{"id":33752,"date":"2026-06-25T22:17:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T05:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=33752"},"modified":"2026-06-25T22:17:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T05:17:14","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-solo-1970","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=33752","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: SOLO (1970)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray from Radiance Films is\ncurrently available for purchase.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This week, Radiance Films released the stellar drama, La\nT\u00eate Contre Les Muirs<\/em>, which was conceived, written by, and starring\nJean-Pierrre Mocky. The success of that picture allowed Mocky to fully turn his\nattention to directing for the next ten years. But, given Mocky\u2019s charismatic\nonscreen persona, it was only a matter of time before he returned to acting. In\nSolo<\/em>, he serves as both co-writer, director and lead. Even though it may\nhave been made many years after La T\u00eate Contre Les Muirs<\/em>, this film\nshares a few similarities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For one, both pictures deal with an important issue of the\nday. And this time out, Mocky\u2019s directing allows the picture to fully embrace\nthe naturalistic tone that appears in some sections of the earlier movie.\nConversations feel authentic, and the photography feels raw with a slight\nverite style, like it\u2019s capturing action as it is occurring. Radiance Films is\nnow presenting a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray of Solo, so that international film\nenthusiasts can either discover it and\/or enjoy the title in the highest\npossible quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set just after the civil unrest in France in May, 1968, the plot follows Vincent Cabral (Jean-Pierre Mocky). Vincent is a musician and thief, smuggling jewels into France during his trips abroad. He returns home to visit his younger brother Virgile (Denis Le Guillou), only to discover that his sibling has not only joined, but is leading a revolutionary group. The outfit has already assassinated several wealthy aristocrats and prostitutes at an orgy, and are ready to set a bomb off at another location and kill more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Brother Vincent can see their political point of view, but is far more relaxed and jaded. He spends most of his time stealing from the upper class and doesn\u2019t really want those he\u2019s taking advantage of to be eliminated. So, the protagonist decides to try to find his brother before police can locate and shoot Virgile. But in the process, Vincent ends up becoming associated with the revolutionaries, and even crosses paths with his brother\u2019s female cohort, Annabel (Anne Deleuze).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Set over the course of one evening, this is actually a\nlengthy chase, with the lead trying to hunt down his brother while avoiding\nofficers also in pursuit. Naturally, the film deals with the disdain of\nstudents and the lower-classes towards high society, and there are plenty of\ndiscussions between Vincent and those associated with the movement about their\ngoals. Everyone makes good points and the film doesn\u2019t judge any of its\ncharacters. Concerns over capitalism, as well as the relentlessly violent pursuit\nof justice, are all discussed. Like in real life, there are no easy answers to\nthe problems raised, but the characters debate, which helps detail everyone\u2019s\nmotivations and keep viewers invested in all of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The film is also exciting, as Vincent ends up in the firing\nline when a blunt and less-than-observant investigator decides that he is the\nreal mastermind behind the operation. The protagonist ends up resorting to\nunusual tactics to try and draw attention away from himself which even leads to\nan explosion and a few close calls. As you might have already guessed, the film\nends on a dark and tragic note, but one that certainly feels appropriate given\nthe story and dangers presented. While one could reasonably argue that the\nscreenplay contains a lot of plot conveniences (with most of the characters\nfrequently sitting next to each other), but they do add tension to the\nproceedings. So, if you can forgive that aspect, and the majority of viewers,\nmyself included, will, then this is another exceptional picture from Mocky.\nLike the previous film, it combines traditional thrills with big, complex\nissues in a compelling and dynamic manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once again, Mocky\u2019s production house supervised a 4K\nrestoration of the movie and the image quality is strong. Unlike the previous\ntitle, this is a color film, and the hues are deep. There is a speckle here and\nthere and a few establishing night location shots are grainy, but the general\npicture looks remarkably clean and some scenes are remarkably crisp. This is\nlikely as detailed as the movie will ever appear.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As for extras, there is an excellent interview with\nJean-Pierre Mocky that was recorded in 2018. He discusses the genesis of the\nproject. Mocky mentions sitting in a French caf\u00e9 after the May 68 student and\nworkers rebellion, and hearing a conversation between 20-somethings about\ncontinuing the fight to change society through any means necessary. This\ninspired him to tackle the subject, and the result was one of the first films\nto deal with aftermath and attitudes after the civil unrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was a small film that required extra funding from Belgium to get it made, but Mocky realized that countries like Italy and Germany had been going through similar political and social troubles. The filmmaker felt that the movie would play everywhere, and it ultimately was a massive success at Cannes and traveled well through Europe. Mocky also notes that he wasn\u2019t thrilled with casting options, so, even though he was a little older for the part than written, he decided to give himself the lead. This would mark his first onscreen appearance in ten years and he received acclaim for it. The filmmaker\/actor talks about the ultimate message and what he feels was accomplished with the movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additionally, there is a 2022 discussion with co-star Anne\nDeleuze, who tells funny stories about the production. This was her first\nonscreen appearance, and so she did her best to enjoy the experience. Deleuze\nnotes that everything was hectic, and large portions of the story were shot\non-the-fly and quickly. She immediately thought that this was normal for all\nfilm productions, until taking on jobs afterwards and realizing that the\nurgency and chaotic approach on Solo<\/em> was different from the norm. It\u2019s a\nfun interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mocky\u2019s assistant, who appeared in the bonuses on the\nprevious release, also appears to give some analysis of the film and context.\nHe also goes into detail about the production, the attitudes of many about the\ntroubles during this era, and his experiences with Mocky. He also notes the\nmovie\u2019s eventual release, and the success it garnered worldwide. The talk is,\nagain, insightful and enjoyable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A gallery is also included, along with a booklet containing\ntwo archival articles on the movie originally published in 1970.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solo <\/em>is a striking film that combines action and\npolitical commentary in a fascinating and exciting manner. The new Blu-ray from\nRadiance Films offers excellent picture quality, wonderful extras, and is\nanother winner. It comes highly recommended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray from Radiance Films is currently available for purchase. This week, Radiance Films released the stellar drama, La T\u00eate Contre Les Muirs, which was conceived, written by, and starring Jean-Pierrre Mocky. The success of that picture allowed Mocky to fully turn his attention to directing for the next ten years. But, given […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":33761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[100,697,1518,2492,2933,2939,2961,3073,5712,6251,7798,7932,10504,16230,16584,18646,18647,18648,22825],"class_list":["post-33752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-100","tag-action","tag-anne-deleuze","tag-belgium","tag-blasts-from-the-past-2","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-2","tag-blasts-from-the-past-solo","tag-blu-ray-review","tag-denis-le-guillou","tag-drama","tag-france","tag-french","tag-jean-pierre-mocky","tag-political-drama","tag-radiance-films","tag-solo","tag-solo-blu-ray-review","tag-solo-review","tag-thriller"],"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\/33752","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=33752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33752\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}