{"id":25656,"date":"2022-11-22T00:06:02","date_gmt":"2022-11-22T08:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=25656"},"modified":"2022-11-22T00:06:02","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T08:06:02","slug":"blu-ray-review-lost-illusions-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=25656","title":{"rendered":"Blu-ray Review: LOST ILLUSIONS (2021)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This feature is now available everywhere on Blu-ray from Music Box Films.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone who enjoys international cinema will know that France\nis a nation that loves cinema. Each year, they produce hundreds of titles and\nmany are quite remarkable. But of course, in this part of the world they don\u2019t\njust land in your local theater. Instead, you have to seek them out. One or two\nmight get a high-profile release (often the movie selected to be the country\u2019s\nAcademy Award submission gets all the press), but several incredible features\ndon\u2019t get the push they deserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Lost Illusions<\/em> was one of those films. While the admirably strange Titane<\/em> was picked to represent the country at the Oscars (the movie didn\u2019t end up earning a nomination from the Academy), titles like this one and the drama Happening<\/em> ended up falling by the wayside. It\u2019s too bad, because Lost Illusions<\/em> is an exceptional period drama in many respects. Thankfully, Music Box Films has picked the title\u2019s rights up. They released it at cinemas earlier in 2022 and it is now arriving on Blu-ray in North America. Now, it can be discovered by world cinema enthusiasts in this part of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Based on the classic book by Honor\u00e9 de Balzac, this tale\nfollows a talented, 20-year-old aspiring poet from a modest background named\nLucien de Rubempre (Benjamin Voisin). The idealistic small-town youngster\ndecides that the literary world is his for the taking and impresses local\nsociety woman Marie-Louise-Ana\u00efs de Bargeton (C\u00e9cile de France) with his prose.\nThe two become involved and the writer manages to obtain financial support from\nher while searching for a publisher in Paris. However, he finds everything far\nmore difficult than anticipated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For one, his relationship with his older benefactor is\nsevered to avoid scandal and he is banned from high-class social parties due to\nhis lower-class standing. After meeting with famed publisher Dauriat (G\u00e9rard\nDepardieu), Lucien learns that no one will print the writing of a complete\nunknown. Desperate, he befriends young newspaper man \u00c9tienne Lousteau (Vincent\nLacoste) and is forced to make ends meet by writing theater and literature\nreviews. The lead discovers that many of the articles written are fakes and\nthat bribes are the big influencer in a positive or negative write-up. Lucien\nswallows his pride to survive and while his cleverly scathing reviews draw an\naudience, things get increasingly complicated as he attempts to rise above his\nsocial standings. The lead soon makes enemies in all walks of life and learns\nthat there is a price to be paid for his scathing articles. Even attempts to\nbuy a noble title end up leaving Lucien on the brink of disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In spite of being based on a book from the 1830s, the story\nstill has plenty of relevance in today\u2019s world. It does take a little bit of\ntime for events to get rolling. Still, once the protagonist arrives in Paris\nand is forced to survive on his own, the pace hits high gear and never lets up.\nIn fact, it\u2019s continuously fascinating to learn about this era and the effect\nthat new media outlets (in this case, newspapers) had on journalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The story details how many different outlets appeared at\nonce, all vying against each other for readership and printing increasingly\noutrageous and inaccurate pieces to earn readership. Scenes in which Lousteau\nshows Lucien the ropes are dynamic and informative. Even in passing, it\u2019s\nfascinating to hear stories (that may actually be based on fact) about\nstruggling theaters being forced to pay newspapers immense sums of money to get\npositive stories and publicity printed about them. So much so, that it resulted\nin auditoriums introducing the sale of snacks to attendees as a way to pay for\ntheir added and unexpected new expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s all presented as an unprincipled and bloodthirsty\nworld. As such, it\u2019s compelling to see a well-intentioned but brash young\nfigure rise to prominence before being corrupted and having those around\nattempt to stab him in the back. The end result is a darkly humorous story that\ngets grimmer and grimmer as it progresses and makes an even deeper impact as\nevents spiral out of control. This tale feels authentic and believable. It will\nnot only resonate with anyone who knows the fields being portrayed, but anyone\nwho has felt the sting of classism and capitalism. The movie effectively paints\na picture of a cutthroat environment where fame and success can vanish in an\ninstant and only be sustained by those who come from a background of endless\nwealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The sets, costumes and photography are all top notch. There\nare some striking shots in the movie, particularly when Lucien is indulging\nhimself in vices. At one point, he literally floats above a table that is\ncovered in cash and other glittery excesses. In addition to the cinematography,\nthe cast are all fantastic. Many of the characters are nasty and conniving, but\nthey are all charismatic to watch even when they are turning on one another\n(often delivering verbal jabs as they do so). And while the desperate Lucien\nfalls prey to his vulnerabilities, he is likable enough that viewers feel\nempathy for him when his situation spirals downward.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Blu-ray itself from Music Box is also a winner,\ndelivering a sharp transfer of the widescreen feature that allows all of the\nproduction design to shine and stand out. Additionally, there are a couple of\nnotable extras. There is a featurette with the main cast who discuss their\ninterpretation of their characters. They also talk about the fact that the\noriginal book is a favorite of the director. This meant he knew exactly what he\nwanted from them, leaving them feeling confident about his approach to the story.\nThere is another segment that explains how specific areas in Paris were\nredressed to match the period setting and the work that went into the costumes\nand appearance of the movie. The disc also includes a theatrical\ntrailer.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the end, Lost Illusions<\/em> is an excellent adaptation\nthat deserves a great deal of praise. While the source material is aged, the\nmovie is vibrant and exciting, maintaining all of the important themes and\nmessages of the original work. It is remarkable that a production that earned\nsuch praise (even winning the film equivalent of an Academy Award for Best\nPicture) isn\u2019t better known on this side of the world. If you\u2019re looking for\nsome great cinema from France, be sure to pick this Blu-ray up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This feature is now available everywhere on Blu-ray from Music Box Films. Anyone who enjoys international cinema will know that France is a nation that loves cinema. Each year, they produce hundreds of titles and many are quite remarkable. But of course, in this part of the world they don\u2019t just land in your local […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":25657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[206,209,741,2260,2559,3073,3074,3295,4042,4481,7798,7932,8215,12635,14426,15728,23811],"class_list":["post-25656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-206","tag-209","tag-adaptation","tag-balzac","tag-benjamin-voisin","tag-blu-ray-review","tag-blu-ray-review-lost-illusions","tag-book-adaptation","tag-cecile-de-france","tag-class-system","tag-france","tag-french","tag-gerard-depardieu","tag-lost-illusions","tag-music-box-films","tag-paris","tag-vincent-lacoste"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25656\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}