Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Daniel Blu-ray Movie Review

Da bomb?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 26, 2015

The celebrated case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg continues to spill out into the American conscience to this day, as evidenced by some relatively recent reports that made many “trending” news feeds which reiterated the fact that Ethel at least was not guilty of passing any information to the Soviet Union which aided the so-called “Evil Empire” in its quest to duplicate the west’s “success” with the atomic bomb. The Rosenbergs’ story is absolutely rife with all sorts of fascinating content that should be salient for any student of 20th century America, especially those interested in the Jewish American experience of that era and how for a certain timespan at least Communism was “cool”. E.L. Doctorow’s novels often play with history, injecting fictional characters into otherwise “real life” settings, including in such iconic works (and later films) as Billy Bathgate and Ragtime, but for whatever reason he deemed necessary, Doctorow just flat out fictionalized history with his 1971 novel The Book of Daniel, a piece which recast Julius and Ethel Rosenberg as Paul and Rochelle Isaacson. Similarly, the Rosenbergs' real life sons Michael and Robert, were transformed in the book into the titular Daniel and a “new” female sibling, Susan. This approach automatically divorces the content from the very subject it’s supposedly fictionalizing, and is perhaps one reason Sidney Lumet’s film version, entitled simply Daniel, fails to ever register on any profound emotional level. Doctorow adapted his own novel for the screen, making a few changes in emphasis along the way, though both he and Lumet were on record as stating ultimately it didn’t matter all that much whether or not their tale hewed closely to that of the Rosenberg’s, for they were interested more in the impact of events on the children rather than those events themselves. That seems a particularly odd thesis given the film’s focus on mid-century leftist leanings for Paul (Mandy Pantinkin) and Rochelle (Lindsay Crouse), for often Daniel does in fact seem to be more concerned with the parents rather than their offspring.

In what almost seems to be a patently bizarre recitation of a dry textbook about electricity, Daniel (Timothy Hutton) looks directly at the camera while he describes electrons gaining charge and completing a circuit, ultimately revealing that he is actually detailing what goes into electrocuting someone in an electric chair. The film then segues to the first of several interstitial dinner or other meal get togethers which involve Daniel and his adopted parents Robert (John Rubinstein) and Lise Lewin (Maria Tucci). At this not so festive meal, Robert is discussing some sort of trust fund that had been set up for both Daniel and his obviously troubled sister Susan (Amanda Plummer). There’s tons of subtext in this brief but visceral and illuminating scene, one which ends with Susan’s near emotional breakdown and her anguished cry that her parents were murdered and no one seems to care about it.

From there the film segues to the first of several sepia toned flashbacks detailing the romance and activism shared by Daniel’s parents, Paul (Mandy Patinkin) and Rochelle Isaacson (Lindsay Crouse). Already there’s a perhaps unavoidable disconnect at play, with the current day travails of Daniel and (especially) Susan only fitfully linked to the foundational back stories that are detailed in the Paul and Rochelle segments. Lumet and Doctorow strangely tend to toe a rather narrow ethical line in the flashback material, not delving into hagiography for the Isaacson parental units, but certainly showing that their activism sprang from generally laudable motives. Once actual espionage starts to enter the fray, though, the director and writer aren’t quite so willing to take sides, leaving the film in a weird kind of nether world, one that seems especially ill conceived when it collides up against the sturm und drang of the Isaacson children.

Daniel does manage to tether things both content wise and emotionally in a couple of gripping moments, including one where the elder Isaacsons, now jailed for their supposedly nefarious activities, are allowed a brief reunion with their kids in a drab prison setting (and under the watchful eye of no nonsense guards). Patinkin and Crouse are both exceptional in this sequence as they attempt to keep things low key in front of their very young and obviously scared kids. The other sequence relies more on mise en scène to establish its connection, as funerals in two different time frames are edited together in a quasi-montage that finally seems to establish a cause and effect syndrome linking the Isaacson generations.

These moments are the exception rather than the rule, however, and the film, while filled to the brim with superb performances, is strangely intellectual a lot of the time, almost willfully refusing to touch the viewer’s emotions, something that seems especially strange given the roiling psyches on display, especially with regard to the fractured relationship between Daniel and Susan. Lumet always worked well with tight spaces, both physically and psychologically (12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon), and he certainly extracts uniformly excellent work from his coterie of actors. The film is repeatedly hobbled, though, by its own clunky structure and the frequent (and frankly confounding) lack of any real link between the “then” and “now”. The Rosenbergs’ story has yet to be forcefully told on screen (the Rosenbergs’ own sons released their memoir a few years after Doctorow’s book but several years before this film came out). This is a case where truth is not only stranger than fiction, it very well could have made a much better film.

Daniel Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Daniel is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Elements have no egregious damage, but still show regular signs of age, with typical nicks, scratches, dirt and white flecks dotting the premises. There's also slight but noticeable fade in evidence, something that tends to push the sepia toned sequences toward a slight rust color at times. The contemporary sequences are often graded toward the blue end of things, with both color choices tending to slightly mask fine detail at times. That said, when Lumet and his DP Andrzej Bartkowiak indulge in extreme close-ups, as they often do (for example) with Daniel's first person confessionals delivered directly toward the camera, fine detail is quite commendable, offering clear views of tiny elements like the down on Hutton's cheeks. There's a tiny bit of telecine wobble in the opening and closing credits, but otherwise there are no major issues with image instability. Grain looks natural and resolves organically throughout the presentation. A bit of stock footage is used early in the film, some of which looks considerably more ragged than the bulk of the transfer.

Daniel Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Daniel's fairly unambitious soundtrack is presented via DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, offering good support for the film's long dialogue sequences, as well as a few sung elements (some interpolated Paul Robeson tunes are utilized). Bob James' minimal piano score adds little to the film's emotional tenor, but sounds fine. Fidelity is fine and dynamic range relatively wide for a drama courtesy of some of the bombastic protest scenes.

Daniel Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no supplements of any kind on this Blu-ray disc. The main menu offers both a Play and Chapters option.

Daniel Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

My own family history has a somewhat similar incident to the unhappy tale of the Rosenbergs, where one of my uncles was arrested for supposedly spying for the Soviets at virtually the same moment my father (his brother) was nominated to be a Major General in the United States Army. I was very young at the time, but still remember the shock waves that ran through my family, especially after my Mom became convinced that our phones had been tapped (they had been) and that our house had been surreptitiously searched by some federal investigative agency (it had been). There was no death penalty involved (just a stint at Leavenworth for my luckless uncle), and the fact that it was an uncle rather than a parent allowed for a certain "distance", as it were, but the psychology of a kid under this kind of duress is something that I understand on an almost genetic level. Unfortunately, the structure that Doctorow created for this film undercuts any organic link between the two generations, and this issue is further exacerbated by the film's repeated focus on the "then" without bridging it successfully to the "now". There are still fantastic performances by the armful in this film, and fans of any of the players may well want to check this out at least as a rental. Technical merits are generally good for those considering a purchase.