Léon Gaumont founded this Paris studio in 1895, and its large French library reaches disc through Gaumont Vidéo in France. The Gaumont Classiques line, running since 2009, releases restored heritage films on Blu-ray and DVD with French and English subtitles. Rarer titles appear in the cheaper Gaumont Découverte collections, whose masters are not always fully restored; many 4K restorations still ship only on standard Blu-ray.
Gaumont
Best 4K release by tier:
- Solid1
How we pick the best Gaumont releases
1 in 4K
Best video release on UHD Blu-ray or 4K streaming
Director: Luc Besson
Best Video & English-Friendly:
StudioCanal / Gaumont / Sony 4K Blu-ray
Video Notes:
SC caps. Great-looking 4K master except for DNR'd higher-gen shots such as the opening sequence. StudioCanal resolves finer detail but has encoding issues in highlights, the non-Original Camera Negative shots and traces of chroma noise. Sony used a low-pass filter which makes the film look less sharp and finely detailed but the encode is more consistent.
18 in HD
Best video release on Blu-ray or HD streaming · by Letterboxd rating
Director: Maurice Pialat
Video Notes:
Gaumont France Blu-ray with english subtitles.
The source from Eclair lab has their usual teal tint see BD provided extras for before and after https://slow.pics/c/GEOvltF0
Director: Jean Renoir
Video Notes:
(both from the same flawed restoration)
Additional Info:
The BFI and Gaumont Blu-ray releases are both from the same restoration by Éclair. Although this restoration is much superior in detail to the old Criterion DVD, like many Éclair restorations, it has issues with colour. There is a definite yellow cast to the footage, making skin tones appear sickly and dampening the impact of the colour. The image is also murkier than the Criterion.
As Renoir scholar Tag Gallagher notes: "I talked a lot toward the end about the light blue walls (Criterion); but when I got the BFI blu I was greatly deflated, because the walls are light gray!"
That said, as visible in the screen caps at DVD Beaver, the Criterion has compromised colour too, and often looks too blue/magenta. There is a regraded edition of the BFI Blu-ray out there on the high seas.
The audio on the Blu-ray releases is slightly compressed, but better than earlier DVD releases and relatively full frequency.
The BFI is most likely the best English-friendly release as it includes English subtitles for the bonus features.
Best English-Friendly:
Kino Lorber Blu-ray or Eureka/Gaumont Blu-ray (preference)
Best Video:
Gaumont/Eureka
Video Notes:
Gaumont/Eureka is a newer restoration than Kino Lorber but has problems with automatic clean-up and ghosting.
Director: Maurice Pialat
Director: René Clair
Best Video:
France Gaumont Release (no English subtitles or audio)
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