The Square
(2008/Australia/Sony Blu-ray)
Picture:
B- Sound: B Extras: B- Film: B-
As we
have encountered from some recent import feature film dramas (partly from
Blu-rays and DVD from companies outside the U.S.),
Australia has a great cinema
and they keep making interesting films that are not making it to the U.S. and not
often enough in a big way. They are also
not often remade, even thrillers as savvy as Nash Edgerton’s The Square (2008), an Australian
production with a reputation it tends to live up to as a good film. As I watched, I realized how many years it
had been since any independent U.S.
thriller had been this good.
Ray
(David Roberts, Matrix Revolutions)
is up to no good having an affair with married Carla (Claire van der Boom) behind
the back of her husband Greg (Anthony Hayes, Animal Kingdom & Rabbit
Proof Fence) ready to steal money from him and try and get away with
it. However, this is all about to
backfire as the unexpected happens and outsiders start to appear with their own
deadly agendas.
Instead
of a tired, formulaic film that we would get from companies who keep hiring
people who do not know how to writer or direct, we get a decent thriller that
is believable most of the time and one that might finally get discovered in the
U.S. market. Apparition, the small
production and distribution company who gave us the underrated The Runaways (reviewed elsewhere on
this site) shows once again that the people running it love films and know what
they are doing. Too bad they have not
had a big hit on their hands yet. The Square is a smart thriller for
smart people and you’d be smart to catch up with it as soon as you can.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image was shot on 16mm film by Director of
Photography Brad Shield further exposing the myth that 16mm is not good enough
for High Definition when it absolutely is and looks very good here. A gritty film, we get some softness and
roughness with a little motion blur at times, but this is a good-looking film
and embarrasses many HD and even 35mm shoots of late. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) lossless 5.1 mix
is dialogue-based, but well recorded for a low budget film and is consistently
rich and warm throughout with only minor sonic flaws. Francois Tetaz’s score is also a plus.
Extras
include Edgerton’s short film Spider
from 2007, several making-of featurettes, a Music Video for a song in the film,
interesting Deleted Scenes and a separate Behind-The-Scenes featurette.
- Nicholas Sheffo
