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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (November 2025): Kino have transferred a new 'French Noir Collection' to Blu-ray consisting of four films; Rhine Virgin aka La vierge du Rhin (1953) / The Beast is Loose aka Le fauve est lâché (1959) / Trapped by Fear aka Les distractions (1960) and Passion of Slow Fire aka La mort de Belle (1961). We reviewed their first French Film Noir Collection package HERE. These films, produced between 1953 and 1961, share a monochromatic black-and-white palette typical of postwar French cinema, emphasizing noir aesthetics with high-contrast lighting, shadowy compositions, and atmospheric location shooting that reflect societal anxieties and transitions from WWII recovery.

This new set benefits from StudioCanal's 2021 restorations, with Blu-ray 1 featuring 4K scans for both Rhine Virgin and The Beast is Loose, resulting in exceptionally sharp, detailed black-and-white transfers that enhance the atmospheric chiaroscuro lighting and gritty location photography inherent to these 1950s polars. Textures in the Rhineland landscapes and urban shadows appear richly rendered with minimal grain manipulation, preserving the original 1.66:1 aspect ratio and avoiding any noticeable artifacts from the source materials. On Blu-ray 2, Trapped by Fear receives a 2K restoration while Passion of Slow Fire gets a 4K upgrade, delivering clean visuals that highlight the transitional New Wave influences, such as naturalistic handheld shots and psychological depth through subtle contrasts; overall, the video quality is a marked improvement over prior SD releases, making the noir aesthetics gain depth on modern displays. The visual style of La Vierge du Rhin, directed by Gilles Grangier (Hi-Jack Highway, Speaking of Murder,) is emblematic of 1950s French noir, shot in crisp black-and-white by cinematographer Marc Fossard (part of the technical crew on Children of Paradise, Port of Shadows,) who employs stark contrasts to heighten the film's atmospheric tension. Maurice Labro's Le Fauve est lâché boasts a dynamic visual aesthetic, lensed in black-and-white by cinematographer Pierre Petit, whose brooding compositions and high-contrast shadows evoke the intensity of American film noir while grounding the story in French locales like Paris streets and Étretat's dramatic cliffs. Jacques Dupont's Les Distractions features a raw, transitional visual style shot in black-and-white by cinematographer Jean-Jacques Rochut (with contributions from Michel Flour), capturing the gritty realism emerging in French cinema amid the New Wave. Extensive location shooting across French roads and urban spaces lends an authentic, documentary-like feel, with handheld camera work and natural lighting emphasizing the protagonists' alienation and the lingering scars of the Algerian War. Édouard Molinaro's (The Road to Shame, Back to the Wall) La Mort de Belle employs a restrained, psychologically intense visual approach, filmed in black-and-white by cinematographer Jean-Louis Picavet, who crafts a claustrophobic atmosphere through precise framing and subtle lighting in the serene yet oppressive Swiss villa setting near Geneva. Picavet's cinematography favors static shots and gradual pans to build paranoia, with austere university and street locations enhancing the film's introspective drama; flashbacks are absorbed visually like a "sponge," maintaining an exquisite restraint that aligns with the source material. These are high-quality StudioCanal restorations that look flawless in 1080P.

NOTE: We have added 266 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use DTS-HD Master dual-mono tracks (24-bit) in the original French language. Sound design remains largely conventional in the four films, prioritizing diegetic realism over experimentation, though silences and ambient effects grow more prominent in later films like Passion, enhancing thematic isolation. Collectively, they embody the polar's sensory evolution, balancing visual poetry with auditory subtlety to critique human vulnerability in a changing France. Aurally, the ominous score by Joseph Kosma (La bête humaine, La Marseillaise, La grande illusion, A Day in the Country) for Rhine Virgin enhances the espionage thriller's suspense, featuring tense strings and percussive motifs that build during high-stakes moments, drawing from his extensive experience in French cinema. Joseph Kosma's music is functional yet evocative, underscoring themes of reluctant heroism without veering into melodrama. The sound design incorporates realistic effects like echoing gunshots and crashing waves, amplifying the film's rollercoaster narrative, though it remains conventional, prioritizing clarity over innovation. Musically, Georges Van Parys' (Casque D'or, Le Million, L'Age D'Or, Madame de..., French Cancan, Les diaboliques, 1958's Les Misérables,) score in The Beast is Loose enhances the espionage thriller's suspense, featuring tense strings and percussive motifs that build during high-stakes moments, drawing from his extensive experience in French cinema. Van Parys's music is functional yet evocative, underscoring themes of reluctant heroism without veering into melodrama. Sound design incorporates realistic effects like echoing gunshots and crashing waves, amplifying the film's rollercoaster narrative, though it remains conventional, prioritizing clarity over innovation. Musically, Richard Cornu's (Back to the Wall) score in Les Distractions provides a understated jazz-inflected accompaniment, with sparse, moody themes that heighten the drama's emotional weight without dominating the narrative. Cornu's music, released as an original soundtrack, integrates seamlessly with diegetic sounds like revving engines and distant sirens, creating an immersive auditory landscape that reflects the era's shift toward more naturalistic sound design, though it occasionally echoes the experimental vibes of contemporaries like Godard. The score by Georges Delerue (Malpertuis, Police Python 357, A Man in Love, One Deadly Summer, Mister Johnson, Jules et Jim, The Woman Next Door, Cartouche, The Last Metro, Day For Night,) for Passion of Slow Fire is subtle and elegant, a hallmark of his prolific career, featuring delicate orchestral cues that underscore emotional unraveling with lyrical strings and restrained motifs. Delerue's music, often described as graceful, integrates with sparse sound design - focusing on ambient silences, footsteps, and hushed dialogues - to amplify the narrative's tension, making the auditory experience as pivotal as the visuals in conveying the protagonist's descent. Aurally, the scores by Kosma, Van Parys, Cornu, and Delerue represent a lineage of French film music, blending orchestral tension with subtle emotional cues; Kosma's melancholy lyricism contrasts Van Parys's ominous builds, while Cornu's jazz hints and Delerue's elegance highlight progression toward more integrated, character-driven soundtracks. They sound authentically flat and consistent in the lossless. The sound mixes are clean and balanced. The mono presentation faithfully reproduces the films' intended auditory restraint, ensuring an authentic viewing experience for purists. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A'-locked Blu-rays.

The Kino Blu-ray set's supplements are commentary-focused, providing insightful context for each film without overwhelming the package. The first Blu-ray includes new audio tracks: for Rhine Virgin, mystery writer Max Allan Collins (Road to Perdition, Quarry), co-author of Spillane - King of Pulp Fiction, teams with film historian Heath Holland (host of the Cereal at Midnight podcast,) for a lively discussion on Jean Gabin's postwar persona and the film's identity themes; for The Beast is Loose, critic Simon Abrams (Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone) delves into Lino Ventura's anti-hero archetype and the polar's Cold War undertones enhancing the viewing experience. Abrams’ insights as a seasoned critic whose work has appeared in outlets like The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and The Village Voice is very welcome.. Theatrical trailers (Rhine Virgin in HD, and The Beast is Loose in SD) round out the disc. On the second Blu-ray, Trapped by Fear features filmmaker Mike Siegel's (Passion & Poetry: The Ballad of Sam Peckinpah) commentary on the Algerian War's influence and Jean-Paul Belmondo's rising stardom, while Passion of Slow Fire reunites Collins and Holland to explore Georges Simenon's psychological intrigue and Édouard Molinaro's direction. These extras add scholarly value for noir aficionados.

The four films of the form a cohesive snapshot of 1950s-1960s French crime cinema, balancing entertainment with profound commentary on human vulnerability. Kino Lorber's French Noir Collection Volume 2 is a solid two-disc Blu-ray set that showcases four underappreciated 1950s-1960s polars - similar to American film noir, the term polar often carries a distinctly French flavor, emphasizing psychological depth and gritty realism over pure action. Jean Gabin (Rififi in Paris, The Sicilian Clan, Razzia Sur La Chnouf, ,La Grande Illusion, Le Jour Se Leve, Le Plaisir,) Lino Ventura (Last Known Address, Army of Shadows, Illustrious Corpses, Classe Tous Risques, Monsieur Gangster, Witness in the City, Le Deuxième souffle, Touchez Pas Au Grisbi, The Sicilian Clan, Speaking of Murder,) and Jean-Paul Belmondo (Le Doulos, The Body of My Enemy, Pierrot Le Fou, Cartouche, The Hunter Will Get You, Borsalino, Le Magnifique, Léon Morin, Priest, Greed in the Sun, The Professional,) bring a rugged, hunky charisma to these French noir films, with Gabin's weathered intensity in Rhine Virgin, Ventura's brooding toughness in The Beast is Loose, and Belmondo's charismatic vitality in Trapped by Fear captivating audiences as quintessential male leads. The sexy gals lighting up the screen include Nadia Gray (Two for the Road, La Dolce Vita and an episode of the TV series The Prisoner) and Elina Labourdette (Lola, Elena and Her Men, the French voice dubbing for Grace Kelly in Rear Window and for Jennifer Jones in Cluny Brown,) adding allure and intrigue in Rhine Virgin, Estella Blain's (The Diabolical Dr. Z, Angelique and the King, The Road to Shame) sultry presence in The Beast is Loose, stunning Sylva Koscina (The Crimes of the Black Cat, A Lovely Way to Die, So Sweet So Dead, The Railroad Man, Deadlier Than the Male, Hornet's Nest, Some Girls Do, Lisa and the Devil,) and Alexandra Stewart (Frantic, Le choc, The Uncanny, The Destructors, Day for Night, The Man Who Had Power Over Women, The Bride Wore Black, Maroc 7, Mickey One, Ro.Go.Pa.G., Goodbye Emmanuelle, The Fire Within, Obsessions, Under the Sand) exuding glamour in Trapped by Fear, and Stewart again as the enigmatic beauty in Passion of Slow Fire. With high-quality StudioCanal restorations, make it an essential pickup for fans of French crime cinema seeking pristine presentations of Rhine Virgin, The Beast is Loose, Trapped by Fear, and Passion of Slow Fire. The video and audio upgrades improve into their moody visuals and soundscapes, while the new commentaries provide engaging analysis that elevates the viewing experience; at a reasonable price point for a boutique release, it's a worthwhile addition to any noir library, bridging poetic realism and New Wave influences. This Blu-ray. package is enthusiastically recommended.

Gary Tooze