The Mango Tree (1977/Umbrella/Region Free/Zero/PAL DVD)
Picture:
C- Sound: C Extras: C Film: C
PLEASE NOTE: This DVDs can only be operated
on machines capable of playing back DVDs that can handle Region Zero/0 PAL
format software and can be ordered from our friends at Umbrella Entertainment
at the website address provided at the end of the review.
Another
somewhat predictable coming-of-age-in-the-past film, Kevin James Dobson’s The Mango Tree (1977) starts out nicely
as we get to know Jamie (Christopher Pate) in 1940s Australia in one of a large
cycle of films trying to be the cinema of a country that only seemed to be able
to deal with reviving its past. To its
credit, it is one of the more interesting such films, but the melodramatic limits
hurt what could have been a great film.
Pate is
even likable and convincing in his role and it does not hurt that Geraldine
Fitzgerald shows up as his grandmother in a strong performance that helps and
also points to more of the lost potential of the film. I was hoping the decline as I watched would
be temporary, but it just follows the path of all the other such films of the
time, sadly.
The 1.33
X 1 image offers a combination of bad old analog pan and scan footage of the 2.35
X 1 scope film and a few scope moments that are anamorphically enhanced. A bizarre combination that makes this a
really poor transfer and for a film that looks like it was exceptionally well
shot in real anamorphic Panavision scope by Brian Probyn (Hammer films Satanic Rites Of Dracula, Frankenstein & The Monster From Hell)
which we hope to see in its glory sometime soon. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on all is better,
but have compression and age issues throughout.
Marc Wilkinson’s score (If…, Quatermass 1979, Roald Dahl’s Tales Of The Unexpected) does not hurt. Extras include trailers and interview with
Pate.
As noted above, you can order this PAL DVD import exclusively
from Umbrella at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
- Nicholas Sheffo
