The Story of Adele H Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "The Story of Adele H." )

France 1975

The Story of Adèle H (L’Histoire d’Adèle H., 1975) is the sublime François Truffaut’s frighteningly intense look at amour fou: the obsessive love that drives a woman to destruction. The woman is Adèle Hugo (tragically incarnated by the magnificent Isabelle Adjani), the talented and privileged daughter of the most celebrated author in Europe; the object of her affection is a n’er-do-well English soldier, one Lieutenant Pinson (Bruce Robinson, future director of the riotous Withnail & I). Based on fact, this titanically poetic film follows the infatuated Adèle as she trails Pinson from one end of the earth to the other, descending into madness and living on the fire of her passion. Stunningly photographed by the singular Nestor Alemandros and featuring a towering score by Maurice Jaubert.

***

The Story Of Adèle H. (aka: L'histoire d'Adèle H.), a story of unrequited love, was a major success for Truffaut. It's certainly one of his better films but its success may well depend on each viewer's sensibility. Truffaut tells his story (which is a true one) with some detachment, which does keep this story of overwhelming, blind infatuation at a distance. Adèle isn't always a sympathetic character, deceiving her parents about her non-existent marriage to Pinson and later trying to attract him by pretending to be pregnant. It's a tribute to Isabelle Adjani's performance, which was Oscar-nominated, that Adèle does keep as much of our sympathy as she does. Adjani was 19 at the time, though playing a woman who was actually 33. Bruce Robinson (then an actor, but later a screenwriter and director) is suitably handsome but rather blank as the object of Adèle's desire, and you may well wonder what she sees in him. As a result, there's something of an arm's-length feel to this film, despite Truffaut's careful craftsmanship. Nestor Almendros' photography is a major asset, deliberately subdued during the scenes in Nova Scotia that form the bulk of the film, brighter in the final scenes set in Barbados though filmed in Dakar.

Excerpt of Gary Couzen's review at VideoVista located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: October 8th, 1975

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Comparison:

MGM (US) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. MGM (Europe) - Region 2,4 - PAL vs. Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray vs. Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Kevin T and Pavel Borodin for the Screen Caps!

Box Covers
				BONUS CAPTURES:
Distribution	MGM (US) Region 1 - NTSC	MGM (Europe) Region 0 - PAL	Twilight Time Region FREE - Blu-ray	Kino Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:37:30	1:33:36 (4% PAL speedup)	1:37:36.392	1:37:47.069
Video	1.66:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.76 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.66:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.48 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	Disc Size: 27,082,088,954 bytes Feature Size: 25,726,869,504 bytes Total Bitrate: 29.98 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG4 - AVC	Disc Size: 33,954,345,476 bytes Feature Size: 31,770,476,544 bytes Total Bitrate: 39.35 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG4 - AVC
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: MGM (US)
Bitrate: MGM (Europe)
Bitrate: Twilight Time Blu-ray
Bitrate: Kino Blu-ray
Audio	French Dolby Digital 2.0 mono	French (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono), German (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono), Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono)	DTS-HD Master Audio French 1034 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1034 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit) Commentary: DTS-HD Master Audio English 1038 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1038 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit) Isolated Score: DTS-HD Master Audio English 1071 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1071 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 16-bit)	DTS-HD Master Audio French 1575 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1575 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Commentary Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -31dB
Subtitles	English, French, Spanish, none	English (HoH only), French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Greek, none	Burned-in yellow, English, subtitles for the French dialogue and optional white English (SDH) for the English dialogue	English, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: MGM (US) Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterboxed - 1.66:1 Edition Details: • Theatrical Trailer DVD Release Date: 2001 Keep Case Chapters 16	Release Information: Studio: MGM (Europe) Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterboxed - 1.66:1 Edition Details: • Theatrical Trailer DVD Release Date: August 4, 2003 Keep case Chapters 16	Release Information: Studio: Twilight Time Disc Size: 27,082,088,954 bytes Feature Size: 25,726,869,504 bytes Total Bitrate: 29.98 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG4 - AVC Edition Details: • Audio Commentary with Film Historians Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman • Isolated Score Track • Original Theatrical Trailer (2:50) 8-page liner notes by Julie Kirgo Limited to 3,000 units Blu-ray Release Date: April, 2015 Standard Blu-ray case Chapters 24	Release Information: Studio: Kino Disc Size: 33,954,345,476 bytes Feature Size: 31,770,476,544 bytes Total Bitrate: 39.35 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG4 - AVC Edition Details: • Audio Commentary by Film Historians Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman • Theatrical Trailer (2:52) Blu-ray Release Date: February 14th, 2023 Standard Blu-ray case Chapters 9

Comments

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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (March 2023): Kino have transferred François Truffaut's The Story of Adele H to Blu-ray. Like Mississippi Mermaid it compares as favorably to the Twilight Time 1080P of 2015, from the same source, with a few differences. It is more robustly transferred with a max'ed out bitrate and contrast marginally improves. It looked fine on my system although there are hints of compression artifacts without actually achieving it - but I suspect this was the source print not either ND transfer.

NOTE: We have added 44 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono channel track (24-bit) in the original French, and some English, languages. The score is by Maurice Jaubert (L'Atalante, Drole de Drame, Port of Shadows, Truffaut's The Green Room) and is orchestral with some solo saxophone and sounds wonderful when heard through the lossless transfer. I could distinguish no significant differences from the Twilight Time in terms of the feature's audio. Kino offer optional English subtitles for all dialogue (where the Twilight Time were burned-in yellow for the French but optional white for the English.) The Kino is a Region 'A' Blu-ray where the Twilight Time was Region FREE.

Same extras; commentary with film historians Nick Redman and Julie Kirgo plus a trailer. The out-of-print Twilight Time Blu-ray offered their usual isolated score and liner notes where the Kino does not. The Kino Blu-ray has the slipcase.

François Truffaut's The Story of Adele H is based on Adèle Hugo's diaries - the daughter of writer Victor Hugo. Truffaut had to get the rights from Jean Hugo, Victor Hugo's direct descendant. He gave his consent after reading a treatment on the condition that Victor Hugo did not appear on screen. Isabelle Adjani is brilliant as unrequited love slowly drives her mad. Another fascinating Truffaut film. No need to double-dip if you own the out-of-print Twilight Time (unless yellow subtitles are bothersome to you), but for value offered, the Kino Blu-ray is absolutely recommended!

***

ADDITION: Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray March 15': I had some, initial, concerns with the image quality, but - overall - it seems quite strong - a wide step beyond the old SDs. It is dual-layered, 1080P with a high bitrate. The visuals are generally brighter, richer colors and detail rises although it is not a pristinely crisp image, I suspect it is as good as is available from the source provided. It looked quite pleasing in-motion and Néstor Almendros' cinematography was, certainly, complimented by the higher resolution.

Twilight Time stay authentic with a DTS-HD Master mono track at 1034 kbps. Similar to Twilight Time's Blu-ray of Truffaut's The Bride Wore Black - the French language have burned-in yellow subtitles and for the English dialogue there are optional white (HoH) subtitles. I suspect that the source provided had the burned-in subs and there was little Twilight Time could do. Like all twilight Time Blu-rays it is region FREE. This is limited to 3,000 units.

Twilight Time include a new audio commentary with film historians Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman and I liked it learning quite a bit more about the production. There is the usual Isolated Score Track plus an original theatrical trailer. The package has an 8-page liner notes leaflet with words by Julie Kirgo.

Great, very touching, film - bio-pic - and I was able to see it in a whole new way with the improved a/v. Recommended!

***

ON THE DVD: Similar issue with some MGM DVDs. Image quality is close, but looking at the last capture we can see the superior contrast, brightness and richer color of the Region 1 DVD. More DUBs and subtitles on the PAL but everything else is a wash. This is an underrated film - buy the NTSC - it is very reasonably priced.

NOTE: The Europe version has only English Hearing Impaired subtitles and they come up even in English dialogue.

- Gary Tooze

DVD Menus

(MGM (US) - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. MGM (Europe) - Region 2,4 - PAL - RIGHT)

Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

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

Screen Captures

The Twilight Time has Burned-in yellow subtitles for the French dialogue

1) Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray - TOP

4) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

1) Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray - TOP

4) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

Twilight Time has optional White (HoH) subtitles for the English dialogue

1) MGM (US) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) MGM (Europe) - Region 2,4 - PAL SECOND

3) Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

1) MGM (US) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) MGM (Europe) - Region 2,4 - PAL SECOND

3) Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

1) MGM (US) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) MGM (Europe) - Region 2,4 - PAL SECOND

3) Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

1) MGM (US) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) MGM (Europe) - Region 2,4 - PAL SECOND

3) Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

More full resolution (1920 X 1080) Blu-ray Captures for DVDBeaver Patreon Supporters HERE

Recommended Reading on Truffaut / French Cinema (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)


The Films in My Life by Francois Truffaut, Leonard Mayhew	François Truffaut by Annette Insdorf	HITCHCOCK (REVISED EDITION) by Helen G. Scott, Francois Truffaut	The French New Wave: An Artistic School by Michel Marie, Richard John Neupert, Richard Neupert	A History of the French New Wave Cinema by Richard Neupert	French New Wave by Jean Douchet, Robert Bonnono, Cedric Anger, Robert Bononno	French Cinema: From Its Beginnings to the Present by Remi Fournier Lanzoni	Truffaut: A Biography by Antoine do Baecque and Serge Toubiana