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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
(aka 'The Silence of the Sea')
Directed by
Jean-Pierre Melville
France 1949
Melville's extraordinary first feature, an adaptation of Vercors' classic novella about the French Resistance, is in effect a triangular drama in which two people don't speak. A German officer (Vernon), convalescing from a wound, is billeted on an elderly Frenchman (Robain) and his niece (Stéphane). Respecting their obstinate refusal to address the hated invader, he meets their silence with a series of monologues, apparently ignored, in which he recalls his life before the war and all the things he values; but what he reveals about himself causes the girl to fall in love, without being able to declare her feelings. Filmed in the most daring way imaginable, using a new cinematic language of transient expressions and glances, the film was a root influence on Bresson and the whole French New Wave. |
Posters
Theatrical Release: April 22nd, 1949
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
Comparison:
Eureka - Masters of Cinema - Region 2 - PAL vs. Masters of Cinema (Dual-Format Edition) - Region FREE - Blu-ray vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray |
1) Eureka - Masters of Cinema - Region 2 - PAL LEFT 2) Masters of Cinema (Dual-Format Edition) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - MIDDLE3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - RIGHT
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Distribution | Eureka - Masters of Cinema - Region 2 - PAL | Masters of Cinema - Spine # 28 Region FREE - Blu-ray | Criterion Collection - Spine # 755 - Region 'A' Blu-ray |
Runtime | 1:23:33 | 1:26:59.041 | 1:27:28.284 |
Video | 1.33:1
Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.62 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s |
1080P Dual-layered Blu-rayDisc Size: 34,326,256,715 bytesFeature: 25,202,872,320 bytesVideo Bitrate: 34.99 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
1080P Dual-layered Blu-rayDisc Size: 47,450,793,312 bytesFeature: 24,596,318,208 bytesVideo Bitrate: 33.46 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate: DVD |
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Bitrate: MoC Blu-ray |
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Bitrate: Criterion Blu-ray |
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Audio | French (Dolby Digital 1.0) | DTS-HD Master Audio French 1696 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1696 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) | LPCM Audio French 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit |
Subtitles | English, None | English, None | English, None |
Features |
Release Information: Edition Details: • Video
Discussion by Ginette Vincendeau (21:58) |
Release Information: 1080P Dual-layered Blu-rayDisc Size: 34,326,256,715 bytesFeature: 25,202,872,320 bytesVideo Bitrate: 34.99 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Video Discussion by Ginette Vincendeau (21:54 in 1080P)
• Melville Out of the Shadows – a new French-made
documentary about Melville’s film [42:14 in 1080P] (Blu-ray only) |
Release Information: Studio: Criterion
1080P Dual-layered Blu-rayDisc Size: 47,450,793,312 bytesFeature: 24,596,318,208 bytesVideo Bitrate: 33.46 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Edition Details:
Blu-ray
Release Date: April 28th, 2015 Chapters 19 |
Comments: |
NOTE: These Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.
ADDITION: Criterion Region 'A' Blu-ray: April 2015: I can't see a lot of difference between the two 1080P transfers - the Criterion is a bit darker, but I suspect it is form the same source and also a dual-layered transfer with very high bitrate. It looks brilliant in-motion.
Criterion use a linear PCM monaural track in the original French and my ears can't detect a difference between it and the MoC's DTS-HD Master track. Both have optional English subtitles but the Criterion Blu-ray is region 'A'-locked.
Criterion add many supplements. The 18-minute 24 Hours in the Life of a Clown (1946) is director Jean-Pierre Melville’s first film - it is a short about a clown and his partner, who find inspiration one day in the streets for their performance in the circus that night. We get a new 17-minute interview, conducted by Criterion in November 2014, with film scholar, professor, Ginette Vincendeau author of Jean-Pierre Melville: An American in Paris. She discusses Melville's remarkable film debut. Code Name Melville - a 2008 documentary by Oliver Bohler - is seventy-six-minutes on Melville’s time in the French Resistance and how they affected his later filmmaking career. Melville Steps Out of the Shadows (also on the MoC) is a 42-minute, 2010 documentary by Pierre-Henri Gilbert, chronicling the making of Le silence de la mer and features interviews with Nicole Stephane, filmmaker Volker Schlondorff, cinematographer Pierre Lhomme, and Rui Nogueira, author of Melville on Melville. We also get a short interview with Melville from 1959 and the package contains a liner notes booklet featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien and a selection from Rui’s 1971 book Melville on Melville.
Another superb release from Criterion with added extras (ratcheting marginally ahead of the MoC) and an impressive a/c\v. Our highest recommendation!
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ADDITION: Masters of Cinema - Region FREE - Blu-ray (December 11'): The improved resolution has produced a superior image via the new Blu-ray transfer. The 1080P visuals report more textured grain, better contrast, less noise and an overall more film-like image. The SD, by comparison, is flatter and more one-dimensional. It seems the Blu-ray has a shade more information at the bottom with slightly less on the top of the frame. The brighter and crisper looking HD is impressive in direct comparison. Strangely, the scratches seemed less evident via high bitrate Blu-ray - where usually the opposite is true. This is a significantly more robust improvement than I was anticipating.
Audio is given the lossless treatment. The stereo transfer is never dynamically tested in the dialogue-driven film. The segments of original music by Edgar Bischoff are notably tighter through the uncompressed rendering. Optional English subtitles are offered with narrative now in italics. The Blu-ray is Region FREE and the enclosed DVD, in the Dual-Format package, remains region 2 - PAL.
Additional to the 2007 DVD with Ginette Vincendeau's 20-minute video discussion and the 56-page liner notes booklet, we get Melville Out of the Shadows – a new French-made 42-minute documentary about Melville’s film - in 1080P and an original theatrical trailer - also in HD. Plus being 'dual-format' we get the previous DVD included in the package.
I think this is a worthy upgrade and an easy endorsement for those who don't own the original DVD. This is a compelling drama from a master filmmaker. To own it in such film-like quality with extensive extras seems essential, in my opinion. *** NOTE: Max in email says - "Just saw the Silence de la Mer DVD from MoC yesterday and it seems to me that they have slightly zoomed into the image. Some of the compositions are distinctly odd, with character's heads too close to the edge of the frame. I chalked some of that down to Melville's and Decae's inexperience (it was their first film after all), but in the end, when they frame the book, you cannot actually read some of the words because they are cut off on the right. Also the logo in the beginning suffers from the same. So it seems to me that the picture is definitely cropped." Aside from some heavy vertical scratches - present in the beginning of the presentation - the MoC image quality is quite exceptional. Strong contrast and shadow detail and at times the transfer looks remarkably sharp. I see some, fairly unnoticeable, artifacts and nitrate blemishes but considering the age of the film (and its probable print condition) one would expect many more. This is a dual-layered, progressive digital presentation that exports the film's intent very clearly and it is much appreciated to have it now on DVD. Audio is a notch below what one might expect from MoC but aside from an extensive, and costly, restoration this is a very acceptable presentation. Optional English subtitles support the single channel French audio.
Supplements include Ginette Vincendeau, professor of French cinema at King's College -London (and author of Jean-Pierre Melville: An American in Paris) discussing the merits of both the film and director Melville. It is over 20 minutes and she is a bona-fide expert who transmits some excellent information further to appreciation of La Silence de la Mer. Typical of MoC releases they have also included and extensive booklet with essays by Rui Nogueira and Ginette Vincendeau. There are also a couple of pages of small photos. Great DVD folks - strongly recommend! |
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Eureka - Masters of Cinema - Region 2 - PAL LEFT vs. Masters of Cinema (Dual-Format Edition) - Region FREE - Blu-ray RIGHT
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Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Subtitle Sample
1) Eureka - Masters of Cinema - Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Masters of Cinema (Dual-Format Edition) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - MIDDLE3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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Screen Captures
1) Eureka - Masters of Cinema - Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Masters of Cinema (Dual-Format Edition) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - MIDDLE3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Eureka - Masters of Cinema - Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Masters of Cinema (Dual-Format Edition) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - MIDDLE3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Eureka - Masters of Cinema - Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Masters of Cinema (Dual-Format Edition) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - MIDDLE3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Eureka - Masters of Cinema - Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Masters of Cinema (Dual-Format Edition) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - MIDDLE3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Eureka - Masters of Cinema - Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Masters of Cinema (Dual-Format Edition) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - MIDDLE3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Eureka - Masters of Cinema - Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Masters of Cinema (Dual-Format Edition) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - MIDDLE3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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More Blu-ray Captures
1) Masters of Cinema (Dual-Format Edition) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - TOP 2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Masters of Cinema (Dual-Format Edition) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - TOP 2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Masters of Cinema (Dual-Format Edition) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - TOP 2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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Box Covers |
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Distribution | Eureka - Masters of Cinema - Region 2 - PAL | Masters of Cinema - Spine # 28 Region FREE - Blu-ray | Criterion Collection - Spine # 755 - Region 'A' Blu-ray |