'Chronicle of a Summer' is a pioneering film that captures the culture of 60s France and dives into the social experiments involving a group of people who were merely captured on the street in a certain time and place.
The two directors, Jean Rouch, an anthropologist and Edgar Morin, a sociologist, decided to take their camera to the streets of Paris and ask the common folk of this time that eternal question that most of us answer vaguely or without giving it any thought whatsoever: "Are you happy?" From this simple question, we dive into a sea of political, social, and humanitarian issues. Morin and Rouch thought it would be better to have a specific interviewer to take to the streets, so they hired Marceline Loridan who we see was a holocaust survivor and now works in the field of psychology.
She is constantly behind the mic in the city, interviewing and asking questions to many people of different backgrounds. From her initial question of "Are you happy?", we see Loridan visit a select few interviewee's homes where we gain insight into their core beliefs politically and socially. The kicker is that after the interviews are done and some time has passed, the filmmakers show their subjects their interviews and get their take on what they said to see if it differs, which leads to a fulfilling end.
This is not without its beauty, although the entire movie is a series of interviews, but Rouch and Morin make sure to capture the amazing buildings and cityscapes in 60s France, making the city a character in and of itself. While this might not be the most entertaining movie you'll see this month, it is well worth viewing to see the sexual, political, and cultural awakenings that were happening at the particular time period.
'Chronicle of a Summer' comes with a very impressive and new 1080p 2K HD transfer presented in 1.37:1 aspect ratio.
Criterion really knocked it out of the park with this image. The film was originally shot on 16mm, and while the picture is as crisp as it's ever been, it retains a layer of grain to give it that filmic quality and preserves the movie's roots. The contrast here is amazing, with the black levels looking deep. This is as crystal clear as this flick will get with the detail very strong. Nothing looks dull in the B/W image, and with this new transfer, it almost gives it a new life.
This release comes with an uncompressed LPCM mono audio mix and is completely dialogue driven. It sounds fantastic for what you get. There aren't a lot of bells and whistles, but it sounds like it was recorded yesterday. I didn't notice any cracks or hissing, and the dialogue is crystal clear and perfectly situated on the fronts. You won't get a big loud sound her, but this movie isn't about that, and with what you get here, it's damn near flawless.
'Chronicle of a Summer' is a one-of-a-kind film of its time, one that demands to be seen. Never has a truer portrait of the common people been captured like in this manner. This is truly a day in the life of random people on the street to find out about their lives and thoughts. Criterion did an amazing job with the video and audio presentations and the extras are truly awesome. If you enjoy unusual documentaries, I highly recommend it.
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