Coppelia Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Coppelia Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf October 19, 2021

As a ballet, “Coppelia” dates back to 1870, where it achieved enormous success on the stage. It was adapted into a 1900 short film by Georges Melies, who worked his own cinematic magic on the material, which was initially taken from an E.T.A. Hoffmann short story. For 2021, the Dutch National Ballet is called in to update the tale with digital twist, offering an exploration of heroes and villains, low self-esteem, and young love with help from CG-animation. It’s a brightly colored, highly acted version of “Coppelia” for specialized audiences, but the display of dance is quite enchanting, with talented professionals challenged to merge with unreal elements of temptation to revive the story for a new audience.

In an idyllic small town, Swan (Michaela DePrince) has a crush on bicycle repairman Franz (Daniel Camargo), working up the courage to let him know. Interrupting flirtations is Doctor Coppelia (Vito Mazzeo), who sets up shop in the area, creating a factory for locals to trade their essence for digital perfection, feeding their souls to Coppelia, his top creation. Watching as the community succumbs to such temptation, Swan and her friends decide to do something about the arrival, infiltrating the Doctor’s compound when he targets Franz for brainwashing.

Only a few physical sets and objects are present in “Coppelia,” which is largely created on stages, with digital environments manufactured to sell the fantasy elements of the story. Coppelia is also a CGI offering, and a budget one at that, but technical limitations are easily accepted when the human element of the production provides wonderful displays of balletic movement. The flowing, full-body emotion sustains the viewing experience, with DePrince especially compelling as she expresses Swan’s character arc, watching the young woman transform from love and hope to something more proactive as the tale goes from the cheeriness of the town square to the weird science happening in Doctor Coppelia’s lair.

Coppelia Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation for "Coppelia" is blasted with color, as the feature tours towns and buildings, finding hues striking throughout. There's the defined blue of the villain's lair, the hot pinkness of Coppelia, and gentle yellows on Swan, and skintones are natural throughout. Detail captures facial surfaces, which provide a sharp understanding of skin and hair, and already exaggerated costuming is crisp, along with the digital backgrounds of the endeavor. Delineation is satisfactory. Some mild banding is detected.

Coppelia Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix doesn't feature any dialogue, leaving the movie to orchestral support, with scoring cues maintaining precise instrumentation and circular engagement. Music is pleasingly defined, and while low-end isn't significant, deeper strings and percussion carry appealing weight. Sound effects are dialed down to prevent interference with musical moods.

Coppelia Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Scenes (3:11, HD) is a brief interview with dancer Michaela DePrince, who details her time inside the greenscreen, yellowscreen, and bluescreen environment of "Coppelia." Not used to screen acting, DePrince identifies the repetition of the gig, also exploring her approach to playing the character of Swan, using her previous experience with the original ballet to generate her take. Some BTS footage is included.

• Interview (6:18) features dancers Michaela DePrince and Vito Mazzeo, who pay a visit to the 2021 Annecy International Animation Film Festival. The duo recall technical challenges from the movie shoot, and explore their working relationship, with DePrince and Mazzeo members of the Dutch National Ballet.

• Interview (6:39) returns to the 2021 Annecy International Animation Film Festival to discuss "Coppelia" with moviemakers Steven deBuel, Ben Tesseur, and Jeff Tudor. Topics include their personal relationships, prior festival experience, and creative approach to the making of the picture. They also share their expectations for the feature's debut at the festival.

• And a Trailer (2:13, HD) is included.

Coppelia Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Coppelia" is undeniably strange, but there's power in physical gracefulness and emotive performances, while the bold colors of the production and its timely take on digital vanity and insecurity come through with care. It's an interesting experiment in storytelling, while the balletic achievements of the picture are completely charming.