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Released by: Twilight Time
Released: January, 2015.
Director: Franí§ois Truffaut
Cast: Jeanne Moreau, Jean-Claude Brialy, Michel Bouquet
Year: 1968
Purchase From Screen Archives
The Movie:
Directed by Franí§ois Truffaut in 1968, The Bride Wore Black (La Mariee Etait En Noir) introduces us to a beautiful woman named Julie Kohler (Jeanne Moreau). After being prevented from committing suicide, we see her go about systematically murdering a carefully chosen group of men. Each murder is committed in a different style but with the same amount of careful planning and precision, there is no happenstance to any of this, she very much knows what she is doing - but why is she doing it?
Some time ago she was married but shortly after the ceremony itself was completed, a gun went off and her husband was shot dead. The man responsible for the murder was Delvaux (Daniel Boulanger) but he convinces the four friends - Bliss (Claude Rich), Coral (Michel Bouquet), Rene (Michael Lonsdale) and Fergus (Charles Denner) - who were with him when the accident occurred to keep quiet. Julie figures this out and gets the revenge that consumes her, but as she goes about her plot, complications can and will arise, the kind of complications that make murder a very difficult endeavor indeed.
Co-written by Truffaut and Jean-Louis Richard and based on the book by Cornell Woolrich, The Bride Wore Black is a chilling and suspenseful picture that, as the text on the back of the Blu-ray case so accurately states, casts Moreau as 'an avenging angel.' She's a beautiful woman to be sure and Truffaut goes to great lengths to ensure that the cinematography in his film captures that as best it can, but so too is she capable of doing whatever it takes to complete her mission of vengeance - a great example being her willingness to manipulate innocent characters to get closer to her desired target.
Moreau, who had worked with Truffaut prior on Jules Et Jim (and who was remarkably prolific and dependable throughout the sixties, working with directors as esteemed as Orson Welles and Luis Buí±uel), proves to be perfectly cast here, playing the role with a cold, distant quality entirely befitting of a woman out to kill, but there are subtleties to her work here that allude to more. Her 'confession' to a priest towards the end of the film tells us just how ruined she is since her husband's death, you get the impression she wants to join him but feels she needs to finish her mission first. The rest of the cast all do fine work here, each of her victims being given his own personality, but it really is Moreau who you'll walk away remembering and thinking about. Her performance in this picture is as perfect as it gets and she's as adept at using body language to communicate her character's feelings as dialogue.
Truffaut being Truffaut was just as interested in crafting a film ripe with symbolism and metaphor as he was in creating a picture ripe with entertainment value. Here he succeeds marvelously on both counts. The influence of Hitchcock looms large over the film, with some of the master's trademark point of view shots paying obvious homage, but the uniquely French locations and cast make this one stand out on its own. The score, from master composer Bernard Herrmann, accentuates all of the tension and murderous mayhem in excellent ways, going quiet when it needs to and getting right up front in the mix when the time is right. It's a movie where everything comes together, a veritable masterpiece of tension draped in all the trappings of an art film and all the better for it.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The Bride Wore Black on Blu-ray from Twilight Time, framed in its proper 1.66.1 widescreen aspect ratio in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer on a 50GB disc. Some shots do look a little softer than others but for the most part the image here is quite strong in detail, texture and depth. Colors are reproduced very nicely, though there is a bit of fading in some spots, while the black levels tend to be pretty strong. Skin tones look nice and lifelike and the picture is clean and clear and free of all but minor print damage. There are no issues with noise reduction or compression issues and this is quite a solid looking transfer of a very handsomely made film.
The French language DTS-HD Mono track is also quite good. It has more depth than most single channel tracks do and the dialogue sounds quite natural and properly mixed in against the score. This isn't a particularly effects heavy track so Mono works just fine. The score has good range and presence to it and there are no problems with any hiss or distortion. Forced English subtitles are provided for the French language version. The English dubbed version is also included here and it too sounds fine but not quite as strong as the French option.
Extras start off with a commentary track by Twilight Time's own Nick Redman and Julie Kirgo joined by Bernard Herrmann biographer Steven Smith. They start off by talking about Jeanne Moreau and the opening sequence of the film in which we see the nude images of her coming off of the press over and over again, and how this indicates things to come and how the movie deals with the ways in which men look at women. Smith talks about how Herrmann was unhappy with Truffaut's alterations of some of the music made for the picture, while Kirgo notes how the director's tendency to be quiet on the set could lead to problems for his collaborators. We learn about how the music enhances the 'journey into death' that occurs in the film, the influence of Hitchcock, the locations used in the film and interestingly enough the use of children in a key scene in the picture. There's a lot of interesting observations made as to the mercilessness of Moreau's character in the film as well as the beautiful camerawork used in the film. All in all, it's a thorough and interesting critical analysis of the film loaded with insight and interesting trivia.
Rounding out the extras on the Blu-ray disc are an isolated music and effects track in DTS-HD 2.0 mono, the film's original theatrical trailer, the MGM 90th Anniversary trailer, menus and chapter selection. Also included inside the case with the Blu-ray disc is a CD containing a seventy-nine minute recording of an audio interview with Bernard Herrmann that covers much of his career recorded in 1970. Titled Conversation Piece: An Unvarnished Chat With Bernard Herrmann it's a really interesting and welcome addition to the extras on this release. Originally recorded for a Los Angeles Free Press article, this recording was never meant for the public to hear and so we get the chance to really hear Herrmann express his thoughts on certain aspects of his career without holding back. It's presented as is - the phone rings in the background, Herrmann comes across as crotchety and periodically angry - but it's fascinating to hear.
As is the norm with Twilight Time Blu-ray releases, we also get a full color insert booklet containing a reproduction of the original poster art and some archival stills as well as an informative essay on the picture written by Julie Kirgo. This piece provides some interesting insight into where the filmmaker was at during this point in his career, working as a film critic for Cahiers Du Cinema and working as a director as well. We also learn of the influence of Hitchcock on The Bride Wore Black, how the film works as a take on 'the war of the sexes' and some critical analysis of the picture. A good read as always.
The Final Word:
The Bride Wore Black comes together beautifully. The film is wonderfully shot and the performances, particularly from Jeanne Moreau, are great and Herrmann's score is fantastic. It's a tense and exciting thriller and this Blu-ray release from Twilight Time really does it justice. The movie looks great, the audio quality is strong and there are some really enjoyable and informative supplements included here to compliment the feature.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
