(aka "Two or Three Things I Know About Her" or "2 ou 3 choses que je sais d'elle" )

 

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/direct-chair/godard.htm
France 1967

 

In 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (2 ou 3 choses que je sais d’elle), Jean-Luc Godard beckons us ever closer, whispering in our ears as narrator. About what? Money, sex, fashion, the city, love, language, war: in a word, everything. Among the legendary French filmmaker’s finest achievements, the film takes as its ostensible subject the daily life of Juliette Janson (Marina Vlady), a housewife from the Paris suburbs who prostitutes herself for extra money. Yet this is only a template for Godard to spin off into provocative philosophical tangents and gorgeous images. 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her is perhaps Godard’s most revelatory look at consumer culture, shot in ravishing widescreen color by Raoul Coutard.

Poster

Theatrical Release: March 17th, 1967

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DVD Comparison: 

Nouveaux - Region 2 - PAL vs. Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC

Nouveaux - Region 2 - PAL LEFT vs. Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC RIGHT

DVD Box Cover

 

Distribution

Nouveaux

Region 2 - PAL

Criterion Collection Spine # 482

Region 1 - NTSC

Runtime 1:23:33 (4% PAL speedup) 1:27:27
Video

2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 6.73 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

2.35:1 Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 6.92 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s   

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate :

 Nouveaux

Bitrate :

 Criterion

Audio French (Dolby Digital 2.0) French (Dolby Digital 1.0)
Subtitles English, none English, none
Features Release Information:
Studio: Nouveaux

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 2.35:1

Edition Details:

• Photo gallery

DVD Release Date: March 14th, 2005
Keep Case

Chapters 12

Release Information:
Studio:
Criterion

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 2.35:1

Edition Details:
• Audio commentary featuring film scholar Adrian Martin
• Archival television interviews: the first, "Cinema", featuring actress Marina Vlady on the set of the film (7:33), the second, Zoom, with Jean-Luc Godard debating the subject of prostitution (13:10)
• New video interview with theater director Antoine Bourseiller, a friend of Godard’s in the sixties (15:12)
• A visual essay cataloguing the multiple references in the film entitled 2 or 3 Things: A Concordance (9:48)
• Theatrical trailer (2:32)
• 20-page liner notes booklet with an essay by film critic Amy Taubin and the letter that sparked the idea for the film


DVD Release Date:
July 21st, 2009
Keep Case

Chapters 12

 

Comments:

ADDITION: Criterion - June 09': Besides the boosted colors and blown-out whites of the Nouveaux DVD, the PAL edition also appears to be vertically stretched with abnormally thinner faces. Criterion's softer palette look is much sharper and doesn't have the egregious artifacts that the UK edition exports. The impressive, dual-layered Criterion transfer was created from the original 2-perforation Techniscope interpositive, struck from the original negative. It looks excellent without blemishes or other damage.

The Criterion 1.0 channel monaural audio was remastered at 24-bit from a 35mm optical track and it sounds unremarkable but clean without clicks, hum or hiss. There are optional English subtitles.

On the new Criterion is a commentary - recorded in 2006 for the Australian Madman DVD edition - by Adrian Martin co-editor, along with Jonathan Rosenbaum, of Movie Mutations: The Changing Face of World Cinephilia. His comments are very professional - referencing other Godard works - in an appealing 'Aussie' accent. The film itself can be complex and, personally, the commentary became mandatory in understanding and explaining much of Godard's criticisms within 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her - aptly described by the commentarist as an 'essay' rather than a more typical, fictional, story. Supplements include 2 archival television interviews. The first, running 7.5 minutes - entitled "Cinema", features actress Marina Vlady on the set of the 2 or 3 Things..., the second, Zoom, has Jean-Luc Godard debating the subject of prostitution for 13-minutes. There is a new, 15-minute, video interview with theater director, actor and author Antoine Bourseiller, a close friend in the sixties of both Godard and Anna Karina (his children play with Marina Vlady's in the film). He recounts the war-like friendship he shared with Godard, until it was disrupted by the director's turn to Maoism. Criterion have included a visual essay cataloguing the multiple references in the film entitled 2 or 3 Things: A Concordance. It runs just less than 10-minutes. There is also an anamorphic theatrical trailer and a 20-page liner notes booklet with an essay by film critic Amy Taubin and the letter that sparked the idea for the film.

I don't own the Madman Entertainment DVD which might be more appropriate to compare - but suspect this to be superior although probably not to the same extend it vaults beyond the Nouveaux. This is primo Godard and the Criterion extras are hugely interesting and beneficial. For less than $20 - it's an easy recommendation and purchase.

Gary Tooze  

***

 

ON THE NOUVEAUX DVD: Nouveaux's release of "Two or Three Things I Know About Her" is - at the moment - the only DVD that presents this film with English subtitles. The cover says "Digitally Remastered from Restored Print", yet there still are obvious flaws in Nouveaux's transfer.

Colors appear boosted with blown out whites and there are artifacts that hinder the grain (particularly if you compare it to other British releases like "Made in USA" and "La Chinoise")

The French 2.0 audio track is very fine. It has enough depth to capture the complexity of the film's soundtrack.

"Two or Three Things I Know About Her" is, in my opinion, Jean-Luc Godard's masterpiece. It's complex and beautiful, mysterious and profound, surprising and very moving. So, while this UK PAL DVD does a fine job of bringing this important movie to the digital medium, it is still far away from a Criterion level of excellence. But we all know that this is a Janus title and that sooner or later Criterion will give it a definitive treatment.

 - Stan Czarnecki

 



DVD Menus

 

Nouveaux - Region 2 - PAL LEFT vs. Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC RIGHT
 

 
 

 

 


Screen Captures

 

Nouveaux - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC BOTTOM


Subtitle sample - not exact frame!

 

 


Nouveaux - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC BOTTOM

 

 


Nouveaux - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC BOTTOM

 

 


Nouveaux - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC BOTTOM

 

 


Nouveaux - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC BOTTOM

 

 


Nouveaux - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC BOTTOM

 

 


  Nouveaux - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC BOTTOM

 

 


DVD Box Cover

 

Distribution

Nouveaux

Region 2 - PAL

Criterion Collection Spine # 482

Region 1 - NTSC




 

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