City
Of God
(2002*)/Lucas
Moodysson Collection
(1998 - 2013/including Show
Me Love
and Mammoth/MVD/Arrow
Blu-ray set)/School
Ties
(1992/Paramount/*both ViaVision/Imprint Import Blu-ray)
Picture:
B-/B-/B Sound: C+/B-/B Extras: B-/B/B- Films: B-
PLEASE
NOTE:
The City
Of God
and School
Ties
Import Blu-rays are now only available from our friends at ViaVision
Entertainment in Australia, can play on all 4K and Blu-ray players
and can be ordered from the links below.
Now
for some import dramas, some with comedy...
We
start with a slightly upgraded edition of Fernando Meirelles' City
Of God
(2002) with its raw look at children growing up in the toughest,
poorest slums in Rio de Janeiro, we written and acted by a group of
unknown actors and extras that deliver a density that makes you feel
like you are there at times. Aging well enough, despite some down
moments, we reviewed the U.S. Blu-ray at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11320/Betty+Blue+(1986/Cinema+Libre+Blu-ray)/City+Of
That
includes
a link to our coverage of the TV sequel, City
Of Men.
A film that still get talked about, but maybe less so being a victim
of being stuck in the Miramax catalog (in the shadow of the Harvey
Weinstein scandal still in court as we post this) has been (along
with titles issued by The Weinstein Company) sadly unfair to hundreds
of films (including a good few hundred to thousand and or so that
were shelved and never released) that had so much critical and even
commercial success. Don't let that stop you from seeing this, as it
is definitely worth a look, no matter your final reaction.
Extras
repeat the hour-long News
From A Personal War,
which shows more of the real life stories that inspired the film
including some amazing footage of its own, then adds an Original
Theatrical Trailer and A Conversation with Fernando Meirelles
featurette.
The
Lucas Moodysson Collection
(1998 - 2013) features all of the successful Swedish director's
feature films to date, from his raw independent films to experimental
films to mainstream success. Also working on TV projects (like
Ingmar Bergman occasionally did,) his first three films (Show
Me Love
aka F#%!king
Amal
(1998,) Together
(2000, about a commune in the 1970s) and Lilya-4-Ever
(2002, which starts in Russia and lands up involving child sexual
exploitation) dealt with youth sexuality and young people discovering
they are gay, A
Hole In My Heart
(2004) and Container
(2006) are more experimental films that are not as successful, then
he had the mainstream hit Mammoth
(2009) with Gael Garcia Bernal and Michelle Williams that was his
independent breakthrough and and We
Are The Best!
(2013) with young gals starting a punk band in Stockholm in the
1980s.
Whether
he is an auteur or not is debatable, but he is a filmmaker who has
been very consistent in making non-commercial films. Though the way
sexuality is portrayed where the coming of age children are concerned
has some honesty to it, there are two issues I had here. The first
ism, is it too much in the way of sex and in the cases where some of
the child characters become gay, just because they do not show
initial interest in the opposite sex does not automatically mean they
are gay. Depending on the situation, could they be bored, confused
or even depressed and still need some time to grow, understand and
adjust? Those points would take a separate essay or two to cover,
though some of the many extras do touch upon them to their credit.
The films never cross any major lines in either respect, but his
films are also about so much more, including gay adults as well, plus
Sweden and its culture, so that is enough to give them all a good
look if you are interested. This is top rate treatment for his
dramatic feature film catalog to date, so Arrow delivers again.
Extras
are many and thorough, including new video interviews with Lukas
Moodysson and other cast and crew, moderated by film programmer Sarah
Lutton
A
200-page hardback book featuring new writing by Peter Walsh,
excerpts from the original press kits for each film, including
interviews with and directors' statements from Moodysson, and essays
on his films from a 2014 special issue of the Nordic culture journal
Scandinavica by C. Claire Thomson, Helga H. Luthersdottir,
Elina Nilsson, Scott MacKenzie & Anna Westerstahl Stenport and
Kjerstin Moody
Disc
One:
2K
restoration by the Swedish Film Institute, approved by director
Lukas Moodysson and cinematographer Ulf Brantas
New
interview with Lukas Moodysson
New
interview with star Alexandra Dahlstrom
Did
You Know She's A Lesbian?,
an appreciation by Dr. Clara Bradbury Rance, author of Lesbian
Cinema After Queer Theory
Talk
(Bara prata lite),
a short film directed by Moodysson in 1997
Theatrical
trailer
Image
gallery
Disc
Two:
4K
restoration by the Swedish Film Institute from the original camera
negative, approved by director Lukas Moodysson and cinematographer
Ulf Brantas
New
interview with Lukas Moodysson
New
interview with script supervisor Malin Fornander
New
interview with editor Michal Leszczylowski
Deleted
scenes
Theatrical
trailer
Image
gallery
Disc
Three:
New
interview with Lukas Moodysson
New
interview with costume designer Denise Ostholm
Guardian
Interview with Lukas Moodysson,
a Q&A with the director filmed at the London Film Festival in
2002
Theatrical
trailer
Image
gallery
Disc
Four:
New
interviews with Lukas Moodysson on both films
Lukas
Moodysson Masterclass,
an interview with the director filmed at London's National Film &
Television School in 2004
A
Hole in My Second Heart,
a behind-the-scenes featurette from 2004
Swedish
and English narration options for Container
Inside
the Container Crypt,
a 2007 featurette on the themes of Container
Theatrical
trailers and image galleries for both films
Disc
Five:
New
interview with Lukas Moodysson
New
interview with line producer Malte Forssell
Promotional
interviews with Moodysson and Gael Garcia Bernal from 2009
Theatrical
trailer
Image
gallery
Disc
Six:
New
interview with Lukas Moodysson
New
interview with cinematographer Ulf Brantas
A
New Expression,
a look at the background to the film by Swedish punk historian David
Andersson
Q&A
from the 2013 London Film Festival screening, featuring Moodysson
and stars Liv LeMoyne and Mira Barkhammar
Theatrical
trailer
and
an Image Gallery.
Last
but not least is Robert Mandel's School
Ties
(1992) with a cast of then young unknowns, many of whom later became
stars. Brendan Fraser is a young man accepted and attending a major
university he has managed to get into, but he does not put his
religious business out in the street. He is Jewish and when this
finally becomes known, he experiences anti-Semitism that was shocking
in the 1950s when the film takes place, when the film was originally
released and has a whole new relevance (sadly) as this new edition
makes it to Blu-ray.
For
its moderate budget, it manages to be highly successful in capturing
its period (films cost less to make then, hard as it is to believe)
and his classmates are played by Matt Damon, Chris O'Donnell, Ben
Affleck, Amy Locane, Cole Hauser and Anthony Rapp, with Peter Donat,
Kevin Tighe, Ed Lauter
and Zeljko Ivanek rounding out the remarkable cast.
To
their credit, the actors have to play the students in a hateful way
that is thankless, but the result is realistic enough and convincing,
even if the film is not a breakthrough. Like American
Graffiti
and Dazed
& Confused,
it is one of those films where the cast featured multiple breakout
actors and stars, the kind of film we are disturbingly not getting
enough of now. Frazer proved up front that he could go a few rounds
with anyone acting-wise, though h e ironically had insane amounts of
commercial blockbusters to his name before personal issues 9and him
being sexually harassed) derailed his great career before his recent
comeback.
Mandell
is a solid director (he launched The
X-Files
by helming its first pilot episode before directing this film) and
this remains his best feature film work, but cheers to Sherry
Lansing, a super-producer of the time who was on such a roll that
shew eventually became president of Paramount Pictures for many very
successful years.
School
Ties
has aged very well and will surprise those who have never seen it or
have not seen it in a long time. Glad to see it get such deluxe
treatment.
Extras
are many, including a NEW
Audio commentary by filmmaker / film historian Jim Hemphill that was
just recorded for this release,
a
Limited Edition slipcase on the first 1,500 copies and from the
archives:
an
Interview with actor Matt Damon (1992)
Interview
with actor Brendan Fraser (1992)
Interview
with producer Sherry Lansing (1992)
Interview
with actor Chris O'Donnell (1992)
and
an Interview with director Robert Mandel (1992)
Now
for playback performance. The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition
image on City
looks like the same exact HD master used on the old Lionsgate/Miramax
U.S. Blu-ray we covered a few years ago and it is passable, but a 4K
version down the line would be nice, especially with its combination
of 35mm and 16mm film. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix sounds a little weaker than
that older U.S. Blu-ray, but we get a PCM 2.0 Stereo mix that has
some detail to it the DTS seems to lack.
The
1080p image qualities on the Moodysson
set are usually 1.85 X 1 and color (Container
is in black & white, while Mammoth
is a Super 35mm shoot at 2.35 X 1) with the films looking as good as
they can in the format, though Heart
and Mammoth
are the most off visually due to their experimentation. All films
are digital sound releases, save Show
Me Love,
which was originally a Dolby SR film, but all are here in lossless
DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) 5.1 and PCM 2.0 Stereo mixes. They show their age and
budgets in this respect, plus there can be moments of silence or the
films are dialogue-based, so only expect so much from the audio.
Mammoth
is when the films sound more to date, but we gather is is as good as
they will ever sound.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on School
Ties
looks like a new HD master and impresses like nothing I have seen of
the film since its original 35mm theatrical release. This is a
nicely shot, consistent-looking film that is a little underrated for
its consistency, while the
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 and PCM 2.0 Stereo lossless mixes sound
about as good as they can for a film of this age, one of the last
pre-theatrical digital sound film releases. This one was apparently
older Dolby A-type analog sound, not the newer SR (Spectral
Recording) analog noise reduction system.
To
order either of the import Blu-rays, go to these links:
City
Of God
https://viavision.com.au/shop/city-of-god-2002-imprint-collection-190/
School
Ties
https://viavision.com.au/shop/school-ties-1992-imprint-collection-188/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
