Shadow Kill
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: C
Shadow Kill (2002) is a film about India
and as they became civilized after driving The British Empire away, there were
other issues. The Death Penalty, still
an issue as much as ever, is at the crux of Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s film about a
hangman who actually brings one of the means of murder home and casually hangs
it on the wall.
The film tries to make subtle points throughout and is an
intelligent, somewhat ambitious film about dread and desensitization, but it
becomes too muddled too often. His does
not necessarily negate the points it wants to make, but does not help it get
its many valid points across. Though
historically accurate enough, it cannot match similarly strong material with
more of an edge like the still-amazing Monster’s Ball. However, Shadow Kill has some good
moments and may go over better with other viewers. This critic just did not care for it, sincere as it is.
The letterboxed 2.35 X 1 image is colorful, but has a softness
and lack of detail that makes the transfer look a few generations down,
including possible PAL to NTSC issues.
This has its visual moments. The
Dolby Digital 2.0 is barely simple stereo, but clear enough for a recent
film. Extras include extensive
information about The Global Lens Initiative, stills, trailer for the 2005
releases, text on the 2004 releases, text on the director and a text statement
by director Gopalakrishnan. This is par
for the course in this series.
- Nicholas Sheffo
