Beyond the Hills Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

Beyond the Hills Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 27, 2018

Winner of Best Actress and Best Screenplay Awards at the Cannes Film Festival, Romanian director Cristian Mungiu's "Dupa dealuri" a.k.a. "Beyond the Hills" (2012) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; exclusive new video interview with Cristian Mungiu; large selection of deleted scenes; documentary film; and more. In Romanian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The monastery

After years of working in Germany, Alina (Cristina Flutur) returns to Romania to meet her best friend, Voichita (Cosmina Stratan), who has become a nun in a small monastery. At the train station, Alina hugs Voichita and begins to cry.

On the way to the monastery the two women barely talk. They carefully observe each other as if to make sure that they look exactly as they did when they parted ways.

Before dinner, Voichita casually asks the only priest (Valeriu Andruita) in the monastery if Alina can stay with her because she does not have a place to go to. The priest reluctantly agrees, but urges Voichita to see if Alina can eventually return to the local orphanage where the two girls used to live together.

Later that night, Alina realizes that convincing Voichita to leave the monastery and travel with her to Germany might be an impossible task. Throughout the night, Alina repeatedly tells her that God now has a very important part in her life and that she has chosen a path which she intends to follow.

Voichita becomes seriously frustrated with Alina. And when she eventually attempts to explain to her that she does not have much time left because she could lose her job in Germany, Alina reacts in a way that seriously angers her. Voichita openly confronts her friend, and immediately inspires a series of comments from the rest of the nuns in the monastery. A few of them even suggest that Alina’s presence in the monastery is the Evil One’s way of testing the strength of their faith.

Christian Mungiu’s first film since his brilliant 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days tells two very different stories. The first is about two former lovers who reunite, but come to realize that their views of the world they share have become so polarizing that they can no longer comprehend each other’s priorities.

The second story is about a country that has essentially collapsed after it has discovered democracy. The debates between the priest and the nuns and the manner in which they deal with Alina’s anger are absolutely mind-boggling. While watching these people rationalize their actions, I could not stop thinking of Pavel Lungin’s equally fascinating period drama Ostrov (The Island). Of course, the big difference here is the fact that Beyond the Hills takes place in present days and its surreal environment is actually part of Romanian reality. (It is difficult to describe how utterly unsettling it is to observe people using religion to justify absolutely absurd logic that allows them to commit crimes in the name of their God).

The film is deceivingly subdued. The camera movement is very elegant and everyone but Alina appears genuinely calm. Behind the serene images, however, there is much pain and disappointment that a country can so convincingly lose its sense of identity.

The film’s success at the Cannes Film Festival is well deserved. Stratan and Flutur are astonishingly good. Andriuta’s time in front of the camera is limited, but he also leaves a memorable impression as the stern priest.

Acclaimed cinematographer Oleg Mutu (Cristi Puiu’s The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, Sergei Loznitsa’s My Joy) lensed the film. Mutu and Mungiu also worked together on 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.

Beyond the Hills Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Cristian Mungiu's Beyond the Hills arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

My guess is that this upcoming release is sourced from the same master that British distributors Curzon/Artificial Eye accessed when they prepared their local Region-B release in 2013. The film has a marginally darker overall appearance, but this is almost certainly because Criterion's presentation has proper gamma levels. Indeed, the difference is incredibly difficult to spot while viewing the film, but perhaps during some of the indoor/darker footage trained eyes will be able to recognize it. Clarity and fluidity are outstanding, and many of the daylight footage boasts outstanding depth. Colors are stable, lush, and very natural. There are no traces of distracting digital anomalies. (On the previous release I noticed some very light banding early into the film, but on this release I did not see it on my system). Image stability is excellent. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Beyond the Hills Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Romanian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The film has a very simple organic sound design that incorporates a wide range of casual sounds and noises. Predictably, the overall dynamic intensity will not make an impression on folks that appreciate the potent mixes of big-budget Hollywood productions. On the other hand, clarity, depth, and balance are fantastic.

Beyond the Hills Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original theatrical trailer for Beyond the Hills. In Romanian, with imposed English subtitles. (2 min, 1080p).

• The Making of Beyond the Hills - this documentary film chronicles the production history of Beyond the Hills. It has plenty of great information about the particular locations that were chosen by director Cristian Mungiu, the reconstruction of the real monastery where the dramatic events from the film took place, the casting process, and the visual style of the film. The documentary was produced by Cristian Mungiu in 2013. In Romanian, with optional English subtitles. (37 min, 1080i).

• Christian Mingiu - in this brand new video interview, Cristian Mungiu explains when and precisely how the idea for Beyond the Hills came to him and he began developing a concept for a feature film; the obvious and not so obvious conflicts from the original story and the bigger picture that is revealed through them; the identities of the two characters from the film; faith, religion, and some of the ways in which people misjudge each other; the message of the film and significance of the absence of a conventional closure in it; etc. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in Bucharest in 2018. In English, not subtitled. (36 min, 1080p).

• Cannes Press Conference - presented here is a press conference that was recorded at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012. The panel includes Christian Mingiu, actors Cosmina Stratan, Cristina Flutur, Valeriu Andriuta, and Dana Tapalaga. In French English and Romanian, with optional English subtitles where necessary. (53 min, 1080i).

• Deleted Scenes - a collection of deleted scenes. In Romania, with optional English subtitles. (20 min, 1080p).
  
  1. A Second Confession
  2. Praising the Father
  3. At the Pharmacy
  4. At Supper
  5. Father is Troubled
  6. Father Reads a Story
  7. On a Bench
  8. Penny Market
  9. Sick Ward
  10. Voichita and Ionut
  11. Voichita and Pahomia
  12. Voichita and Her Teacher

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by film scholar Doru Pop and technical credits.

Beyond the Hills Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

During the Cold War era one of the great strengths of the communist states of Eastern Europe was the manner in which they imposed and preserved a uniformity of thought -- their citizens were very carefully manipulated by the Party and the media to think and react in a very particular way and as a monolithic bloc. Naturally, the leaders of the states were then able to easily shape the public opinion on practically everything, from the 'corrosive nature' of religion to the 'subversive nature' of Western art. When the Soviet Union crumbled and the Eastern European states began discovering the many freedoms that their neighbors in the West enjoyed, all of a sudden they found themselves stuck in a very awkward vacuum where a lot of their citizens lost their sense of perspective. And the bigger the group became, the more people misjudged each other, creating massive social problems and even bigger waves of doomed migrants. Cristian Mungiu's film Beyond the Hills recreates a true event, but it is actually about the vacuum that emerged after the perestroika ended and communism collapsed. It was one of my favorite films in 2013, and I am very happy that it has finally entered the Criterion Collection. This upcoming Blu-ray release is sourced from the same 2K master that other European labels have worked with for their local releases of the film, but has a better selection of exclusive new and old bonus features. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.