7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 1.8 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Based on the autobiographical novel, the tempestuous 6-year relationship between Liberace and his (much younger) lover, Scott Thorson, is recounted.
Starring: Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Rob Lowe, Dan Aykroyd, Scott BakulaBiography | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: DTS 2.0
English SDH, French, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Steven Soderbergh's HBO film, Behind the Candelabra, chronicles the closeted relationship between Scott Thorson and international entertainment legend Liberace, who was 40 years his senior. When the relationship ended after five years, Thorson sued Liberace for palimony, eventually accepting a nominal settlement. According to Thorson's memoir, which Richard LaGravenese adapted for the film, the two men reconciled shortly before Liberace's death in 1987 of AIDS-related causes. Thorson's perspective is both the film's strength and its limitation. By adopting Thorson's point of view, Soderbergh avoided the usual cliches of the bio-pic charting an entertainer's struggle, success and battle with personal demons. The film finds Liberace as Thorson discovered him: an established star, surrounded by handlers and well-wishers, insulated by wealth and achievement and, most importantly, wrapped in years of accumulated denial and public legend about his sexual identity. "It's funny that this crowd would like something this gay!" says Thorson upon first seeing Liberace's show in Vegas, after his conversation with a companion draws disapproving stares from the mainstream attendees at the next table. The amused companion replies: "Oh, they have no idea he's gay." Fueled by powerhouse performances and a lovingly detailed production design (with, apparently, the full support of the Liberace Foundation), Behind the Candelabra is a portrait of a uniquely gifted entertainer from the perspective of someone who was never once fooled by the public pretense—but that doesn't make it an "inside story". The man Thorson meets has been a superstar for years. No one attains that level of success without creating multiple masks to hide behind, and Liberace had more to hide than most. His preference for young, impressionable men (Thorson was sixteen when they met) can be seen not just as an aesthetic choice but as self-protective. Their lack of experience made youngsters like Thorson less inclined to question the great man's whims. Thorson may have drawn closer to the candelabra than most. Whether he truly got behind the scenes, or was able to comprehend what he saw there if he did, is a different matter.
As he has done on all his films since Traffic, Soderbergh acted as his own cinematographer under the pseudonym "Peter Andrews". Behind the Candelabra was photographed on the Red Epic camera and finished on a digital intermediate, from which this Blu-ray was presumably sourced. The image on HBO's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray is suffused with a golden glow whenever we are in Liberace's world (which is most of the movie) and otherwise uses cooler colors. Whatever the palette, detail is generally excellent, allowing the viewer to take in the exhaustive detail with which the film crew recreated Liberace's mansion, wardrobe and stage shows. Blacks are solid when they appear, colors are vivid (Liberace wouldn't have it any other way), and contrast is strong without being overstated. Despite the use of a BD-25, compression artifacts were not an issue; RED footage compresses well, which is partly due to the lack of film grain, which can pose a challenge for a compressionist.
The 5.1 soundtrack for Behind the Candelabra was overseen by Soderbergh's long-time mixer and editor, Larry Blake, and is presented on Blu-ray in lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1. The musical score was the last work of the late Marvin Hamlisch, to whom the film is dedicated. Hamlisch, who was no stranger to either the movies or Las Vegas, has recreated the sound of Liberace's arrangements with finesse and expertise, and the Blu-ray's soundtrack puts you into the middle of them, complete with a sense of the star's amplified voice in the auditorium (although Douglas can't possibly match the real Liberace's talents as a singer). In many cases, recordings of Liberace's own piano performances have been woven into the mix; in other instances, another performer has recorded them anew. The track has wonderful fidelity and broad dynamic range, and if it had to be Hamlisch's last, it's a proud accomplishment. Non-musical sequences have clear, well-prioritized dialogue, well-placed effects and a nice sense of ambiance particular to each environment. An impromptu visit by Scott and Lee to a sleazy porn store with private video booths is especially well done.
The sole supplement is The Making of Behind the Candelabra (1080i; 1.78:1; 14:03), a short but informative EPK with contributions from Douglas, Damon, LaGravenese and various individuals responsible for the production and costume design, who discuss the challenges of making the film as authentic as possible. Notably missing from the interview subjects is director Soderbergh. At startup the disc plays a promotional trailer for HBO Films, which can be skipped with the chapter forward button and is otherwise not available once the disc loads.
Throughout Behind the Candelabra, Liberace refers to his early days playing piano in "saloons". If the material exists to make one with authenticity, it would be interesting to see a bio-pic about those early days, exploring the drive of the young piano prodigy who decided to make his fortune as a popular entertainer and how he created the elaborate public persona that made him universally beloved when, from the standpoint of today, it was so obviously a drag act (or, as people said at the time, "swishy"). An appropriate title might be Before the Candelabra. In any event, the Blu-ray of Soderbergh's film is technically superior, and the film is recommended for its performances and its meticulous recreation of the world of an entertainer the likes of which we shall not see again.
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