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
19 films on Best BluraysBest video release: 1 in 4K18 in HD
Best 4K release by tier:
- Solid1
Films where Gaumont's release is the pick. How picks are made
18 of 19 films match
Films where Gaumont's release is the pick. How picks are made
Director: Maurice Pialat
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
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
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: René Clair
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Best Video:
Gaumont Blu-ray
Video Notes:
Gaumont Blu-ray but no English subtitles: https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Deux-sous-de-violettes-Blu-ray/288976/
Best Video:
France Gaumont Release (no English subtitles or audio)
Video Notes:
English-friendly, and 2K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Directors: Eric Summer & Éric Warin
Best English-Friendly:
2D Version: Entertainment One Canada Blu-ray
3D Version: A Contracorriente Films Spain 3D Blu-ray
Best Video:
2D Version: Gaumont France Blu-ray
3D Version: A Contracorriente Films Spain 3D Blu-ray
Best Audio:
Original French audio: Gaumont France Blu-ray
English export dub: StudioCanal Australia Blu-ray
Additional Info:
Also known as: Leap!.
France Blu-ray has the best video and best audio for the original French version, but has no English subtitles.
Canada Blu-ray has inferior video and audio to other versions, but is the only version that has French audio with English subtitles (dubtitles from the export dub).
UK Blu-ray censors one of the songs. Australia and Canada Blu-rays present the uncensored export dub, with better audio in the former.
US Blu-ray only has the redub.
Spain 3D Blu-ray has the English export dub titles instead of the original French titles.
Director: Jean Renoir
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab) · DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab)
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.
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