PARIS JE T'AIME on Blu-ray: A quick warning (1 Viewer)

[Michael Reuben]

I haven't had time to do more than check selected scenes. The image appears to be very good. HOWEVER . . .

For some unfathomable reason, the only English subtitles are English SDH. This means that, unless your French is perfect, you're forced to endure additional subtitles that narrate various sound effects. Just how distracting this can be becomes evident in the great segment directed by the Coen Bros. and starring Steve Buscemi, where every shot from the kid's pea shooter is preceded by a subtitle, which creates exactly the opposite of the desired effect.

The standard DVD had separate English subtitles and English SDH, and I can't imagine why both weren't carried over to the Blu-ray. But this isn't the first time we've seen this on a Blu-ray from a small, independent studio. The same thing happened with District B13 from Magnolia. (Paris Je T'Aime is from First Look.)

I plan to watch the Blu-ray all the way through at some point, probably over the holidays, and I'll decide then whether the subtitle problem is bad enough to offset the improved image. I'm not sure where I'll come out. In the meantime, buyer beware.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Bizarre... It also looks like they're forgoing the stuff from the second disc of the special edition from last year. Glad it was only $12 in the DD sale, but that's annoying.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Correct. My guess is because it's a BD25. Of course, they could have just included a second disc, even as a standard DVD, but that would probably have increased the price.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Thanks for the head's up, Michael. I was planning on picking this title up later today, but now I'm uncertain.

- Walter.