Branded
To Kill (1967/Arrow U.K.
Region B Import Blu-ray)/Queen
Margot (1994/Pathe/Cohen
Media Blu-ray)
Picture:
B/B- Sound: B- Extras: B/B- Films: B-
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Branded
To Kill
Import Blu-ray was only available from Arrow U.K. and would only work
on Blu-ray players that can handle the Region B format, but it is now
out of print. Criterion has since issued it in 4K with its older
Blu-ray edition and you can read more about that at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16286/AmnesiA+(2001/Cult+Epics*)/Branded+To+Kill+4K
Here
are two respected foreign films on Blu-ray, including an import of a
popular thriller in another deluxe version...
Seijun
Suzuki's Branded
To Kill
(1967) has been issued on Blu-ray by Arrow U.K. in a Region B Import
edition a little while after Criterion issued their Blu-ray upgrade,
which we reviewed with his also-popular Tokyo
Drift
at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11384/Baaria+(2009/Image+Blu-ray)/The+Moon
The
picture and sound are from the same HD master used for the Criterion
with hardly any difference in the transfers, but extras are a bit
different. Both have trailers, but the Arrow edition has a
reversible cover, DVD version, different booklet that collectors will
want as badly as the Criterion edition, a different interview with
Suzuki, interview with co-star Jo Shishido and the 1973 remake of the
film as Trapped
In Lust
as a roman porno like ones we have been covering from Nikkatsu on DVD
in the US elsewhere on this site. Yep, diehard fans will want both
editions.
Patrice
Chereau's Queen
Margot
(1994) is
the well-respected and long, long epic drama about how the Catholic
title character (Isabelle Adjani in perfect casting) in 1572 France
marries the Protestant Huguenot King Henry of Navarre (Daniel
Auteuil) to establish peace between the two conflicting Christian
churches, but it is not going to work out as planned and the
screenplay goes the long way to tell the story. What it has in
detail and some depth with a cast that also includes Virna Lisl,
Jean-Hughes Anglade, Vincent Perez, Pascal Greggory, Asia Argento,
Thomas Kretschmann and filmmaker Barbet Schroder, the film takes
major patience to get into.
It
has sexuality, but never deals totally with it in the deepest terms,
yet the people are defined well enough and intended or not, it is
somewhat predictable as you know conflicting ideologies and an
oppressed society is going to doom many who we see, so there is
limited suspense there. It is like watching a high-class train wreck
happen. That's melodrama and this is actually based on an Alexandre
Dumas novel, but the makers have even more in mind. No doubt the
casting is a plus, while costumes, production design and set
decoration are on the money.
Yet,
though not stuffy, it is highly cinematic with a consistent look and
feel, yet something is missing when the nearly 160 minutes (this is
the uncut version) is done. The good moments vie with the powerful
ones, the narrative and look & feel of the film making you feel
like you are there, but not as much as you should. The distancing
the melodrama achieves gets in the way somewhat, if not as bad as
most lame Jane Austen adaptations. I still could not see this one
being shorter, but it was butchered in its previous U.S. release, so
like Cimino's Heaven's
Gate,
you need to see the longer cut no matter what to see what the
filmmaker intended. Now you can, though Mr. Chereau
sadly passed away in 2013, his film has been saved.
Extras
include a collectible booklet on the film in the Blu-ray case printed
the longway for a change with essays on the film, while the disc adds
a reissue trailer and a fine feature length audio commentary track by
film scholar Richard Pena.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Margot
is a new 4K transfer that does a pretty good job of capturing the
look and feel of the film, but it
is a little weak in part because it was shot to look like it was of
its time and in all-natural light. However, it is often a little
more than plagued by light grain that was likely part of the filming,
but it never looks as good as Kubrick's Barry
Lyndon
or even Scott's The
Duelists,
though some shots might be limited by the Blu-ray format, so we'll
compare to a real 4K presentation at a later date.
The
French DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on the film is a
smooth upgrade from a presentation that was apparently an advanced
Dolby SR (Spectral Recording) analog stereo with mono surrounds as a
theatrical release and the upgrade is easier to do for a film with
its quiet, subtle sound approach. Usually SR upgrades get botched in
odd ways, but this is one of the rare ones that did not.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
