Quiet Days in Clichy Blu-ray Review

The Blu-ray presentation of "Quiet Days in Clichy" evidences a mixed performance with its 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encode in a 1.66:1 frame. Despite the increased resolution afforded by the Blu-ray format, the transfer suffers from various issues. The opening credits wobble conspicuously, and there are consistent bouts of noise and blocking throughout the film. The black and white palette is marred by harsh contrasts, leading to a disruption of fine details in darker scenes. Dirt and imperfections are evident, especially in the initial scenes, although there is an observable improvement as the film progresses. Occasional stray hairs and pops punctuate the print, underscoring a lack of clean source material.

Detail levels in "Quiet Days in Clichy" are generally lacking, with skin textures and fabric patterns showing minimal differentiation. Blown out backgrounds and awkward gradients further detract from the visual experience. Some scenes exhibit banding and random blobs of indistinct detail, making film texture quite inconsistent. Additionally, the presentation displays strange artifacts, such as slight horizontal compressions at specific time stamps (notably at 18:17 and 37:53). Despite these drawbacks, there is a fair retention of grain that lends a decently film-like texture occasionally.

Overall, this release struggles to impress visually but provides mere satisfaction for fans due to its resolution. Considering the movie's obscurity and niche audience, the effort to bring it to Blu-ray is commendable. However, viewers should temper their expectations regarding the visual quality, as it's one of Blue Underground's more flawed endeavors.

"Quiet Days in Clichy" features a DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono soundtrack. While this is adequate for basic audio conveyance, it’s far from ideal. The mono track delivers city exterior ambiances with minimal clarity, characterized by crunchy and indistinct tones. The film's soundscape, driven by Country Joe McDonald's repetitive, gritty soundtrack, struggles with muffled vocals and subpar instrumentals. These issues appear to be more intrinsic to the original source than the Blu-ray encode itself. Dialogue emanates decently enough through the center channel but lacks the nuance necessary to evoke a sense of realism.

The overall audio quality is disappointing, featuring random static and flat spots that detract from the listening experience. The limited dynamics fail to capture any significant depth in the score, resulting in a tinny, grating sound over time. Interestingly, the default play settings of this release do not automatically subtitle the sporadic French dialogue, which may be worth noting for viewers expecting a seamless experience. Hence, this is a basic mono soundtrack that does little beyond delivering bare essentials. Any expectations for a robust auditory experience should be tempered.

The Blu-ray extras for "Quiet Days in Clichy" offer an insightful and candid exploration of the film's cultural and historical context, featuring a trio of interviews with key figures associated with the project. "Dirty Books, Dirty Movies: Barney Rosset on Henry Miller" allows Rosset to candidly discuss his experiences with Henry Miller's writings and the controversies surrounding them, making it a compelling watch for those interested in literary history and censorship. "Songs of Clichy" features Country Joe McDonald as he recalls his contributions to the soundtrack and reflects on the film's reception and the socio-political atmosphere of the time. The "Midnight Blue Interview with Barney Rosset" presents an intriguing dialogue on obscenity laws through an interview by Al Goldstein, though it suffers from significant video quality issues such as glowing edges and distorted skin tones.

Extras included in this disc:

• Dirty Books, Dirty Movies: Barney Rosset on Henry Miller: Rosset discusses pornography, erotica, and controversies surrounding Henry Miller's works.
• Songs of Clichy: Country Joe McDonald talks about his experience writing the music for the film and the film's era.
• Midnight Blue Interview with Barney Rosset: A vintage television interview by Al Goldstein revolving around obscenity laws and related topics.

"Quiet Days in Clichy," an adaptation of Henry Miller's contentious novel, signals its provocative nature right from the outset with a satirical warning about its explicit content. The film immerses viewers in a raw and unvarnished depiction of sexuality, shedding the glamorized veneer often associated with erotic cinema. Instead, it delves into the candid and sometimes stark realities of human desire. Directed by Jens Jørgen Thorsen, this art-house piece navigates the hedonistic escapades of Joey (Paul Valjean) and Carl (Wayne Rodda), American writers in France who pursue physical pleasure with little regard for societal norms or personal consequences. The characters' lives are punctuated by frequent, non-simulated sexual encounters that are depicted without the gloss of eroticism or pornography, emphasizing instead a more unrefined and, at times, grim perspective.

The storyline, or lack thereof, serves as a haunting metaphor for the aimlessness and ephemeral satisfaction found in such hedonistic pursuits. Joey’s antics, including stealing money only to spend it on sex and then return it undetected to Carl, paint a portrait of fleeting joys overshadowed by persistent dissatisfaction. Carl's dubious interactions with the underage Colette (Elsebeth Reingaard) underscore the moral ambiguities threaded throughout the film. The narrative unfolds through a combination of song overlays and thought bubbles, providing fragmented glimpses into the characters' psyches and their indifferent attitudes towards their actions and consequences. Despite its seemingly plotless format, "Quiet Days in Clichy" reflects an anti-establishment ethos, confronting viewers with its blunt language and graphic depictions of life unmoored from traditional values.

This cinematic relic from over four decades ago is both a product of its time and a daring piece of artistic expression. The prolonged takes and minimal dialogue create an intimate yet detached viewing experience, where silence and crude musical narration from Country Joe McDonald fill the voids left by conventional storytelling. Characters like Joey oscillate between pitiful yearning and morally ambiguous actions, embodying a complex portrayal of human weakness and desire. Though challenging to traditional tastes and potentially offensive in its portrayal of women and sexual promiscuity, "Quiet Days in Clichy" offers an unfiltered glimpse into lives driven by relentless hedonism, making a bold statement on the pursuit of pleasure amidst a backdrop of existential vacuity.

"Quiet Days in Clichy" is an audacious and unsettling film, brimming with explicit sexual content and unrestrained depictions of a hedonistic lifestyle. It stands on the boundary between artistic cinema and raw exhibitionism, offering little in terms of traditional narrative satisfaction. Audiences might find the protagonist's reckless escapades and the film’s explicit nature distasteful or outright offensive. Although it strives to be an introspective critique of its characters’ libertine ways, the movie ultimately feels more like an excuse for overt sexual representation rather than a meaningful exploration of human behavior.

Blue Underground’s Blu-ray release of "Quiet Days in Clichy" provides a technically adequate viewing experience, though it does not boast exceptional audiovisual quality. The film’s rough and grainy aesthetic might be seen as intentional, aligning with its raw thematic core but detracting from what could have been a more polished presentation. The Blu-ray comes with a set of decent extras that enrich the contextual understanding of the film, though they may not be substantial enough to sway an otherwise disinterested viewer.

In conclusion, "Quiet Days in Clichy" is a niche film that will provoke strong reactions from its viewers. The explicit content and lack of moral clarity in the story make it a challenging watch, especially for those with conventional sensibilities regarding language and sexuality. Its ambiguous message is both its rare charm and its critical flaw. While the Blu-ray release by Blue Underground does offer some added benefits for the curious cinephile, this is not an easily recommended selection.