7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A group of urban university employees on a hiking trip are viciously attacked by residents of the village of San Miguel Canoa who had been manipulated by a corrupt priest into believing the travelers were communist revolutionaries. The film is based on a reportedly real incident which took place in 1968.
Starring: Enrique Lucero, Ernesto Gómez Cruz, Rodrigo Puebla, Salvador Sánchez (I), Manuel OjedaForeign | 100% |
Drama | 63% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Spanish: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Winner of Silver Bear Award at the Berlinale, Felipe Cazals' "Canoa: A Shameful Memory" (1976) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include new video introduction by director Guillermo del Toro; original trailer for the film; and new filmed conversation between directors Felipe Cazals and Alfonso Cuaron. The release also arrives with an an illustrated leaflet featuring Fernanda Solorzano's essay "The Devil in Disguise" and technical credits. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
The man who spoke to them
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Felipe Cazals'
Canoa: A Shameful Memory arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:
"Supervised by director Felipe Cazals, this new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on an Oxberry wet-gate film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI Film's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for jitter, flicker, small grain and noise management. The 35mm original soundtrack negative was transferred using the Chase Optical Sound Processor. the monaural soundtrack was then remastered; clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and cracks were manually removed using Pro Tools HD and iZotope RX.
Transfer supervisors: Lee Kline, Felipe Cazals.
Colorist: Roman Hankewycz/Harbor Picture Company, New York.
Scanning: Cineric, New York.
Audio Transfer: Audio Services, Burbank, CA."
While I have not previously seen Canoa: A Shameful Memory on DVD, there is no doubt in my mind that the new 4K restoration represents a tremendous upgrade in quality, and that the Blu-ray release will remain the film's definitive presentation on the market. The film looks quite remarkable in high-definition -- it is very healthy, vibrant, and boasting the type of density and fluidity that only excellent recent 4K masters are capable of producing. This type of consistently in all major areas we address in our reviews is somewhat surprising because the film's stylistic appearance is actually defined by the notably liberal use of unfiltered light and natural light/shadow nuances that could be quite difficult to reproduce. Colors are also very healthy and superbly balanced. There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments, though there are a few areas where grain can appear slightly over/underexposed depending on how light is captured by the camera. Lastly, there are no stability issues, or other purely age-related imperfections to report in our review. (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: Spanish LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
The film does not have a prominent music score and relies almost entirely on organic sounds and noises to build and sustain a specific atmosphere. Rather predictably, dynamic intensity is quite modest. (There are a few segments where radio music can be heard). Balance is excellent, though occasionally some very minor fluctuations that are part of the film's original sound design can be identified.
This very disturbing film from veteran director Felipe Cazals chronicles a true event that occurred during the late '60s at a time when a lot of people in Mexico apparently felt abandoned and betrayed by their government. I don't know exactly how accurate the film's reconstruction of the event is, and there seem to be some very different takes on it, but my feeling is that its message isn't at all dated. This makes me wonder how the film is resonating with younger Mexicans because it seems like the dangerous vacuum that it describes now exists on a grander scale and it has attracted some much more powerful players. Criterion's Blu-ray release of Canoa: A Shameful Memory is sourced from an outstanding new 4K restoration of the film, and it includes a very interesting filmed conversation between Felipe Cazals and Alfonso Cuaron. RECOMMENDED.
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