region 2 - PAL
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Distribution |
C'Est La Vie Region 2 - PAL |
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Runtime | 1:40:01 (4% PAL speedup) | |
Video |
4:3 Original Aspect Ratio |
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Audio | French | |
Subtitles | English, none | |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: C'Est La Vie Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 16 |
Comments: |
This is a serviceable DVD transfer, no more. The image is soft and grainy, and can get very murky with loss of detail in the night scenes. A constant vertical banding effect is a distraction in the dark portions of the image (see the final capture below). A further problem is the pronounced edge enhancement haloing that occasionally shows up along high contrast borders. Look, for example, at Romy Schneider's back and Trintignant's sleeve in the second screen capture. Speckles, dirt and scratches on the print are also apparent.
The aspect ratio is 4:3, slightly
letterboxed to about 1.4:1. I suspect the image has been cropped left
and right, as indicated by the tight framing of the opening credits and
certain shots. |
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Screen Captures
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Vertical banding evident
in the dark portions of the image
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