After surviving a mass shooting in a Paris restaurant, Mia (Virginie Efira) is haunted, unable to resume life as usual, and left with a total blackout where her memories of the traumatic incident should be. Determined to reconstruct the sequence of events and reestablish a sense of normalcy, Mia finds herself repeatedly returning to the bistro where the shooting happened. In the process, she forms bonds with fellow survivors, including banker Thomas (Benoît Magimel) and teenager Félicia (Nastya Golubeva). A poignant, emotional and ultimately hopeful tale on grief and healing, REVOIR PARIS is anchored by a career-best performance by Efira who earned the 2023 César for Best Actress. Although fictional, the film was inspired by Winocour’s own brother’s experiences as a survivor of the Bataclan concert hall 2015 attacks.

For in-depth thoughts on Revoir Paris, please see my colleague Caillou Pettis’ review from its original theatrical release here.

Video Quality

Revoir Paris comes to DVD with a 480p transfer that is strong for the format. This DVD offers up a fair amount of detail within the production design and clothing. Compression artifacts are not an uncommon part of this transfer, but they are not a major detriment to the picture. Black levels could be much more robust in HD, but there is only a minimal amount of blocking. Colors are one of the stronger aspects of the disc, especially in some of the lighting choices. The cinematography captures the darkness of the narrative, but there are moments where vibrant colors make an appearance on screen. Skin tones look natural, and there are some welcome facial details present in close ups. This presentation is about as sturdy as you can expect a DVD to look. While we hope a Blu-Ray release is in the cards at some point in the future, we are glad to be able to add this to our collection in any form.

Audio Quality

The DVD comes with a Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio track in the original French which works for the film within its limitations. Dialogue is balanced well and comes through clearly without ever being overshadowed by the score or any sound effects. Directionality is rendered deftly so that sounds emanate from all of their natural spots. Environmental sounds are a notable part of the soundscape such as background chatter at the restaurant or various city sounds which add a pulse-pounding energy to the proceedings. There is pretty consistent activity in the film, and this track captures the nuances of the soundscape. The film is largely driven by dialogue, but there are some important moments which bring a formidable power to the mix. There is a slight loss of power without a lossless track, but it holds its own. The disc includes optional English subtitles.

Special Features

Interview with Director Alice Winocour: A 10-minute interview with the director in which she discusses the personal nature of this story, what she wanted to accomplish with this film, the way the movie depicts Paris, the complicated bonds that can arise out of tragedy and more.

Interview with Virginie Efira: An eight-minute interview with the actress in which she discusses working with Winocour, immersing herself into her character, what she attempted to capture with her performance, the themes of the film and more.

Interview with Alice Winocour and Benoît Magimel from Cannes: An 11-minute interview with the director and actor in which they discuss the inspirations behind this story, their first meeting with one another, the layers of these characters and more.

Q&A From Cannes Directors’ Fortnight: A 25-minute Q&A with director Alice Winocour and Benoît Magimel in which they discuss the personal experiences they drew from to tell this story, her interactions with survivors, the experience of shooting a film in Paris, the work of the production team and more. The answers are given in French and translated into English after every question by an interpreter.

Theatrical Trailer: The two-minute trailer is provided here.

Final Thoughts

Revoir Paris is a raw exploration of the process of building yourself back up after tragedy. The personal nature of the story resonates in the way director Alice Winocour presents this story, even if it is a narrative which does not completely coalesce in an effective manner. Virginie Efira delivers a knockout performance which brings so many layers to this character who feels like she is experiencing a thousand different emotions at once. There are moments of brilliance, but in the end this settles into being merely “quite good” – which is still no small feat these days. Music Box Films has released a DVD featuring a pretty good A/V presentation for the format along with a couple of nifty special features. If you can handle the difficult subject matter, this is a film that is worth seeking out. Recommended

Revoir Paris will be available to purchase on DVD and Digital on July 25, 2023.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the DVD.

Disclaimer: Music Box Films has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.