6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The compelling biography of the Great Sage set in the chaotic and decadent world of the warring states during the Spring and Autumn Period, the film focuses on the turbulent later years of Confucius's life, specifically from his appointment to political office at 51 to his death at 73, and all the dramatic stories in between.
Starring: Xun Zhou, Yi Lu, Chow Yun-Fat, Daoming Chen, Jianbin ChenForeign | 100% |
Drama | 49% |
History | 45% |
Biography | 20% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Mandarin: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The Chinese philosopher Confucius is probably best known to Western audiences for the ubiquitous “Confucius say” joking aphorisms which have been a staple of stand-up routines since—well, maybe since the time of Confucius himself (jokes which probably understandably rankle those of Asian descent, so hopefully I haven't offended anyone with my obviously non-serious headline above). And so an epic biographical film helping to elucidate just who this iconic figure really was would seem to be a great idea. The problem with a film like this is that the culture in which it takes place already has a better idea of its subject matter than the world at large, and so has a better understanding of background and context. Just imagine for a moment how an American film about, say, Valley Forge would play to Chinese audiences. They might understand the basic concepts, and even glean the general (no Washington pun intended) outlines of the characters, but they may not fully intuit the nuances of the story. Something similar is probably going to confront Western audiences as they make their way through the labyrinthine but often fascinating Hu Mei film Confucius. One element which is obviously included to help guide viewers along, though it ends up being completely distracting, is the ubiquitous use of identifying subtitles which are pasted over the image with alarming regularity in order to identify various characters and provide quick “snapshots” of where we are and what’s going on. This is exactly the same problem that hobbled another relatively recent Chinese epic, albeit one placed in a considerably more contemporary timeframe, 1911. It’s incredibly difficult if not outright impossible to get swept up into a story, no matter how compelling it is, when one has to stop every few seconds to read explanatory subtitles which sometimes flash by too quickly to read without pressing the pause button.
Confucius is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. From a purely cinematographic perspective, this is one stunning high definition presentation, with amazing depth of field, good looking CGI in several green screen elements, deep, robustly saturated color, and pleasing fine detail. So why "only" the 4.0 video rating? For a couple of fairly bad issues, one of which is certainly compression related, the other which is something of a head scratcher. In terms of the easily explained issue, the transfer suffers from at least one instance of really horrible aliasing, one of the worst ever examples I can remember having seen, at approximately 1:00:04 into the film, when a bunch of soldiers are moving across the frame carrying upright spears, which shimmer and separate into quasi-parallel lines. In terms of the less easily explained anomaly, occasionally this transfer has a weird, milky white ambience pouring over the extreme edges of the frame (on both the left and right), something that becomes extremely evident in darker scenes, where black levels are nowhere near what they should be. I'd say it was a contrast issue, except that it comes and goes with no rhyme or reason and I personally can't come up with a logical explanation for it. Overall, this is an impressive looking release, but these two issues may leave some videophiles less than pleased.
Confucius provides two lossless audio options, both Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mixes, one in the original Mandarin and the other an English dub. As I usually recommend in situations like these, only those who absolutely can't abide reading subtitles should stick with the less than stellar English dub (and let's face it, you're going to be reading subtitles anyway—the explanatory subtitles are encoded in the video and are inescapable). The Mandarin mix is beautifully rendered, with some very nice immersion, especially in the outdoor scenes, where a variety of ambient environmental effects are quite well utilized. The film was obviously post-looped (in fact one of the featurettes shows this happening), so at times dialogue doesn't quite match lip movements, but fidelity is always strong and dynamic range is amazing at times (the film can go from the gentle whisper of a breeze through a courtyard to a huge battle cacophony). The score is also very appealing in this film and sounds excellent in the 5.1 mix.
Confucius is a large, sometimes lumbering, affair, but it's notable for a remarkable and perhaps unexpectedly convincing lead performance by Chow Yun-Fat, as well as a really impressive production design and visual sweep courtesy of director Hu Mei and cinematographer Peter Pau. The film is too distant from its subject for its own good, despite its valiant attempts to humanize this icon and make him a "regular guy", so to speak. But that's often the case with historical biographical epics such as Confucius. While there may not be much emotional connection to the character in the long run, the film is inordinately impressive from a visual standpoint and lovers of this sort of fare will probably enjoy Confucius a great deal. With solid (if occasionally problematic) video, great sound and some appealing supplements, this release comes Recommended.
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