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(aka "Call Me Madame" )
directed by Françoise Romand
France 1986
...Call Me Madame (1986) is nonetheless a provocative and memorable work. It's a multifaceted portrait of Ovida Delect—a communist poet and novelist living near Rouen who's published close to 40 books. Tortured by the Gestapo at 17 as a member of the French underground and honored by Paul Eluard, she's a 60-year-old who had a sex-change operation at the age of 55. Formerly known as Jean-Pierre Voidies, she continues to live with her former wife and 20-year-old son, both of whom reveal some of the difficulties they've encountered living with such a singular and egocentric individual. As with Mix-up, Romand labels this film a “fictional documentary” because its subject and style relate to Delect's self-image as well as her objective reality. Indeed Delect controls Call Me Madame just as she controls her own persona, depriving the film of the free-ranging imagination of Romand's other two features. But it's still a subversive and subtle statement that you'll think about for days afterwards. |
Theatrical Release: June 19th, 1988 (US)
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DVD Review: Alibi Productions - Region 0 - NTSC
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Alibi Productions Region 0 - NTSC |
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Runtime | 51:10 | |
Video |
4:3 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 (LPCM 2.0) | |
Subtitles | English, None | |
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Release Information: Studio: Alibi Productions Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 10 |
Comments |
Francoise Romand’s “Appelez-moi
Madame”, released in single layered disc last year by Alibi
Films, was a real treat to catch on a blind viewing. The film
itself is a short documentary piece about Ovida Delect, who, up
until recently, was known as Jean-Pierre. Ovida defies the
typical stereotypes that one might place on a transgendered
person. She was married and has a son, fought with the
resistance during World War II, and nearly died in a Nazi forced
labor camp. Since becoming a woman, Ovida is, as she tells us,
an “authoress and a poetess…a citizen of the word" and still
maintains her active role in the local communist party. What’s
most fascinating about Romand’s documentary isn’t necessarily
the subject itself (although the strong-willed Ms. Delect does
make for an entertaining subject), but rather the warmth and
humanity that the documentarian conveys in her subject using
only Ovida’s own words. To be sure, we get a contrarian’s view
here as well as when we see the pain that Ovida has brought into
her family with her decision, but on the whole her ebullient
personality shines through in this treat.
The audio on the release is in
the original French, but before we even get to the main menu, we
can choose optional English subtitles—the only ones on the disc.
The soundtrack here is presented in LPCM 2.0 and sounded quite
good on my player. The voices and the music here are constantly
clear and there are no discernable instances of unwanted
background noise. |
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Distribution |
Alibi Productions Region 0 - NTSC |
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