- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Audio Codec: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1,French LPCM 2.0 Stereo (48kHz/24-bit)
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (24Hz)
- Subtitles: English (Forced)
- Region: B (Region-Locked)
- Certification: 15
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
- Studio: StudioCanal (UK)
- Run Time: 102 Mins.
- Blu-ray Release Date: October 11, 2011
- RRP: £22.99
[amazon-product region=”uk” tracking_id=”bluraydefinit-21″]B005GJTM22[/amazon-product]
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Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:4.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1.5/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Film
[Rating:4.5/5]
Potiche (Trophy Wife) is an absolute delight to watch from beginning to end. Catherine Deneuve, the once screen sex symbol has long since proven she is more than just a pretty face and a sexy body and now, in her older years, every film I see her in, such as A Christmas Tale, she is just radiant and powerful, it’s like the other actors revolve around her like the sun. In Potiche, she anchors a brilliant farce that reminds a lot of a sort of French feminist version of Arrested Development, only with an even more subtle level of humor.
Set in 1977, the story is of Suzanne Pujols (Deneuve), a “trophy wife” whose husband Robert (Fabrice Luchini) is one day taken hostage by striking workers at the family’s umbrella factory. When Robert is finally released, but too ill to resume his duties as CEO, Suzanne instead takes his place at the head of the company. Surprising everyone, she proves herself a much more competent leader than her husband and improves the company’s business. But Suzanne must deal with the reemergence of a past lover, the town’s communist mayor (Gérard Depardieu), and her jealous husband who wants to seize control of the company back from her.
Unfortunately for Robert, it’s a new era, and after years of suffering through his infidelities and being treated like no more than a mindless prop by him and their children, Suzanne has found her calling, and she’s not willing to give up control of what was her father’s company or her newfound independence without a fight.
Potiche is simply delectable. There are so many subtle jokes in this film that you must watch this more than once to catch everything and Deneuve is truly the force that drives the whole film forward. With the entire story pretty much centered around her journey as a housewife and businesswoman, the film depends on her performance, and she does not disappoint at all.
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Potiche is meant to have a faded out look of a1970’s sort of film, so its color palette doesn’t ever jump out at you, but this AVC encodement is a strong one nonetheless. The grain structure is fine, detail is quite strong far into the backgrounds and shadow delineation is nicely extended in darker scenes. Contrast is purposely limited a bit as an artistic choice and whites somewhat blown out as well.
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
While the French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is certainly dynamic, airy, natural sounding, and clear, there is hardly much of anything going on in the surround channels. Atmospherics are very limited, although they do occasionally get your attention, like a doorbell buzzing or the sounds of the Pujol’s umbrella factory at work, but otherwise the mix is a bit dry.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1.5/5]
The supplements are really weak on this release, unfortunately. They haven’t even provided an interview with any of the actors. What you get are some outtakes, a brief costume test, and the teaser trailer, all in standard definition.
The supplements:
- Outtakes (1.78:1; PAL; 00:21:19)
- Test Costumes (1.85:1; PAL; 00:05:43)
- Teaser Trailer (1.85:1; PAL)
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:4/5]
In spite of the lack of good extras, I have to recommend this one to anyone wanting to see a charming and humorous film starring one of the legendary actresses of all time. It looks great on Blu-ray, so pick up Potiche.
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product region=”uk” tracking_id=”bluraydefinit-21″]B005GJTM22[/amazon-product]
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.co.uk
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:4.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1.5/5]
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