Film

Guillermo Del Toro has been a director I’ve admired for some time now, but I ashamed to admit that I had not seen his debut film Cronos in its entirety until receiving this blu-ray to review. Naturally, I was pumped because I had already had my eye on this Criterion Collection release.

The movie did not fail to meet my expectations. It tells the simple story of a young girl and her grandfather who discover an antique device with a sinister secret. Designed and cast by an alchemist watchmaker, the Cronos device holds the secret of immortality and the film follows the obsession with living forever. The story is very intriguing and is one of the most original retellings of the vampire mythology. It also has a good natured sense of humor and is expertly filmed. It is an excellent early attempt by a fascinating filmmaker who showcases his love of the classic horror directors by emulating their style but puts his spin on it to make this film truly unique.

If you’re a Ron Perlman fan then this film is an important watch to see the first collaboration with Del Toro, many years before they would make Hellboy. His performance is pretty campy and carries some great levity to the dark notions laced throughout. When comparing this to his later work, Del Toro shows that he’s consistent… his characters are thought out and he’s always visually interesting, whether it’s shot composition or art design. Cronos displays a great start to a great career.

Video

Cronos is displayed using the AVC MPEG-4 in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The movie starts off with some softness and grain is prevalent but as the movie progresses the blemishes are less noticeable. The negative seemed free of scratches or dust, but that may have been digitally removed; either way it’s not noticeable.

Colours are a bit faded and the skin tones are slightly reddish. The palette has a bit of an amber cast to them during the beginning of the film, but the colours begin to become more neutral and cold as the film goes on which matches the main characters descent into chaos. The black levels are more in the gray range, but the film manages to maintain its detail in the highlights and shadows without anything getting crushed.

The film has been significantly cleaned up for this release, which is expected for a Criterion disc and it’s great to see it how it was intended, which if you watch the interview that follows Geometria in the special features, Guillermo Del Toro expresses how much it means to him to be able to showcase his previous work as he intended and it’s no doubt that that applies to this blu-ray transfer for his first film.

Audio

Cronos’s audio comes at us using the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. The booklet within the case has a bit of a write-up on the process used to clean up the audio: “The stereo soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from 35mm LT/RT magnetic soundtrack. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube’s integrated audio workstation.” . The film may have swooping stereo pans and low frequency roars to make your house’s foundation crack, but it’s a very crisp representation of how the film should’ve sounded.

The dialogue is clean and obviously isn’t hard to follow for if you’re reading this review then you’re probably watching the film with English subtitles. The score is also very dynamic and takes full advantage of the limited mix and really showcases that you don’t always need a 5.1 or 7.1 mix to have a good sounding disc.

Special Features

The extras on Cronos hit me in two places, the amount of special features is pretty decent, but they’re quality extras… So part of me is happy that the disc gains the well-deserved value for having some thought out special features, but it also made me crave more… especially from one of the most visually innovative and creative directors, I expected more in depth coverage on the work of Del Toro.

The first extra which should be highly anticipated is a short film from Guillermo when he was first entering festivals. Geometria is a short that follows a kid who is dreading his geometry test and evokes help from a demon to try and take the easy route out… besides the film being dubbed with Guillermo doing all the voices, including the mother’s, the film is actually really fun. From the old school contrasted coloured lighting reminiscent to old Italian horror films to the very exaggerated gore factor which screams Dario Argento.

Next up is a series of interviews which includes Guillermo, cinematographer Navarro and Ron Perlman reminiscing and also a great piece called “Welcome to Bleak House” which has Guillermo walking around his “man cave” which is decked out with classic toys, memorabilia, statues and antiques that range from the crazy to the occult, while covering fantastical fairy tales to new age artwork.

To get more in depth with Guillermo’s vision we’re given an audio commentary with the man himself and a second commentary with producers: Arthur H. Gorson, Bertha Navarro and co-producer Alejandro and the extras finish off with a photo gallery which includes photos of a young Guillermo Del Toro and pre-production stills of the chromos device being built. The highlight of the photo gallery is the fact they include high quality scans of each page from the alchemist’s journal for the hardcore fans to recreate to make the ultimate prop replica… Have I started doing it myself? Perhaps….

Final Thoughts

The film is one of the most original retellings of the classic vampire story and with a visionary at the helm it’s no surprise the film has been released within the Criterion Collection. The audio and video quality is great in context but won’t be used to showcase the home theatre, but that’s not its purpose. With a decent amount of special features, this will please the fans but may be suitable for a rental to the newcomers.

There are all kinds of narrative possibilities in such a situation, from the humorous to the poignant to the thought provoking. Hopefully, such a film will be filled with all three. Unfortunately, in the case of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the film is filled with the dark, the sad and the maudlin. A opportunity lost if you ask me.

Film 

I am sure that I will be in the clear minority here but I didn’t like this film. I didn’t like it at all. In the supplemental materials, the director, David Fincher, recalls a conversation he had with the star Brad Pitt after Mr. Pitt had read the script. Brad Pitt commented that the film was a love story, right? To which Mr. Fincher replied, no, more like a death story. I thought, what a perfect description for the film, which is why I found the film so disturbing and I don’t mean that as a complement.

This film is obsessed with the concept of death. Death is all around you all the time, for the full 2 hours and 45 minutes running time. This film is a downer, a real downer. It finds no real joy in life focusing on the darker sides of life, death and loss. Even the love interest between Benjamin and Daisy ( Played beautifully by Cate Blanchett) becomes totally morose). As the extras make clear, this film is one that had been kicking around Hollywood for years. It is based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Both Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise expressed interest in it but eventually passed. There have been a few scripts written and rewritten until the final script penned by Eric Roth who also penned the script for Forrest Gump.

The film opens in New Orleans during the the approach of Hurricane Katrina. Daisy (Cate Blanchett) who is now in her eighties, is on her death bed accompanied by her daughter, played by Julia Ormond. The daughter begins to pick up a diary written by someone she didn’t know, Benjamin Button, which was at her mother’s bedside. The diary was a first person account of his Benjamin Button’s life as well as a last will and testament.

You are taken back to 1918 and the start of WWI and a clock maker who is making a clock for the New Orleans train station as his son goes off to war. However, before he completes the clock, word comes of his son’s death in the war. When it is time for him to unveil the clock at the station, the crowd is shocked to discover that the clock intentionally runs backwards as the clockmaker hopes that by running time backwards, he can bring his son back home alive. It is this clock which sets the stage for the curious life of Benjamin Button.

In short, or in the case of this film, not so short order, Benjamin’s mother dies in childbirth. His father is horrified by his appearance and takes him and abandons him at a convalescent home for the elderly when he is taken in by a sweet African American woman who runs the home. She takes care of him and becomes his mother. During his young life, many of the elderly patrons of the home die, as does his “mother’s” husband. His mother takes Benjamin to a preacher who is performing healings who dies of heart attack while attempting to heal Benjamin. Get the point?

The film starts out with death and keeps on going, with people dropping like flies. Anyone who comes into contact with Benjamin seems to die. In a sense, he is almost like Jack Bauer in 24 but without the guns, bombs and bad guys. From there, we come to the budding love affair between Benjamin and Daisy as they both approach midl age, albeit from different directions, Benjamin’s work on a tug boat which somehow finds its way from New Orleans to Russia and becomes involved in WWII, with Benjamin eventually returning home to find Daisy a famous ballerina. Needless to say, Daisy’s career comes to a tragic end and she finally starts a love affair with Benjamin.

Why the filmmakers chose to take the film in the direction they did is beyond me. I couldn’t wait until the film ended. In addition to the maudlin subject matter, the film just drags on and on. The pacing of the film was way to slow, perhaps to mimic the movement of very old man whose body is riddled with arthritis? This film could have and should have been much better. I am not of the camp that thinks a sad and depressing film is somehow deep just by the fact that it is depressing. I didn’t find this film to be deep at all, just depressing. Watch this film at your own risk. Don’t say that I didn’t warn you. Recommended as a rental only.

Video 

Over the years, the moniker Criterion Collection meant quality, with beautiful restorations. This release is a Criterion Collection release in conjunction with Paramount and continues the Criterion Collection tradition into Blu-ray with stunning results. This is an incredibly good transfer. In fact, this release has some o the best looking high definition images I have ever seen on Blu-ray.

The film does have a highly stylized look, with most of the film having a brownish (Sepia) and yellowish tint, giving the film an aged look, kind of like an old photograph. However, some scenes deviate from that pattern, and have a cooler, more bluish look about them,. If you are looking for a bright looking film with bright and bold colors, this is not the film for you.  What the transfer does have in spades is incredible levels of detail and image depth and clarity, from facial detail, to textures of clothing, walls, floors, etc. I don’t think I have ever seen a film with this level of detail in my home. Shadow detail is exceptional as well which is important given that large segments of the film take place at night or in dimly lit interiors. Black levels are deep and solid. If I would have any quibble withe the video quality here, it would be that some of the shots in dimly lit interiors are a bit on the soft side which is generally the case in those types of environments. Despite the dark scenes, I was not able to discern any video noise in this transfer at all.

The image is crisp, clear and immaculate. The special effects are also incredible. The CGI effects where Brad Pitt’s aged face is superimposed on the bodies of other actors during the early stages of Benjamin’s life is astounding, although I must say that I thought they got the proportionality a bit wrong as Benjamin’s head was often a little too big for the body. I am not sure that a person with a body that small would be able to lift a head that big. In any event, with the exception of the intermittent softness in dimly lit scenes not above, this is an incredible looking encode and one which is completely worthy of being included in the Criterion Collection. I can’t imagine that this film could look any better than it does on this release. I just wish that the film was a better one.

Audio 

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a first for Paramount as it comes equipped with a DTS HD Master Audio lossless track which is just as impressive as was the video. This is a reference audio track without question. The audio fidelity here is exceptional, with a smooth, full and rich sound. Transparency and imaging are as good as I have ever heard on a Blu-ray release. Dynamics are excellent as well with deep and tight bass. Check out the WWII naval battle scene for the incredible dynamics featured on this release.

The sense of depth, both from front to back and side to side is incredible. Beautiful use was made of the surrounds as well which were active and aggressive throughout the film, creating a totally immersive sound field, even during soft interior passages, which conveyed a real sense of a real acoustical environment in your room which changes from scene to scene and locale to locale. The dialogue track was also beautifully recorded and well placed in the mix, with the exception of a very brief moment in the Russian bar scene where some of the dialogue was a bit hard to hear over the raucous crowd noise. it is obvious that great care was taken in creating the sound design for this film and just as much care taken in encoding the audio for this release. Very well done.

Special Features 

This is a two disc director’s edition of the film, with the film on one disc with maxed out audio and video encodes and the extras on the second disc with the exception of the director’s commentary, and all in high definition. In fact, the extras are over three hours long.

If you are a fan of this film, you will be thrilled with the extras which, in addition to the aforementioned director’s commentary, includes a four part documentary which details each and every aspect of the making of the film, from the prior efforts at having the film made dating back to the 1980′s and 1990′s, to casting the leads, the writing of the script or should I say scripts, to the abandonment of Baltimore as the location of the film (Baltimore was the setting of the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story on which the film was based) to the selection of New Orleans as the location for the film. You get to follow the filming of the entire film, the designing of the costumes, the scoring of the film with composer Alexandre Desplat and the incredible special effects.

In addition, you are able to walk the red carpet during the premiere of the film in New Orleans as well as final thoughts with the cast and crew of the film. This release does not include a digital copy of the film nor is it BD-Live enabled. Otherwise, this release comes packed with as many interesting extras as one could possibly ask for, with no fluff or filler. Also included with the film is a booklet containing an essay on the film by Kent Jones.

Final Thoughts 

Well, what can I say? The Curious Case of Benjamin Button features some incredible audio and video quality that will really show off your home theater. Despite the technical merits of this release, I found the film to be too long, too slowly paced and far too maudlin. I found it a chore to get through as did my wife by the way. Feeling that it may be time to seek psychological counseling is not the way I want to feel after watching a film. I just can’t imagine watching this film more than once.

I am sure that there are many of you out there who do love this film or will love it upon viewing this release. If you are in that category, by all means, purchase this release as the video and audio presentations are exceptional are the supplementary materials. For those of you out there who have not already seen the film, you may want to rent before you buy.  So, while the film deserves a rating of “rental only”, the amazing A/V work on this disc moves it into the “Buy It” category.

Film 

Storytelling is a timeless art and that certainly applies to films.  Yes, we have greater technologies and capabilities in movie-making than we did ten years ago, let alone fifty years ago.  Nevertheless, there are still countless classics from the past.  Wages of Fear has been built up to be one such movie, but does it really measure up?  A little earlier, I mentioned that director, Henri Georges Clouzot, was known for suspense in his films.  Yes, he does deliver suspense in Wages of Fear.  He also manages to drag out the movie in such an incredibly annoying fashion that not only did I find myself constantly checking to see how much time was left in the film, but I also debated whether or not to hit the fast-forward button.  Shame on me for thinking that, but it is what it is.  

This movie is two and a half hours in length and now that I have watched it, I can say with confidence that forty minutes could have easily been axed from this film.  The acting is good, but there are far too many occurrences taking place that have absolutely nothing to do with driving the story.  These items excel as nothing more than distractions.  There certainly are little nuances to keep an eye on that do have a discreet message behind them.  That aside, I look back on a lot of the sequences during the film and ask, “What’s the point??” 

The film has a severe tendency to drag on and while Clouzot may have had the intent to create suspense by doing this, it backfired…tremendously.  I do congratulate him on the irony presented at the film’s closure, but other than that, watching Wages of Fear is like trying to walk through knee-deep mud.  You get nowhere fast. 

Video 

I could be wrong, but I do believe that this is the first black and white film to be released on Blu-ray.  I have one question.  Why?  Is it to have the sharpest grays, blacks, and whites possible?  I do understand that this film was cleaned up from its previous appearance, but as a guest speaker said at a Blu-ray discussion at the San Diego Comic Con last year, “What’s the point of putting black and white films on Blu-ray?”  Perhaps one would need to compare this 1080p version of Wages of Fear against its “not cleaned up” counterpart.  It is presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio with a very uncommon Linear PCM encode.  There is grain present throughout the film, but believe it or not, in no way is it distracting.  Some color films from today’s era should take note of this.  This is probably the most difficult rating I have had to apply to a movie because you have to consider the source of the actual film reel.  We’re talking 1953 black and white.  You can’t really fault this. 

Audio 

Monaural.  That means no rear speakers, no subwoofer, no complete utilization of your wonderful surround sound, period.  What else is there to be said here?  There is absolutely no pizzazz in the audio category.  There is no Dolby 5.1 or anything of the like to be found.  Ah, it seems like only a paragraph ago when I said the video for Wages of Fear was the most difficult rating I ever had to apply.  Scratch that and replace the word “video” with “audio.”  I know, I know…if the video rating isn’t going to suffer based on the original source, how can the audio?  Good point.  However, the video is clean as far as black and white goes.  The audio has gone through restoration but it’s still dead to the senses.  Hooray for the eliminating the pops and hisses, but this category is for surround sound audio. 

Special Features 

The extras on the Wages of Fear disc, labeled as “Supplements” on the menu, are few but bear some meat as far as their running time.  Only the first extra regarding the assistant director appears in High Definition as 1080i, as the rest are in a standard def presentation.

• Michel Romanoff – a piece about the film’s assistant director (22:26).
• Marc Godin - a segment about the co-author of the book, Clouzot: Cineaste (10:09).
• Yves Montand - This is an interview from 1988 with the lead actor of Wages of Fear (5:00).
• Henri Georges Clouzot: The Enlightened Tyrant - A French documentary with English subtitles about the acclaimed French director (52:34).
• Censored - An interesting look at the scenes cut from Wages of Fear for its 1955 U.S. release.  It also goes in-depth to discuss the media’s view on the film at that time (12:12).

Final Thoughts 

As a French-based film set in South America, it includes dialogue in Spanish, Italian, English and of course French.  It is certainly a multi-cultural film, but does not really put its shoes on until the latter portion of its run-time.  I expected more out of this but the story was such a mish-mosh early on that it left a bad taste in my mouth and continued to struggle in reaching some relevant substance.  There was nothing to be gained by drawing out so much of the character development or the illusion thereof. 

Lately many Hollywood films have either partially or completely drawn from foreign film, and can you really blame the Hollywood execs? My experience with foreign films has been nothing but positive, from German and Spanish all the way to Japanese and Chinese, with Chungking Express falling into the ladder category (Hong Kong to be more specific). With the odd exception, I have found myself craving some originality in the films I’ve been watching, hoping for some complexity and stylistic visuals. Everything I’ve heard about Chungking Express points in the positive direction, and fourteen years after its release I will finally get the chance to make that determination for myself.

Written and Directed by the innovative Kar Wai Wong (2046, Fallen Angels) Chungking Express is a pulsating look into what it means to be love struck. The film is actually told in two distinct narratives, one after another. The two stories mesh together nicely but other than a few character reoccurrences are completely unrelated, yet the narratives are coincident and ultimately akin.

The first story pertains too He Qiwu (Takesi Kaneshiro) also known as Cop 223, a Hong Kong police officer dealing with the aftermath of a painful breakup. May (Qiwu’s girlfriend) broke up with him on the first of April, and he decides to wait until his birthday on May 1^st for her to either come back to him, or he will have lost her forever. Interestingly enough, this is represented by him buying a can of Pineapples every day with the expiration date of May 1^st. The month passes by and May hasn’t returned and desperate to fall back into love Qiwu meets a mysterious woman in a blonde wig, who we learn has deep ties to the drug underworld. As their relationship plays out the characters are met with emotions, decisions, and the inevitability of life moving forward.  The story concludes without much resolution, which is only fitting and surprisingly sits well. With the introduction of Faye, a new staff member at a convenience store, the second story begins.

The second story concerns Cop 663 (Tony Leung) who is likewise having troubles moving on after a tough breakup. He soon after meets Faye at the convenience store, who ambiguously falls for him, made clear by her breaking into his apartment and redecorating things. Over time her antics begin to cheer Cop 663 up, to the point where her intentions become clear and he sets up a date with her. From here the two have to decide what is really important for them in life, and where their relationship really stands. This story ends with slightly more closure, but only in implication.

I have to say that I was extremely impressed with this film, Wong’s visionary look into the heart, had some really intense and savoury visually experiences. The cinematography was really astonishing to me; the film is carefully distorted giving it a dizzying, almost hallucinatory effect, which is perfect for film noir.

The story has a feeling of sincerity to it, and a dose of reality; two men dealing with incomplete love and the need for closure. What really appealed to me was the sincerity and emotion; these aren’t over the top love stories, just everyday people dealing with the hardships of love or lack thereof. Adding to my likeability is that things never get too heavy; there are appropriate amounts of humour in just the right places. To compliment the deep storylines is an extremely strong soundtrack which really runs on its own, and deserves an honourable mention.

In the end I was very pleased with this film; it is very invigorating and representative of love in modern life.  The blend of humour and representation of the desire in our hearts controlling our actions is extremely compelling to viewers who can appreciate a film that actually has a story and isn’t effect or gimmick driven.  On top of it all the cast was perfectly put together and all do extremely convincing jobs in their unique roles. Easily a must see movie for fans of the genre, and those looking to branch their tastes, I don’t know why it took me over a decade to check this one out, but at least now I can fully appreciate it.

Video

Chungking Express is beautifully presented in 1080p 1.66:1 aspect ratio.  The transfer was supervised by director Wong Kar-Wai himself and he succeeds in giving the film a realistic look.  The color palette used looks very realistic while maintaining a sharp and vibrant with no visible bleeding.  Detail is surprisingly crisp and clear, with subtle detail like hair and wrinkles clearly visible; Brigitte Lin and Tony Wai both look great in HD.

I was extremely pleased to see the print free of any issues like edge enhancement or compression artifacts.  Some might knock the lack of 3D-pop, but when you have perfect looking color and detail, it is hard to complain.  Fans of the film should pick this one up for the upgrade in picture quality alone, kudos to Criterion.

Audio

Presented in 5.1 DTS-HD Cantonese Chungking Express comes to Blu-ray with some great sounding results.  The front channels release crisp and clear sound, never sounding muffled or out of balance. Rear and sub support are equally impressive, enhancing the dialogue with realistic and engaging ambient noise.

Compared to the DVD copy the Blu-ray version offers a big improvement in the sound department.

Special Features

We are given a handful of some.  The interview piece is extremely interesting; unfortunately it is presented in standard definition.

• Collectors Booklet — A 14 page essay by critic Amy Taubin which discusses the themes found throughout the movie.

• Audio Commentary – An audio commentary with Asian cinema critic Tony Rayns.

• Interviews – An interview with director Wong Kar-Wai and cinematographer Christopher Doyale.  The 12 minute interview is a must watch as it provides some insight into the films creation.

• U.S. theatrical trailer

Final Thoughts

Chungking Express is a film about the sadder side of love, and without the traditional Hollywood ending. The film is unique in all ways, shapes, and forms. The story plays out without the clichés of a Hollywood film, and ends appropriately with you wanting more, but having seen enough (if that makes sense). All elements of this film play off each other beautifully, the acting is inspiring, the direction is nonpareil, and the strong soundtrack could almost tell the stories itself. I recommend the movie itself to any fans of foreign, romance (or even romantic comedies), and dramatic films, which is sure to leave a lasting impression. The Blu ray is easily recommendable as a purchase; Criterion has truly run with this one, producing an extremely impressive picture along with superb audio and a decent batch of features. A must buy for fans of the movie, and a great overall release.