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 S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

( aka, 'Hell', 'Jealousy' , 'Torment' )

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/direct-chair/chabrol.htm
France 1994

The Arrow Blu-ray Boxset 'Lies and Deceit - Five Films by Claude Chabrol' with Poulet au vinaigre (1985), Inspecteur Lavardin (1986), Madame Bovary (1991), Betty (1992) and L'Enfer (1994) is compared HERE

 

Based on a script by Henri-Georges Clouzot, Chabrol explores the point at which jealousy and obsession turn to madness. François Cluzet plays Paul, a young husband who, along with his beautiful wife (Emmanuelle Béart at her sexiest) runs a country hotel. Paul soon becomes obsessed with his wife's flirtations, but is it all in his head?

***

This little-seen French number's title translates as "Torment." Or more to the point, "Hell." In other words, not your typical get-cozy-and-snuggle-up-by-the-fire-with-a-loved-one art flick. But as the film opens, everything is as happy as could be. Nelly (Beart) and Paul (Cluzet) are young hoteliers with a gorgeous country estate. Paul is the consummate host and concierge, while Nelly's stunning beauty and playful friendliness are worth the trip alone. But there lies the problem; it starts with a smile that lingers too long, a lost keepsake, or a few unaccounted-for hours... and pretty soon Paul is convinced that his wife is up to no good. By the time the picture ends, Paul has become hysterically possessive, and L'Enfer's cryptically French ending will make you glad you can rewind a few times to catch the nuance. The lead roles could not have been cast better, and Beart does better work here than in anything else I've seen. As a thriller, L'Enfer is a solid film. As a character study of the horrific way jealousy can ravage a man's soul, L'Enfer is not to be missed.

Excerpt of Christopher Null's review at the Film Vault at the Austin Chronicle located HERE

Poster and Lobby Cards (Click to enlarge)

Theatrical Release: February 16th, 1984

Reviews                                                                         More Reviews                                                                    DVD Reviews

 

Comparison

Second Sight (UK) Region 0 - PAL vs. Fox Lorber Region 0 - NTSC vs. MK2 Region 2 - PAL vs. Cohen Media Group - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

MK2 screenshots courtesy by Ashirg

1) Second Sight Region 0 PAL - LEFT

2) Fox/Lorber Region 0 - NTSC SECOND

3) MK2 - Region 2 - PAL - THIRD

4) Cohen Media Group - Region 'A' - Blu-ray RIGHT

 
Box Covers

 

 

 

 

Distribution

Second Sight
Region 2 - PAL 

16X9 enhanced

 Fox/Lorber
Region 0 encoded NTSC

MK2
Region 2 - PAL 

16X9 enhanced

 Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:38:00(4% PAL speedup ) 1:40:39  1:37:57 (4% PAL speedup ) 1:42:27.141
Video Widescreen  - 1.60:1
Average Bitrate: 6.88 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s		 Widescreen - 1.56:1 
Average Bitrate: 5.80 mb/s
NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s		 Widescreen  - 1.60:1
Average Bitrate: 5.52 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 33,856,663,940 bytes

Feature: 31,939,565,568 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 R0

Second Sight

 
Bitrate R0

Fox Lorber

Bitrate R2

MK2:

Bitrate Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray:

 
Audio French (Dolby Digital 2.0) French (Dolby Digital 2.0)

French (Dolby Digital 2.0)

LPCM Audio French 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Commentary:

LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit

Subtitles English and None Burned in white English subtitles English and None English and None
Features Release Information:
Studio: MK2

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen - 1.60:1 The image is anamorphic.

Discographic Information:
DVD Encoding: Region 2 - PAL
Layers: Dual

Bonus :

  • Presentation of film by Joel Magny (about it over the stills from the film) (3:07)
  • Chabrol gives a commentary for three key scesn in the film (37:54)
  • Discussion with Claude Chabrol ("talking head" interview with Chabrol about Cluzot) (11:15)

NOTE: English subs are on EXTRAS.  

DVD Release Date:  July 7th, 2003
Keep Case
Chapters: 16

Release Information:
Studio: Fox Lorber

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen letterbox 1.56:1

Discographic Information:
DVD Encoding: All Regions - NTSC
Layers: Single

Edition Details:
• All Regions
• Color, Widescreen
• Theatrical trailer - widescreen non-anamorphic 1:27
• Production credits (static screens )
• Awards (static screens )
• Widescreen letterbox format

DVD Release Date: June 10, 1998
Keep Case
Chapters: 28

 
Release Information:
Studio: MK2

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen - 1.60:1 The image is anamorphic.

Discographic Information:
DVD Encoding: Region 2 - PAL
Layers: Dual

Bonus :

  • Presentation of film by Joel Magny (about it over the stills from the film) (3:07)
  • Discussion with Claude Chabrol ("talking head" interview with Chabrol about Cluzot) (11:15)

Also short trailers to other DVD releases by mk2

  • Trailers of films of Claude Chabrol (11 trailers for films released by mk2)
  • The lesson of cinema of Claude Chabrol (Chabrol watches and comments 3 scenes from the film) (10:52, 12:50, 14:07)

NOTE: No English subs on EXTRAS.  

DVD Release Date:  October 16th, 2002
Snap Case
Chapters: 32

Release Information:
Studio: Cohen Media Group

Aspect Ratio:
Original aspect Ratio 1.66:1

1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 33,856,663,940 bytes

Feature: 31,939,565,568 bytes

Video Bitrate: 34.99 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:
• Audio Commentary by Wade Major and Andy Klein

• Re-release Trailer (1:24)

• 8-page liner notes with photos and credits

 Blu-ray Release Date: February 21st, 2017
Transparent Blu-ray Case

Chapters: 11

 

The Arrow Blu-ray Boxset 'Lies and Deceit - Five Films by Claude Chabrol' with Poulet au vinaigre (1985), Inspecteur Lavardin (1986), Madame Bovary (1991), Betty (1992) and L'Enfer (1994) is compared HERE

 
Comments:

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

 

ADDITION: Cohen Media Group - Region 'A' - Blu-ray (February 2017): This isn't Cohen's first foray into Chabrol - they have also released a Blu-ray of The Inspector Lavardin Collection, Merci pour le Chocolat as well as a Blu-ray of The Color of Lies.  But fans of the director couldn't be more ecstatic about their new 3 Classic Films by Claude Chabrol Blu-ray set. It has individual Blu-ray discs of three films; The Swindle, L'Enfer, and Betty.

 

Cohen's new 1080P transfer looks so dramatically superior to the artifact-ridden DVDs that we have suffered with for years. It's a revelation! The image can, occasionally look thin, but details and colors are s significant jump over the SDs. I'll reserve the bulk of my comments until I have reviewed the entire set - which should be soon! Stay tuned for more comments...

 

NOTE: The Blu-ray has an altered title font - as informed on Twitter by @MovieTitles - the DVD (typeface: Friz Quadrata) vs. Blu-ray (typeface: Minion.) Perhaps this was done in the restoration - it looks quite similar to me.

 

 

Cohen use linear PCM for all three films. Effects are never overwhelming in, usually, cerebral and dialogue-driven Chabrol film. As with the DVDs I did notice a slight change in Beart's voice about 1/2 way through L'Enfer - I'm not saying it's a DUB or out of sync - just something I notice every time I see the film as if it changes pitch slightly. All scores of the three films in this boxset have been composed by, the director's son, Matthieu Chabrol (Merci pour le Chocolat, The Color of Lies, The Swindle, La Cérémonie, L'Enfer, Betty, Madame Bovary, The Cry of the Owl, Inspector Lavardin.) It sounds subtle and supportive via the uncompressed with no abnormalities. There are optional English subtitles on the Region 'A'-locked Blu-ray disc.

 

I fully appreciated the new audio commentary by Wade Major and Andy Klein covering plenty of ground about the perfumers, director and the film's reception. There is also a re-release trailer and, as well as the other two films, has an 8-page liner notes with photos and credits. So far, the new 3 Classic Films by Claude Chabrol Blu-ray set is strongly recommended!

***

ON THE DVDs: The Fox/Lorber transfer is very poor, but it is occasionally sharper with noticeable grain. The colors are way off on one of these DVD and I would guess it is with Fox. The Mk2 and Second Sight are the same transfer. There is artifacting (digital pixilation) issues on both discs and surprising for a film only 8 years old. I assume that somewhere out there is a very tight print of this fine film. The ratio of these discs is not the same. My guess would be that the MK2/Second Sight is slightly off as the characters look a little elongated to me. Neither version is worth recommending as is, but I you want to buy now, then the Second Sight with the subtitled Extras is your choice. The Extras on the MK2 are a bit more extensive, but don't have English sub-titles.  The Second Sight is the definitive version available at present.

   Gary W. Tooze

 

The Claude Chabrol Collection from MK2 includes the following five films: Betty, L'Enfer, Poulet, au vinaigre, Inspecteur Lavardin and Masques. They have all English subtitles on the main feature, but not on the extra material.


DVD Menus

 (Second Sight Region 0 - LEFT vs. Fox/Lorber Region 0 MIDDLE vs  MK2 - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)

 

 

Cohen Media Group - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

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

Subtitle Samples - Cohen Media Group - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

 

1) Second Sight Region 0 PAL - TOP

2) Fox/Lorber Region 0 - NTSC SECOND

3) MK2 - Region 2 - PAL - THIRD

4) Cohen Media Group - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

1) Second Sight Region 0 PAL - TOP

2) Fox/Lorber Region 0 - NTSC SECOND

3) MK2 - Region 2 - PAL - THIRD

4) Cohen Media Group - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

1) Second Sight Region 0 PAL - TOP

2) Fox/Lorber Region 0 - NTSC SECOND

3) MK2 - Region 2 - PAL - THIRD

4) Cohen Media Group - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

1) Second Sight Region 0 PAL - TOP

2) Fox/Lorber Region 0 - NTSC SECOND

3) MK2 - Region 2 - PAL - THIRD

4) Cohen Media Group - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

More Blu-ray Captures

 

Report Card:

 

Image:

Blu-ray

Sound:

Blu-ray
Extras: Blu-ray

 

Box Covers

 

 

 

 

Distribution

Second Sight
Region 2 - PAL 

16X9 enhanced

 Fox/Lorber
Region 0 encoded NTSC

MK2
Region 2 - PAL 

16X9 enhanced

 Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Recommended Reading in French Cinema (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)

The Films in My Life
by Francois Truffaut, Leonard Mayhew

French Cinema: A Student's Guide
by Philip Powrie, Keith Reader 		Agnes Varda by Alison Smith Godard on Godard : Critical Writings by Jean-Luc Godard Claude Chabrol (French Film Directors)
by Guy Austin		 Robert Bresson (Cinematheque Ontario Monographs, No. 2)
by James Quandt		 The Art of Cinema by Jean Cocteau French New Wave
by Jean Douchet, Robert Bonnono, Cedric Anger, Robert Bononno 		French Cinema: From Its Beginnings to the Present
by Remi Fournier Lanzoni

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