Kinsey (Two Disc Set)
Picture: B+
Sound: B Extras: B Film: B
After director Bill Condon finished his 1998 film Gods and Monsters (reviewed on this
site) he quickly gained some critical success, but then time would go by, which
would make some wonder if he was going to be another Terrence Malick, who makes
a film every 10 years it seems. Well,
it only took six more years, but alas Condon is back on the radar with his
latest film Kinsey (2004) starring
Liam Neeson as the lead character.
Alfred Kinsey was a pioneer when it comes to sex education
or at least sex awareness and when he published his book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male in 1948 all hell broke loose, as
what was normal kept quiet was finally being revealed to the public. Kinsey’s work was not really just sex
education, but rather applying scientific methods and research to study the
subject and then to make findings based on such. The film explores his life in a challenging way as it allows the
viewer to witness the biography from an interesting perspective and while some
of the film makes you feel awkward you can tell that a competent director is at
the wheel.
You can sense that same feeling in Gods and Monsters as a biography is being unfolded with some
liberties taken here and there, but the perspective is very intuitive and
absorbed into the story that you cannot help but be overtaken and this is the
direct cause for some of the awkward of uncomfortable feeling. Let’s face it, there are very few people
that want to go on and on about sex talk just for the heck of it and it’s such
a hush hush subject even in today’s free world that much of what Kinsey was
uncovering during his time is still not realized today.
For me Kinsey was
a difficult film to get through, but still rewarding just the same. I almost compare it to one of the Nazi
concentration camp documentaries that are just grueling to watch, but at the
same time they are necessary to realize exactly what happened. Likewise Kinsey is an in-depth exploration into the life of a relatively
unknown person today, but all the more interesting by today’s standards and the
fine acting makes this a daring film, which few films would ever attempt to
be.
Kinsey’s wife is played by Laura Linney, who never ceases
to amaze this critic with her body of work and consistently good performances
in a multitude of roles. This is by far
one of her best performances yet! Liam
Neeson is equally strong in his role and also impresses, but once again he
rarely let’s the audience down no matter what the material.
As for this DVD issue from Fox this is a fairly solid
issue with only a few minor complaints.
Beginning with our audio options we have both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS
5.1 audio tracks to choose from with both sounding fairly similar, but the DTS
has the upper advantage as usual as it pulls more weight, sounds more refined,
and gives better definition even in the smaller nuances in the sound
design. One thing that I noticed the
most is that both mixes are predominately in the front portion of the
soundstage and only venture into the surrounds now and again, mostly for the
music portions. Dialogue is quite clear
and controlled, but I would have liked to have heard a more ambitious sound mix
that pulled the viewer in a bit more.
Perhaps the film was only intended for a more subtle approach, so this
could just be a preference thing, but one common mistake that people make is
assuming that only action films are able to score high in the sound department.
One reason that this is so blatantly false is that any
type of film can have a great sound design and sound mix, there are countless
examples of really good sound mixes even in comedies and dramas. Universal issued two exceptionally fine DTS
5.1 mixes with The Red Violin and
the Ultimate Edition of Meet Joe Black,
or even New Line’s John Q, just to
name a few. The anamorphically enhanced
2.35 X 1 transfer looks fairly pleasing in all departments with nice deep
blacks and solid whites. Colors are
fairly neutral giving the film a naturalistic look and cinematographer
Frederick Elmes knows what he is doing here in terms of visual storytelling and
craft, having used terrific and underappreciated J-D-C Scope lenses. It’s nice to see a big screen intimate film
for a change.
Extras are very pleasing too, especially the commentary by
writer/director Bill Condon who I found as equally interesting here as he was
on the Gods and Monsters audio
commentary. There is also the option of
listening to Condon during the deleted scenes section, which are geared more
towards film fanatics who really want to see why certain scenes worked and some
did not. The remainder of the extras
are either informative, or fun. This
includes a featurette about bringing Kinsey to life on film and special on Sex
Education from the Kinsey Institute, then there is the sex questionnaire, which
can be fun depending on how you take it.
Topping things off is a pretty comical gag reel that is worth a look
too.
This is one of the more underrated films of the year, but
my speculation is that this DVD will probably reel in a few more viewers and
hopefully snag a few fans. The film is
not exactly one that quickly jumps to anyone’s all time list, or for that
matter is one you could watch over and over again, but it is a good story told
from a interesting point of view.
- Nate Goss
