Love
Me (2013/Film Movement
DVD)/Rose Water
(2014/Universal Blu-ray w/DVD)
Picture:
C+/B & C+ Sound: C/B & C+ Extras: C/C- Films: C+
These
dramas show the splitting of people through inabilities to
communicate and especially in the latter case, some who want to take
ugly advantage of such situations...
Co-directed
by Maryna Er Gorbach & Mehmet
Bahadir Er, Love Me
(2013) is about a man named Cemal (Ushan Cakir) from Turkey who is
about to get married in an arranged marriage in which the gal seems
nice and some male family members are taking him out for a wild
weekend, but he meets a pretty young woman (Victoria Spesyvtseva) in
the Ukraine (well shot here) who he becomes very interested in.
Those around them try to write her off as just another gal and worse,
but he remains interested and the feeling slowly turns out to be
mutual.
This
is not immediate as they do not share the same language, but he tries
to really help her out when her relative walks away and gets lost
(again as it turns out) in the local subway system. This is well
written, directed and usually convincing, even with an interesting
ending. However, it did not stay with me as expected and though the
leads had some chemistry, I don't feel that was taken full advantage
of. Still, this one is definitely worth a look, a smart film you
should see for yourself in a country that is good for more than
action/exploitation films.
Extras
include, text bios, trailers and short film The
Queen (19 minutes
from Argentina), directed by Manuel Abramovich.
Jon
Stewart's Rose Water
(2014) has the actor-turned-comedy-TV-Show host trying his hand at
directing a political drama just before leaving his cable TV hit.
Based on an actual incident tied to his version of The
Daily Show, Gael Garcia
Bernal plays Maziar Bahari, a reporter who was working in Iran during
a recent election a few years ago where it looked like the
ever-obnoxious President Ahmadinejad was going to get voted out. He
was not, but Bahari did a spoof interview, only to be arrested as a
spy (usual Iranian propaganda reasons) and put through the ringer
when the election 'mysteriously' kept Ahmadinejad in power.
Protests
were huge, the Iranians realizing they had been had, with Bahari
tortured physically, psychologically and kept in solitary confinement
until months later, a movement began to get him free as part of a
larger realization too in how journalists are being targeted for this
and much worse in recent years. Bernal is fine in the role and the
story is one that deserves to be told the long, hard way, but it is
unfortunate that we have seen this too much and too often, as this is
too commonplace, yet underreported for whatever reasons. Stewart
handles the helm well and we'll have to see if he tries again despite
the mixed success this project had. It is definitely worth a look.
Extras
include Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and iTunes
capable devices, while both disc versions offer 5 minute-long clips
to that promoted the release of the film.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image on Love
is a little soft at times, but not bad and is asking for a Blu-ray
release, while the
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Water
is better and slightly dark in many shots for mood. It is very
consistent throughout and more watchable than you might expect, while
the
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image DVD version is softer on par
with Love.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on the Water
Blu-ray is well mixed and presented for an often
quiet multi-channel work, but it makes sense if offering nothing
special sonically. The
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on its DVD
version
is not as warm or subtly detailed, but that is better than the even
more laidback, lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on Love
that lacks any kind of soundfield.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
