This “Limited Edition” Blu-ray from Radiance Films is currently available for purchase.
French director Alain Cavalier is something of a legend in his home country, having made dozens of movies. In 1987, he also won Cesar Awards (the French equivalent of the Academy Award) for Best Film and Best Director of Thérèse, a biopic of Thérèse of Lisieux. Distributor Radiance Films certainly appreciates the man’s work and are now putting out a Blu-ray of an early narrative Le Combat Dans L’ile. This film was only moderately successful during its original run, but has gained prominence from critics as a strong early work with excellent performances that deals with a subject that hasn’t gone out of date.
Clément Lesser (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is the son of a Parisian industrialist who seems to have it all, including not only wealth but a lovely wife and actress named Anne (Romy Schneider). Still, the cold and conservative figure isn’t happy with the changing world and has joined a far-right terrorist group. Despite her adoration for the abusive Clément, Anne is none too horrified to discover that Lesser has been asked to assassinate a visiting politician. When the job goes wrong and he is set up, Clément takes Anne to hide out on the countryside property of his old college pal, Paul (Henri Serre). Paul is an independent publisher and socialist who doesn’t like the extreme behavior in his friend, but decides not to turn him in. With authorities closing in, Clément leaves his wife to go on the lam in South America and take revenge on his compatriots. Over the next several months, Paul encourages Anne to return to acting. She finds success and falls in love with her new friend. When word reaches Clément, he becomes determined to return and take his revenge on Paul, challenging him to a duel.
While the locations featured are unfamiliar, this black-and-white picture includes lighting that reminds one of an American film noir. It is also unique in that the performances are very naturalistic for the period. In particular, the mellow Paul feels like someone you could meet on the street. The revenge plot isn’t anything new, but the character development and conversations between the leads feels very believable. By the time Clément returns from abroad and threatens violence against Paul, viewers can easily sympathize with the publisher. He does his best to reason with his old friend, all of his protests still lead to a violent and well-edited confrontation that is tense and effective.
It’s a very good film and one can see why it has developed a following over the years. While the specific reasons for each character’s political beliefs are different, it still resonates as something that could easily occur in this day and age. And as a French title, one is never quite sure exactly how things will play out and who will survive.
The disc includes a new 2K picture restoration from the original negative that looks great. Included are extras that involve clips of the film as they might have appeared on VHS and there is an incredible improvement. The moody lighting uses a lot of shadows and they are very effectively rendered. It probably has never looked this good before.
The disc also includes a television interview with Alain Cavalier from 1962. He discusses his influences, what attracted him to the story and how he tried to achieve his goals. His more notable admission is that he initially wanted (Jean-Louis Trintignant for the socialist publisher role, but the actor was more intrigued by the violent far-right figure and thought going against type be an interesting challenge. As it turns out, the role helped the actor become a major star in France. There is also an interview with Trintignant from 1982 in which he talks about the shoot and his experience working with the director and other cast members. He remembers co-star Romy Schneider (who died at a relatively young age) as a talented but troubled actress who suffered from alcoholism and, as he believed, used some personal strife in her own life to inform her performances. He believes these tactics and heavy drinking eventually led to her tragic death at the age of 43.
Director Cavalier also provides a short in which he goes through production photos from the film and talks about what was occurring on set and what he remembers about the shoot.
Additionally, there’s a strong analysis of the film and the director’s work by a film historian that appears as a bonus feature. He discusses the inspirations and reasons, like the war in Algiers, for some French citizens becoming right-wing extremists during this period in history. The Blu-ray also includes an early short by Cavalier, behind-the-scenes photos from the set (some of which were taken by filmmaker and friend of Cavalier, Louis Malle). Additionally, there is a short made by Cavalier in 2010 about the release of the film on DVD and how it has grown in popularity.
Radiance Films is also packaging the movie in a reversible sleeve with original art and a newly commissioned piece for the film. A “Limited Edition” booklet also features new writing on the movie from an authority in French cinema.
Le Combat Dans L’ile is a relatively small, low-budget independent feature, but it packs a punch and still resonates more than 50 years after its original release. This reviewer had never seen it before, but was immediately impressed with the imagery, performances and message being delivered. The movie comes highly recommended and the Blu-ray from Radiance Film is equally impressive. Foreign film fans and those looking for a drama with political overtones should definitely give it a shot.