The Widow Couderc (Veuve Couderc, La) (1971)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1971
Running Time	85:35
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Pierre Granier-Deferre
Studio Distributor	Canal+ Madman Entertainment	Starring	Alain Delon Simone Signoret Ottavia Piccolo Jean Tissier Monique Chaumette Boby Lapointe Jean-Pierre Castaldi Pierre Collet Robert Favart André Rouyer François Valorbe
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	Box	Music	Philippe Sarde

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	French Dolby Digital 1.0 (192Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 1.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.66:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.66:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    La Veuve Couderc is an excellent melodrama based on a novel by Georges Simenon.

    Set in Pre War France 1934, the late Simone Signoret is remarkable in her role as the title character - a lonely bitter middle-aged widow, who begins an unlikely relationship with the mysterious stranger Jean Lavigne (Delon).

     The two meet fortuitously when Lavigne comes to town looking for work and Coudrec, although fearlessly independent, offers Lavigne odd jobs around her farm and welcomes his friendship.

    Both loners eventually become lovers, and the relationship is unsurprisingly not encouraged by the other members of the community – particularly Couderc’s- in-laws with whom she has a torrid past with.

    Directed with attention to detail and a sense of authenticity by the late Pierre Granier-Deferre, in relation to the daily happenings of the rural location, the film is driven by enigmatic performances from both leads.

Video

     Presented in 1:66:1 16x9 enhanced widescreen, the transfer is satisfactory considering the age of the film.

    The colour scheme is natural, although it may seem overly bright and washed out at times.

    The transfer remains at most times sharp and defined.

    Shadow detail is equally adequate.

    Mild film grain and assorted artefacts appear throughout the feature film.

    The subtitles for the French dialogue are presented in a clear yellow font.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
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Audio

    There are two audio soundtracks available; one is 1.0 French mono, the other a 1.0 dubbed English soundtrack. Both soundtracks are clear and don’t exhibit any problems. The original soundtrack score was composed by Philippe Sarde.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Main Menu

    A still from the film with options for 12 scene selections and subtitle options.

   This title is currently only available in R4 as part of the ‘French Screen Icons – Alain Delon 1’ series from Madman. Overseas this title is also available in the US, UK and France as part of similarly themed barebones boxsets.

     La Veuve Couderc is an excellent melodrama featuring intense performances from Signoret and Delon. The DVD is adequately produced with decent picture and sound.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall