Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Dekalog (aka Decalogue/1989)
+ Water Under The Bridge
(1980/Umbrella TV Mini-Series/PAL Region Free/Zero/0/PAL DVD Import Sets)
Picture:
C/C- Sound: C+/C Extras: C/C+ Episodes: C+
PLEASE NOTE: These DVD set can only be
operated on machines capable of playing back DVDs that can handle Region
Zero/0/Free PAL format software and can be ordered from our friends at Umbrella
Entertainment at the website address provided at the end of the review.
The TV
Mini-Series started to peter out in the 1980s, but interesting ones were
produced here and there. We now look at
two series from two countries not usually know for them that had their own
impacts in their time. Water Under The Bridge (1980) is an
Australian production that I am surprised did not have more worldwide exposure
(was it really that Australian?) and Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Dekalog (1989)
was so successful, that the Polish production found itself getting a theatrical
release in movie theaters worldwide.
Dekalog is ten hour-long tales about the
events that happen to people in the same Warsaw,
Poland
apartment building and each is also based on one of the Ten Commandments. Though they have good acting, pacing, editing
and wants to delve into the many layers of human relationships. The result was raves and a rare time a
Mini-Series (like Gettysburg and Das Boot) landed up in movie houses. The problem I always had with the series was
its predictability. Two of the
installments became expanded feature films and we covered them in their U.S.
Kino DVD releases:
A Short Film About Killing
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1260/A+Short+Film+About+Love
A Short Film About Love (covering adultery)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1261/A+Short+Film+About+Killing
They do
work better with more footage and those copies look and sound better than what
we get here. The 1.33 X 1 image from all
ten shows have burned-in subtitles with print damage, color limits, detail
issues and other softness that make watching these difficult. It is ambitious and Stanley Kubrick
reportedly liked it very much, so here is the whole series in the space of one
DVD case containing four DVDs for you to see.
Water Under The Bridge may not be the best Mini-Series
ever made, but it is an ambitious attempt to show Sydney’s ups and down between the first and
second World War. Based on a book by
Sumner Locke Elliott (Careful, He Might
Hear You), this runs 534 minutes (!) and eight episodes as we begin in Melbourne in 1918 and work
our way to the 1930s. An actor (David
Cameron) falls for the daughter (Judy Davis) of a rich family, but his guardian
(Robyn Nevin) hates the whole family and this will wreck havoc in all their
lives as the world teeters. Co-writers
Michael Jenkins (who adapted Careful, He
Might Hear You for film) and Eleanor Witcombe (Number 96, reviewed elsewhere on this site) have written a
sprawling and intelligent teleplay, but it is too melodramatic, overlong and
even boring for its own good, though this does have some good moments.
The 1.33
X 1 image here was also filmed, but this does not look good and comes from a
bad old analog video master that is very hard to watch. That’s a shame because this looks like the
money was put into it. Hope a film print
is found one of these days.
The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Mono in both cases is also problematic, with the Polish Mono on Dekalog being good at best, but with it
own distortion issues and sonic limits. Water has even more issues with
dialogue not always being audible and includes more evident compression
throughout its episodes.
Extras in
both cases include piece on the authors.
There is a 35-minutes-long interview with Elliott on Water, while Dekalog has a 55-minutes-long featurette I’m So-So that has been awkwardly updated when it should have been
left alone. A scarce Press Reel with
co-star Nevin, PDF DVD-ROM accessible Press Clippings piece and Stills Gallery
round out Water.
As noted
above, you can order these PAL DVD imports exclusively from Umbrella at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
