Cinema Paradiso (1988/Umbrella Region Free Blu-ray Import) + The Illusionist (animated/2010/Tati/Sony Blu-ray w/DVD)
Picture:
B-/B & C+ Sound: B-/B+ & B- Extras: D/C+ Films: B (short version)/B+
PLEASE NOTE: The Paradiso Blu-ray import is Region Free, will play on all Blu-ray players
worldwide and can be ordered from our friends at Umbrella Entertainment at the
website address provided at the end of the review, while The Illusionist is a U.S. Region A release available at finer
stores everywhere.
Hollywood has a very tired formula they
have been using to portray the wonderment of childhood that never rings true,
is phony and existed long before the feel-good movies of Lucas & Spielberg,
though their work led to the formula being remixed. There are exceptions (the 1939 Wizard Of Oz to some extent, for
instance), but the qualities of the formula include assumptions of the world
being safer than it is, a sense of “magic” that is laughable & forced and
sense of family that is also phony and unrealistic.
On the
other hand, some films are so great about dealing with the relationship of
childhood, reality, growing up and the big world we really live in that any
magic they have happens with ease based on what they have to say and we have
two such releases on Blu-ray that demonstrate this.
After all
the DVD versions of Giuseppe Tornatore’s Cinema
Paradiso (1988) issued in the U.S., now all out of print thanks
to Disney selling off Miramax, it is hard to believe the Best Foreign Film
Academy Award Winner has yet to be issued on Blu-ray. Enter Umbrella Entertainment in Australia,
issuing a Region Free Blu-ray Import of the shortest of the three versions of
the film (124 minutes versus 155 for the expanded version and 174 for the
Italian version!) but even this shorter cut still works.
The film
begins when Salvatore (Jacques Perrin) returns to the hometown of his childhood
because his old friend and film mentor Alfredo (Philippe Noiret in a great
performance as successful worldwide as any in his long career) passes on. The film then reverts to flashback as we
learn how a very young Salvatore (Salvatore Cascio) came to love films of the
world at the movie theater of the title, a place of community that would challenge
The Church, survive classical fascism and be the place of dreams and a window
to the world for the town as he grew up.
This
takes up the majority of the film, including when Salvatore (also called Toto
in a multi-pronged innertextual reference) grow into young adulthood (Marco
Leonardi) and becomes as much a character study of the people as it is about
the town, our world, changes in life that constantly ring true and constantly
honest about living. I had not seen the
film in a while and was amazed how much of its power it retained.
This was
only Tornatore’s second feature film and really is a masterwork that has become
somewhat forgotten and remains underrated.
It is time for the film to be revisited and as it approaches its 25th
Anniversary, hopefully it will. Sadly,
there are no extras here.
Not to be
confused with the underappreciated Ed Norton film, Sylvan Chomet’s The Illusionist (2010) is an animated
film that does something incredible that would have been unthinkable and still
is in most cases: brings to life another work of the late, great comic cinema
genius Jacques Tati!
A writer,
director, magician and mime among his many talents, Tati became the Charles
Chaplin of French Cinema and its New Wave with masterworks like Jour De Fete, Mr. Hulot’s Holiday, Mon
Oncle and his 70mm masterpiece PlayTime. For those unfamiliar, definitely start at
this link for his films on Blu-ray and DVD:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10567/Les+Vacances+de+Monsieur+Hulot
After he
went bankrupt making PlayTime, he
only could afford to make to more features, the last of which was on TV on
videotape. It was always felt he had
more to say and did not get a chance to say or show it. That includes films we will never have the
chance or privilege of seeing. However,
he left some unfinished writings behind and that included a script meant as a
tribute and love letter to his real life daughter Sophie, who has done a
brilliant job championing his work, saving it and preserving it. Chomet (The
Triplets Of Belleville) got the rights (et al) and he has made in into a
hilarious, haunting and sometimes brilliant animated feature that shocked the
industry by doing some business and outdoing many multi-million dollar CG
productions by landing a Best Animated Feature Academy Award nomination and
rightly so!
The title
character (drawn brilliantly to look, feel and even behave as Tati would
(voiced here by Jean-Claude Donda when necessary), even if he were not playing
Mr. Hulot) is a traveling magician trying to make a living and survive a
changing world where new forms of stage entertainment (and soon new media) are
starting to push good people like himself out of the way. He plays whatever venues will have him, but
also knows the world and tries to enjoy it as much as he can. He is also not the only performer suffering
through the changes.
In
Scotland, he meets a young lady named Alice (voiced by Eilidh Rankin) who has
yet to start seeing the world, has not had the chances she deserves and still
has an unspoiled sense of wonder, so he takes her under his wing to show her
sides of life she will love and appreciate, ones most people today miss and the
kind Tati’s actual films showed us and continue to show us to this day.
The uses
of silence are clever, the script top rate and the animation hand drawn with
some digital work that enhances instead of distracts from the final
results. Like Paradiso, this is a very special work with priceless things to see,
day and share with its audience and the relationship between young and old is
among the healthiest in cinema history.
I loved this film and hope it becomes a long term favorite of film and
animation fans worldwide as more people see it.
Anyone
who says they love animation cannot discount The Illusionist without showing they lack an understanding of the
art form. Here, Chomet pays tribute to a
master while proving once again to be one of the best directors of animation in
the world. Go out of your way for this
one.
The 1080p
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image on Paradiso
(originally a 1.66 X 1 film as we have seen noted in several places) is from a
print that has some minor flaws, but darker scenes with their lack of detail,
depth and black crush hold back an otherwise fine transfer which especially
shines in its daytime shots and color range.
This includes some amazing demo shots that easily represent the best
representation of the film since I saw it on 35mm in its original theatrical
release. The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High
Definition image on Illusionist also
does a great job of capturing what I saw in its 35mm film presentation, though
some outlets showed it in digital projection.
An even better transfer than Paradiso,
as you would expect from a newer film, this is one of those Blu-rays that looks
better the larger the screen you seen it on and I still wonder if even the
Blu-ray has captured all the details like when I see Akira (1988) on Blu-ray.
Either way, it is often stunning as it is accurate and the anamorphically
enhanced DVD included is about as good as it can be, but the older format
simply cannot complete.
While the
case credits Paradiso as having a
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix, the actual sound is a standard
Italian DTS 5.1 track, but that is not awful.
Still, the film was originally issued regular analog Dolby A-type analog
noise reduction and has its sound coming more from the front channels than
anything else. This is still warmer than
any of the DVD releases I’ve heard (the many, for the record) and the score by
Ennio Morricone is another unforgettable effort that furthers the film’s
greatness.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Illusionist may have its silent moments, but has an exceptionally
smart, rich, articulate, clever and wide-ranging use of sound that will
surprise and even stun those who might underestimate the film. The recording quality is superior and the
anyone with a home theater system will be very impressed. The Dolby Digital 5.1 on the DVD is not bad
and active enough, but the lossy format is no match for the DTS-HD version.
Though Paradiso has no extras or even menus, Illusionist has BD Live interactive
features, a fine Making Of featurette
and The Animation Process: A Rare
Look at the Line Tests and Progression Sequences. Nice to see the artform of animation lives.
As noted
above, you can order the Paradiso
Blu-ray import exclusively from Umbrella at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
