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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka 'Numero 2')

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/direct-chair/godard.htm
France 1975

 

Jean-Luc Godard (Contempt) brilliantly mixes video and film in his Grenoble studio; he secured the money for the film claiming the project was a remake of Breathless. The action unfolds on two television monitors. The elusive plot essentially concerns a young working-class couple that live in a claustrophobic, high-rise apartment complex and the marital discord set off by the wife's infidelity. The film, made in collaboration with Anne-Marie Miville, is dialectic on the relationship of sex and money. "I think it's something like a masterpiece. Numro Deux is among the most visually compelling films Godard has ever made. He uses his video monitors to invent a dozen new ways of splitting the screen or layering the image. "Compared to it, every other movie in town is just a cavity on the screen" (J. Hoberman, The Village Voice).

Posters

Theatrical Release: November 4th, 1976

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DVD Review: Olive Films - Region 1 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover

   

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Distribution Olive Films - Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime 1:27:03 
Video 1.66:1 Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 6.94 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:

Audio French (Dolby Digital 2.0) 
Subtitles English (non-removable)
Features

Release Information:
Studio: Olive Films

Aspect Ratio:
Original Aspect Ratio 1.66:1

Edition Details:

• none 

DVD Release Date: June 26th, 2012

Keep Case
Chapters: 8

 

Comments:

Typical Olive Films bare-bones release. It is anamorphic in the 1.66:1 aspect ratio and progressively transferred - I have no evidence to suggest that this is not accurate to the original appearance which is filled with dual screens, distortions and overlays. The English subtitles are non-removable supporting the French dialogue. There are no extras on the dual-layered disc.

As for the film, I like Jonathan Rosenbaum's comments at The Chicago Reader HERE: "Often juxtaposing or superimposing two or more video images within the same 'Scope frame, Jean-Luc Godard's remarkable (if seldom screened) 1975 feature—one of the most ambitious and innovative films in his career—literally deconstructs family, sexuality, work, and alienation before our very eyes. Our ears are given a workout as well; the punning commentary and dialogue, whose overlapping meanings can only be approximated in the subtitles, form part of one of his densest sound tracks. Significantly, the film never moves beyond the vantage point of one family's apartment, and the only time the whole three-generation group (played by nonprofessionals) are brought together in one shot is when they're watching an unseen television set. In many respects, this is a film about reverse angles and all that they imply; it forms one of Godard's richest and most disturbing meditations on social reality. The only full 'Scope images come in the prologue and epilogue, when Godard himself is seen at his video and audio controls."

Godard fans should be extremely pleased at this Olive Films release. 

Gary W. Tooze

 


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Subtitle Sample

 

 


 

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DVD Box Cover

   

CLICK to order from:

Distribution Olive Films - Region 1 - NTSC



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