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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (May 2021): Kino have transferred François Ozon's wonderful Under the Sand to Blu-ray. We compared it to DVD captures from one of our first comparisons. The SD transfers are almost 20-years old and all three indicate they are from PAL sources, having varying degrees of combing (Seville and Fox-Lorber) and are significantly hazier as compared to the new 1080P that is on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. Now, the HD presentation is a bit erratic - this is because of the film had to cease filming through lack of funding and more pragmatic choices were made with stock and forced long delays - hence the image can be inconsistent but this would be accurate to the manner in which the film was shot. It won't look better than this on digital unless they re-shoot the film.

NOTE: We have added 58 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track (24-bit) in the original French (with some English) language. It is a strong advancement in the film's audio (ocean waves) but notable in one of my favorite scores - by Philippe Rombi (Ozon's Swimming Pool, In the House) -string based, subtle piano - sounding haunting, contemplative and mysterious. This is augmented by classic pieces from Antonín Dvorák, Gustav Mahler, and Frédéric Chopin. It's a big part of the viewing experience via the lossless. Kino offer optional English subtitles (for French only on the feature and for the Ozon commentary) on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray has the repeated commentary of director François Ozon made 20-years ago - on two of the three DVDs compared. It is in French with optional English subtitles (see sample below.) There is a second commentary by Kat Ellinger. She discusses François Ozon's career, similar themes in his works (water), the color red in the film, the frequently mirror shots with Marie Drillon (Charlotte Rampling), how her family and friends aren't assisting her coming to grips with her mental issues and her husband's death/disappearance, the comfortable love between the Drillons, the potential of the film to being supernatural, she reads other reviews, identifying less direct comparisons to Anthony Minghella's Truly, Madly Deeply and much more. There is also the previously seen 9-minute interview with Charlotte Rampling and a trailer.    

François Ozon's Under the Sand is one of my favorite French films and I have even included it in an article "A Favorite Opening Scene, Thirteen Memorable Conclusions and a Wonderful Credit Sequence" written 18-years ago. Under the Sand was extolled extensively by the great Ingmar Bergman!  It's a film involving one woman’s bereavement and inability to cope after losing her spouse. The film is staunchly unsentimental in its portrayal of Marie and her situation. A complete emotional withdrawal only heightens her insupportable delusions of his potential existence. It evokes Rohmer, Akerman and the very best of 'slow cinema'. I feel totally confident in throwing away my ancient DVDs at last. The Kino Blu-ray has a significant a/v upgrade and includes a Kat Ellinger commentary. I strongly urge you to see François Ozon's Under the Sand.... wow.

Gary Tooze