The
Red Turtle (2016/Sony Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: A Extras: B Film: A-
A
man finds himself lost at sea and finds himself on a small, but
beautiful island. As he tries to escape the island his only
companion and tormentor is a giant Red Turtle (2016).
Stranded and alone the man would do anything to try and get off the
island, until one day, the Red Turtle turns into a young woman.
Together they start sharing the island and their lives together.
After
being lost at sea, a man finds himself stranded on a small bamboo
forest island surround by sand, rocks, crabs and turtles. He is
nearly driven mad from the isolation and loneliness until
miraculously one day the Red Turtle turns into a young woman. Over
the years, they spend living on the island together including even
having a son and raising a family. As their son grows from child to
adulthood they share simple joys of life and weather the storms and
elements of the island. It is only after their son leaves the island
to discover his own future and the man grows old and dies of old age,
does the woman turn back into the Red Turtle and then return to the
sea.
This
was a very symbolic and elemental movie, simple but beautiful. The
drawing and style of the film reminded me of French animated shows
like Tin Tin. The entire movie had no words or dialog, but
was more like a silent film paired with music. The story was set on
a simple island but yet showed different views of the island, day and
night, storm and calm, life and death, and reflective of man's
nature. Most of the movie's mood was told and felt in the beautiful
music in the background.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer has great color
and fine detail throughout, even with its deceptively simple
animation style, while the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix
impresses even more with an incredible soundfield from a top rate
recording. That makes the playback very, very impressive. Extras
include commentary with Director Michael Dudok de Wit, Birth of
the Red Turtle, Secrets of the Red Turtle and Q&A of
the Red Turtle and trailers.
-
Ricky Chiang
