C.R.A.Z.Y. Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

C.R.A.Z.Y. Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 10, 2008

Winner of the Best Canadian Feature Film Award at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2005 and selected to represent Canada at the 78th annual Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category, Jean-Marc Vallée’s "C.R.A.Z.Y" is the second BD offering by TVA-Quebec. Filled with contagious humor and complimented by an excellent soundtrack (Pink Floyd, Patsy Kline, Charles Aznavour), pic plays as a coming-of-age story with a heavy dose of satire.

C..R.A.Z.Y is an abbreviation containing the first letters for the Beaulieu family’s five sons: Christian (Maxime Tremblay), Raymond (Pierre-Luc Brillant), Antoine (Alex Gravel), Zac ((Emilie Vallee/Marc-André Grondin), and Yvan (Félix-Antoine Despatie). Together with their old-fashioned and visibly overworked father, (Michel Côté) and a tad more liberal mother, the Beaulieus are the focus of attention in this widely-acclaimed Canadian production.

The bulk of the story is seen through the eyes of Zack – first as a young boy whose rebellious disapproval of his father’s blind enthusiasm for music produces more than a few hilarious scenes, and later on as a young man who cannot come to terms with his sexuality. After a series of experimentations, including dating a beautiful girl as well as being nearly kissed by another man, Zack finally enrages his father. The consequences are unfortunate and the family suffers a great deal of disappointment.

Zack is awarded a fare share of criticism by his brothers as well. A bitter rivalry with Gervais is introduced in the opening fifteen minutes of the film which leads to tremendous animosity between the two even after they leave their family as grown-ups. Gervais becomes a drug addict while in the eyes of his father Zack becomes a fairy. As the story progresses, the tension between Zack, his father and Gervais escalates, leading to a dramatic finale where universal messages about love, family, tolerance and faith wrap up the story.

Soon to be C.R.A.Z.Y

C.R.A.Z.Y is a film rich on contextual subtexts. It uses an expansive yet very personal story to document the cultural and political growth of a region (Quebec) with a unique history. From Patsy Cline to Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and David Bowie, and all the way to Charles Aznavour, the music in C.R.A.Z.Y also points to the colorful influences the French-Canadian province harbored during the years. Not surprisingly, the film has found a very warm reception between older Canadians who once endured a lot of what the story depicts.

Seen strictly as the controversial journey of a young man with plenty of personal demons to overcome, C.R.A.Z.Y is equally impressive. It reveals the identity struggle Zack experiences in a very subtle fashion making it easy to understand what societal and cultural dogmas the young man must challenge. Strangely enough, if one looks close enough at what these are, one will quickly realize that some, if not all, are still championed by many.

The film’s greatest asset, however, is the strong acting. Given its distinctly Quebec-esque flavor, there must have been a great deal of concern that its message might remain buried under its numerous layers of cultural references. Fortunately, the cast in C.R.A.Z.Y does a spectacular job in giving the audience a story it is impossible to dislike. There are universal issues in the film that would resonate with any mother, any father, and any son or daughter who have ever felt uncertain while trying to do the right thing.

The film’s length is arguably its greatest weakness. Clocking in at approximately 130 minutes, C.R.A.Z.Y introduces a number of subplots that eventually make it difficult for the viewer to concentrate on what really matters. Its constant juggling between satirizing and entertaining, while resorting to melodrama as well, detracts from the saga-feel it otherwise maintains very well. Nevertheless, the fact that C.R.A.Z.Y avoids switching into a preachy mode during some of its more controversial scenes makes it that much more fascinating to behold, as one could never quite tell where the humor ends and the drama begins.

C.R.A.Z.Y. Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 (slightly cropped from its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1), encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080i transfer, C.R.A.Z.Y looks slightly better than Amelie. The color-scheme here is also good. There is freshness and a good dose of that "popping" look many strong BD presentations carry. Contrast it also quite well handled even though it isn't as consistent as I wanted it to be. Furthermore, during static scenes (where the camera focuses on the faces of the main protagonists) detail varies from very good to strong. I also must note that this is a very natural looking presentation with a distinctive film-feel to it. Where the picture quality suffers is once again the introduction of the 1080i treatment which allows for the motion judder I mentioned in the review for Amelie. The good news here is that unlike Amelie, a film with a very distinctive CGI look where even the smallest motion movement revealed the effect I mentioned above, in C.R.A.Z.Y a lot of the 1080i byproduct is actually hidden. With other words the motion judder is still there but not as enhanced and obvious as seen on Amelie. To sum it all up while C.R.A.Z.Y may not offer a solid, popping transfer, it certainly does not suffer from a horrific treatment either. The transfer is definitely better looking than what I have seen on SDVD and if not for the 1080i treatment this BD would have been a solid upgrade.

C.R.A.Z.Y. Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Presented with French Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks, C.R.A.Z.Y is a definite improvement over previous SDVD releases of the film. As I noted in the synopsis, this is a film that relies on a magnificent soundtrack, and the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track certainly compliments it marvelously. Even some of the truly hilarious scenes (the Charles Aznavour spoofs in particular are great) provide a greater depth and clarity when experienced with the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track. During the rest of the film the surrounds are not as active, but the overall quality of the losless track remains very high. Also, I would like to make it clear that unlike Amelie this Blu-ray disc does offer optional English subtitles as advertised on the distributor's official web-site and as indicated on their official press-sheet. The quality of the translation is excellent. Finally, I did not detect any pop-ups, cracks, or hissing either. (Note: this Blu-ray disc does not have a direct audio-menu. You could access the audio tracks only by using the pop-up function on your remote).

C.R.A.Z.Y. Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are a number of interesting supplemental materials on this disc but unfortunately they are not subbed in English. First comes Making Of du realisateur Jean-Marc Vallee where the director of C.R.A.Z.Y offers insightful comments on the production history of his film. Plenty of "on set" footage is used. Next, Making Of du producteur Pierre Even where the producer of the film comments on the film's success (the Oscar submission is mentioned). Next, Making Of des acteurs offers "on set" footage and plenty of insightful comments by the cast in addition to a few screen-tests. Next, Casting d'Emile shows the young actor and main protagonists from the first quarter of the film during a few practice-scenes where his father (and director of the film) adds a few insightful thoughts as well. Next, Les effets visuels is a short segment addressing the visual effects in C.R.A.Z.Y. Le tournage au Maroc is another short fragment where the cast and crew are seen on location in Africa. Furthermore, the producers of the disc have also provided an interesting gallery with deleted scenes that unfortunately do not offer English subs. Finally, C.R.A.Z.Y sur le Plateu is equivalent to our HBO-First Look where the cast and crew comment on their contribution.

C.R.A.Z.Y. Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

For some strange reason, Canadians do not speak highly of the films they produce. They believe that Canadian directors rarely deliver what is really needed – quality. I could not disagree more. From Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter) to Jean-Claude Lauzon (Leolo) to Denis Arcand (The Barbarian Invasions), Canada has always had a very potent film industry with top-notch directors working in it. With the release of C.R.A.Z.Y, one thing is certain – even the most frustrated and critical amongst our Northern neighbors should begin to feel good. An outstanding film with a terrific script executed to perfection by a very talented cast, Jean-Marc Vallée's C.R.A.Z.Y is undoubtedly one of the best Canadian productions from the last ten years. If you have not seen it yet, do yourself a favor and track it down as soon as possible. The Blu-ray release by TVA-Quebec looks and sounds good. It is a tad disappointing that TVA-Quebec could not muster a 1080p transfer for C.R.A.Z.Y, but it is what it is. RECOMMENDED.