Boarding Gate Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Boarding Gate Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 1, 2011

Olivier Assayas' "Boarding Gate" (2007) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Dutch FilmWorks. The supplemental features on the disc include interviews with director Olivier Assayas, Asia Argento, and Michael Madsen, and a standard behind the scenes featurette. In English, French and Cantonese, with optional French and Dutch subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

I need you again

Boarding Gate is a film about endless departures. It is directed by French helmer Olivier Assayas, whose lengthy Carlos was amongst the best films of 2010.

The film opens up with Italian actress Asia Argento visiting the office of a former lover (Michael Madsen, The Last Days of Frankie the Fly) facing some serious financial troubles. They begin talking about the kinky games they once played together and why they parted ways. Both cite various reasons but eventually it becomes obvious that they must have exhausted each other. We later get a glimpse how, when Argento blows Madsen’s brains out in his chic condo, after some crazy foreplay involving cuffs and leather belts.

Another man (Carl Ng, Magazine Gap Road) arranges Argento’s escape to Hong Kong. This one she truly is in love with. When she arrives in Hong Kong, however, a group of men who are suppose to help her get new papers attempt to kill her in an abandoned warehouse. She escapes and eventually gets in touch with one of her lover’s employees (Kelly Lin, Mad Detective, Sparrow), who offers to help her get to a safer place. A few hours later, however, she finds herself drugged in a shady karaoke bar. Eventually, a foreign woman (Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon) buys her a one-way ticket to Beijing.

Like the main protagonists in Assayas' Irma Vep (1996) and Clean (2004), both women with some serious personal issues played by Hong Kong actress Maggie Cheung, in Boarding Gate Argento is lost in a strange environment - she is constantly on the move and amongst people she can’t communicate with, looking for a place where she will be safe. In the process, she begins to discover some painful truths, first about herself and then about the men and women she has trusted during the years.

The film is literally a series of departures – physical and mental. The former are frenetic and totally unexpected, because Argento is repeatedly forced to make decisions that contradict her plans, while the latter are inspired by a nagging sense of abandonment. Alone in a foreign country and running for her life, the overwhelmed Argento slowly begins to drift away from reality - as does the entire film, evolving into an avant-garde collection of random scenes with various characters that are practically unimportant.

The film implicitly urges the viewer to go with the flow. Its story is deceivingly simple and the visuals, especially those from Hong Kong, intoxicatingly beautiful. Yet it feels awkwardly dirty and dangerous, often times it even becomes offensive. These "raw" qualities will likely turn off some viewers.

Those who are not easily offended, however, and willing to accept that not all good films need a good story are in for an exciting ride, as Boarding Gate is certainly is one of the most richly atmospheric and perversely satisfying films to be made in quite some time.

Note: In 2007, Boarding Gate premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Since then, the film has generated mostly mixed reviews.

Boarding Gate Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Olivier Assayas' Boarding Gate arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Benelux distributors DFW (Dutch FilmWorks).

Boarding Gate has a rough look - partly because it is a low budget film, but there are certain minor technical issues as well. Generally speaking, fine object detail is good and clarity pleasing. The indoor scenes and various close-ups from the first half of the film look very good. Contrast levels, however, fluctuate as the action moves from Europe to Asia. The darker footage from the docks and later on the warehouse also conveys quite a bit of background noise. Edge-enhancement is also noticeable during selected scenes. Because of the erratic camera moves, however, it is never overly distracting. As intended, the color-scheme is rather wild and inconsistent - the blues, greens, reds, browns, and blacks are either pale or rich but cold. At times, the Hong Kong footage has a near documentary look and feel. Lastly, there are no serious stability issues to report in this review. However, I did notice a couple of tiny flecks popping up early into the film. All in all, this is a decent presentation of a low budget film that did not appear on Blu-ray in North America. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Boarding Gate Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English LPCM 5.1, English LPCM 2.0 and French LPCM 2.0 (with portions of French and Cantonese). For the record, Dutch FilmWorks have provided optional French and Dutch subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The English LPCM 5.1 track is good. It has a fairly limited dynamic amplitude - aside from the occasional gunshots, everything seems well contained within a decent mid-range set of dynamics - but pleasing organic qualities. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and easy to follow. I also did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, hissings, or dropouts to report in this review.

Note: There are a few very short scenes in Boarding Gate where French and Cantonese are spoken. For them there are no optional English subtitles. Still, it was extremely easy for me to understand what was being said.

Boarding Gate Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Scenes - a standard featurette with raw footage from the shooting of the film (on location in France and Hong Kong). In English, not subtitled. (7 min, PAL).

• Interviews - Olivier Assayas, Asia Argento, and Michael Madsen discuss Boarding Gate and its unique characters.
  
  -- Olivier Assayas. In French, with optional Dutch subtitles. (5 min, PAL).
  
  -- Asia Argento. In French, with optional Dutch subtitles. (4 min, PAL).
  
  -- Michael Madsen. In English, with optional French and Dutch subtitles. (3 min, PAL).

• Trailers - trailers for other Dutch Film Works releases: Delirious, Survivre avec les loups, and Vinyan.

Boarding Gate Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Olivier Assayas' Boarding Gate is a richly atmospheric, perversely satisfying film, which appears to have rubbed a lot of critics the wrong way. I liked it a lot. It reminded me of Abel Ferrara's New Rose Hotel. It has a style of its own and remains unapologetically proud of it even when it begins to hurt its integrity. RECOMMENDED.