Chattahoochee Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Chattahoochee Blu-ray Movie Review

Francis?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 23, 2015

Some folks who are regular readers of my reviews are aware that I spent decades unpacking various myths that sprang up in the wake of the death of Golden Age Hollywood and Broadway actress Frances Farmer, many due to the largely “fanciful” (that’s a nice way of saying “fictional”) treatment her life received in the feature film Frances, which was itself based on a book with some dubious alleged information. Another book, Frances’ own supposed autobiography, Will There Really Be a Morning?, was in fact largely ghost written by her late in life companion Jeanira Ratcliffe, though those who are acquainted with the real Frances’ rather eloquent writing style typically find glimmers of Farmer’s own voice peeking through Ratcliffe’s otherwise fairly florid purple prose. Among the lines that have the ring of authenticity is this nugget about Frances’ incarceration in a state mental institution for several years during the 1940s:

Never console yourself into believing that the terror has passed, for it looms as large and evil today as it did in the despicable era of Bedlam. But I must relate the horrors as I recall them, in the hope that some force for mankind might be moved to relieve forever the unfortunate creatures who are still imprisoned in the back wards of decaying institutions.

Frances was released in late 1982 and certainly pulled no punches in its depiction of a terrifying state institution that was almost at the level of Grand Guignol in terms of the horrors it inflicted upon its patients. Compared to the institution depicted in 1989’s Chattahoochee, though, Frances’s supposed Western State Hospital in Washington was a model of decorum and professional respectability. Chattahoochee was, like Frances, supposedly based on a real life institutionalization, in this particular case of a Korean War vet who goes berserk, shooting up his neighborhood and, finally, himself in what was a failed suicide attempt. That simply gets the guy transferred to the titular Florida insane asylum, which is actually more like a work farm than anything, housing a gaggle of seriously disturbed individuals.

The character of Emmett Foley (Gary Oldman) is reportedly based on one Chris Calhoun, a guy who returned from the Korean War with what we would probably today call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The film doesn’t really dwell on the causes (which are in fact ultimately attributed at least in part to something other than the war), at least not right off the bat, instead plunging the viewer directly into what seems to be a psychotic breakdown for the vet. Emmett is obviously highly agitated, finally taking a pistol outside and firing it wildly, much to the general consternation of his neighbors (remember, this was the fifties, long before such incidents seemed so distressingly commonplace). A standoff ultimately ensues, especially after Emmett manages to actually wound one of his neighbors, with the police surrounding his property while Emmett stares almost catatonically from a window.

In a truly terrifying depiction, Emmett ultimately turns the gun on himself, expecting the result to be certain death, obviously his wish all along. Unfortunately (in more ways than one), Emmett survives and is thrust into a nightmarish world of a really despicable institution that resembles a ramshackle barn housing barely dressed inmates. Making things even worse is the somewhat contentious reaction to developments on the part of Emmett’s young wife Mae (Frances McDormand), a woman unaccustomed to fending for herself who simply wants Emmett to “apologize” and say he won’t ever do anything like that again, if for no other reason than it may get him sprung and back where he can provide for Mae and the couple’s toddler daughter.

In Frances, Farmer found herself ostensibly alone in the institution, albeit with occasional visits from the (fictional) character of Harry. At least in Chattahoochee, Emmett has some fleeting semblance of a support system, both on the inside, courtesy of fellow inmate Walker Benson (Dennis Hopper), but perhaps more importantly in terms of the story’s ultimate arc, on the outside, courtesy of his forever loyal sister, Earlene (Pamela Reed). Earlene seems to believe in Emmett even when Mae does not, and a great deal of the second half of the film concentrates on Emmett’s growing knowledge of case law concerning habeas corpus, something that allows him to expose the reprehensible practices that have been occurring at the institution for untold years.

Chattahoochee provides a field day for the (sometimes virtually unrecognizable) Oldman, and to a somewhat lesser extent, Hopper as well, though the film never really decides where it stands with regard to Emmett’s sometimes “odd” (to put it mildly) behavior. He’s obviously a soul in torment as the film starts, and at least initially during his first hospitalization (before he’s actually committed), he seems to just be confused more than anything. But in some of his first interactions in the institution with various analysts, he seems almost willfully sly and prevaricating, something that’s also hinted at in some voiceover (Emmett “talks” to his sister via this technique) and, finally, by some histrionic revelations midway through the film. McDormand does what she can with a largely one note role, but can't help but come off as a somewhat unsympathetic harridan a lot of the time.

The depictions of the goings on at this Florida institution may rankle some mental health professionals, who may want to insist (or at least believe) that things could have never been this bad. A textual coda of sorts talks about Emmett’s (or Chris’, as the case may be) efforts spurning changes in hundreds of laws concerning mental patients and their care. Bedlam is evidently disassembled brick by legislative brick in some cases.

Chattahoochee Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Chattahoochee is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. With an understanding of the lo-fi ambience of the film, this transfer is rather remarkably good, though the color temperature may perhaps be a bit too cool for some tastes. While director Mick Jackson exploits some low grade bells and whistles like faux verité black and white, for the most part the film offers an oftentimes drab but natural looking palette that deals in a lot of muddy grays and browns. While shadow detail can be a bit problematic in many of the rather dark scenes inside the "asylum," there's rather commendable fine detail on display even in some extremely dark sequences (see screenshot 11 and look at the fine hairs on Oldman's face for a great example). Sharpness is decent if not outstanding, but clarity is very good throughout the presentation. The grain field is natural looking, spiking occasionally in the darkest moments but never offering any problems in terms of resolution or compression issues. The image is stable throughout, and as with most Olive releases, the transfer is appealingly organic looking, with no signs of overly aggressive digital intrusion.

Chattahoochee Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Chattahoochee offers a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix that offers good support for a film that traffics almost exclusively in more intimate dialogue scenes, typically between only two or three characters. There are occasional moments of sonic bombast courtesy of some outbreaks of "lunacy" in the institution, but this is overall a fairly restrained track that offers no real "wow" moments, but which suffices to develop the film's claustrophobic atmosphere. John E. Keane's score is also well rendered on this problem free track.

Chattahoochee Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (1080p; 2:54)

Chattahoochee Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Chattahoochee isn't an especially "enjoyable" viewing experience, at least not in the traditional popcorn munching sense, but it offers a really visceral performance by Oldman that fans of the actor should certainly enjoy. If the film ultimately opts for an easy out, making Emmett's ditching of a scraggly beard and hairdo an outward sign that happy endings are in the immediate offing, at least there are happy endings (more or less, anyway) in this film, a result that typically tends to elude cinematic treatments of mental illness. Technical merits are generally quite strong, and Chattahoochee comes Recommended.