Priceless (Hors de prix) (2006)

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General		Extras
Category	Romantic Comedy	Main Menu Audio Featurette-Making Of-(26:41) Full Frame with optional English subtitles. Deleted Scenes-4 Deleted Scenes-Full Frame with optional English subtitles Featurette-Behind The Scenes- (5:22) Gag Reel-Full Frame with optional English subtitles Theatrical Trailer-(2:01) French Trailer Theatrical Trailer-Madman Propaganda
Rating
Year Of Production	2006
Running Time	101:24 (Case: 104)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Pierre Salvadori
Studio Distributor	Les Films Pelléas Madman Entertainment	Starring	Gad Elmaleh Audrey Tautou Marie-Christine Adam Vernon Dobtcheff Jacques Spiesser Annelise Hesme Charlotte Vermeil Claudine Baschet Laurent Claret Jean de Coninck Blandine Pélissier Philippe Vendan-Borin Bernard Bourdeau
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	?	Music	Camille Bazbaz

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	French Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English (Burned In)	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	Yes
		Action In or After Credits	No

Two of France’s brightest stars – Audrey Tautou and Gad Elmaleh unite for Hors de prix (2006), the new romantic comedy from Pierre Salvadori.

Hors de prix (Priceless) is the tale of Irène (Tautou), a beautiful young woman whose idea of happiness is high-end fashion, designer shoes and diamonds, and Jean (Elmaleh), a humble employee at a luxury hotel in the south of France, who is somewhat misplaced amongst the glamorous and wealthy who surround him.

In the dead hours of the night Jean falls asleep at the hotel bar but is awakened by the charming Irène, who invites him to have a drink with her – it’s her birthday and Jacques (Vernon Dobtcheff), the older man she is with has fallen asleep. Unbeknownst to Irène, she has in fact made her first error of the evening – Jean is actually the barman. Still Jean innocently plays along and the two drink into the night. In the early hours of the morning Jean wakes up alone but remains besotted by the mysterious Irène.

One year passes and it is Irène’s birthday again. Irène is at the hotel and still in the arms of Jacques yet she sneaks out in the middle of the night to meet Jean. When Jacques finds out he is being cheated on he unceremoniously dumps Irène and she returns to Jean - who she believes is a young wealthy suitor. But then Jean is revealed to be a modest employee and she furiously storms out. Irène is alone and penniless, no longer does she have a rich man to pay for all her heart’s desires.

While Irène tries to seduce another, Jean tries to impress her – although it becomes increasingly clear she may be out of his league, or is she?

When Irène spots Jean on the arm of Madeline (Marie-Christine Adam) a rich older woman, she is intrigued and begins to instruct Jean in her devious ways and may perhaps even be falling for him.

Both Tautou and Elmaleh are amiable in the roles – she a gold digger with a heart of gold and he a timid somewhat naïve individual who has eyes only for her. The dialogue and sight gags are well paced and the south of France locations are elegantly captured, in short, Salvadori’s Hors de prix is another charming(amoral) comedy. Recommend to fans of Tautou and Elmaleh, as well as fans of Salvadori’s acclaimed Apres Vous… (2003).  

Video

The PAL transfer is particularly good preserving the lush cinematography and rich colour palette of the film.

Presented in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 widescreen, the transfer is relatively clean with no incidents of film grain and is free of MPEG compression artefacts.

The consistent high encoding bit-rate of 7.25 Mbps over a Dual Layer DVD achieves an overall smooth transfer.

Black levels and shadow detail are excellent.

The English subtitles are burnt onto the print of the film and are a good translation of the French dialogue.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
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Audio

The audio presentation is also very good. There are two French soundtracks available – Dolby Digital 2.0 and Dolby Digital 5.1. As expected the soundtrack does not make full use of the surround sound but dialogue remains clear and the audio track is faultless.

The dialogue is mostly emitted from the front of the soundstage with occasional atmospheric sound and score emitted from the rear speakers.

The music score by Camille Bazbaz is light, engaging and dramatic without being domineering. All round, this is a well produced soundtrack for a romantic comedy.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Main Menu Audio

The main menu is a still image of the cover-art, accompanied with a section of the score. The menu is easy to navigate with access to twelve scene selections, set-up and access to the various extras.

The Making of Priceless

This making-of is a nice inclusion on the local DVD. The featurette focuses on the script, directing technique, casting, set design, comic timing and improvisation. An English subtitle stream automatically accompanies the featurette. (Full Frame) (26:41)

Deleted Scenes

There are four deleted scenes presented in Full Frame:

1: The Perfume (2:17)

2: Happy Birthday (2:37)

3: Beauty Salon (1:49)

4: The Watch (3:37)

 An English subtitle stream automatically accompanies each scene.

Behind the Scenes of Priceless

The staple of a comedy production – the gag reel. (5:22)

Theatrical Trailer

The French trailer with burnt-in English subtitles (2:01)

Madman Propaganda

An anti-piracy warning focused on the Australian film industry, precedes the following trailers:

• Après vous...
• L’ Équipier
• Tais Toi!
• La Doublure  

The R2 (France) release includes the same technical specifications and extras as the R4 plus:

• French DTS soundtrack
• French Hard of Hearing subtitles
• Director’s Commentary with Pierre Salvadori
• A feature titled Coulisses

Salvadori’s Hors de prix is another charming (amoral) comedy. Audrey Tautou and Gad Elmaleh both shine in this romantic comedy of errors.

The Madman DVD as a whole package is commendable; it includes a good transfer and flawless soundtrack and a selection of extras which are informative and entertaining.

All round this is a great DVD release of the popular French comedy.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall