Olive's blu is a pretty impressive looking 1.66:1 transfer, an upgraded DTS-HD soundtrack, but unfortunately it's barebones. And here's where it gets frustrating. Gaumont had already released it on blu in France back in 2013. That one features the same transfer as Olive's blu, but not only does it import all of the special features from the previously French and UK DVDs, it also features new on-camera interviews with Pascale Rocard and cinematographer Luciano Tovoli. Sounds like the way to go, right? Sure, if you speak French, but otherwise, not so much. The film itself features English subtitles, but none of the special features do.
So, for us English speakers, the ideal experience would be to get both the Olive blu-ray and Artificial Eye DVD, which would give you the best edition of the film and most of the special features. There's a Japanese blu, but it's essentially the same as the Olive, English subs on the feature, but no special features. It sure would be nice if they would issue an English-friendly blu with everything, but here at breillat.blogspot.com, I think we're used to these kind of disappointing compromises. But hey, at least we got the film in HD now, that's a step forward.
