Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

A New Leaf Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 27, 2015

Elaine May's " A New Leaf" (1971) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment. The only supplemental feature on the disc is a brand new video essay by film critic David Cairns. The release also arrives with a 32-page illustrated booklet featuring writing on the film and archival images. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

"The point, Mr. Graham, is that you don't have any money. The capital and the income are exhausted and you no longer have any money."

Maybe A New Leaf was meant to be a quirky comedy. In fact, I am sure a lot of moviegoers saw it as such in 1971, when it was released in theaters across America. In 2015, however, Elaine May’s directorial debut also strikes me as a painfully honest film, and this is very sad because the troubling attitudes on display in it and the ridiculous logic that they typically support are things many of us have witnessed during the last decade. Many of us have also become immune to them and have started treating them as a fact of life.

Walter Matthau is Henry Graham, an incredibly obnoxious aging bachelor who truly believes that everyone around him owes him something. For years he has been living the good life thanks to a large inheritance, but now he has run out of money and started discovering that people get treated differently when their bank accounts are empty. So what now? Henry can’t just find a job and start supporting himself. Work is for losers and Henry isn’t one of them.

The bachelor decides to find a rich wife that would instantly solve his financial problems. The plan of course is not to spend the rest of his life with her. Henry will marry the dummy, kill her, and enjoy her wealth.

At a party Henry meets Henrietta (director May), an extremely shy and very awkward but surprisingly rich botanist. He acts like a true gentleman and quickly earns her admiration; then a few days later he proposes to her. Henrietta can’t believe her luck. The wedding is a total farce, but they sign the proper paperwork just on time so that Henry can return a rather large sum of money which he has borrowed from the shady Uncle Harry (James Coco).

During the final act Henry and Henrietta make two very important discoveries that force them to reevaluate their lives. These things tend to happen in films like A New Leaf. In the Craiglist era we live in a man with Henry’s problem would have simply executed Henry’s original plan and found a way to walk away free. Nowadays, these things definitely tend to happen a lot.

A New Leaf is a dark and very sarcastic film which was clearly way ahead of its time. There is a lot of romance in it, but I would not describe it as a romantic comedy. It just sees life from a very unusual for an early 1970s film angle that makes you think about a lot of different things -- and, honestly, romance isn’t one of them.

The two leads are very good. May does appear a bit too goofy at times but there is something unusually charming about her awkwardness. Matthau exudes the type of cockiness that men like him are typically known for. George Rose is also quite wonderful as the bachelor’s trusted butler.

According to different sources, the original version of A New Leaf was approximately 3 hours long. However, after the film was delivered at Paramount Pictures it was apparently recut by Robert Evans. The version of the film found on Eureka Entertainment's release, which is the only version that has been in circulation, is approximately 102 minutes long.

A New Leaf Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Elaine May's A New Leaf arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.

The release appears to have been sourced from the same master which Olive Films accessed when they prepared their release of A New Leaf for the U.S. market. It is an older master, with some obvious limitations, but still a pretty decent one. The best news here is that there are no traces of recent degraining and sharpening adjustments. So even though there are areas with visible density fluctuations, the film does have an overall rather pleasing organic appearance. My feeling is that most of these fluctuations will become quite obvious when one views the film on a large screen or projects, as patchy grain does have a tendency to pop up. (You can see in screencapture #9 that it is clearly not well resolved). Shadow definition also suffers a bit, though there are no overly distracting effects. Colors appear natural, but some nuances can be expanded and improved. Overall image stability is very good. Lastly, there are a few tiny flecks and blemishes, but there are no large debris, cuts, damage marks, or torn frames to report in our review. All in all, even though it is clear that the film could look quite a bit better in high-definition, the current presentation is certainly quite pleasing. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

A New Leaf Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio has not been remastered, but depth and clarity are very good. Dynamic intensity is limited, but A New Leaf is primarily a dialog-driven feature with only a couple of sequences where the music makes an impression and there are random sounds and noises that expand dynamic movement. Some extremely light hiss attempts to sneak in, but never becomes distracting. There are no stability issues, pops, audio dropouts, or distortions to report in our review.

A New Leaf Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Bluebeard of Happiness - this brand new video essay by critic David Cairns takes a closer look at Elaine May's body of work and the production history of her directorial debut, A New Leaf. It was produced exclusively for Eureka Entertainment. In English, not subtitled. (17 min).

• Booklet - 32-page illustrated booklet featuring writing on the film and archival images.

A New Leaf Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

An obnoxious bachelor runs out of money and, to solve his financial problems, decides to marry a very awkward but surprisingly rich botanist in Elaine May's deliciously witty directorial debut, A New Leaf. Apparently, the film has never before been released on the home video market in the United Kingdom, so Eureka Entertainment's Blu-ray should make a lot of people happy. Additionally, I've done some comparisons with the U.S. release from Olive Films and I think that Eureka Entertainment's technical presentation is clearly more convincing. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.