Blu-ray Review A Few Words About A few words about…™ Mississippi Mermaid – in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

Mississippi Mermaid is based upon the novel by one William Irish, who was behind Rear Window and a few other films.

It has nothing to do with either Mississippi or mermaids, but that shouldn't stop the great François Truffaut from creating another beautifully rendered tale that will hold your attention - and attention will be needed.

M. Truffaut is one of my favorite filmmakers. I got to spend some time with him in 1973, and he was a delightful gentleman.

During his career, he was able to direct over twenty feature films. He passed away in 1984 at the age of 52.

Mississippi Mermaid falls rough halfway through his career - between Stolen Kisses (1968) and The Wild Child (1970).

This month is very much François Truffaut month courtesy of Kino, as they're releasing not only Mississippi Mermaid, but The Bride Wore Black, The Story of Adele H., as well as a Truffaut Collection of our more films on two discs - The Wild Child (1970), Small Change (1976), The Man Who Loved Women (1977) and The Green Room (1978) - all in February.

That's a third of his work.

Several have been previously available via Twilight time, but have been out of print and collectible for too long.

Kino's new Blu (I've not checked it vs the Twilight version) is generally clean, with fine color and a natural grain pattern. A tiny bit of dirt, but most people will never see it.

It's a terrific Blu-ray, and everything can't be Out of the Blue.

For those who may not have discovered M. Truffaut's later work - the earlier classics are available from Criterion - you're in for a treat.

Image – 4.25

Audio – 5

Pass / Fail – Pass

Works up-rezzed to 4k - Yes

Upgrade from earlier blu-ray - ?

Highly Recommended

 

[lark144]

The original French title of Truffaut's film is La sirène du Mississipi, which has more to do with a siren of the female type then anything with flippers. La sirène, of course, has multiple meanings, so it's probably good it wasn't mistranslated as loud alarm from Mississippi. (The original novel by William Irish, Waltz into Darkness, which I haven't read in decades, is set down South, I think, possibly in Mississippi.)

I have the Twilight Time disc, and what you describe in terms of the image sounds about the same; nice grain structure, accurate color for the period in which it was made, very film-like, moments of beauty in its use of natural light, occasional specks of dirt which are not all that noticeable.

 

[Robert Harris]

The original French title of Truffaut's film is La sirène du Mississipi, which has more to do with a siren of the female type then anything with flippers. La sirène, of course, has multiple meanings, so it's probably good it wasn't mistranslated as loud alarm from Mississippi. (The original novel by William Irish, Waltz into Darkness, which I haven't read in decades, is set down South, I think, possibly in Mississippi.)

I have the Twilight Time disc, and what you describe in terms of the image sounds about the same; nice grain structure, accurate color for the period in which it was made, very film-like, moments of beauty in its use of natural light, occasional specks of dirt which are not all that noticeable.

I’ve not checked the data throughput between the two discs. Presume they’re based upon the same master.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

A big fan of Truffaut and have all of his movies on disc including the Twilight Time releases. Great film and seeing the very beautiful and sexy Catherine Deneuve.

 

[Brian Dauth]

Watched MISSISSIPPI MERMAID for the first time in years, and it is just as beautiful as ever. Not given great love upon its initial release, I feel it is one of Truffaut's best--merging his Renoir sensibility with his Hitchcock one. The other instance where he is successful in doing so is with THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR, which leans in its ending to Hitchcock, while MM leans to Renoir (to whom the film is dedicated).

Woolrich's novel (written under his William Irish pen name) ends differently, but that I see as Truffaut applying a Renoir ending to a Hitchcock narrative. I also think that the book's title "Waltz into Darkness" could have been used for THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR, where in the end, Renoir gets trumped by Hitchcock.

 

[Trancas]

It appears to be the new Kino version that's free with Amazon Prime video if you're curious how it looks.
Mississippi Mermaid