Butley Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Butley Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 27, 2019

One of the hoarier quotes you hear being bandied about the hallowed (?) halls of Hollywood is, “What I really want to do is direct,” which may be fine and dandy for your everyday working actor (or other tradesman). But when you’re a writer of the stature of Harold Pinter, is directing really necessary? Of course, those who only know of Pinter through his now legendary offerings as a playwright may not be aware that he started directing stage plays not that long after his initial success as an author, though this film version of Butley was Pinter's first and, if the IMDb is to be believed, still only feature film as a helmsman (Pinter's IMDb directing credits do include several made for television films). As a stage director, though, Pinter certainly made nearly as much of a mark as he did as a playwright, and among his most frequent collaborators was playwright Simon Gray, the creator of the acerbic English professor Ben Butley (Alan Bates). Butley is one of the more “stagebound” offerings that showed up in the brief but memorable life of the American Film Theatre, though Pinter makes a few passing stabs at “opening things up” courtesy of brief establishing shots or other snippets that try to get the film out of Butley’s office. But despite a certain sameness of setting and tangential elements like costumes and the like, Gray’s impressively snarky dialogue is really the highlight of this wonderfully performed tragic comedy.

The tragic part of the story comes down to Butley’s self destructive tendencies, which are perhaps only reinforced by a seemingly harsh and uncaring universe. Gray’s discursive yet incisive dialogue at least hints at Butley’s bisexual nature, offering tidbits about both his estranged wife and his office colleague Joey Keyston (Richard O’Callaghan), who seems to be something more, so to speak. Despite an intentionally claustrophobic, “one set” feel, the film’s devastating dialogue, which is both stringent and often hilarious, is a wide open amalgam of ideas and perceptions, quite frequently Butley’s apt yet boorish assessments of the “lessers” surrounding him.

Butley Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Butley is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Classics, an imprint of Kino Lorber, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This falls somewhere in the middle of the American Film Theatre offerings on Blu-ray I've reviewed thus far, with a generally decent looking image which is nonetheless a bit on the wan side (as has been the case with several other American Film Theatre releases on Blu-ray), with a tendency toward pink or ruddy flesh tones, but also with a noticeable bluish tint running through most if not all of the presentation. Densities and brightness are noticeably variable (again as has been seen in some previous American Film Theatre releases on Blu- ray), but for the most part solid contrast helps to alleviate some of the issues. Detail levels are generally good if not outstanding, though the film has little visual "pop" in the traditional sense, taking place almost entirely in Butley's kind of dowdy office environment. Grain resolves naturally and I noticed no major compression issues. My score is 3.25.

Butley Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Butley features an LPCM 2.0 mono track that suffices perfectly well for what is for all intents and purposes a "talk fest", and for great swaths of its running time, a so-called "two hander". A few early sound effects like that unforgettable roar of the London "tube" (i.e., subway) help to invigorate a soundtrack which is otherwise just words, words, words (but what words they are). That ubiquitous dialogue is presented with fine fidelity and no problems whatsoever on this fine sounding but unambitious track.

Butley Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This release repeats some of the supplements found on other Kino Blu-ray versions of the American Film Theatre series.

• Interview with Alan Bates (1080i; 39:32) finds an affable and talkative Bates giving nice overviews of his three collaborations with The American Film Theatre, Three Sisters, In Celebration and Butley.


• Interview with Edie Landau (1080i; 26:16) is an extremely engaging sit down with Ely Landau's widow, with both general background information on their producing careers as well as some fun anecdotes about American Film Theatre's relatively brief existence.


• Ely Landau: In Front of the Camera (1080i; 6:30) is a perhaps unintentionally funny promotional piece that Landau evidently filmed to show subscribers at the end of the first season. Let's just say that it's obvious what a showman Landau was from even this brief piece.


• AFT Trailers

  Butley (1080i; 2:58)

  
  

  A Delicate Balance (1080i; 3:25)

  
  

  Galileo (1080i; 3:30)

  
  

  The Homecoming (1080i; 2:36)

  
  

  The Iceman Cometh (1080i; 2:38)

  
  

  Jacques Brel is Alive and Well. . . (1080i; 3:26)

  
  

  Lost in the Stars (1080i; 2:10)

  
  

  Luther (1080i; 2:31)

  
  

  The Maids (1080i; 3:06)

  
  

  The Man in the Glass Booth (1080i; 2:44)

  
  

  Rhinoceros (1080i; 1:55)

  
  

  Three Sisters (1080i; 2:43)

Butley Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's kind of amazing that an actor of Alan Bates' stature and versatility has only had one Academy Award nomination in his long and vaunted career (for Best Actor in 1969's The Fixer). Bates' performance in Butley is a force of nature, exploding with wit but self loathing, and it's absolutely fascinating, even compelling, to watch. The writing here may be the real star, though, with Gray providing incredible insight into a variety of wounded characters courtesy of at times tart and acerbic dialogue. Technical merits are a bit on the middling side, but Butley is hugely enjoyable. With caveats noted, Recommended.