The Closet (Placard, Le) (2001) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Comedy |
Main Menu Audio Theatrical Trailer-2 Teaser Trailer Easter Egg Featurette-Set Construction Biographies-Cast & Crew Trailer-Kandahar; Lumumba; Monsoon Wedding; No Man's Land |
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Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 2001 | ||
Running Time | 81:20 (Case: 84) | ||
RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Directed By | Francis Veber |
Studio
Distributor |
Madman Entertainment |
Starring |
Daniel Auteuil Gerard Depardieu Thierry Lhermitte Michele Laroque Michel Aumont Jean Rochefort |
Case | Click | ||
RPI | ? | Music | Vladimir Cosma |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Auto Pan & Scan Encoded |
French Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) |
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Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
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Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | Yes | ||
Subtitles | English | Smoking | Yes |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
The Closet (Le Placard) is a French comedy about a man who claims to be gay in order to avoid being fired.
Francois Pignon (Daniel Auteuil) works as an accountant for a rubber company that produces condoms. His wife has left him, his son does not want to have anything to do with him and all his fellow workers feel he is boring and uninteresting. When he overhears fellow workers discussing the company's plans to fire him, Francois is unable to take any more and he contemplates suicide. His new neighbour, Jean-Pierre (Michel Aumont), can see Francois's problems and comes up with a plan to allow him to keep his job. They decide to spread a rumour that Francois is gay so that the company will not fire him, as they will be afraid of being sued for sexual discrimination. This plan works and Francois's workers and family start to see him in a completely new context, with some unexpected results...
This film comes from successful French writer/director Francis Veber, who was also responsible for the widely-known French films The Dinner Game and La Cage Aux Folles. Veber's films have also often become successful American remakes. Some of the American films based on his works include Quick Change, The Toy, Pure Luck, The Birdcage, Fathers Day and Three Fugitives which was also directed by Veber. This film continues Veber's string of successful comedy releases and it has received wide critical acclaim.
The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced.
The transfer is consistently sharp throughout and high levels of detail are always visible. No low-level noise was detected at any time during the transfer. During the occasional darkly lit scenes, excellent levels of shadow detail are always visible.
The transfer displays a very natural colour palette throughout and it is always vibrant and well saturated. During the factory scenes, the palette displays a large number of greys and silvers and these are accurately reproduced.
No MPEG artefacts were detected at any time during the transfer.
A number of aliasing artefacts may be seen during the transfer. Some examples of these artefacts may be seen at 5:16, 5:26, 5:57, 18:01 and 40:16. A number of moiré artefacts are present during the transfer. Examples of these artefacts may be seen at 15:31, 20:46, 25:52 and 40:09. These artefacts vary in severity and are moderately distracting to the viewer.
A very small number of minor film artefacts may be seen during the transfer. Some examples of these artefacts may be seen at 15:28 and 21:58 but these are very minor and are unlikely to be detected by most viewers.
A single set of yellow English subtitles is provided on this disc and they are always clear and easy to read. At 10:27, a subtitle line appears on screen for only a single frame as it is placed across a cell boundary. Luckily, this line is for dialogue heard on the radio and is not required by the viewer.
The packaging incorrectly claims that this is a dual layered DVD-9 when the disc is actually a single layered DVD-5.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
The dialogue is clear and easy to understand at all times.
During the French track, no problems with audio sync were detected. Conversely, during the English track little effort appeared to have been put into trying to match the dialogue with the actors' movements. No drop-outs were detected at any time.
The score by Vladimir Cosma is used effectively throughout the film and always helps to set the mood for the on-screen action.
The audio mix is tightly focused across the front three channels and the surround and subwoofer channels are only used minimally throughout the transfer for the musical score, rarely making their presence felt.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
The non-animated menu is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced.
This trailer is presented with a French Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and it is not 16x9 enhanced.
This trailer is presented with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.
This trailer is presented with a French Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.
This is a short segment showing the construction of the sets for the film. This featurette is presented with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and it is not 16x9 enhanced.
Multiple page profiles are provided for Daniel Auteuil, Gérard Depardieu, Thierry Lhermitte and Francis Veber.
This trailer is presented with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and it is not 16x9 enhanced.
This trailer is presented with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and it is not 16x9 enhanced.
This trailer is presented with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and it is not 16x9 enhanced.
This trailer is presented with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and it is not 16x9 enhanced.
On the Promotion menu, press either the down or up arrow to leave the list of trailers and the condom on the right of the screen will be highlighted. Press Enter to display an advertisement for the company's condoms. This extra is presented with a French Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;
The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;
The French Region 2 version of this disc misses out on;
The French region 2 version of this disc is technically clearly the version of choice, but as the additional features are unlikely to contain English subtitles they may be of little use to non French speaking viewers. If you do not speak French the local release should be sufficient.
Le Placard is an entertaining French comedy that should appeal to a wide audience.
The excellent video transfer is only let down by the occasional presence of aliasing artefacts.
The front-focused French soundtrack is enjoyable but the English dub track should be avoided if possible.
The small collection of extras is interesting but provides little insight into the film.
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Review Equipment | |
DVD | Toshiba 2109, using S-Video output |
Display | Sony KP-E41SN11. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
Amplification | Front left/right: ME75b; Center: DA50ES; rear left/right: DA50ES; subwoofer: NAD 2600 (Bridged) |
Speakers | Front left/right: VAF DC-X; Center: VAF DC-6; rear left/right: VAF DC-7; subwoofer: Custom NHT-1259 |