DVDown Under REVIEW - Affair of the Necklace

While the trigger for the French revolution was undoubtedly the culmination of several events and social injustices, it is believed that the affair of the necklace played a part in shaping the mood of the French people. This movie is therefore based on true events and real characters but obviously includes some embellishments and artistic licence by the director.

Countess Jeanne de la Motte Valois (Swank) wants to retrieve her place in society and her rightful inheritance after she was left orphaned at a young age due to the murder of her father by troops of the Royal family and the subsequent death of her mother. Denied true justice by his son King Louis XVI she tries instead to seek the favour of Queen Marie Antoinette (Richardson).

Rebutted again she is befriended by Retaux de Vilette, a court gigolo played by Aussie Simon Baker who is intrigued by Jeanne and helps her become familiar with Court life. Together they scheme to get Jeanne accepted by the court so that she can plead her case. A fortuitus viewing of an elaborate 2800-carat, 647-diamond necklace designed for a former mistress of the King’s grandfather and therefore rejected by Queen Antoinette leads Jeanne and Retaux to mastermind a conspiracy that entangles the Cardinal of France (Pryce) and Queen Marie Antoinette among others. As the plan falls apart a host of influential French public figures become exposed.

The Affair of the Necklace is a romantic drama that brings to life the excesses of the late18th century that helped sow the seeds for the French Revolution. The story also demonstrates the elegance of this era and the costumes and backgrounds used for the story, for example the Palace of Versailles, all add visual appeal. Overall a viewer will need to be a fan of period piece drama to appreciate this story. It is a relatively slow moving story devoid of much action or intrigue and its overwhelming highlight is the visual appeal of the movie and perhaps its historical significance.

So how does this DVD Scrub Up?

VIDEO
The video is an Anamorphic Widescreen presentation with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. It is a high quality transfer with clean and sharp images. There are no major transfer or film artefacts to speak of to cause concern. The colours are nicely saturated and enhance the elaborate costumes and backgrounds used for the filming of this movie. Where appropriate there are striking contrasts such as when Jeanne or the Cardinal wear their bright red outfits. The lighting is also used to great effect in this movie. In several scenes it creates a sensual feeling while in others it enhances the bright costumes.

The layer change occurs at 62:58 and results in a slight freeze in the image. There is no dialogue at that position, just a change of camera focus from Jeanne to the cardinal so there is little disruption.

AUDIO
The feature presentation is presented in 3 different languages each in a Dolby Digital 5.1 format. There is also an additional commentary track presented in DD2.1.

This is predominantly a dialogue driven story that is well supported by the audio. All dialogue is clear and distinct with no audio synch problems. There are only a few action scenes so the audio is mostly concentrated towards the front speakers. The surrounds are used adequately when required.

Music is predominantly aristocratic in a style that is appropriate to the 18th century, and yet it does not make the viewer feel uncomfortable. In the director’s commentary he reveals that the music was not intended to be historically accurate but was selected to provide the required ambience. The opening number is actually Alannis Morissette singing a more modern piece in Hungarian and it sets the appropriate tone for the period, without being too overbearing.

EXTRAS

DISC 1 -

Theatrical Trailer :- This is a romantic drama that is beautiful to look at but will require some patience or an interest in historical period pieces.
Cast and Crew Listings :- A static listing of the main actors and crew and the role that each played.
Commentary with director Charles Shyer :- The feature is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect widescreen anamorphic format with a DD2.1 audio track. It features a full length commentary by the director who reveals his very frank viewpoints about what he feels are the strengths and weaknesses of each scene.
Featurette "Behind the scenes" :- Includes interviews with many of the cast and crew filmed on the set and shows footage of the filming in Prague and France.
Featurette "Designing Affair" :- Includes interviews with the costume designer and other people responsible for making the film look the way the director intended. Also includes details about the appearance of the necklace which while based on the original was given a more modern design.
Additional scenes :- Shows 5 scenes that were deleted from the final version. Each comes with a choice of the director�s commentary which provides useful insight as to why each scene was deleted. It includes the alternate beginning to the movie which was deleted after polling audience reaction at previews, a decision the director now regrets.
Gag Reel :- Shows some of the outtakes from filming the movie.

This is a romantic drama that is beautiful to look at but will require some patience or an interest in historical period pieces.

DVD Ratings

PICTURE QUALITY	8.5/10 A high quality transfer.
SOUND QUALITY - Dolby	8.5/10 The audio complements the dialogue driven story.
5.1 WOW FACTOR	2/10 Not really required for this movie.
SOUND QUALITY - DTS	N/A
EXTRAS	5/10 An informative set of extras but nothing innovative.
OVERALL	7.5/10 Works well as a visually stunning period piece.

Click HERE for Kathryn's Review Equipment

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