6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
In the 16th century in the Cévennes, a horse dealer by the name of Michael Kohlhaas leads a happy family life. When a lord treats him unjustly, he raises an army and puts the country to fire and sword in order to have his rights restored.
Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Mélusine Mayance, Delphine Chuillot, David Kross, Bruno GanzDrama | 100% |
History | 26% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
It’s hardly a secret that we live in a litigious society, where merely looking at someone crossways can lead to a lawsuit. The glut of small claims court shows dotting the television landscape are just another potent example of how willing people are to sue for any perceived injustice. At least this tendency points up the generally egalitarian nature of today’s society, where even a hardscrabble blue collar type can take on a corporate white collar type, at least if he has the requisite filing fee. Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas travels back to feudal times when such conveniences were not yet part of the societal compact. Justice was a rather elastic concept back then, one formulated by the ruling class, even if there was lip service given to lower classes who might have suffered some sort of indignity. Rather peculiarly, Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas is based upon a 19th century novella by Heincrich von Kleist which changed the name of its actual historical character from Hans Kohlhase to MIchael Kohlhaas for some reason. Despite that change from the historical record, Von Kleist’s piece actually began resonating more and more as time went on and Europe was rent asunder by the dissolution of the noble classes and general societal unrest that swept the continent for the rest of the 19th and 20th centuries. The existential element of Michael Kohlhaas’ quixotic quest for justice after two of his horses are taken from him provided grist for the literary mill of everyone from Franz Kafka to E.L. Doctorow. Kafka is reported to have actually read from Von Kleist’s work in one of his rare public appearances, and Doctorow’s character Coalhouse Walker in Ragtime is a fanciful reworking of the historical Kohlhaas. Kohlhaas’ tale made it to the world of film in 1969 as Michael Kohlhaas — der Rebell (released internationally as Man on Horseback) and in 1999 as the HBO offering The Jack Bull. Like its 1969 counterpart, Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas was screened at Cannes, where perhaps unexpectedly it was nominated for the Palme d’Or.
Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Music Box Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer. Whatever the dramatic shortcomings of the film, it's often breathtakingly beautiful, with impressive sweeping views of sun dappled vistas or autumnal and wintry landscapes. There's been a fair amount of color grading here, including a lot of amber-honey syrupy yellow slathered on a lot of scenes, but the image is typically sharp and very well defined, with close-ups exhibiting excellent fine detail. Contrast is also strong and stable, and there are absolutely no signs of problematic denoising or other digital intrusions, with the result being a very organic and striking looking presentation.
There's an old adage in the film industry that the best underscore is one that you don't particularly notice when it's happening. The good news is that Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas' lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix (in the original French) supports Martin Wheeler's really effective score quite beautifully, opening it up to substantial surround placement. However, the overall sound designers here evidently don't subscribe to the "less is more" belief, and this film is awash in very loud and at times actually distracting foley effects, including a nonstop whipping of wind which admittedly zings through the surround channels but ultimately makes things sound like they were recorded in a wind tunnel. That anomaly aside, dialogue is cleanly presented and the overall mix here is quite agreeable. Fidelity is excellent, and there are no issues of any kind to report.
There's a reserved distance about much of Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas that keeps the viewer at arm's length. A lot of this has to do with the formulation of the Kohlhaas character himself within the film. Occasionally things spring to life here, as in a great scene where a kind of dilapidated priest (Denis Lavant) takes on Kohlhaas' self-righteous attitude, but director des Pallières seems more intent on fashioning a feudal travelogue rather than a compelling drama. Mikkelson is oddly remote here, and so makes for a hard (anti?)hero to root for, but there's no denying the film's visual sweep and nicely gritty recreation of the dour 16th century society against which Kohlhaas rages. Technical merits here are very strong for those interested in this title.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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