Muriel: The Masters of Cinema Series

Introduction

Usually if a film's title is a person's name, you would expect to see them. This isn't the case here as Muriel is dead and, apart from one scene, referred to only fleetingly.

Antique dealer Hélène lives in Boulogne-sur-Mer in an apartment which doubles as a showroom. When her stepson comes back from Algeria a changed man, there is clearly something troubling him. Hélène is thrown off-balance by the arrival of her old flame, Alphonse, and his niece Françoise, coincidentally also back from Algiers, where he ran a café.

The film followed Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) and Last Year at Marienbad (1961), firmly establishing Alain Resnais as a great director.

Video

Beautifully shot, Muriel is a bravura piece of editing and construction, with incredibly ambitious jump and cross cutting, requiring your full attention. Resnais uses the grey, urban elements and more scenic parts of Boulogne extremely well.

As you'd expect, the disc has a terrific anamorphic transfer with great clarity.

Audio

The soundtrack is perfectly clear with excellent optional English subtitles. The use of an operatic female singer to form the backbone of the score complements the editing superbly.

Extra Features

Nothing on the disc but, as is usually the case with Masters of Cinema releases, the package comes with a superb booklet containing two essays about the film and excerpts from a 1963 Cahiers du Cinema round table discussion.

Conclusion

When a film comes from Alain Resnais, it comes with a certain weight of expectation and Muriel certainly doesn't disappoint. It is phenomenal in its construction and has powerful performances from the key players.

Deliberately challenging and occasionally difficult to follow, Muriel is a fascinating film on every level from the brilliant technical aspects to the acting. Almost a textbook on the use of editing to portray emotion and fractured relationships, Muriel is a great watch because it is so demanding and ultimately rewarding.

The Masters of Cinema series continue to release great films, giving them the treatment they deserve and Muriel is worth a place on any film buff's shelf.