On Blu-ray - David Hare is deeply disappointed by a new edition of LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES (Jean-Pierre Melville, Jean Cocteau, France, 1950)

The incomparable Nicole Stéphane.

The BFI has just released a 2020 restoration of the Cocteau/Melville Les Enfants Terribles, perhaps the greatest two headed monster of a movie for auteurists. It’s ultimately pointless trying to define what is Melville's and what is Cocteau’s, even aside from Cocteau's numerous voice overs from his own text which act as counter-transitions like meditations.

In the end I decided years ago it doesn't matter, as the mise-en- scène could have easily been either artist's. So while the narrative is relatively straightforward in layout, perfect for Melville’s brisk method it's constantly clouded by moods, atmosphere,hyperbolic acting from the leads and soliloquies which could come from no other hand but Cocteau's.

This was a restoration project from last year which I was keenly anticipating. 

Unfortunately not everything about this is right. The restoration titles card (screen below) gives as much detail as I can muster, and the labs and other posts are not familiar to me. In any event, like another sabotaged project - Carné’s second feature, Drôle de Drame which was scanned and given basic cleanup in France but then sent to a Pakistan facility and totally botched by overzealous cleanup and DVNR, Les Enfants has also been subjected to mega-aggressive dust busting/DVNR and there's not a trace of grain left in the image. White and black levels and contrast/gray scale are remarkably still good, but the image is like plastic. 

The previous elements used for the existing Criterion and BFI DVDs from 2004 were in good shape and should have yielded a great result. 

Restoration card, click to enlarge

I'm afraid this is a huge disappointment for such a favorite movie.