Inspector Lavardin
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Synopsis
Inspector Lavardin sees the titular detective investigating the murder of a wealthy and respected catholic author, renowned for his outspoken views against indecency, whose body is found naked and dead on the beach.
Picture 8/10
The second dual-layer disc in Arrow’s new box set Lies & Deceit: Five Films by Claude Chabrol presents the follow-up to Cop au Vin (the first film in the set), Inspector Lavardin, which is presented in the aspect ratio of 1.66:1 with a 1080p/24hz high-definition encode.
Arrow’s notes only mention that they were supplied a high-def master from MK2 and don’t offer much detail outside of that, but like with the previous film, if I was forced to guess, I would say it at least looks recent, maybe a 4K scan, or a very good 2K one, and more than likely taken from the negative. Yet again we get a highly detailed image, consistently sharp and crisp throughout (outside of footage that is supposed to come from video tape), delivering every fine detail and texture without a sweat. Film grain is very fine but cleanly rendered, never looking like noise, further aiding in that film look.
The colours do have the yellowish/green tint thing going on, though I don’t think it’s too bad; nothing comes off excessively yellow or green compared to some messes I've seen through the years, with whites at least coming off more along the lines of a warm white. More or less. Still, blues are rare, and shots of the sky or of water are closer to cyan in appearance. The black levels can also come off milky in the shadows, which limits details there. I haven’t seen the film prior to this release so can’t say if this is how the colours should look, but comparing them to what is found in an older standard-definition presentation sampled in one of the disc’s archival features (the Chabrol commentaries), I’d say the colours may look a little better here. The old ones, based on what that older presentation shows, push more towards red, while a day-for-night sequence taking place on the beach looks brutal thanks to a heavy push on the blue filter. That same day-for-night sequence in this new presentation has toned the blue levels down, allowing for more range and definition in the image. It’s still clearly a day-for-night sequence, but it looks significantly better. Of course, whether it's "correct," I don't know.
As with the previous film there is really no damage to speak of, just a few flecks here and there at worst. Outside of that the image is surprisingly clean and the end presentation and encode are both sharp.
Inspector Lavardin - Screen Captures
Audio 7/10
The film comes with a lossless single-channel PCM soundtrack. Like the previous film it manages to surprise with excellent range and fidelity. Dialogue sounds very clear and crisp, and it reaches some impressive highs without any sort of distortion, best shown in some of the film’s louder nightclub sequences.
Extras 5/10
The supplements come off a bit slighter for Inspector Lavardin, both in quantity and quality, compared to what Arrow put together for Cop au Vin. Things start off again with a brand-new audio commentary recorded by Ben Sachs, following the track he created for the previous film. I wasn’t terribly fond of the track created for that film and sadly I have to say this one can probably be skipped as well, a shame since it starts out well enough. Sachs again feels to be winging it, not properly prepared outside of maybe noting some things he wants to cover, but the first little bit of the track finds some focus in Sachs observing how the film’s tackling of not only the bourgeoisie, but also of the Catholic church, does call back to his earlier work, Le beau Serge coming up, and he manages to glean some material out of that by talking about some of Chabrol's other work. He also comments on the noir and classical detective elements found within the film, and Sachs has a bit of fun with the concept that the film is about "family togetherness," with Lavardin as some sort of surrogate patriarch to the film's central family. Unfortunately, he yet again throws in unfinished thoughts that don’t go much of anywhere and it feels as though he’s just grasping for things to talk about as the track goes on, leading to an insane amount of dead space in the last half when he can't come up with anything. Lavardin doesn't show up in a scene or two? Okay, great! Why is that important outside of being just a random observation? I ended up a bit more frustrated this time around because I do get the feeling Sachs loves Chabrol’s work, is knowledgeable, and has a lot to say, it just doesn’t come through. Maybe these weren't the right films to cover? At the very least, Sachs doesn't devolve into just recounting what he read on IMDB, or worse, actually going through the site while doing the commentary (yes, I've heard that happen).
Still, what is most frustrating about the track is that I should be a prime target for this subject matter. I know very little about Chabrol, all of my knowledge coming down to what I can remember from reading about him and his films through the years, what I remember from Adrian Martin’s commentary for Les cousins over 10 years ago, and the five and a half films that I’ve now seen (I’m halfway through Madame Bovary, with two more films to go in the set), so it shouldn’t be at all hard to dazzle me. I'm an idiot when it comes to this subject and I'm the perfect specimen for even the most general of Chabrol-centric commentaries, yet I don’t feel I came out of the track any wiser. I feel like a complete asshole saying any of this because a.) I've sat through (and shut off) far worse so it's not fair to pick this track to go off on, and b.) commentaries are not easy and I would never be able to do one, ever (and if I ever did it would be nothing short of an atrocity). But I listen to a lot of these, a lot, and it's frustrating when it feels like the commentator, who should be passionate and ready to go, doesn't feel to be fully invested in the material they're covering, seem to be reaching for things to cover, or are just not prepared. It's just all really, really disappointing when I'm genuinely looking forward to learning anything new or looking at something from a different perspective and it becomes clear it isn't going to happen.
At any rate...
I ended up getting much more out of the 16-minute interview with film critic Sam Wigley, who, despite what I assume is some nervousness on his part, walks us through Chabrol’s work, his style, what attracts him as film director, his influences, and his legacy today. He even takes a bit of time to talk about some of the director’s more obscure works. It’s obviously not in-depth or that varied but I still thought it was a great primer, especially for people even greener than me on the topic of Chabrol.
Arrow then packs in a couple of archival features, both created for previous DVD editions, starting with what is a 3-minute introduction by critic Joël Magny, who quickly goes over the film, even mentioning it possibly started out as an entirely different film not based around the Lavardin character. Following that is another select-scene commentary featuring Chabrol himself. He talks over the opening, a midsection, what could be called “the reveal” and then the ending. Like the previous recording it’s very technical in nature but enjoyable, the good-humored director explaining his choices in framing, camera movement, angles, and jumping between noir and classical styles. He also breaks down the camera work and editing of a club sequence. And in explaining why a certain character makes a certain sound near the end of the film, Chabrol simply explains he decided to “go the whole hog.” In all his commentary runs a brisk 34-minutes.
Arrow then closes the disc off with the film’s trailer, featuring Chabrol giving a press conference explaining how his detective character will be investigating a murder, followed by a very small gallery featuring poster art and photos.
Yet again, the television episodes around the character have not been included, I assume due to rights issues. While there is some good material to be found in what has been included here (primarily the Chabrol commentary), the features end up falling short compared to the stronger material found on the previous disc.
Closing
The supplements are less engaging than what Arrow included for the previous film, but the presentation looks sharp.
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