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United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: French ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (1.78:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Secret Defense is a gripping and fascinating thriller from ground breaking French director Jacques Rivette. When Slyvie's (Sandrine Bonnaire) father, a brilliant scientist is murdered by a family friend, she swears vengeance. However she soon finds herself embroiled in a mystery of love and intrigue. But when she learns the truth about her father, it threatens to shake her very foundations in this dark Hitchcock style thriller. ...Secret Defense (1998) ( Secret défense ) ( Famille )
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is the second film by Rivette I've seen. I had quite low expectations as I didn't like "Paris Nous Appartient" at all. But "Secret Defence", made over 30 years later, is a really good film (and maybe Rivette isn't a bad director after all?..).
The plot is based on a mystery: a father (powerful businessman) who died and his children who suspect foul play. Interestingly, being a suspense-film "Secret Defence" is almost 3 hours long, and moves in a slow tempo! I think this make it all the better, partly because - in contrast to all crap being made each year - here we have good actors and interesting persons and a non-predictable plot. Why would you like to speed up a movie that feels good to watch?
The transfer of this Artificial Eye DVD is ok or even good I think, at least it looked good on my epson projector (upscaled by a bluray player).
Highly recommended!
The plot is based on a mystery: a father (powerful businessman) who died and his children who suspect foul play. Interestingly, being a suspense-film "Secret Defence" is almost 3 hours long, and moves in a slow tempo! I think this make it all the better, partly because - in contrast to all crap being made each year - here we have good actors and interesting persons and a non-predictable plot. Why would you like to speed up a movie that feels good to watch?
The transfer of this Artificial Eye DVD is ok or even good I think, at least it looked good on my epson projector (upscaled by a bluray player).
Highly recommended!
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Sandrine Bonnaire (Jeanne La Pucelle - The Battles [DVD] [1994]) stars as Sylvie - a young laboratory worker, who has a brother, Paul (Grégoire Colin) who thinks he knows what happened to their father back in 1992, as he was travelling on a Michelin train; when it's believed he fell off the train. Many, including her mother say it was just an accident, but Paul convinces Sylvie that it is not - and they go off to confront the killer, but when they get there, things don't go to plan, and it leaves them in a mystery.
I can't praise this film enough, it's a masterpiece and is just so well directed, and written. Both Sandrine and Jerzy Radziwilowicz really show us they're amazing actors and should have won awards for this movie, the way it twists and turns, the beautiful scenery, and the colours make this a dream to watch. It probably won't appeal to people who don't like film noir, or don't enjoy long periods of dialogue, but this really is worth the wait, and the whole anticipation throughout the 2 hours 45 minutes is breath taking, and the emotions shown are more realistic than some movies I have seen.
The DVD is not too bad, a DVD9 disk, but it's pretty much bare bones, which I suspected with such a long film. It is a shame it didn't get a 2 disk edition with some extras and interviews with Sandrine or Jerzy, that would have been fantastic, but really we're left with quite a mediocre transfer, but the sound is good and the picture is decent enough, the colours vibrant and nicely balanced. The subtitles are easy to turn off if you want too which is a godsend for French speakers. The font and clarity is good too, and should be not too much trouble to sit through the 3hrs this movie runs for. They really should have removed the trailers though, and given more bandwidth to the picture, which runs at a steady 5MB/s.
This is worth renting, it's amazing and well written, and worth watching again and again.
I can't praise this film enough, it's a masterpiece and is just so well directed, and written. Both Sandrine and Jerzy Radziwilowicz really show us they're amazing actors and should have won awards for this movie, the way it twists and turns, the beautiful scenery, and the colours make this a dream to watch. It probably won't appeal to people who don't like film noir, or don't enjoy long periods of dialogue, but this really is worth the wait, and the whole anticipation throughout the 2 hours 45 minutes is breath taking, and the emotions shown are more realistic than some movies I have seen.
The DVD is not too bad, a DVD9 disk, but it's pretty much bare bones, which I suspected with such a long film. It is a shame it didn't get a 2 disk edition with some extras and interviews with Sandrine or Jerzy, that would have been fantastic, but really we're left with quite a mediocre transfer, but the sound is good and the picture is decent enough, the colours vibrant and nicely balanced. The subtitles are easy to turn off if you want too which is a godsend for French speakers. The font and clarity is good too, and should be not too much trouble to sit through the 3hrs this movie runs for. They really should have removed the trailers though, and given more bandwidth to the picture, which runs at a steady 5MB/s.
This is worth renting, it's amazing and well written, and worth watching again and again.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The difference between the professional critics' praise of this film and the lukewarm response of customers on, for example, Amazon France is striking. Having just watched Secret Defense, I feel I ought to present a counterweight to the preceding review - not because this a poor film but because I feel it isn't quite that good.
I'm a fan of French films in general and Rivette's in particular. His best films for me are his arty ones, like La Belle Noiseuse, La Bande des Quatre (Gang of Four) L'Amour par Terre (Love on the Ground) and Va Savoir, where he explores the relationship between art or drama and reality. They tend to be over-long, but a leisurely style suits these films and gives him the opportunity to produce some memorable sequences.
Not so with this film. It simply isn't taut enough to excel as a thriller. The best French thrillers I've watched, with plenty of plot twists, are Cluzot's Les Diaboliques and Chabrol's La Rupture. They run to around two hours. Secret Defense is about 50 minutes longer and that's too long to prevent the suspense from flagging. I also have some reservations about the plot; particularly the ending, which left me feeling somewhat let down.
I'm a fan of French films in general and Rivette's in particular. His best films for me are his arty ones, like La Belle Noiseuse, La Bande des Quatre (Gang of Four) L'Amour par Terre (Love on the Ground) and Va Savoir, where he explores the relationship between art or drama and reality. They tend to be over-long, but a leisurely style suits these films and gives him the opportunity to produce some memorable sequences.
Not so with this film. It simply isn't taut enough to excel as a thriller. The best French thrillers I've watched, with plenty of plot twists, are Cluzot's Les Diaboliques and Chabrol's La Rupture. They run to around two hours. Secret Defense is about 50 minutes longer and that's too long to prevent the suspense from flagging. I also have some reservations about the plot; particularly the ending, which left me feeling somewhat let down.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
"A rhythmic and distinguished thriller..."
Former French New Wave director and writer Jacques Rivette`s seventeenth feature film, written by himself, his frequent collaborator Pascal Bonitzer and Emmanuelle Cuau, tells the... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Sindri
Long and uneventful
I read the description of this film and thought it would be a good thriller and enjoyable like most other french films I have seen. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Ann Henry
This Rivette fan loved it
I thought this was a fantastic film and a great starting point for anyone not familiar with the work of the marvellous Jaques Rivette. Read more
Published on 7 Feb 2010 by Tonkfan
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