Atalanta ( L'Atalante ) [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - France ]

I waited until I watched this movie a second time before I decided to review it. I had bought the movie because it was listed on "Sight and Sound's" all-time top ten best movie lists. I realized (after watching it the first time) that I had just seen an excellent movie but not one of the greatest movies of all time. I gave it a lot of thought and just let it go. Several years later, I put my movie up for sale on Amazon.com and it went quickly. I decided to watch it one last time before I shipped it off the next day and I enjoyed it again. However, as beautiful a story as it truly is, this is NOT one of the greatest movies of all time.This is the story of young love (i.e.: innocence). We start with a wedding of barge captain and small-town girl. Everybody follows the couple to the barge expecting a reception of some sort. However, the captain merely signals that it is time to shove off and the wedding guest stand there puzzled with the abrupt end of the celebration. This and many other scenes really do tell an intimate story and it is the sum total of all of these intimate glimpses that have given the movie its' fame. The love story reaches out to us and we smile at times and shudder at other times when the newly weds make the newlywed mistakes. The development of trust and understanding, the assertion of who's boss, the realization that being right is no fun if it means being alone, etc, etc, all come together in a beautiful movie. BUT it's still not one of the greatest movies of all time!!!My problem was in anticipating something greater than I got. It wasn't the first time nor will it be the last. However, maybe my efforts to tone down the praise will give others a chance to watch it without expectations. I'm sure my review would have been a lot different had I been able to see "L'Atalante" that way.

Can someone explain the rational of charging money, especially on Amazon Prime for which we pay a premium to begin with, for an old French film that is long out of copyright? Yes, it's a classic and maybe a couple nerds tweaked a scratch or two to call it restored, but something smells on the old French canal.

The restoration and theatrical re-release of L'Atalante a decade ago was nothing less than a cinematic event. The movie had been edited to shreds shortly after it's doomed director, Jean Vigo, had presented his original work to an apparently incenced Parisian audience. Just as with Rites of Spring, the Golden Age and Coltrane/Dolphy, the emnity that the work generated from the French audience was strong evidence to the quality and importance of this brilliant piece of avant garde.The movie has been described as a combination of both surrealism and realism, but in truth Vigo's vision is entirely unique, and the style died with him. The emotional mood is practically labile and often ironic, such as the funeral-like reactions of onlookers to the wedding of the young couple, that opens the story. There are gentley jarring moments scattered about; the images of the later estranged lovers, shots of the two hugging themselves, imagining the other, combined to present a haunting view of romance defies description (obviously) and are unforgettable.More captivating than the two young leads is Michedl Simon as the first mate. His comedy touches can only be called sublime. The scene when the bride comes to visit his cabin and witness all his wondrous bounty of mechanical diversion is truely one of film's great gems.The (restored) VHS version of this has remained prohibitively priced. There is no more important film that has waited for it's DVD release. If you haven't had the chance to see it yet, you're in luck.

L'Atalante is wholly delightful. The restoration of the film is small miracle-- and the black and white print is clear, sharp and full of wonderful detail. The newly married couple's dilemma (can you imagine leaving a small village to live with three men in the cramped living space of a barge). The mate steals the show with his music and odd quirks. All of this adds up to a fun, undemanding escape for today's problems to live aboard the L'Atalante as it plies France's waterways and hauls its cargo, human and otherwise. Sight+Sound has listed this film as one of the 50 best of all time--and anyone with a love of film will find him or herself agreeing with the film's acclaim.

Well, I'm halfway decent at French, so when I buy big French classics like this the first thing I take a gander at is the subtitle situation. Here, only English is possible, not French or any other language. There are also no dubs into other languages.Fortunately, however, while the letters of the subtitles are white, the letters sport tiny black borders, allowing them to remain legible even when they appear against a whitish backdrop, such as snow or a bridal dress.Why doesn't everybody just make yellow subtitles? Sheesh!Anyhow. The extras are lame: you get to see a gallery of posters for the film and a bevy of still shots.In short, what you're gettng is essentially the movie in DVD format, but nothing more worth mentioning. Don't be led into thinking this is a revolutionary transfer or anything. I can't see how anyone could feel that way.