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Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot
France 1949

 

This masterful adaptation of Prévost's 1731 novel Manon Lescaut marks quite a departure for Henri-Georges Clouzot, the French director lauded for his acclaimed thrillers The Wages of Fear and Les Diaboliques.

A classical tragic romance transposed to a World War II setting, Clouzot s film follows the travails of Manon (Cécile Aubry), a village girl accused of collaborating with the Nazis who is rescued from imminent execution by a former French Resistance fighter (Michel Auclair). The couple move to Paris, but their relationship turns stormy as they struggle to survive, resorting to profiteering, prostitution and even murder. Eventually escaping to Palestine, the pair attempt a treacherous desert crossing in search of the happiness which seems to forever elude them...

Clouzot's astute portrayal of doomed young lovers caught in the disarray of post-war France wowed the jury of the 1949 Venice Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion award. Unjustly overshadowed ever since by the director's suspense films, Manon now returns to screens in glorious High Definition with a selection of elucidating extras.

***

The traditional preoccupation of the French with the oddities of love, displayed with as much enthusiasm in French movies as in French literature, is once again hotly demonstrated in the new French picture, "Manon," which a slyly winking Santa deposited at the Little CineMet yesterday. Inspired, in a manner of speaking, by the French novel, "Manon Lescaut," which the Abbe Prevost unlimbered some 200 years ago, this strikingly candid picture tells the bold tale of faith and faithlessness between two strangely restless young lovers in the vortex of postwar France.

Excerpt from the NY Times located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: March 9th, 1949

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Review: Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover

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Full Resolution (PNG) Captures:
Distribution Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:45:58.185       
Video

1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 49,983,546,407 bytes

Feature: 30,923,275,200 bytes

Video Bitrate: 34.82 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

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

Audio

LPCM Audio French 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Arrow

 

1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 49,983,546,407 bytes

Feature: 30,923,275,200 bytes

Video Bitrate: 34.82 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• Bibliothèque de poche: H.G. Clouzot, an archival documentary from 1970 in which Clouzot talks of his love of literature and the relationship between the page and the screen (46:26)
• Woman in the Dunes, a newly filmed video appreciation by film critic Geoff Andrew (22:21)
• Image gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring two artwork options


 Blu-ray Release Date: February 24th-25th, 2020
 Transparent Blu-ray Case

Chapters 13

 

 

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Arrow Blu-ray (February 2020): Arrow have transferred Henri-Georges Clouzot's Manon to Blu-ray. It will be available on both sides of the Atlantic. the 1080P video is housed on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. The image is very film-like with rich textures. It is displayed consistently without damage. It is in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio with natural softness - a very pleasing HD presentation.

NOTE: All 20 high resolution Blu-ray  captures are for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Arrow use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original French language. The resulting audio is flat but there are instances with depth (machine gun, explosions, camels etc.) and an excellent score by Paul Misraki (Atoll K, Godard's Alphaville, Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Doulos,  Bunuel's Death in the Garden, Orson Welles's Mr. Arkadin). Arrow offer optional English subtitles (see sample below) on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Arrow Blu-ray has a 3/4 hour, archival documentary, monthly television program, Bibliothèque de poche. In this episode entitled "H.G. Clouzot", shot in Saint Tropez, Michel Polac and Michel Vianey meet with Henri Georges Clouzot and his wife whom they questioned about the influence of reading in his life and in his profession as a filmmaker. The interview took place in two locations, alternately mounted: in the cabin of a yacht and on the deck, outdoors. It is very revealing about the man.

NOTE: Strangely, my screener copy did not have English subtitles for this extra feature (it is in French - brief English via Bill Holden). I have informed Arrow and am sure this will be corrected for their consumer release.

There is also a newly filmed, 22-minute, video appreciation by film critic Geoff Andrew entitled Woman in the Dunes. He clears up many misconceptions about the director's public  representations in the 50's and 60s. He talks about how his films seem to concentrate on people behaving badly toward each other. There is also an extensive image gallery and the package has a reversible sleeve (see bottom) featuring two artwork options.

What's not to love? Manon has Henri-Georges Clouzot's cinematic brilliance. Many consider it his greatest masterpiece (considering Les Diaboliques, The Wages of Fear, Quai des Orfèvres etc. - this is overwhelming praise). This is a touching film with Cécile Aubry as a 'femme enfant' imbuing both sexuality and innocence... in very trying times. It's fantastic to have this on Blu-ray as previous prints I had seen were very poor. Amazing job Arrow!

Gary Tooze

 

Menus / Extras

 

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Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

   

Full Resolution (PNG) Captures:
Distribution Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray


 


 

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