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La Belle Noiseuse (1991)
La Belle Noiseuse (1991) poster

La Belle Noiseuse (1991)

Drama • 4h

Director: Jacques Rivette

Cast: Michel Piccoli, Emmanuelle Béart, Jane Birkin, Marianne Denicourt, David Bursztein, Gilles Arbona, Marie Belluc, Marie-Claude Roger, Leïla Remili, Daphne Goodfellow, Susan Robertson, Bernard Dufour

Best English-friendly & video release

Video notes:

4k resto, good bitrate but teal, no info on Potemkine France

Updated 4 months ago


Best audio release


About the film

The former famous painter Frenhofer lives quietly with his wife on a countryside residence in the French Provence. When the young artist Nicolas visits him with his girlfriend Marianne, Frenhofer decides to start again the work on a painting he long ago stopped: La Belle Noiseuse. And he wants Marianne as model.

TSPDT
2026: #779
2025: #766
2024: #752
2023: #724
2022: #724
Alternative Titles
The Beautiful Troublemaker, The Little Nuisance

More from Jacques Rivette

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Director: Jacques Rivette

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Radiance Blu-ray

Video Notes:

FiM encoded, 4K restoration for both theatrical and director's version

Director: Jacques Rivette

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Criterion 2k transfer

Director: Jacques Rivette

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Radiance Blu-ray

Director: Jacques Rivette

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow/Kino Lorber/Carlotta Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Arrow/Kino Lorber/Carlotta all very similar

More from Cohen

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Directors: Charles Reisner & Buster Keaton

Best English-Friendly & Video:

MoC/Cohen Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

MoC 4K Blu-ray late 2027

Video Notes:

MoC/Cohen Blu-ray > Kino Lorber

Director: Allan Dwan

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cohen Blu-ray?

Director: James Ivory

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cohen 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Cohen 4K Blu-ray caps. Same 4K master that Cohen released on BD but grain resolves much better and the gamma levels are now correctly set.

Director: Dudley Murphy

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cohen Syncopation Blu-ray 1080p extras

Sources: loc.gov (opens in a new tab)

Director: Dudley Murphy

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cohen Syncopation Blu-ray 1080p extras

Director: Albert Parker

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cohen Douglas Fairbanks Double Feature Blu-ray

Sources: DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Cohen Douglas Fairbanks Double Feature Blu-ray is slightly better than 2010 Kino Lorber Blu-ray and potentially a different transfer, see comparison caps

Director: Joan Micklin Silver

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cohen Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Cohen Blu-ray is a newer 4K restoration than earlier Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Director: Federico Fellini

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cohen Blu-ray

Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Cohen Blu-ray is the best with the least amount of DNR or sharpening among Germany StudioCanal, UK MoC and France Gaumont. Even though Cohen doesn't have the best encoding, it's definitely the most superior release. See caps-a-holics caps

Director: Cyril Gardner

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cohen Blu-ray

Director: David Miller

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cohen Blu-ray

More Drama on Blu-ray

Director: Robert Altman

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Vinegar Syndrome Cinématographe 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Cinematrographe's HDR grading is overcooked, which is a known VinSyn tendency. Additionally, their booklet mis-credits the encode to FiM.

YMMV, but for some, the included BD encoded by Marcus Johnson—ironically may make for a more pleasing experience.

Director: Roman Polanski

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Carlotta France 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

UK 4K teased by 88 Films https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?p=24252379

Video Notes:

Carlotta France 4K Blu-ray > Vinegar Syndrome 4K Blu-ray (better encode on Carlotta without any low-pass filtering, more extras and English subtitles on Vinegar Syndrome)

Director: Alan J. Pakula

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Olive Films Blu-ray

Director: Vincente Minnelli

Best English-Friendly & Video:

MGM Blu-ray

Director: Steve Gordon

Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB Blu-ray

Director: John Woo

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray or Imprint 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

Plaion Germany 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Arrow has a different grade and a better encode than the Shout! Factory, though the difference in either is not major. Imprint release, which leaves Shout! Factory's master and subtitles as is, is encoded by FiM. https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24473097&postcount=56

Best Audio:

Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray

Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD

Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)

Audio Notes:

Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray (similar to Criterion LaserDisc, but less distorted)

Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD

Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)

Arrow used the alternate mix, but with extra filtering and lowered dynamic range. The alternate mix has much better fidelity.

Imprint presumably used the Shout! Factory original mix and left it as is, though no official confirmation.

Additional Info:

Arrow has a much better translation.

Arrow LE has the Taiwan Extended Cut which will not be present on the standard edition. However, Imprint is FiM and has its own archival extras not present on the Arrow.

Director: Richard Brooks

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Vincent Sherman

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Jonathan Demme

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Criterion Blu-ray has exclusive extras

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Researched and maintained by

AdamA

· last reviewed 4 months ago

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