(aka 'Place Aux Jeunes' or 'The Years Are So Long')
Directed by
Leo McCarey
USA 1937
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With the possible exception of Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story, this 1937 drama by Leo McCarey is the greatest movie ever made about the plight of the elderly. (It flopped at the box office, but when McCarey accepted an Oscar for The Awful Truth, released the same year, he rightly pointed out that he was getting it for the wrong picture.) Victor Moore and Beulah Bondi play a devoted old couple who find they can't stay together because of financial difficulties; their interactions with their grown children are only part of what makes this movie so subtle and well observed. Adapted by Vina Delmar from Josephine Lawrence's novel Years Are So Long, it's a profoundly moving love story and a devastating portrait of how society works, and you're likely to be deeply marked by it. Hollywood movies don't get much better than this. Excerpt from Jonathan Rosenbaum's capsule at the Chicago Reader located HERE |
Theatrical Release: May 9th, 1937
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DVD Review: BAC Video - Region 2 - PAL
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Note Cover listed at Amazon (left) is different than actual (below)
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| Distribution | BAC Video - Region 2 - PAL | |
| Runtime | 1:27:39 | |
| Video | 1.33:1
Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.4 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s |
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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 | English (Dolby Digital 2.0) | |
| Subtitles | French (player genersated) | |
| Features |
Release Information: Edition Details: • 15
minute introduction/documentary by Bernhard Eisenschitz (in French - no
subtitles) |
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| Comments: |
The image quality is what it is and, as you can judge by the screen captures below, remains quite imperfect. However, to be able to have the film in one's DVD library at all, far outweighs the inferiorities. Looking to be taken from an analog source the transfer (decent bitrate) is both dual-layered and progressive. Contrast is not strong (fluctuates) but black levels have some infrequent depth. The French subtitles are player generated and can be removed on some players. If not people may re-burn - see HERE. Audio is perhaps even a notch below the video quality but dialogue is audible enough for the film to reach you. The disc is coded for region 2 in the PAL standard.
The supplements - a 15 minute talk by Bernhard Eisenschitz - is only in French with no subtitle options - but there is a stills gallery. The DVD is strongly recommended for the depth of emotion the film evokes and it, personally, ranks as one of the best pieces of pure cinema I've seen in years. |
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| DVD Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from:
Note Cover listed at Amazon (left) is different than actual (below)
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| Distribution | BAC Video - Region 2 - PAL | |
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