Blu-ray

Plein Soleil review

Anton van Beek  |  Dec 19, 2013

Did somebody order a side of digital noise-reduction with their tasty French thriller?

Based on a brand-new 4K restoration produced in association with the Cinémathèque Française, we had high hopes for this HD outing of René Clément's 1960 adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley. Sadly, something clearly went wrong between the restoration itself and the production of this Blu-ray release. While free from dirt and damage, the AVC 1.66:1 1080p encode has been heavily filtered (removing grain and detail) and contrast boosted - resulting in an image akin to Fox's notorious Predator: Ultimate Edition. To rub salt in the would, the interviews that accompany the film on the disc make use of restored clips that haven't been treated this way and show how the movie should really look!

Plein Soleil, StudioCanal, Region B BD, £23 Approx
HCC VERDICT: 2/5

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