‘The Golden Coach’ Blu-Ray Review – Jean Renoir Crafts An Elegant Love Letter To Performance

François Truffaut described The Golden Coach as “the noblest and most refined film ever made”. Set to the music of Antonio Vivaldi and with the vivacious Anna Magnani (Rome, Open City), Jean Renoir’s ravishing, sumptuous tribute to theatre involves a viceroy who receives an exquisite golden coach and gives it to the tempestuous star of a touring commedia dell’arte company. Set in Peru in the eighteenth century, The Golden Coach follows Camilla (Magnani), the star of a theater company, who hesitates to choose between the advances of three men. The Viceroy gives her his magnificent golden coach. A young Spanish officer suggests the two of them settle down together. Ramon, a torero, offers her a share of his glory.

For thoughts on The Golden Coach, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/T7jBM3kHH9s?si=egiM-ZpMHRp1R9co&t=3299]

Video Quality

The Golden Coach debuts on Blu-Ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in its original 1.37:1 which is derived from a 2K restoration of the Original Technicolor Trichrome Negatives conducted by Digimage. The entire palette is presented with a golden sheen that somewhat lessens the vivid saturation of the colors. We are not familiar enough with the title to say how this is supposed to look, but you can tell there are some dazzling hues in the clothing, production design, and lighting choices that do not radiate as they might otherwise. 

Black levels are pretty good with a decent amount of detail in shadows and no egregious instances of crush. Digital noise is mostly avoided while the natural film grain shines through to deliver more texture in the craft elements. There is very little in the way of nicks or scratches to be found. There is some inherent softness to some of the photography, but overall this material looks quite nice. The close-ups fare better when it comes to fine detail, but even medium shots deliver some rich texture. Raro Video has delivered a pretty good video presentation for this one.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray disc comes with an agreeable DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mono track in the original English along with a French audio track with optional English subtitles. Dialogue emanates clearly from the center channel without being overshadowed by competing elements. Environmental sounds of the theatrical space are rendered well alongside other factors. The music flows through with a nice fidelity throughout the runtime. We did not spot any egregious instances of age-related wear and tear that would distract from the experience. This audio presentation brings this movie to life without any hiccups. 

Special Features

• Audio Commentary: Film critic Adam Nayman provides a very informative commentary track in which he discusses the history of the film, where it falls in the career of Jean Renoir, how the film utilizes theatrical styles, the background of the performers, the struggle of Anna Magnani to perform in English, and much more that is worth a listen. 

Final Thoughts

The Golden Coach is a visually elegant film from the great Jean Renoir, but the narrative itself is a touch on the dull side between witty barbs. Where the film succeeds is in the way it captures Renoir’s love of storytelling and excavation of presentation. The feature is a joy to witness with every scene offering a sensorial delight. The performances are very strong as the ensemble has been given layered characters courtesy of Renoir which shows he cared just as much about the story as the visual aesthetic. The particulars of the character dynamics can become a bit tedious for those not into period dramas, but Renoir fans should be thrilled by the effort. Raro Video and Kino Classics have delivered a Blu-Ray with a really swell A/V presentation and a welcome commentary track. Recommended 

The Golden Coach is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray. 

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Raro Video and Kino Lorber have supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.