Seu Jorge – Live At
Montreux 2005 (DTS DVD-Video + CD)
Picture: C+
Sound: B Extras: D Concert: B
Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
(reviewed elsewhere on this site) had so many unusual and offbeat moments that
became the appeal of the film to fans who continue to celebrate its unique
humor. One of those moments becomes
sudden performances of David Bowie music.
This included Seu Jorge singing Bowie classics in Portuguese. That may not be for everyone, but Jorge is
very talented and the new Seu Jorge – Live At Montreux 2005 has him
singing nine of his own hits in his native tongue.
The great thing is that you do not need to know the
language to enjoy how good he is. What
was at least partly done as a joke in Anderson’s film is anything but in these
often intense, heartfelt, empathetic moments throughout this hour-long show
that should have gone on much longer. If
Anderson’s film had been some megahit, instead of the moderate hit it was, you
would have heard about Jorge by now, but don’t let some crazy blockbuster
expectations stop you from enjoying his talents. He has two DVDs out outside of the U.S., but
this is his first major DVD title outside of the Anderson film, issued in two
versions inexplicably by Criterion.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 has good color, but
the Video Black looks like it is a generation down and detail is an issue. The digital High Definition source looks
good, but what happened? Good thing the
sound is pretty good. The PCM 2.0 16-bit/44.1kHz
Stereo is good, as is the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, but the DTS 5.1 fares the
best. However, there is some noticeable
lack of .1 LFE bass, but the articulation and soundfield make up for that
enough. The PCM 16-bit/44.1 kHz 2.0
Stereo CD is a good stand-alone version of the concert that sounds about as
good as the DVD’s PCM, but DTS is still the best representation of the sound.
There are no extras, but this is a solid concert and
installment in the Montreux series worth catching. As a matter of fact, this is one of the best
of many titles we have already covered in the series to date, which says
something considering the talent already issued.
- Nicholas Sheffo
