The Secret Life Of Bees (Fox Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: B Film:
B-
Perhaps
one of the more underseen and underrated films of 2008 is Gina
Prince-Bythewood’s The Secret Life of
Bees, which pulls together the acting talents of Dakota Fanning, Queen
Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, and Alicia Keys.
The film centers around the life of a 14-year old girl Lily (Fanning in
a fine performance) during the heat of the Civil Rights movement in 1964 South
Carolina. She has an abusive father and
wonders about her late mother, so she flees with her caregiver (Rosaleen) to
the last town that she knew her mother was in and it’s on their journey
together that they meet up with the Boatwright sisters and find solace in the
art of beekeeping.
It’s
truly a strong film with fine performances and a striking production that helps
weave the story together. For this
Blu-ray release Fox has issued the film in a 2.35 X 1 framed transfer presented
in 1080p High Definition. The image is
sharp, detailed, and refined with a saturated and vibrant look that showcases
the richness that Blu-ray has to offer.
The only downside at times is during darker scenes the skin tones are
less refined and a bit soft, nearly grainy at times. Aside from this minor setback, the rest of
the film is lush with colors popping from the screen.
To add to
the richness of the films cinematography the DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix is
also impressive and equally rich. The
overall resolution is dynamic and showcases many of the subtleties that are
often overlooked on so many films, but with a lossless audio track those finer
features are brought to life just as well, the score sweeps through the
5-channels, but also brings some lower end presence through as well and engulfs
the viewer with incredible sonics for a film that is mostly dialogue
driven.
Not only
are the technical specs on the Blu-ray above the norm, but the supplements are
as well as this 50GB disc is packed with supplements. The film is presented in it’s theatrical cut
along with a slightly longer extended cut that is more like a directors cut if
anything else. There are two commentary
tracks as well, which help bring some context to the story and also provide
insight to the production. There are
8-deleted scenes as well, plus six fairly lengthy featurettes that discuss
everything about the production, beekeeping, and the actors/actresses in the
film. It’s truly a great wealth of
extras for a film of this caliber and only adds to the depth of the overall
story.
Another
great and valiant effort from Fox to bring forth one of its better films of
late and combining solid picture and sound quality with supplements as well.
- Nate Goss
