6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A cinematic adaption of Arlo Guthrie's classic song story.
Starring: Arlo Guthrie, Patricia Quinn (II), James Broderick, Pete Seeger, Lee HaysComedy | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
There are two long form ballads (in the traditional sense of a story told through song, not merely a “slow tune") that have entered the public lexicon in perhaps unexpected ways, though ironically only in dribs and drabs. Ask any random person to repeat a salient section of either Don McLean’s “American Pie” or Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree,” and chances are you’ll get only a smattering from either tune’s chorus. “Bye, bye, Miss American Pie, I drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry” tends to be the most memorable line from McLean’s account of “the day the music died,” but perhaps even more of a redaction tends to take place with Guthrie’s paean to sixties’ counterculture, probably due to the fact that the “song” was in fact largely a spoken monologue, with bookending sung moments that provided what has become the ineluctable element from that tune, namely “You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant.” Those who can recall and/or recount more than the chorus of Guthrie's anthem will know that while amusingly discursive, the upshot is that a relatively minor littering offense Arlo committed (and fessed up to, once accosted) ultimately offered the "long haired hippie freak" (to utilize the common parlance of the day) an "out" to keep from being drafted. Wrapped up and around this convoluted tale are a grab bag of eccentric characters. Arthur Penn's film of Alice's Restaurant utilizes the song's narrative as the template for a probably somewhat padded plot. Guthrie more or less plays himself, with a variety of interesting character actors (including Matthew Broderick's father, James) filling the supporting roles. The film is decidedly whimsical, but there's also a rather melancholic subtext running through it, as if Penn knew that the era of Flower Power and the Summer of Love was quickly coming to an ignominious close.
Alice's Restaurant is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Given an understanding of the kind of lo-fi guerrilla filmmaking Penn employed with Alice's Restaurant, the results of this high definition upgrade are largely commendable, if also occasionally slightly problematic. Elements have their fair share of typical age related phenomena, with minor scratches, nicks and flecks dotting the premises. Grain is quite thick throughout the presentation, tending to give a slightly crosshatched appearance to some sequences, notably those that take place in the darker environments like the interior of the church. Colors have faded slightly, giving flesh tones a bit of a brown tint, but reds and greens are still largely viable. Nothing in the film pops with any great immediacy, some of which is due to the kind of "wintry" ambience Penn employs. While contrast is consistent, the presentation struggles at times to offer much in the way of shadow detail. Close-ups can still deliver nice amounts of fine detail, including things like flyaway hairs in Arlo's mop or the thick fabrics some of the characters wear. There are no issues with image instability, and as tends to be the case with Olive releases, no signs of excessive artificial manipulation of the image harvest.
Alice's Restaurant features a serviceable DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track which capably supports the film's dialogue (along with Arlo's occasional narration), as well as the intermittent musical numbers (several by Arlo's father Woody). Everything is presented with clarity if without a lot of depth. Fidelity is fine, though dynamic range is minimal.
The commentary from the old DVD has not been ported over to this Blu-ray release.
There's a point where even long haired hippie freaks figure out it's time to start acting like an adult, and that may be part of the curiously melancholy subtext that informs a lot of Alice's Restaurant. Anyone wanting some good, old fashioned, quasi-raucous singalong fun had best stick with Arlo's original tune. Those not averse to exploring a decidedly more serious take on the tail end of the hippie movement may well want to check out Penn's film, with the understanding that it's not an especially upbeat experience. Technical merits are generally very good on this release, and Alice's Restaurant comes Recommended.
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