A Married Woman Blu-ray

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

(aka 'Une femme mariée: Suite de fragments d'un film tourné en 1964' or 'A Married Woman' or 'Une femme mariée ')

France 1964

A MARRIED WOMAN is an often overlooked masterwork from Godard's most productive period. The plot appears to be simple: Charlotte (Macha Méril) is a young married woman having an affair with an actor. When she discovers that she is pregnant, she must decide which man is the father and which man she will stay with. In Godard's hands, however, the film, described as a film about a woman's beauty and the ugliness of her world, is also a biting critique of consumer culture and the media constructed obsession with image. Subtitle Fragments of a film shot in 1964, in black and white, Godard creates a modernist collage that is beautifully shot by Godard's longtime cinematographer Raoul Coutard. Cohen Film Collection is proud to present for the first time in the US this stunning new restoration from the original negative.

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Long out-of-circulation and unavailable on home video, Jean-Luc Godard’s 1964 masterpiece Une femme mariée, fragments d’un film tourné en 1964 en noir et blanc [A Married Woman: Fragments of a Film Shot in 1964 in Black and White] has, until now, represented the ostensibly ‘missing’ key work from the first, zeitgeist-defining phase of JLG’s filmography. The feature which bridges the gap between Bande à part and Alphaville, Une femme mariée is, nevertheless, a galaxy, or gallery, unto itself — a lucid, complex, profoundly funny series of portraits, etched with Godardian acids, of the wife that represents either a singular case, or a Masters of Cinema example, of “a”/”the” married woman, and the men in her orbit.

Macha Méril (later of Pialat’s Nous ne vieillirons pas ensemble, and Varda’s Sans toit ni loi) plays Charlotte — the title character. She’s married to aviator Pierre (Philippe Leroy, of Becker’s Le Trou). She sleeps with thespian Robert (Bernard Noël). She talks “intelligence” with renowned critic-filmmaker Roger Leenhardt, and takes part in a fashion-shoot at a public pool. The “fragments” of the film’s subtitle are chapters, episodes, vignettes, tableaux; Une femme mariée is a pile of magazines made into a film, and a film turned into a magazine — the table of contents reading: Alfred Hitchcock. Jean Racine. La Peau douce. A Peruvian serum. Nuit et brouillard. The “Eloquence” bra. The quartets of Beethoven. Madame Céline. Fantômas. Robert Bresson. A Volkswagen making a right turn. — A film shot in 1964, and in black and white.

Designed with Raoul Coutard’s breathtaking cinematography, Godard’s picture captures a moment in time — but all its mysteries, its truths, its beauty, comedy and grace, serve to resolve into a work of art for the ages. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Jean-Luc Godard’s classic, Une femme mariée, in a magnificent new Gaumont restoration for the first time on home video in the UK.

Excerpt from the Masters of Cinema website located HERE

Poster

Theatrical Release: December 4th, 1964

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Comparison:

NY Film Annex - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Koch - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 0 - PAL vs. Masters of Cinema - Region FREE - Blu-ray vs. Cohen Media - Region FREE - Blu-ray

1) NY Film Annex - Region 0 - NTSC LEFT

2) Koch - Region 0 - NTSC SECOND

3) Masters of Cinema - Region 0 - PAL THIRD

4) Masters of Cinema - Region FREE - Blu-ray FOURTH

5) Cohen - Region FREE - Blu-ray RIGHT

Box Covers

Distribution	NY Film Annex - Region 0 - NTSC	Koch Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC	Masters of Cinema - Spine #80 - Region 0 - PAL	Masters of Cinema - Spine #80 - Region FREE - Blu-ray	Cohen Media - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:34:48	1:35:03	1:31:36 (4% PAL Speedup)	1:35:13.707	1:35:25.970
Video	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.53 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.29 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.99 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1080P / 23.976 fps Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 24,584,565,680 bytes Feature: 23,747,776,512 bytes Video Bitrate: 29.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video	1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 46,084,820,200 bytes Feature: 28,016,959,488 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: NY
Bitrate: Koch
Bitrate: MoC
Bitrate: MoC Blu-ray
Bitrate: Cohen Blu-ray
Audio	French (Dolby Digital 1.0) DUB: English (Dolby Digital 1.0)	French (Dolby Digital 2.0)	French (Dolby Digital 2.0)	LPCM Audio French 768 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 16-bit	LPCM Audio French 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles	English, none	English, None	English, None	English, None	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: NYFA film Annex Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: June 1st, 2006 Transparent Keep Case Chapters: 16	Release Information: Studio: Koch Lorber Films Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: June 2nd, 2009 Keep Case Chapters: 8	Release Information: Studio: Masters of Cinema Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • The original 3:46 minute trailer for the film, created and edited by Jean-Luc Godard at the time of the film’s original French release • 80-PAGE BOOK containing: — A new “overture” by legendary French critic and filmmaker Luc Moullet (Les Contrebandières, A Girl Is a Gun, Les Sièges de l’Alcazar, Le Prestige de la mort). // A lengthy roundtable discussion between Luc Moullet; writer/critic and American correspondent for Cahiers du cinéma, Bill Krohn; and MoC’s Craig Keller — on the film, and its relationship to Godard’s oeuvre from the 1950s through the 2000s. // A concentrated investigation into the film by Bill Krohn. // A new statement about the film by star Macha Méril. // A transcript of Godard’s late-’70s lecture on Une femme mariée, originally presented in Introduction à une véritable histoire du cinéma, translated here into English for the first time. // Relevant excerpts from Jean Racine’s Bérénice, in the original French, accompanied by a new parallel English translation. // And many notes on the film, Godard, and modern DVD production. DVD Release Date: April 20th, 2009 Transparent Keep Case Chapters: 24	Release Information: Studio: Masters of Cinema 1080P / 23.976 fps Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 24,584,565,680 bytes Feature: 23,747,776,512 bytes Video Bitrate: 29.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • The original 3:46 minute trailer for the film, created and edited by Jean-Luc Godard at the time of the film’s original French release • 80-PAGE BOOK containing: — A new “overture” by legendary French critic and filmmaker Luc Moullet (Les Contrebandières, A Girl Is a Gun, Les Sièges de l’Alcazar, Le Prestige de la mort). // A lengthy roundtable discussion between Luc Moullet; writer/critic and American correspondent for Cahiers du cinéma, Bill Krohn; and MoC’s Craig Keller — on the film, and its relationship to Godard’s oeuvre from the 1950s through the 2000s. // A concentrated investigation into the film by Bill Krohn. // A new statement about the film by star Macha Méril. // A transcript of Godard’s late-’70s lecture on Une femme mariée, originally presented in Introduction à une véritable histoire du cinéma, translated here into English for the first time. // Relevant excerpts from Jean Racine’s Bérénice, in the original French, accompanied by a new parallel English translation. // And many notes on the film, Godard, and modern DVD production. Blu-ray Release Date: January 25th, 2010 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters: 24	Release Information: Studio: Cohen Media 1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 46,084,820,200 bytes Feature: 28,016,959,488 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Bonuses include 2010 interview with French fashion designer and film producer agnès b. (21:29). • 2010 interview with Godard scholar Antoine de Baecque (19:20). • 2010 interview with star Macha Méril (31:55). • Original Trailer (3:58) • 2015 re-release trailer (1:35) • 8-page leaflet Blu-ray Release Date: May 24th, 2016 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters: 11

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Cohen Media - Region FREE - Blu-ray May 16': Cohen's 1080P transfer resembles Masters of Cinema from 2010. It is slightly more robust, has some framing differences (slightly cropped) but also shows some pleasing grain. I've compared 5 captures below and you can see the differences.

Audio goes to Cohen - also a liner PCM - but 24-bit. It has optional English subtitles (via the remote button). This Blu-ray disc is also region FREE.

The 18 Gig of Cohen supplements include a 21-minute, 2010, interview with French fashion designer and film producer agnès b. and two more from that same year; 20-minutes with Godard scholar Antoine de Baecque and an interesting 1/2 hour with star Macha Méril (these appear to be from the JLG series). There is a 4-minute original trailer, a 2015 re-release trailer and the package has an 8-page leaflet.

Looks like another strong release from Cohen. Fans who missed the OOP MoC should definitely indulge!

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ADDITION: Masters of Cinema - Region 'FREE' - Blu-ray November 09:

A new favorite Blu-ray but ineligible for This Year's Poll as it technically comes out in 2010. It is such a beautiful film - and seeing it look this awesome is... inspiring. Contrast and detail rise another erotic notch. I sat, almost, hypnotized. Great grain no DNR. The PCM mono audio is clean but I can't say I noticed as big a difference as I did in the video portion of the transfer. It has the same extras (80-page booklet) but the trailer is in HD!

No reason to hesitate - it's region free again. Thanks Masters of Cinema from the bottom of my heart!

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ADDITION: Koch Lorber - May 09': We don't need to say much here. The bare-bones Koch Lorber is interlaced (see combing) with all those inherent artifact deficiencies. While the Masters of Cinema offer the wonderful booklet - the Koch has nothing and with its lesser transfer and only trailer advert extras - it's also more expensive at $19.99. The Moc is 11.98 GBP = 19.09 USD and that is the direction we suggest going - the booklet alone seems worth the entire price. MoC all the way!

ADDITION: Masters of Cinema - April 09' - Actually, I really enjoyed the Film Annex edition playing it many times over the past few years - so you can imagine how absolutely thrilled I am to see this incredible looking Masters of Cinema release! Obviously the transfer of the UK disc is dramatically improved - eliminating the artifacts and haziness of the NTSC DVD - which is no longer available - probably taken from an analog source - and without proper rights permissions. The dual-layered MoC seems to have a shade more information in the frame on all 4 edges. Every facet of DVD production (contrast, detail, bitrate, compression etc. etc.) is superior and this PAL disc will get a fair amount of re-play in my home theater.

While the Annex release offered an awful English DUB as well as a weak original mono track - the Masters of Cinema audio is likewise improved - clear and certainly more consistent. It also offers optional English subtitles that seem a more competent translation.

The only digital extra is a 3:46 trailer, but included in the 'keep case' is a hefty 80-page liner notes booklet that I have skimmed and can't wait to tuck into. It's well bound with fabulously complete contents including many photos and essays. Well done!

Those unfamiliar with this film are in for a real treat and those who aren't need no sales job from me - the captures below tell all you'd need to know. We strongly recommend the Masters of Cinema DVD package - another impressive victory for that production company. I'm ecstatic about this one.

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ON THE NY Film Annex DVD (written in 2006): It appears that this NY Annex disc has a major glitch - "A Married Woman" repeats every fourth frame, like this: a, b, c, d, d, e, f, g, h, h, etc. In a very primitive way, this makes some sense: film is projected at 24 fps, and NTSC video at closer to 30 fps. (Thanks Peter H. for telling us!).

Unfortunately the image on this New York Film Annex DVD is not at the same level as their Taira Clan Saga - Mizoguchi. But again 'beggars can't be choosers' may be the appropriate edict. It is single-layered and progressive but quite hazy. The subtitles are removable in playback and a poor English DUB is offered on top of the original French audio. Image detail is as the screen caps below will verify - poor-to-midland - representing the image like an typical VHS (perhaps even a notch below). A bit of chroma and multiple digital artifacts were also evident. Audio was similarly weak in spots. There are no extras.