Girl
With A Bracelet
(2019/Icarus DVD)/The
Hit
(1984*)/The
Last Wave
(1977/Umbrella Region Free Import Blu-ray)/Pierrot
Le Fou
(1965/second edition/*both Criterion Blu-ray)/The
Wolf House
(2018/KimStim DVD)
Picture:
C+/B/B/B-/C+ Sound: C+/B-/B-/B-/C Extras: D/B-/B-/B/B -
Films: C+/C+/C+/B/B
PLEASE
NOTE:
The
Last Wave
Import Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at Umbrella
Entertainment in Australia, can play on all Blu-ray players and can
be ordered from the link below.
Next
up are a fine series of dramas and important art films, some of which
are back in impressive upgrades and one of which is a mixed bag....
Stephane
Demoustier's The
Girl With A Bracelet
(2019) is an ambitious film that has mixed results about a young lady
of the title (Melissa Guers) landing up in court, accused of
murdering her best friend, but even her loyal parents are suddenly
adrift as the proceedings become more about putting children and
freedom on trial than getting to how the friend actually died. This
includes some flashbacks and other moments of investigation that
takes its various twists nad turns, but it trying to make a larger
point.
The
best way to say this is that it becomes too repetitive, never makes
any big statement (it did not necessarily need to to that, but
still...) and what it does is sadly a reflection on how society has
not paid attention to, neglected and taken for granted children,
especially in recent decades. Too bad the film did not add more in
its 96 minutes.
There
are no extras.
Stephen
Frears' The
Hit
(1984) is one of the director's early feature films with Terence
Stamp as an informer named Willie who gets away from criminals who
sour on him when he testifies in court, only ten years later to be
found and kidnapped to be returned to be killed (or worse) for
bleated revenge from people he would have been better off not
knowing. After an unexpected beginning, he lands up in a car with
two criminals, the quiet older Braddock (Jon Hurt) and a young, ready
to kill but not shut-up Myron (a remarkable early turn by Tim Roth,
who you might not recognize at first) apparently going to get a
bounty for their work. They demonstrate they will kill early on.
However,
Willie is not very fazed by either of them, which particularly drives
Myron nuts, who thinks people should always be scarred and tremble
when he makes a threat. Willie knows that he is full of it and keeps
playing him like the fool he is. Braddock is not as foolish. So it
becomes an unusual road trip and has some interesting twists. Frears
would be more successful later with The Grifters (1999) a few
years later in the same territory, but the acting work (also
including Laura Del Sol, Jim Broadbent, Bill Hunter and The French
Connection's Fernando Rey) will continue to make this a curio
finally getting its due and it already does have its fans. Now you
can see for yourself.
However,
as I thought when I saw it a long time ago, it remains an uneven film
despite its great cast and get work by DP Mike Molloy, which looks
better than ever here, so this is a great second viewing if you are
curious to see it again and first one if you have never seen it at
all.
Extras
include a high-quality paper pullout with tech info and an essay by
film critic Graham Fuller, while the disc adds a feature length audio
commentary from 2009 featuring director Stephen Frears, actors John
Hurt and Tim Roth, screenwriter Peter Prince, and editor Mick
Audsley, interview from 1988 with actor Terence Stamp from the
television show Parkinson One-to-One and an Original
Theatrical Trailer.
Peter
Weir's The
Last Wave
(1977) is a well-liked film and considered an Australian cinema
classic that is not one of their exploitation 'Oz-Ploitation' films,
but is also not one of their turn-of-the-previous-century dramas
either. An attempt at an intellectual disaster film (barely science
fiction) and juggling racism and oppression by its remarkable
inclusion of Aboriginal people (including co-star David Gulpilil as
an aboriginal man in the city who bridges the gap between two worlds
(white plenty in Australia versus aboriginal plight, et al) is akin
to the best Italian Neo_realism of the time.
Richard
Chamberlain (proving he was more than just a big international TV
star) is the lawyer with a happy family who stars to encounter nature
turning on him and every one around him (a theme that started to turn
up in various films, including several Australian ones) and does not
know what to think of it or do to begin with. The film tries to
suggest the split between the civilized world ignorant to nature with
no solutions to solve problems, especially ones they made, versus
some aboriginal wisdom not connected to Western thinking.
The
results are mixed and sometimes get into supernatural suggestion, but
can never distinguish if that is just a genre convention or maybe old
near-religious thinking of some sort from aboriginal culture. The
film is not a documentary, but also wants to a disaster film without
showing much disaster, budgetary limits notwithstanding. The result
is Weir (as is often the case with all his films (starts saying and
doing things only he knowns the meaning of) lands up producing and
directing a film that plays like lower-case Nicolas Roeg, but nowhere
near as good and I am not merely referring to Walkabout
(reviewed elsewhere on this site).
It
still remains a curio for so many reason, not the least of which
Criterion issued it on DVD years ago or people still talk about it or
its stars or other items already covered. If you are going to watch
it, whether you have seen it before or not, this is the way to go.
Extras
include a Stills Gallery, Original Theatrical Trailer and
interview/featurette with actor Richard Chamberlain, Producer Jim
McElroy, Director of Photography Russell Boyd, David Straton on the
film, Brian Trenchard-Smith talking about his work on the film and
its trailer via Trailers From Hell and an excerpt from the 1980
documentary David Gulpilii: Walkabout To Hollywood.
Jean-Luc
Godard's Pierrot
Le Fou
(1965) is back in print, and again from Criterion, but with some
controversy. The previous edition was discontinued and it suddenly
became a hot item since it was based on what Director of Photography
Raoul Coutard had specifically color-graded it as. That transfer
even showed up later on a basic Umbrella import PAL DVD, the first
time we reviewed it.
At
the time, I described it as ''the great French New Wave director's
amusing, work during his peak run about the married title character
(Jean-Paul Belmondo) getting sick of his life, bored with its
domesticity, feeling stuck, yet being interested in the family
babysitter Marianne (Anna Karina), so they land up killing someone
and going on the run. This is done tongue-in-cheek with many visual
and linguistic subversions as Godard jumps into his world view, is
again explicitly about his politics, is devilishly humorous about it
all and the bring colors meant to express joy are another kind of
trap (capitalist and as petty bourgeoise as domesticity; note the
interplay of red and blue throughout) in a film with plenty of
classic Godard moments.''
Of
course, it still plays well that way and somehow, seems as relevant
as ever. The comedy works whether you get the deeper meaning or not,
though some references (the opening joke at the gas station) will be
lost on those unfamiliar with older advertising classics) might get
missed for more than the usual reasons.
You
can read about the image issues below, but you get more than enough
extras,
which pretty much repeat the discontinued version, so that at least
is good, and includes a thick, high quality booklet on the film with
an essay by critic Richard Brody, along with (Blu-ray only) a 1969
review by Andrew Sarris and a 1965 interview with Godard, while the
disc adds an interview with actor Anna Karina from 2007, A
''Pierrot'' Primer, a video essay from 2007 written and narrated by
filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin, Godard,
l'amour, la poesie,
a fifty-minute French documentary from 2007, directed by Luc Lagier,
about director Jean-Luc Godard and his work and marriage with Karina,
excerpts of interviews from 1965 with Godard, Karina, and actor
Jean-Paul Belmondo and an Original Theatrical Trailer.
Last
but absolutely not least is Leon & Cocnina's The
Wolf House
(2018) from Chile that is a stop-motion animation marvel that deals
with another ugly, real-life incident, this time about a murderous
cult in Chile launched by an Ex-Nazi in real life that included the
sexual child abuse of children, set up in that country so they were
far away from any authorities who would try to stop them. In the
same amazing heart and soul mode of Del Toro's Pan's
Labyrinth
(see our 4K coverage elsewhere on this site) and other such bold and
daring works of art, a young lady escapes to the forest to evade
abuse (this includes being isolated and starved!) where her emotional
and mental damage combine with her imagination. Can she survive?
What
follows is a painstaking, often amazing and even brilliant 73 minutes
of some of the best stop-motion animation (even in the face of the
best CGI I have seen in recent decades) and any kind of animation I
have seen in years, reminding me of brilliant work like the IMAX-made
More (also reviewed on this site) and shows that animation as
an uncompromised artform is as real and alive and relevant as ever.
A political classic too. This is a must-see and is one of the
biggest surprises of the year.
Extras
include a high quality booklet with a Directors' Statement, an essay:
THE BITTERNESS OF HONEY by Jack Zipes and a Selection of ORIGINAL
ARTWORK by Cristobal Leon and Joaquin Cocina, while the disc adds
some more great animation: WEATHERVENE, a short film by JoaquĆn
Cocina, DER KLEINERE RAUM (THE SMALLER ROOM), a short film by
Cristobal Len and Nina Wehrle, Deleted Scenes (wish they could have
stayed in the film somewhere, because they are remarkable too) and
Video Interviews with the filmmakers.
Now
for playback performance. The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image on The
Hit
is easily the best I have ever seen the film, with some expect grain,
but far better color and depth that when I saw it many years ago.
The cinematography of Director
of Photography Mike Malloy, who worked with Frears several times, is
always deceptively simple, adding more complex ideas than it would
seem and staying just gritty enough to make you believe they are in
the world and situation they are in. The PCM
1.0 Mono sounds fine for its age, a rare film to still not be in at
least stereo at the time it was made and comes from a 35mm magnetic
soundmaster. That held up well.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on The
Last Wave
is from a new HD master that even easily outdoes the older Criterion
DVD transfer we reviewed from years ago, with much better color
range, more clarity and more warmth to the image. That resolves
scenes, light and fleshtones far better, making the film even more
palpable and watchable. It also looks better than several of Weir's
high profile Hollywood films. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix is also a big
improvement over previous audio for the film in older video releases
and is so good, I cannot imagine it sounding better than this.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Pierrot
Le Fou
is a new 2K scan of the original Techniscope camera negative, and
though you get good, rich color at times, the transfer has odd issues
including waxy images, color that is off, grain you should not see
and color that is inaccurate, especially versus the previous
Criterion Blu-ray and DVD editions of the film with a transfer that
was supervised by longtime Godard Director
of Photography Raoul Coutard. The deviation started with current
film owners Studio Canal, who years ago, cancelled the rights to a
few dozen films Criterion had licensed (Man
Who Fell To Earth
included) shocking and disappointing fans. Maybe Studio Canal can
follow Coutard's guidelines when they get to a 4K version, but the
older Criterion release (especially the Blu-ray) is hard to come by,
so this is the compromise you'll have to tolerate.
Mind
you, Techniscope was always a little grainy since the frame is a tiny
2-perforation frame, but it was usually printed in 3-strip
dye--transfer Technicolor at the time, so Godard was the first to
openly shoot the format and issue it in EastmanColor, no matter the
grain (non-technicolor Techniscope was usually known as Chromoscope
at the time) and gave him a look no one had attempted yet.
The
PCM 1.0 Mono sound is just fine with
no problems or issues, showing its age at times, but the 35mm optical
monophonic soundmaster has held up well and I only wish it were
2-track mono.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.66 X 1 image on Bracelet has only so
many locations where it was shot and looks just fine for the format,
but it is so nice, I bet a Blu-ray would make it look better. The
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 is dialogue-based and as good as it can get
in the old sound format.
The
anamorphically enhanced, bookended 1.33 X 1 image on Wolf
is meant to look like an old 16mm film print that is worn in spots,
but usually not during the incredible animation. Of course, this
would be amazing in HD and especially 4K, but it still impresses
here. The lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is lower-sounding than usual,
but some of that is intended as part of the style and intentional
distortion and some warping is meant to sound like an old 16mm
library or school film print that has been played hundreds of times
and maybe not stored as well as it could have been. Be careful of
high playback volumes and volume switching.
To
order The
Last Wave
Umbrella import Blu-ray, go to this link and other hard to find
releases at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
Nicholas Sheffo