Pillow
Book (1996/Film Movement
Blu-ray)/The River
(1951/Jean Renoir/Criterion Blu-ray)/Serena
(2014/Magnolia Blu-ray)
Picture:
B-/B+/B- Sound: B- Extras: C+/B-/C- Films: B-/B+/C-
Here
are some dramas that go for something different and memorable, with
varying degrees of success...
Peter
Greenaway's Pillow
Book
has arrived on Blu-ray from Film Movement and it is the best way to
see the film, which we reviewed as part of an import DVD box of
Greenaway's films at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10327/The+Peter+Greenaway+Collection+(1982+%E2%8
That
includes all of our Greenaway coverage to date including links and
from that review, here is what I said about the film...
'Pillow
Book
(1996)
received one of the better launches of any of his films when Sony
Pictures Classics picked it up and even issued it on DVD for a time.
Once described as a look at two worlds, East (Japan, et al) through
the eyes of Nagiko (Vivian Wu) who likes to write on everything,
including human skin, which gets more interesting when she meets a
Englishman (Ewan McGregor) who she falls for. To say more would give
things away, but it is what we would definitely call postmodernist as
much as any of his works and holds up well enough.'
That
was a basic DVD edition and for a director who likes to have
boundaries crossed (the body becomes corruptible and has no line
between it and books, food or anything else, as his
anti-neo-conservative/anti-Margaret Thatcher The Cook, The Thief,
His Wife & Her Lover proves) and with the rise of HD and
digital video all over the place, the film shows some age as far as
the video half of it and how the video is placed, but it is still a
unique, interesting experiment that holds up more than you might
expect. It is yet another film worth a look from Greenaway and Ewan
McGregor's presence makes it as much of a curio as ever along with
the nudity and desecration of the human body.
We
finally get some extras this time including an illustrated booklet on
the film including informative text and an essay by film critic
Nicolas Rapold, While the Blu-ray adds a an audio commentary track by
Greenaway that last about 40 minutes.
Jean
Renoir's The
River
(1951) is
the great director's landmark film based on the Rumer Godden book of
a British family living in India with three women finding their way
in life and in their personal life, well acted and actually shot on
location, this commercial and critical comeback for the great
filmmaker was also a groundbreaker being shot on location in India
and in full Technicolor when it was thought to be impossible to do
so.
The
film is as much a character study of India, its people, its culture
and is more than just a travelogue or time capsule. It is a purely
cinematic experience that has a great story and has honest things to
say and show, then takes off from their to communicate so much more.
The cast (from Nora Swinburne to Adrienne Corri to Esmond Knight to
Radha) have chemistry and are totally convincing as the film builds
from the first scene out. This new Criterion
Blu-ray comes from the restored version of the classic and is
highly recommended.
Extras
include another illustrated booklet on the film including informative
text, notes by Renoir and film scholar Ian Christie on the film,
while the Blu-ray add the Around
The River
(2008) documentary by Arnaud Mandagaran,
Martin Scorsese on the film from a 2004 interview, 1962 introduction
to the film by Renoir, audio-only interview by Producer Kenneth
McEldowney on the film and video essay on the film by Paul Ryan
called Jean
Renoir: A Passage Through India.
Susanne
Bier's Serena
(2014) brings together again Jennifer Lawrence in the title role as
the love interest
of rich businessman Bradley Cooper, but this match is a dud as the
script has ever single turn-of-the-last-century cliché you can
imagine and character development is very two-dimensional no matter
the efforts of the leads or great supporting actors like Rhys Ifans
and Toby Jones can't even save this muddy run-on drama that does have
money on the screen, color-gutted as it is. I like these actors, but
this starts flat and dull, then proceeds to go nowhere. A real
disappointment.
Extras
include Deleted Scenes and four Behind The Scenes/Making Of
featurettes.
Each
film was shot differently, with the 1080p 1.33 X 1 digital High
Definition image on Pillow
being primarily shot on Kodak 35mm film, but augmented with standard
definition video for a unique mix that plays better here than the
previous DVDs, but that aspect of it has added some age on the look
of the film (call is cubist, we gather) and we have not seen a film
like it before or since. I can't imagine this looking better.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 digital High Definition image in River
is restored and amazing, one of the great full color films, a
groundbreaker as shot in 35mm
dye-transfer, three-strip Technicolor (British labs) and Director of
Photography Claude Renoir helps deliver a visual experience like
nothing that had ever been seen before or really since. This comes
from the 35mm restoration interpositive and makes all previous video
versions obsolete, going back to Criterion's old 12-inch analog
LaserDisc version that many people discovered the film on.
The
1080p 2.39 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Serena
has few good shots, but its color-gutted style cuts into its detail
and sometimes it depth, making this a dull, forgettable visual
experience as well.
Pillow
and River
happen to both be in PCM 2.0 Mono sound and sound as good as they
ever will, but the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on
Serena
should sound the best, yet there is some very dull dialogue recording
throughout too much towards the front channels and the soundfield is
very inconsistent.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
