Beyond Reasonable Doubt (1980/Umbrella Entertainment/Region Zero Import
PAL DVD)
PLEASE NOTE: This is a DVD that can only be
operated on machines capable of playing back DVDs that can handle Region
Zero/0/Free and the PAL format software, even though it is erroneously listed
as Region 4 on the back of the case and can be ordered from our friends at
Umbrella Entertainment at the website address provided at the end of the
review.
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Film: C+
New
Zealand is underrated and any time I can see a feature film from there, I am
more than interested in taking the time to do so. John Laing’s Beyond Reasonable Doubt (1980) is a good drama with David Hemmings
(Blow-Up) about a notorious case of
injustice where wacky politics imprisoned the wrong man for many years in the
case of a gruesome double murder. John
Hargreaves is Thomas, the innocent man in a very convincing performance.
For its
time, it was a remarkable film to come out of NZ, but writer David Yallop
(later of the popular TV series Minder
and the overrated Chicago Joe & The
Showgirl) cannot overcome certain conventions of such storytelling, no
matter that this really happened.
Fortunately, the actors and location make the difference and makes the
113 minutes time well spent.
The
anamorphically enhanced image is listed as 1.77 and is a little softer than a
film shot in real anamorphic Panavision should be, but that is because they
have cut off the sides of the film making for awkward compositions. Director of Photography Alun Bollinger did a
good job here, but it is too bad we cannot see it. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is passable, a
little compressed, but better than the picture.
Extras include trailers for other Umbrella feature film releases and a
TVNZ making of documentary on the film.
As noted
above, you can order this set exclusively from Umbrella at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
- Nicholas Sheffo
