Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Candy Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 14, 2010

Screened at the Berlin International Film Festival and winner of two FCCA Awards at the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards, Neil Armfield's "Candy" (2006) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Drakes Avenue Pictures. The supplemental features on the disc include behind the scenes featurette, trailer, and interviews with Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish, and Geoffrey Rush. Not subtitled in English. Region-B "locked".

Lovers

Candy is a powerful, genuinely unsettling film about two junkies whose lives spin out of control. It hits you hard because it is honest about everything it shows. There is, however, something else about Candy that makes it a lot more unsettling than most other similarly themed films. In 2008, one of its stars, Heath Ledger, "died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine" (The New York Times). In plain English, he OD'ed.

The drug of choice in Candy is heroin, and Candy (Abbie Cornish, Bright Star) and Dan (Ledger, The Dark Knight) can’t get enough of it. When we first meet them, however, they can’t get enough of each other. They smile, kiss and make love. They look happy.

Then things suddenly change. They get very serious about their drug addiction and begin hating each other. Occasionally, the two would meet with Casper (Geoffrey Rush, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End), a homosexual and newly promoted chemistry professor, who likes experimenting with different types of illegal substances outside of his office and does not mind sharing what he has with friends.

Fast-forward. Candy and Dan run out of money. She gets a job at a local brothel while he begins stealing. Eventually, she gets pregnant and the two decide to marry. Her parents are delighted, and think that things are finally turning around. When the couple attempts to get clean, however, the baby dies.

Candy and Dan move to the countryside where he gets a temp job. The money isn't all that good, but Dan isn’t complaining. He is busy, which means that he does not have enough time to think about drugs. Candy, however, does. She spends her days alone, trying to get back into painting, but her body isn't interested in it. Eventually, she gets severely depressed. Candy leaves Dan and he immediately heads to Casper’s place where he discovers his old friend dead.

I saw Candy only because I was enormously impressed with Abbie Cornish in Cate Shortland's Somersault. If I recall correctly, I imported it from Australia in early 2007, together with a number of other films that were not yet available locally. I thought that it was a fine film, but definitely not as good as Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream.

At the time, I wasn't following Ledger's career closely, and most definitely did not know anything about his life outside of the film industry. If there was anything in Candy suggesting that a tragic end of it might be near, then I definitely missed it. So, when the news about his death broke in 2008, I was as shocked as everyone else.

What I believe works better in Candy than it does in Requiem for a Dream is the description of the addiction process. In Candy, it is longer and much more casual. In Requiem for a Dream, it is shorter and more mechanical; though, the final phase is a lot more intense. For awhile, in Candy one could literally feel that deceiving euphoric sensation, the same one that slowly transforms casual drug users into drug addicts, that is missing in Requiem for a Dream.

The performances are convincing. During the detox, both Ledger and Cornish are outstanding. Geoffrey Rush is also terrific. Before things get ugly, he sums up the film’s message perfectly: "When you can quit, you don't want to. When you want to quit, you can't.”

Note: In 2006, Candy won the Best Feature Film-Adaptation award at the Australian Writers’ Guild Awards, and two FCCA Awards, Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Geoffrey Rush) and Best Actress in a Lead Role (Abbie Cornish), at the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards.

Candy Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Neil Armfield's Candy arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Drakes Avenue Pictures.

Generally speaking, fine object detail and clarity are pleasing. Contrast levels also fairly consistent. There are a few scenes, however, where digital noise is an issue of concern. Some of the more prominent examples are during the second half of the film, after Candy is admitted in the hospital. Mild edge-enhancement occasionally creeps in. Macroblocking, however, is not an issue of concern. Blown through a digital projector, Candy remains tight around the edges, though its color-scheme isn't always as stable as I thought it should have been. For the record, I did not detect any large cuts, splices, debris, or stains to report in this review. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Candy Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English LPCM 2.0. For the record, Drakes Avenue Pictures have not provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

There are no serious technical issues with the English LPCM 2.0 track to report in this review. The dialog is clean and stable, but I have to admit that often times I could not understand well Heath Ledger's lines. This said, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or hiss to report in this review. There were no problematic dropouts either. To sum it all up, I cannot help but think that a more elaborate audio track would have been a lot more appropriate. Optional English subtitles should have been included as well.

Candy Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Interviews -

-- Heath Ledger talks about what attracted him to Candy, whether he believes that the film is actually a love story, his character, his collaboration with Neil Armfield, etc. In English, not subtitled. (PAL, 6 min).

-- Abbie Cornish also discusses her character, the story the film tell, how she prepared for her role, etc. In English, not subtitled. (PAL, 3 min).

-- Geoffrey Rush comments on the message of the film, the main characters, his character, what attracted him to the project, etc. (PAL, 7 min).

Behind the Scenes - raw footage from the shooting of the film. (PAL, 6 min).

Trailer - the original theatrical trailer for the film. (PAL, 2 min).

Candy Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Candy is definitely not an easy film to watch. It is raw and gritty, deeply unsettling and tragic. It has quite a legacy now, but its message remains the same. See it if you can. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of British distributors Drakes Avenue Pictures, looks and sounds good, but I certainly felt that there was room for improvement. RECOMMENDED.