In Cold Blood (1967/Sony Blu-ray)
Picture: B Sound: C+ Extras: D Film: B
Richard
Brooks’ film of Truman Capote’s novel In
Cold Blood (1967) remains as stark and vivid as ever, with its
semi-documentary approach surviving the erosion of endless digital video
images, sensationalism in the tabloid era and the curse of “reality TV” as its
mature, intelligent take on how two killers (Robert Blake and Scott Wilson)
drift around and steal to survive, but when they find no money at a family’s
home, decide to kill them so they are not arrested.
This puts
the police on their trail and they go on the run, but they still think they can
maybe get away somehow for good. Though
you can recognize the actors (and supporting cast including John Forsythe, Jeff
Corey, Charles McGraw, Will Geer, Gerald S. O’Loughlin) at times, the density
and palpability of the film is much so that once you start watching, it is just
too compelling to turn away.
Brooks
(an underrated filmmaker) did the screenplay adaptation himself and the result
is a minor American classic. Of course,
the film is now haunted by the real life events of co-star Blake, who also
appeared in David Lynch’s Lost Highway
in a performance that is sort of a sly reference to this film. It always has had an appreciation and always
will. In Cold Blood invented a new form
of storytelling and the film version did a remarkable job of capturing it.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 black and white digital High Definition image is decent and was part
of a former double feature Blu-ray from Sony (the industry’s first) shot in
real anamorphic Panavision. The great
Conrad L. Hall (The Professionals, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, Road To Perdition) served as Director of Photography and his work
here is among his most impressive. The
transfer may have some minor limits, but Video Black is rich and Video White on
the ivory side. The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix
does its best to upgrade the 3-track stereo soundtrack featured on 35mm prints
of the time, but that does not equal as much of a soundfield as a modern 5.1
mix, so this just shows the limits of the original audio. Quincy Jones created the music score.
There are
sadly no extras, though a film this important to the Columbia Pictures catalog
deserves something and maybe an anniversary edition could correct that.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
