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

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (March 2021): Criterion have transferred Jean-Luc Godard's Masculin Féminin to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "New 4K digital restoration, approved by cinematographer Willy Kurant" that was done in 2016. It looks absolutely gorgeous on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate - 6X that of the DVD. Grain texture is fine and well supported with sublime contrast. The darker scenes - theatre, bedroom, night on the street - are exported perfectly via this HD presentation. The most prominent feature may be the consistent grain and beautifully layered contrast. There is also more information in the frame. This is a wonderful 1080P upgrade.

NOTE: We have added 50 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Criterion use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original French language. It is another advancement in the film's audio and score by Jean-Jacques Debout (his first film composition credit) - he was married to star Chantal Goya who sings four songs in Masculin Féminin (see below.) Included in the film's music is Mozart's Concerto pour clarinette et orchestre en La majeur, K. 622, 1. Allegro & 2. Adagio performed by Jacques Lancelot (clarinet) with Orchestre de Chambre Jean-François Paillard. It sounds authentically flat and crisp in the uncompressed audio transfer. Criterion offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' / 'B', respectively, Blu-ray.

The Criterion Blu-ray has the same extras as the 2005 DVD starting with a 1966 interview with actor Chantal Goya, filmed for the television show Au-dela de Pecran, Goya talks about how she got her start as a pop singer. The interview was conducted at her home, outside of Paris. Goya was a real-life leading member of the ye-ye generation and even had a song on the charts in Japan. She strung together a series of hits in France in the 1960s, including "Laisse-moi" (Leave me alone), "Sois gentil" (Be nice), and "Si tu gagnes au flipper" (If you win at pinball), all of which can be heard on Masculin Féminin's soundtrack. There is a video interview with Goya for 1/4 hour recorded for Criterion in Paris in May 2005. In it, she looks back on her career as a singer and on the experience of working with director Jean-Luc Godard on Masculin feminin. We also get a dozen minutes with Willy Kurant from Paris in April 2004 - a cinematographer for nearly seventy years, Kurant has shot for some of the best directors in cinema, from Jean-Luc Godard on Masculin feminin to Orson Welles on The Immortal Story, to Agnes Varda on Les creatures. Included are 1/4 hour with Jean-Pierre Gorin and Jean-Luc Godard who made seven films together as the Dziga-Vertov Group. In this interview, Gorin discusses the deepening of Godard's narrative, historical, and cultural experimentation in Masculin feminin. The Criterion Collection interviewed Gorin in New York in March 2005. In a 25-minute 2004 conversation, critics Freddy Buache and Dominique Paini discuss the impact and sociological insight of Jean-Luc Godard's playfully subversive Masculin feminin. Buache, who died in 2019, was the founder of the Cinematheque suisse and the "recipient" of Godard's 1982 short film Lettre a Freddy Buache. Paini is a former director of the Cinematheque francaise and director of cultural development for the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. There was 4-minutes of Swedish television footage of Godard directing the “film within the film” scene. Masculin feminin was a coproduction between Anouchka Films (director Jean-Luc Godard's company) and the Swedish production firm Sandrews Films. Godard shot its "film within the film," said by many to be a parody of Ingmar Bergman's The Silence, in Sweden. In this footage, a Swedish television crew visits the set to watch Godard work and interview him. There are trailers for the original theatrical release and the 2005 re-release and the package has a 16-page liner notes booklet featuring a new essay by film critic Adrian Martin and a reprint of a report from the set by French journalist Phillippe Labro.  

"We are the children of Marx and Coca-Cola." Jean-Luc Godard's Masculin Féminin is pure - shot with naturalistic intent and his unique early visual black and white style. His cinema in this time period remains highly attractive with a curious subtext that seems to improve, or get even 'cooler' over time. Something that can be revisited for the rest of our lives and this new Criterion Blu-ray is a brilliant a/v upgrade - no 'new' extras - but the presentation is worth the indulgence adding more beauty, charm and nostalgia to your viewing. Our highest recommendation!

Gary Tooze