7 | / 10 |
Users | 1.5 | |
Reviewer | 1.0 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
Nigel Dobson is an English perfect gentleman, married to equally respectable Fiona. On a cruise heading for India, they meet a highly unconventional couple, American unpublished would-be literary celebrity Oscar, in a wheelchair, and his much younger Parisian wife, Mimi.
Starring: Peter Coyote, Hugh Grant, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emmanuelle Seigner, Victor BanerjeeErotic | 100% |
Dark humor | Insignificant |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.89:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 0.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 1.0 |
Roman Polanski's "Bitter Moon" (1992) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include an exclusive new video interview with actor Peter Coyote; new audio commentary by critic Troy Howarth; vintage trailer; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
The girl from the bus
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.89:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Roman Polanski's Bitter Moon arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.
The release is sourced from an older master which was apparently provided by StudioCanal. I did some direct comparisons with my old North American DVD release and if I had to guess I would say that New Line's master came from the same place. The resolution is pretty much the only noticeable discrepancy that I could spot.
There are no traces of recent problematic digital corrections, but this is one of those old masters where limitations show practically everywhere. Indeed, while some of the close-ups reveal acceptable depth and delineation, fine nuances either struggle all the time or are completely lost. The darker/indoor footage, in particular, can look very weak, with seriously problematic shadow definition and even overall dynamic range. Image stability is good, but fluidity can be better. The color grading has all of the classic shortcomings that DVD introduced decades ago. This means a prominent magenta font, plus all kinds of different nuances that have been impacted by it. The good news here is that there are no traces of sharpening or contrast boosting, and next to the DVD release a lot of the visuals reveal some decent organic qualities. At the end of the day, however, the master is just too old and ultimately unattractive. My score is 3.25/5.00. (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).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
Most unfortunately, the audio track is incorrectly pitched, so this made it virtually impossible for me to view the film. I am very sensitive to PAL-elevated audio (in English) and here the difference is substantial. During the first conversation at the table all of the actors basically have helium-spiked voices, but the music is also off by a lot. (Sam Brown and George Michael's famous hits are completely off-key). I checked my DVD release and the obvious was immediately confirmed -- different pitch, different running times.
This Blu-ray release comes with an incorrectly pitched audio track that I think makes Bitter Moon impossible to view and enjoy. The master that was used to source it is also very old, likely the same one that years ago New Line worked with to produce the North American DVD release of the film. On the other hand, there is a very good exclusive new video interview with Peter Coyote (which was done during the same time he recorded the new interview for Slayground) and a strong new audio commentary by Troy Howarth. AVOID.
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