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My Night at Maud'sRating:
Release Date: 10 June, 2003 Retail Price: $14.98 OUR Price: $14.15 You SAVE: $0.83! Cast: |
My Night at Maud's Reviews
An unforgettable ending
I must have watched this film at least twenty times--it never gets boring. A lot of talking in this film--if you don't know French, have fun reading the relentless subtitles. Interesting dialog about Pascal--the idea of fate, luck, wager. It serves as the film's allegory--gambling on a relationship with a person who is both sensual and pious. Can there be happiness in such a combination? One has to only take a chance. And even though you may think you found that special someone with both attributes, there's always a catch. And the catch in "...Maud's" is revealed at the end of the film--which is absolutely beautiful. The DVD is not as bad as some of the reviews here claim it to be--it's black and white, so with the exception of a couple of scenes with weak contrasts, I think it's an above average transfer. Heck, it's shot by Cuba's very own Oscar winner Nestor Almendros (Days of Heaven).
5 Stars for Rohmer's Film; only 1 Star for Fox Lorber's DVD
First of all, I want to stress that there is siginifcant disjunction here between the quality of MY NIGHT AT MAUD'S as a film, and the dismal quality of the Fox Lorber DVD. Thus, my criticism is not addressed to the film itself, which, like every one of Rohmer's Six Moral Tales, I would highly recommend, but to the lackluster transfer from Fox Lorber. I am in full agreement with the reviewer who argued that the film itself deserves 5 stars, whereas the DVD itself offers nothing better than a vhs quality audio and video transfer (in fact, this trasfer is below the standards of many vhs releases). Moreover, as with their many Godard and Truffaut releases, Fox Lorber has marked only 6 chapter headings. Now how hard is it to bookmark a chapter heading? Of course, I suppose that would actually require taking some interest in the film itself, so as to gadge the appropriate moments to bookmark.
In sum, this DVD does not even have the advantage of convenient chapter options. It is a shame that a company who owns the rights to so many great films repeatedly releases such poorly engineered DVDs. There are, of course, exceptions (more recent titles, of few of the Truffaut releases, or Godard's "Vivre Sa Vie," for example). Nonetheless, I have come to expect from Fox Lorber below average video and audio quality, along with few special features, if any (even the director and actor videographies are often incomplete). Even though I own many DVDs from Fox Lorber, inspite of their mediocre quality, this is one issue that I cannot recommend. In fact, I first rented this film on DVD, but elected to purchase a...VHS copy, instead. MY NIGHT AT MAUD'S is a remarkably subtle, yet powerful, filmic treatment of infidelity and the complexity of human relationships. However, do not waste your money on this DVD release.
To cite one auspicious development, Criterion has acquired the rights to many foreign titles from Fox Lorber's new parent company, Wellspring, and there have been credible rumors that Criterion will be releasing special editions of several Rohmer titles, including My Night at Maud's. Thus, with any luck, this film will soon receive the DVD treatment it deserves. Until then, however, I recommend holding on to your vhs copies.
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