5.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A modern day adaptation of the ancient Greek play Lysistrata by Aristophanes, set against the backdrop of gang violence in Chicago.
Starring: Nick Cannon, Teyonah Parris, Wesley Snipes, Angela Bassett, Samuel L. JacksonDark humor | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Musical | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Spike Lee and Yip Harburg might not seem to share much in common other than unusual first names, but there’s another kind of interesting connection between the African American filmmaker and the Jewish American lyricist. Most will no doubt recognize the name of Lee, the often provocative auteur who hit the ground running with She's Gotta Have It and who continued to court controversy with a number of subsequent films including School Daze, Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X. Chances are unless you are a lover of stage and/or film musicals, you may not have the same familiarity with Harburg, though he was one of the most influential lyricists of his era, pumping out a long list of classic tunes for both stage and screen that include such timeless masterpieces as “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”, the many standards from Finian's Rainbow including “Old Devil Moon”, “How Are Things in Glocca Morra?” and “If This Isn’t Love”, and the lyric for which he won the Academy Award, “Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz. But despite their obvious differences, Lee and Harburg both share a fairly left leaning, progressive stance on social issues (it’s important to remember the whole racial subtext of Finian’s Rainbow, something that sometimes gets subsumed by the whimsy of the “magical” element of the show), an aspect that unites these two otherwise disparate artists in a kind of general way. More specifically, however, both men share another rather peculiar trait—they both adapted Aristophanes’ legendary comedy Lysistrata, the tale of women who are sick of menfolk always fighting, and who decide to band together to deprive those men of sexual favors until they all calm down. Harburg adapted this provocative source material into the short-lived 1961 musical The Happiest Girl in the World, where Harburg and the creative team took a page out of the approach fostered by Robert Wright and George Forrest, two Broadway writers who had hit the big time adapting classical composers’ music into popular song formats for musicals like Song of Norway (based on the music of Edvard Grieg) and Kismet (based on the music of Alexander Borodin). In this case, The Happiest Girl in the World recycled tunes by French composer Jacques Offenbach, albeit with Harburg’s often extremely playful lyrics attached.
Chi-Raq is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Shot digitally with Red Epic cameras, Chi-Raq has a nicely sharp and well detailed image, one that benefits from some unusual production design and costuming choices that offer a nicely varied palette (check out Jackson's suit and tie combo in screenshot 2 for just one example). Lee and cinematographer Matthew Libatique (Noah, Straight Outta Compton) ply two different tacks here, offering an almost verité ambience in and around the South Side neighborhood, while indulging in various bells and whistles (including those aformentioned text cards, graphical elements, and freeze frames) at various times. While generally sharp and well detailed, especially in close-ups, a couple of sequences look at least relatively soft, including a long sequence surrounding a golden bed late in the film. Contrast is strong throughout the presentation, offering support for good to excellent shadow definition even in some very dimly lit scenes. There are no issues with image instability or compression problems.
Chi-Raq's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is consistently immersive and often quite forceful, courtesy of the rap and other musical sequences, but also due to the frightening ubiquity of gunshots, many of which will provoke a startle response in unprepared listeners. There's excellent attention paid to discrete placement of ambient environmental effects in both exterior and interior sequences. Dialogue is cleanly presented, and the low end of this track is especially impressive. Fidelity is top notch, and dynamic range extremely wide.
Spike Lee and his "joint" are back, baby, and Chi-Raq is a rip roaring entertainment virtually every step of the way. What's so remarkable about this film is the unlikely marriage of style and substance. Some may find some of Lee's putative comedy misplaced, but the film packs an undeniable emotional punch and is certainly a provocative rethinking of Aristophanes' still relevant play. Technical merits are first rate and Chi-Raq comes Highly recommended.
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