Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Death in the Garden Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 9, 2017

Luis Bunuel's "Death in the Garden" (1956) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British label Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include an exclusive trailer for the film; new video interview with critic and filmmaker Tony Rayns; archival interview with actor Michel Piccoli; and more. The release also arrives with a 24-page illustrated booklet featuring a new essay by Philip Kemp, alongside archival imagery. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

On the edge of the garden

Death in the Garden belongs to a group of thematically similar films that the great Spanish director Luis Bunuel made in the late 1950s. Virtually all of them have dual identities and openly promote leftist ideas under different pretexts. The most candid ones -- This is Called Dawn, Death in the Garden, and Fever Mounts at El Pao -- were frequently described by French critic Raymond Durgnat as Bunuel’s “revolutionary triptych”, which is a label that many contemporary critics have adopted as well.

The location is an exotic South American country with massive diamond fields that have attracted all sorts of colorful characters. The majority of them are foreigners who dream of getting rich quick and then going back to their homelands where they can retire in style. When a tough diamond hunter named Shark (Georges Marchal) is unceremoniously arrested and then accused of committing a serious crime, however, suddenly all hell breaks loose. The other diamond hunters and most of the locals begin clashing with the army and its leader, a vile dictator with grandiose ambitions, quickly declares that the time to purge the area has finally come. In the ensuing chaos Shark manages to escape from his cell and then quickly flees to the jungle together with a desperate prostitute (Simone Signoret), a priest (Michel Piccolli), a jaded diamond hunter (Charles Varel) and his beautiful mute daughter (Michele Girardon). The journey to freedom, however, very quickly evolves into an incredibly dangerous game of survival.

The progression of Death in the Garden is pretty much identical to that of Fever Mounts at El Pao. The first half of the film reveals a country of extreme contrasts where an oppressive military regime treats the local population as mindless fools whose purpose in life is to quietly follow orders. Given Bunuel’s political convictions, it is certainly fair to speculate that this was an imaginary replica of the future that Mexico and countries in Latin America were going to face. (The clear warning shots that Bunuel fires in Fever Mounts at El Pao actually prove that this must have been precisely the case). The second half trades virtually all of the political innuendo in favor of old-fashioned action that to a certain extent makes the film easy to compare to John Huston’s The African Queen. A good dose of romantic melodrama is quickly added to the mix, though it has a different flavor because the type of chemistry that exists between Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn quite simply is missing here.

The ending is symbolic and moves the entire story in a different context that really forces one to ponder issues that are far bigger than the ones that the main characters face.

The film was scored by the prolific composer Paul Misraki, who worked with many of French cinema’s greatest auteurs, including Jean-Luc Godard (Alphaville), Roger Vadim (...And God Created Woman), and Claude Chabrol (Les Cousins).

*There have been some rather peculiar reports during the years that a much longer cut of Death in the Garden was screened theatrically in Mexico. This reviewer has never been able to confirm if the reports were legit, so anyone with helpful information that can confirm the existence of such a cut is encouraged to contact him.

Death in the Garden Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.68:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Luis Bunuel's Death in the Garden arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.

I don't have any technical details to share, but it is pretty obvious that the release is sourced from a recent remaster. Unfortunately, the end result is surprisingly inconsistent. Indeed, there are large parts of the film that look quite impressive, boasting nice detail and pleasing depth, as well as an all-around very healthy appearance. A lot of the daylight close-ups, in particular, look really good (see screencaptures #4 and 21). Elsewhere even some of the darker nighttime footage can look very convincing (see screencapture #19). However, in different parts of the film there are substantial fluctuations in terms of definition, depth, and even fluidity. Very early into the film, for instance, it literally looks as if there is footage that is coming from a different source -- and given the history of the film this would not be at all surprising -- and though it is very clear that there are native limitations it is also very easy to tell that digital adjustments were made to get some proper balance. There are traces of filtering, however, that are very strong and ultimately very distracting (see screencaptures #12, 13, 15, 16). There are also traces of filtering in other parts of the film, though this time they are far easier to tolerate (see screencapture #17). There are no traces of problematic sharpening adjustments. Colors are stable, but because the dynamic range isn't as consistent as it should have been some nuances are lost. The most obvious examples are during darker indoor footage where blacks or grays can appear compromised. Image stability is very good. Ultimately, I find the technical presentation to be quite awkward, as the quality can range from very good to poor literally within second, though fortunately the bulk of the film does look quite good. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Death in the Garden Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio is clean, stable and easy to follow, which again leads me to believe that the release is sourced from some sort of a complete recent remaster. I would like to mention that because some cast member spoke their lines in different languages the original audio mix does in fact feature overdubbing, which also means that you are likely to spot some very minor timing discrepancies. In other words, these are native production limitations, not digital errors that were introduced during the encoding process. There are no audio dropouts or digital distortions to report.

Death in the Garden Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - an exclusive restored trailer for Death in the Garden. In French, with imposed English subtitles. (2 min).

• Interview with Tony Rayns - in this exclusive video interview, film critic and filmmaker Tony Rayns discusses the illustrious career of Luis Bunuel and some of the main themes in Death in the Garden. In English, not subtitled. (33 min).

• Interview with Michel Piccoli - in this archival video interview, actor Michel Piccoli explains how he entered the film business and discusses his work with Jean-Luc Godard and Brigitte Bardot, the first film he made with Luis Bunuel (Death in the Garden) and the director's working methods, his contribution to Dairy of a Chambermaid, etc. In French, with optional English subtitles. (36 min).

• Interview with Victor Fuentes - in this archival interview, film scholar Victor Fuentes discusses Luis Bunuel's Death in the Garden. The interview was conducted in 2008. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles. (25 min).

• Booklet - 24-page illustrated booklet featuring a new essay by Philip Kemp, alongside archival imagery.

Death in the Garden Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Death in the Garden is a colorful adventure film that essentially channels many of Luis Bunuel's political views. I believe that it was intended as a warning against a troubling future that the director was convinced Mexico and countries in Latin America were likely to face. It is an enjoyable film, but I think that the final film in the "revolutionary triptych", Fever Mounts at El Pao, is the most effective one. Eureka Entertainment's release of Death in the Garden is sourced from a recent remaster that I found to be quite frustrating. Nevertheless, at the moment it clearly offers the best technical presentation of the film. RECOMMENDED (with reservations).