Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

Darling Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 11, 2015

Winner of Golden Globe Award for Best English-Language Foreign Film, John Schlesinger's "Darling" (1965) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal. The only bonus feature on this disc is an original theatrical trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The ambitious girl

I think that there are some very obvious similarities between John Schlesinger’s Darling and Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita. They can look strikingly beautiful and elegant, but at the same time they can be uncompromisingly cynical. They can be equally noisy and chaotic. Both films also effectively expose the erosion of the traditional trust between the two sexes during the ‘60s.

These films, however, have drastically different protagonists. In Fellini’s film the great Marcelo Mastroianni plays an experienced reporter who has grown tired of spending time amongst social parasites and their hosts in the Eternal City. But because he needs their stories, he can’t abandon them. In Schlesinger’s film Julie Christie is Diana Scott, a young and very beautiful model who wants to get to the people Mastroianni’s reporter despises. She also does not like their eccentricities, but she understands that she has to have a place in their world in order to have the career she desires.

The road to the top isn’t easy. First, Diana seduces the intellectual journalist Robert Gold (Dirk Bogarde, The Night Porter) who leaves his family and for a short period of time truly believes that they were meant to be together. But when he introduces her to the cynical but powerful advertising executive Miles Brand (Laurence Harvey, The Manchurian Candidate), Diana quickly turns his back on him and rearranges her priorities. Trough her new social friend Diana then meets an extravagant homosexual photographer (Roland Curram, Silent Playground) who helps her enter the film business. Eventually, while shooting a film commercial in Italy, Diana is approached by the lonely millionaire Cesare della Romita (José Luis de Vilallonga, Cleo from 5 to 7) and asked if she would like to become his principessa.

The final twenty or so minutes are what make this film relevant today. Diana begins to reevaluate her life and realizes that she has paid a hefty price for her success. Interestingly enough, however, the film does not condemn her choices. The message is that the little things that make life worth living essentially create annoying complications that force people to doubt themselves and ultimately feel guilty. In other words, in the real world the top could be a lonely place at times, but it is still a much better place to be than the bottom.

The idea for the film came from radio disc jockey Godfrey Winn, who knew an ambitious model that committed suicide after having disastrous relationships with several influential "sponsors". The script was written by Frederic Raphael, who won an Academy Award for it and later on again collaborated with Schlesinger on Far from the Madding Crowd.

Christie also won an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. However, her first collaboration with Schlesinger was in Billy Liar. After Darling she became an international star and went on to work witch such renowned directors as David Lean (Doctor Zhivago), Francois Truffaut (Fahrenheit 451), Nicolas Roeg (Don't Look Now), and Robert Altman (McCabe & Mrs. Miller).

The lush jazzy soundtrack was created by John Dankworth, who had previously worked with Joseph Losey on The Servant and The Criminal.

Darling Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.64:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, John Schlesinger's Darling arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal.

The release does not use as a foundation an extensive new restoration -- as it is the case with StudioCanal's release of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Tales of Hoffmann -- but the end result is good. Generally speaking, depth and clarity are quite nice. The majority of the well-lit close-ups typically have the best depth, but some of the outdoor panoramic shots also look very good. Grain is visible throughout the entire film, but it is somewhat uneven. To be perfectly clear, it does not have the tightness fresh scans typically introduce (see screencaptures # 3 and 18). This is arguably one of the key reasons why depth isn't as impressive as it could be. Edge-enhancement isn't an issue of concern, but there are traces of very light built-in sharpening (traces of halo effects can be seen in screencaptures #10 and 13). Overall image stability is good, but there are a few shaky transitions. Lastly, some minor damage marks, a few vertical lines, and some dirt specks occasionally pop up here and there, but never become distracting. All in all, even though the film has not been fully restored and there is some room for improvements, overall this is a fine organic presentation. I personally would rather have the film look exactly as it does now -- a bit rough and free of compromising digital corrections -- as opposed to having it "repolished" for Blu-ray. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Darling Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0 (with small portions of Italian and French). Optional English SDH subtitles have been provided for the main feature.

The audio has been remastered and there isn't even a whiff of background hiss. Depth and clarity are very good and there are no balance issues. John Dankworth's lush jazzy score effortlessly open up the film in all the right places. The dialog is stable, very clean, and very easy to follow. Finally, there are no audio dropouts or distortions to report in this review.

Darling Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Darling. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

Darling Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

John Schlesinger's Darling can be awfully cynical at times, but this is precisely the reason why it feels so relevant today. We are all brainwashed to desire success, but very few of us fully understand what we are after and the price we would have to pay for it. The film could look better on Blu-ray, but this is a fine presentation that should please its fans. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.