The Burned Barns (Les granges brulées) (1973)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1973
Running Time	94:34
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Jean Chapot
Studio Distributor	Canal+ Madman Entertainment	Starring	Alain Delon Simone Signoret Paul Crauchet Bernard Le Coq Christian Barbier Pierre Rousseau Miou-Miou Jean Bouise Catherine Allégret Fernand Ledoux Renato Salvatori Armand Abplanalp
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	Box	Music	Jean-Michel Jarre

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

     Two years after La veuve Couderc, Les granges brulées reunited Alain Delon with Simone Signoret, in a somewhat similar setting Haut Jura (Eastern France).

    Directed by the late Jean Chapot, Les granges brulées opens with the discovery of a corpse of a young woman. The murder has taken place near ‘Les granges brulées,’ the farm and land owned by Rose (Signoret). Judge Pierre Larcher (Delon) arrives at’ Les granges brulées’ determined to find the killer, he initially suspects Rose’s sons, Paul and Louis, who’s alibi’s are flawed, but as the investigation continues, family secrets are revealed, pitting the headstrong matriarch Rose against Larcher.

     Unlike a traditional policier, Les granges brulées is focused on the disintegration of the family unit, rather than the murder investigation itself. Also of importance is the relationship and growing admiration between Rose and Larcher, who in many respects are just people trying to do what is morally right.

Video

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

     The colour scheme is natural, but mild chroma noise is visible throughout the feature film.

    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.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    There is only a 1.0 mono dubbed English soundtrack available on this DVD.

    This soundtrack is clear and does not exhibit any problems.

     The original electronic soundtrack was composed by Jean Michel Jarre. This is an excellent score which builds upon the suspense elements of the film.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Main Menu

     A still from the film with an option for 12 scene selections.

    This title is currently only available in Region 4 as part of the ‘French Screen Icons – Alain Delon 1’ series from Madman.
Overseas this title is only available in the Region 2 (France) 10 Disc barebones boxset of Alain Delon films from Studio Canal.

    Les granges brulées is probably most renowned for its soundtrack by Jarre, but the film is an enjoyable mystery, featuring an impressive cast of two generations of French cinema icons. The DVD is adequately produced with satisfactory picture – the only letdown is the absence of the original French soundtrack.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall