The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981) |
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The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Romance | Theatrical Trailer | |
| Rating | ? | ||
| Year Of Production | 1981 | ||
| Running Time | 118:37 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | RSDL (66:02) | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Language Select Then Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | Karel Reisz |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Twentieth Century Fox |
Starring |
Meryl Streep Jeremy Irons |
| Case | ? | ||
| RPI | $36.95 | Music | Carl Davis |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Auto Pan & Scan Encoded |
English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
 |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English German French Italian Spanish Dutch Swedish Norwegian Danish |
Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | Yes, credits roll over final scene | ||
This movie is astonishingly good. It is a dark 'gothic' tale of forbidden love, that never feels the need to play to the lowest common denominator.
John Fowles' novel The French Lieutenant's Woman has attracted a good deal of literary attention since it was published in 1969. Sometimes referred to as 'experimental', the novel had two different endings. The novel was adapted for the screen by renowned playwright Harold Pinter. Pinter's own work has attracted a great deal of attention, as some describe it as 'absurd', and others 'genius'. Pinter has added a new element to the story of the novel, which makes this movie a little strange, yet compelling. While the novel is set solely in the mid 19th century, Pinter's script has two parallel story lines, in two eras.
Mike (Jeremy Irons) and Anna (Meryl Streep) are starring in a movie called 'The French Lieutenant's Woman'. This movie is set in mid-nineteenth century England. In this movie, ambitious Charles (Jeremy Irons) is engaged to wealthy Erestina (Lynsey Baxter). All is going well until Charles has a chance meeting with Sarah (Meryl Streep). Sarah is considered to be a 'scarlet woman' and is socially shunned by the townsfolk. Charles is at first driven to distraction by Sarah, but soon he becomes obsessed with her. Meanwhile, there is a parallel storyline between Mike and Anna in the 1980s.
The direction is superb, and the acting by the two leads is marvellous. There are also a host of great supporting actors, such as Leo McKern. Of note, the cinematography by Freddie Francis is breathtaking. Francis has been the Director of Photography on a variety of movies such as The Elephant Man (1980), Dune (1984), Glory (1989) and Cape Fear (1991). His work here, however, must surely be his best. Many of his shots resemble nineteenth century paintings, and there were a number of scenes that I rewatched simply to enjoy the photography.
The quality of this transfer is wonderful for its age.
The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.
While the sharpness was a little variable, it was good for the most part. Some scenes, such as the cobbled street, stone wall and greenery at 9:12 contained a great deal of sharp detail. The black level and shadow detail were good, as evidenced by the subtle details in the shot of Sarah sitting in the darkened room at 15:04.
At times, the colour looked a little washed-out, but this suited the overall 'gothic' look and feel of the movie, and may have been intentional.
There were a few MPEG artefacts, but nothing to really complain of. There was some very, very mild pixelization, such as in the shot of the sea at 22:57; some mild posterization, such as on Sarah's face at 27:04; and some very, very mild macro-blocking, such as on the door in the background at 36:24. There was also a minor glitch at 45:53, when it appears that there was a temporary loss of data.
There were no film-to-video Artefacts such as aliasing or telecine wobble to complain of.
Tiny film artefacts appear throughout the movie, but lessen in frequency as the movie progresses. A smattering of these tiny flecks can be seen between 16:44 and 16:48.
There are nine sets of subtitles, and the English subtitles are accurate.
This is a RSDL disc, with the layer change placed during Chapter 10 at 66:02. It is very smooth and as it is between scenes, it is not disruptive.
| Sharpness |  |
| Shadow Detail |  |
| Colour | |
| Grain/Pixelization | |
| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
| Film Artefacts | |
| Overall | |
Apart from the default English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio track, there are also four other Dolby Digital 2.0 mono tracks: German, French, Italian, and Spanish.
The dialogue quality is great and audio sync is reasonable on the default English audio track. Very occasionally, the synching appeared slightly out, such as at 28:30.
The musical score is credited to Carl Davis who has composed a haunting score utilising strings, and later piano. While at times it sounded slightly melodramatic, it suited the brooding movie very well.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track was not surround encoded, and thus the surround speakers and subwoofer were not called upon.
| Dialogue | |
| Audio Sync | |
| Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
| Surround Channel Use |  |
| Subwoofer | |
| Overall | |
The extras are slim.
A very simple menu, presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced. It is static and silent.
Theatrical Trailer (1:55)
This one minute and fifty five second trailer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, 16x9 enhanced, with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
This title was released on DVD in Region 1 in September 2001.
The Region 4 DVD misses out on:
The Region 1 DVD misses out on:
I would favour the local release for its affordability, and most importantly, its superior PAL image.
While on some levels this movie is a little 'art-house' and esoteric, I also found it to be very absorbing and accessible. I thoroughly recommend it as an alternative to the 'mindless action flick'. It is possibly the most thought-provoking romantic movie that I have ever seen.
The video quality is very good.
The audio quality is reasonable.
The extras are slim.
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Extras |  |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer DV-535, using S-Video output |
| Display | Grundig Elegance 82-2101 (82cm, 16x9). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Sony STR DE-545 |
| Speakers | Sony SS-V315 x5; Sony SA-WMS315 subwoofer |