Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

A Matador's Mistress Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 22, 2011

Screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, Menno Meyjes' Manolete a.k.a A Matador's Mistress (2008) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Xenon Pictures. Unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray release. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Islero

Franco-ruled Spain, 1947. Manolete (Adrien Brody, The Thin Red Line, The Darjeeling Limited) is already a legend and in love with the beautiful Lupe Sino (Penelope Cruz, Volver, Broken Embraces). After a serious argument, Lupe leaves and Manolete vows to kill her.

18 months earlier. Manolete meets Lupe in a chic night club. His confidant repeatedly warns him that she is a whore who wants to be an actress, but he ignores him and falls madly in love with her. Lupe moves into Manolete’s mansion and the two begin experimenting in the bedroom.

The more time Manolete spends with Lupe, the more his men begin worrying about his image. Almost all of them are convinced that a great torero must be in love with death, not a beautiful woman, and urge him to reconsider his relationship with Lupe, but Manolete brushes them off. Eventually, he asks Lupe to marry him.

But Lupe warns Manolete that a marriage would end their love. The great torero becomes seriously depressed and loses his cool. Franco’s people also go after Lupe because of her involvement with various leftist leaders.

Convinced that she would destroy his career, Manolete’s men force Lupe to leave - and she does. But instead of moving on, Manolete becomes obsessed with her. Meanwhile, a young matador, Luis Miguel Dominguín (Nacho Aldeguer, The Conspiracy), publicly challenges Manolete in the town of Linares.

Director Menno Meyjes (writer, The Color Purple, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) explores the intense relationship between Manolete and Lupe assuming that viewers are familiar with the legacy of the great Spanish torero. Naturally, the film ignores important events from his life that affected dramatically his performance.

Practically all of Manolete’s men were ardent supporters of General Franco, but this important fact is also ignored. Only during the final third of the film, when they force Lupe to walk away, one begins to realize that a few of them might have followed Manolete because they had to.

Despite the various important omissions, however, the film does offer an interesting look into a fascinating culture, with the presence of death felt in practically every single scene. Manolete’s destructive obsession with Lupe is also convincingly recreated.

Brody bears a startling resemblance to the legendary torero but his American accent spoils the magic. Still, the few sequences where he quietly dresses up in front of his men and then heads to the stadium surrounded by people trying to touch him are magical.

Cruz looks absolutely incredible. Whether the real Lupe was as beautiful as she is in the film is difficult to tell, but if she was, it is easy to understand why Manolete became obsessed with her. The only issue here is that aside from a single scene where she begs Manolete to hit her, the film never explores the nature of their allegedly not so innocent relationship.

Cinematographer Robert D. Yeoman’s (Dogma, The Darjeeling Limited) lensing is excellent. The special effects from Manolete’s last fight in Linares are also very convincing (apparently no real bulls were used during the filming of the key scenes). The film is also complimented by an outstanding atmospheric soundtrack courtesy of Dan Jones (In Tranzit) and Gabriel Yared (The Lives of Others, The English Patient).

A Matador's Mistress Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.34:1, encoded with MPEG-2 and granted a 1080p transfer, Menno Meyjes' A Matador's Mistress arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Xenon Pictures.

This is the second Blu-ray release I have seen from Xenon Pictures and I think that with a few minor adjustments they could be a distributor to monitor closely (they have a great catalog of Spanish-language films).

The high-definition transfer is rather strong. Fine object detail is quite pleasing and contrast levels consistent. In fact, even the faded memory flashbacks look surprisingly good. The most impressive scenes, however, are the ones where Meyjes' camera spends a great deal of time studying Manolete's face, and later on Islero's wild eyes. The final sequence, in particular, is quite remarkable. Color reproduction is good - the variety of lush yellows, blues, greens, and especially browns give the film a very unique look. Edge-enhancement is not a serious issue of concern, but there are traces of mild sharpening that are occasionally noticeable during some of the daylight scenes. Strong filtering is also not a serious issue of concern, though, again, a few minor corrections have been performed. The special effects are very well done and never distracting. Lastly, there are no serious stability issues to report in this review. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to watch it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).

A Matador's Mistress Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English Dolby Digital 5.1, English Dolby Digital 2.0, and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0. For the record, Xenon Pictures have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

It is quite unfortunate that Xenon Pictures could not offer a loseless audio track of some sort as A Matador's Mistress has one of the very best soundtracks that I have heard in recent years. There are entire sequences in the film where the music truly is as important as the visuals.

The English Dolby Digital 5.1 track serves the film relatively well - the dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and easy to follow. The bass and rear channels, however, feel quite weak. Also, the most dramatic parts of the film where Manolete is seen contemplating his life lack the type of depth they obviously deserve - the music that compliments these scenes feels a bit distant. The rest of the film is manageable, but I am convinced that once you get a taste of the beautiful soundtrack, you would also quickly conclude that a loseless track would have made an enormous difference.

A Matador's Mistress Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are absolutely no supplemental features on this Blu-ray disc whatsoever.

A Matador's Mistress Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Menno Meyjes' A Matador's Mistress is an interesting, exceptionally beautiful film that lacks the historical accuracy some people apparently expected from it. But I am not convinced the film was meant to deliver a factually correct account of the legendary Manolete's life and legacy, which is probably why I enjoyed it so much. The film looks great on Blu-ray, but I am somewhat disappointed that Xenon Pictures could not offer a loseless track of some sort. Dan Jones and Gabriel Yared's beautiful soundtrack demands one. RENT IT.