Days of Grace Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Days of Grace Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 23, 2015

Everardo Valerio Gout 's directorial debut "Días de gracia" a.k.a. "Days of Grace" (2011) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent U.S. label Cinema Libre Studio. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; making of featurettes; production stills; and more. In Spanish, with imposed English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

"After all, to live in Mexico is to gamble with your life every day. Sometimes you live to tell about it. Sometimes you don't."

Everardo Valerio Gout’s directorial debut, Days of Grace, opens up with a chilling statement: “In the past 12 years, almost 100,000 Mexicans have been murdered in their own country. Many by their own military or police. But during the World Cup everyone watches soccer and crime drops by 30%.”

The film tells three different stories, each set in a year in which people across Mexico cheered for their national team at the World Cup, but each time they were disappointed.

In 2002, young and ambitious cop Esparza (Tenoch Huerta) discovers that his partner is working with a large gang of drug dealers and confronts him while he recovers in a local hospital. Around the same time, he is welcomed into an elite squad of supposedly trustworthy cops that are frequently used to track down and arrest wanted kidnappers. Esparza works hard to make a difference, but quickly realizes that the system he is a part of is broken.

In 2006, a wealthy businessman (Carlos Bardem) is kidnapped shortly after he leaves his lavish home. One of his kidnappers (Kristyan Ferrer) is a young boy Esparza had met and confronted four years earlier.

In 2010, another businessman is kidnapped and his wife (Dolores Hereida) attempts to negotiate his release, but is quickly warned that her efforts will only further complicate the case.

The film is very impressively lensed and the acting is first-class, but there are too many subplots with too many characters to follow. Past and present also frequently overlap and at times it isn’t easy to tell precisely where the film is headed.

The chaos reminds of Fernando Meirelles’ City of God and José Padilha’s Elite Squad/Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, but here it seems like Gout is trying to push all sorts of different buttons and say something meaningful about the state of affairs in his native country without ever even remotely slowing down. Not surprisingly, the end result isn’t as convincing as it could have been because there is simply way too much crammed into this film.

Huerat is outstanding as the idealistic cop and it is quite strange to see that he hasn’t appeared in bigger U.S. productions. Bardem is very convincing as the terrified businessman. Ferrer also leaves a lasting impression as the young kidnapper who is presented with some very difficult dilemmas.

The film has a very diverse and very effective soundtrack featuring tracks by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, Leopolo Ross, Claudia Sarne, and Shigeru Umebayashi, as well as Massive Attack's "3D" with Scarlett Johansson on vocals in a remix of George Gershwin's iconic song, Summertime.

In 2012, Days of Grace won eight Ariel Awards (the Mexican equivalent of the Oscars), including Best First Work, Best Actor (Tenoch Huerta), Best Supporting Actress (Eileen Yañez ), (Best Cinematography (Luis David Sansans), and Best Score.

Days of Grace Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Everardo Valerio Gout's Days of Grace arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Cinema Libre Studio.

Different parts of the film were shot with different cameras and lenses and as a result some density and sharpness fluctuation are present. There are contrast fluctuations as well, though they are fairly minor. The shifting ratios, however, create significant discrepancies in terms of depth because the cameras were also handled differently. Colors are stable and natural. Image stability is very good. There are no serious encoding anomalies, but some light compression artifacts occasionally sneak in. All in all, though there is room for improvement, the technical presentation is indeed very good. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free Blu-ray player in order to access its content).

Days of Grace Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0. Imposed English subtitles are provided for the main feature. (There is an option to turn them off via the main menu, but I could not do it on my disc).

It is a bit unfortunate that the release does not come with a lossless track, but the lossy 5.1 track actually serves the film rather well. The shootouts are very crisp and separation is also decent. It is easy to tell, however, that during the raids, for instance, dynamic intensity could be much better. The dialog is clean, stable, and very easy to follow.

Days of Grace Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Days of Grace. In Spanish, with imposed English subtitles. (3 min, 1080p).

• Photo Gallery - a collection of stills from the shooting of the film. (4 min, 1080p).

• Making Music - a look at the making of the film's excellent soundtrack. In Spanish and English, with imposed English subtitles where necessary. (6 min, 1080p).

• Pre-Production Process - director Everardo Valerio Gout explains how Days of Grace came to exist. Also included is raw footage from the pro-production process. In Spanish, with imposed English subtitles. (7 min, 1080p).

• Creating the Scores - director Everardo Valerio Gout and producer Ozcar Ramirez discuss the unique qualities of the film's original score. Also included is raw footage from the recording sessions with Nick Cave. In Spanish, with imposed English subtitles. (11 min, 1080p).

• Visual Aesthetic - additional footage from the shooting of the film with comments from director Everardo Valerio Gout. In Spanish, with imposed English subtitles. (11 min, 1080p).

Days of Grace Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Everardo Valerio Gout's directorial debut, Days of Grace, should appeal to those of you who enjoyed Fernando Meirelles' City of God and José Padilha's Elite Squad and Elite Squad: The Enemy Within. I think that the film could have been a bit more balanced, but it is difficult not to agree that it is an impressive first effort. The technical presentation is good, but the Blu-ray should have had at least one lossless audio track. Consider adding the Blu-ray to your collections, but only if you can find it on sale.