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(aka "A Summer's Tale" or "Conte d'été" )

 

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/direct-chair/rohmer.htm
France 1996

 

The easy charm and gentle humor of Eric Rohmer's movies can easily seem at odds with the grandiose design of his multi-film series, but the two couldn't be more compatible. "Six Moral Tales," "Comedies And Proverbs," and most recently "Tales Of The Four Seasons" all sound like projects of forbiddingly self-conscious profundity, but that ambition belies the instantly enjoyable films within. Instead of working from the top down, Rohmer uses the materials of everyday life to get at the profound. The new-to-video 1996 film A Summer's Tale (Conte d'Été), the third in Rohmer's "Four Seasons" series, uses two weeks at a seaside resort town—the sort of environment in which the demands of the real world can be kept at arm's length—to examine the ins and outs of young love as experienced by an introverted recent MA recipient (Melvil Poupaud) with designs on becoming a songwriter. Waiting for his girlfriend (Aurelia Nolin) to join him, he strikes up a friendship with a pretty waitress and ethnologist (Amanda Langlet) that grows increasingly difficult to define as Nolin's arrival becomes less imminent. Further complicating matters is the arrival of a third woman (Gwenaëlle Simon) whose aggressiveness matches the others' ambiguity. As usual, Rohmer's characters do far more talking about their feelings than acting upon them, but what they don't say, and what they don't yet have the vocabulary to say, is every bit as important. Poupaud may come off as callow and timid, and his songs as unformed as his personality, but Rohmer seems to suggest that his youthful mistakes will make him a better man, a typically generous, hopeful, and convincing sentiment in a disarmingly winning film.

Excerpt of review from Keith Phipps located HERE

Poster

Theatrical Release: 5 June 1996 (France)

Reviews                                                               More Reviews                                                   DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Fox Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL vs. Big World Pictures - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Potemkine Films - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Per-Olof Strandberg and Eric Cotenas for the DVD Screen Caps!

1) Fox Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT

2) Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) Big World Pictures - Region 0 - NTSC - THIRD

4) Potemkine Films Region 'B' - Blu-ray - RIGHT

 
Box Covers

 

 

 

 

 

Distribution

Fox Lorber

Region 0 - NTSC

 Artificial Eye
Region 2 - PAL		 Big World Pictures
Region 0 - NTSC		 Potemkine Films
Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Presently only available in either the 25 Film (52 disc!) Eric Rohmer Blu-ray Boxset: or Four Seasons Blu-ray Boxset - also from Potemkine Films:

Runtime 1:49:00 (4% PAL speedup) 1:49:12 (4% PAL speedup) 1:53:40 1:53:51.625
Video

1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 5.32 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

1.32:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 4.77 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 44,519,906,828 bytes

Feature: 26,893,332,480 bytes

Video Bitrate: 29.11 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

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

 

Fox Lorber

 

Bitrate:

Artificial Eye

UNAVAILABLE
Bitrate:

 

Big World Pictures

 

Bitrate:

 

Blu-ray

 

Audio French Dolby Digital 2.0 mono

French Dolby Digital 2.0 mono

French Dolby Digital 2.0 mono

 DTS-HD Master Audio French 822 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 822 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitles English, none English, none English (burnt-in) English and none
Features Release Information:
Studio: Fox Lorber

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen - 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• Filmographies and Awards
• Production Credits

DVD Release Date: 5 September 2000
Amaray

Chapters 16
 

 Release Information:
Studio: Artificial Eye

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen - 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• Interview with Eric Rohmer
• Theatrical Trailer
• Eric Rohmer Biography

 

DVD Release Date: 25 July 2005
Amaray

Chapters 14

Release Information:
Studio: Big World Pictures

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.32:1

Edition Details:
• U.S. Theatrical Trailer
• Trailers for 'In Bloom' and 'Once Upon a Time Veronica'

 

DVD Release Date: 18 November 2014
Amaray

Chapters 12

Release Information:
Studio: Potemkine

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 44,519,906,828 bytes

Feature: 26,893,332,480 bytes

Video Bitrate: 29.11 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:
• La fabrique du Conte d'ete (1:33:44)

• Interview with Melvil Poupaud (10:39)

2 DVDs

Blu-ray Release Date: November 19th, 2013
Bookstyle cardboard Blu-ray Case inside a large box

Chapters 15

 

Comments

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Potemkine Films - Region 'B' - Blu-ray (December 2014): I have already stated- I now own the Coffret Rohmer intégral combo blu ray + livret + pochette photos [Blu-ray] - it is 25 Rohmer films and 52 discs, book and more! There DVD discs included and supplements (although extras don't seem to be English-friendly) although the features themselves that I have checked so far have optional English subtitles. A Summer's Tale is progressive - 1080P - (while some in the set are interlaced) runs in theatrical running time, and it supports the color scheme of the most recent 'Big World Pictures' DVD. Crisper, righter and easily the best video presentation of the four. It offers original mono French audio, in a lossless transfer and sounds predictably flat but very clean. The English subtitles are fully optional. The supplements are a lengthy 'making of' and interview with star Melvil Poupaud - both only in French. This particular package some with two PAL DVDs. Rohmer fans should indulge - this is a great set!

***

ON THE DVDs: Big World Pictures' progressive, anamorphic (1.32:1 framed in a 16:9 palette) transfer makes use of one of the new HD remasters of Rohmer's films that premiered earlier this year in France. Detail is superior, colors are more naturalistic (particularly skin tones), and edge enhancement is present but not as eye-straining as on the UK release (and it does not have the interlacing artifacts of the PAL-converted Fox Lorber edition). The Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio track has some hiss but it does not distract, while the English subtitles are burnt-in to the image. Artificial Eye wins for the extras with a Rohmer interview, whereas the new disc only has a theatrical trailer for the film.

Gary on the Artificial Eye edition: The AE DVD is far ahead of its North American counterpart which is another Fox/Lorber PAL->NTSC ghosted mess. Visible artifacts, colors are slightly off, but the subtitles are unusually optional (as opposed to burned-in), which is different than most of the Rohmer Fox/Lorber DVDs. The Fox is cropped on both side edges. It appears as though the AE is not progressive but that still beats out the Fox which is neither progressive nor from the correct standard source. Extras on the AE are superior with the Rohmer interview. Not perfect, but the AE is the definitive choice with English subtitles existing to date on DVD.

Per-Olof on the Fox Lorber release: The cover of Artificial-Eye's DVD A Summer's Tale is exactly the same as their VHS release from March 24, 1997. The VHS has on the back cover: Letterbox, this DVD: Enhanced for widescreen TV's. This DVD is indeed 4:3 / 1:1.33. I started to be afraid that the similarities with the cover's don't stop there.

This DVD looks as if it's mastered from the same source from 1997, before the use of DVD. Even tough the print is sharp and has depth, much has happened since 1997. Not to mention that nowadays the open matte print uses to at least have an anamorphic option, for those who have widescreen equipment!

It look's like AE has gone with these Four Seasons series, where the fence is lowest!

These said, the film is reasonable new and because of that in good shape, even like this.

 - Eric Cotenas

 

Menus
(Fox Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE vs. Big World Pictures - Region 0 - NTSC - RIGHT)
 

 

Potemkine Films Region 'B' - Blu-ray

 

 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

Screen Captures

 

Subtitle Sample Blu-ray

 

 

1) Fox Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) Big World Pictures - Region 0 - NTSC - THIRD

4) Potemkine Films Region 'B' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

1) Fox Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) Big World Pictures - Region 0 - NTSC - THIRD

4) Potemkine Films Region 'B' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

1) Fox Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) Big World Pictures - Region 0 - NTSC - THIRD

4) Potemkine Films Region 'B' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

1) Fox Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) Big World Pictures - Region 0 - NTSC - THIRD

4) Potemkine Films Region 'B' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

1) Fox Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) Big World Pictures - Region 0 - NTSC - THIRD

4) Potemkine Films Region 'B' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

1) Fox Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) Big World Pictures - Region 0 - NTSC - THIRD

4) Potemkine Films Region 'B' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

1) Fox Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) Big World Pictures - Region 0 - NTSC - THIRD

4) Potemkine Films Region 'B' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

Report Card:

 

Image:

Blu-ray

Sound:

Blu-ray
Extras: Blu-ray (but in French, no subs)

 
Box Covers

 

 

 

 

 

Distribution

Fox Lorber

Region 0 - NTSC

 Artificial Eye
Region 2 - PAL		 Big World Pictures
Region 0 - NTSC		 Potemkine Films
Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Presently only available in either the 25 Film (52 disc!) Eric Rohmer Blu-ray Boxset: or Four Seasons Blu-ray Boxset - also from Potemkine Films:

 



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