7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 2.2 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A thriller set in New York City during the winter of 1981, statistically one of the most violent years in the city's history, and centered on a the lives of an immigrant and his family trying to expand their business and capitalize on opportunities as the rampant violence, decay, and corruption of the day drag them in and threaten to destroy all they have built.
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Oscar Isaac, David Oyelowo, Albert Brooks, Alessandro NivolaDrama | 100% |
Period | 26% |
Crime | 20% |
Action | Insignificant |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
feat. commentary with director J.C. Chandor and producers Neal Dodson & Anna Gerb [DD 2.0]
English, English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
J.C. Chandor doesn’t have much of an official “oeuvre” yet, but he is slowly but surely establishing himself as one of the more interesting writer-directors of his generation. His debut feature Margin Call offered a labyrinthine but at times slightly overstuffed feeling trek through the arcane world of Wall Street wheelers and dealers. Chandor’s next at bat was the curiously underappreciated (or at least under seen) All Is Lost, a tour de force for both solo star Robert Redford and Chandor himself, one that detailed a harrowing fight for survival by a lone sailor after an unexpected calamity threatens his ability to (sorry for this one, folks) keep his head above water. I wasn’t quite the slavish acolyte of Margin Call that many other viewers and/or critics were, finding it a bit overheated while simultaneously underdeveloped, but All is Lost was simply such an achievement from a purely technical standpoint that it was impossible to ignore Chandor’s rather amazing mastery this early in his career. Now with his third film Chandor returns to the ensemble format that made Margin Call viscerally intense (if sometimes a tad confusing), offering another exposé of business practices in the wild and wooly world of New York City. This time, however, it’s not the high-falutin’ environment of stock brokers in the throes of a 21st century financial meltdown, but an almost unbelievably vicious turf war in the somewhat unlikely sphere of heating oil (yes, heating oil) in what was evidently a “most violent year” in New York’s roiling history, 1981. As convoluted as Margin Call (and arguably more so), but without the built in consternation that that film offered courtesy of its “in house” brokerage vocabulary and vernacular, A Most Violent Year is a slow burning but ultimately chilling discourse on the dangers of the American Dream, offering a well meaning immigrant named Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac) who has built a heating oil empire for himself that is being threatened both by violent competitors as well as a government investigation. Morales’ seemingly inherent belief that any authentic American Dream will be able to overcome the nightmares of real life results in him being ensnared in a slowly tightening noose that includes frightening acts of violence aimed at his drivers (and, later, even salespeople and family) while a similarly driven District Attorney named Lawrence (David Oyelowo) starts poking his nose into a business he feels is rife with underworld shenanigans.
A Most Violent Year is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. Shot digitally with a variety of Arri Alexa XT products, the film has been unusually color graded, with a lot of weirdly sickly yellow tones suffusing both interior and exterior scenes. This choice makes a lot of the inside material, much of which is dimly lit, even murkier than tends to be the case with Arri shot features, something that tends to keep fine detail from really popping in all but extreme close-ups. When combined with some less than robust contrast, this yellow palette has an almost miasmatic effect on certain scenes (again, more so with regard to inside moments), resulting in very little depth and minimal amounts of fine detail (see screenshot 19 for just one example). Even outside, the aggressive color grading prevents anything like traditional "pop" to the visuals, something that actually plays into the wintry mood of this piece. If one accepts this choice and its ramifications, things are agreeably sharp and general detail is quite good. Less overtly graded sequences, like the nifty set piece late in the film involving a traffic jam and a potential hijacking, offer a noticeable uptick in detail and fine detail, as well as better overall clarity due to the relative absence of the thick, syrupy yellow color.
A Most Violent Year's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is kind of like an audio microcosm of the film itself, a slow burning offering that features bursts of excellent surround activity within a somewhat tamped down, restrained overall ambience. There's some great spaciousness in the outside sequences, where a glut of ambient environmental sounds offer lifelike approximations of everything from a turnpike tollbooth to the insane traffic of New York. The bulk of this film, though, tends to play out in almost hushed dialogue scenes, something that this track effortlessly supports without (to perhaps state the obvious) any overt showiness. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range is wide, though again in spurts of activity.
- The Early Years (1080p; 4:03)
- A Shared Foundation (1080p; 3:58)
- Mastering the Craft (1080p; 4:49)
J.C. Chandor is a force to be reckoned with, but for me personally at least, he's a largely intellectual force, not one that speaks to the heart or emotions. That tendency may slightly undercut this tale of a resolute and seemingly honorable man attempting to walk the straight and narrow path when fate seems to be conspiring to pull him into one detour after another. Isaac is a commanding presence throughout the film, giving it a necessary feeling of gravitas, but A Most Violent Year is almost an anti-thriller in a way, a film built out of anxiety rather than outright brutality (aside from those hijackings, anyway). Those who liked Margin Call will probably be more immediately in tune with Chandor's tendency to talk about issues rather than merely depict them. Suitably moody, and with an impressive production design nicely recreating the early eighties, A Most Violent Year won't be everyone's cup of tea, but for those with a certain amount of patience who also appreciate fine ensemble acting, it comes Recommended.
1989
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2007
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Filmmakers Signature Series | Remastered
1971
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1984
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Includes Elia Kazan: Outsider 1982 Documentary
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1980