Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Death in the Garden Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 27, 2019

Luis Bunuel's "Death in the Garden" (1956) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include trailer for the film; new video interview with critic and filmmaker Tony Rayns; and audio commentary by critic critic Samm Deighan. The release also arrives with a 10-page illustrated booklet featuring an essay by critic Peter Tonguette. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

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 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Luis Buñuel's Death in the Garden arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

So, let's put aside the aspect ratio discrepancy between the British release and this release for a moment and focus on the quality of the master that was used to produce this release. First, it seems pretty clear now that the current version of the film incorporates footage from multiple sources. My guess is that the current version is actually a reconstruction of some sort, and that the softer/flatter footage replaces portions of the film that were either seriously damaged and no longer usable, or completely lost. Second, the density levels here are quite a bit better, and in some areas the shadow definition is superior as well. In fact, even the secondary footage looks better (you can compare screencapture #10 with the correspodinng screencapture from our review of other release to get an idea what type of difference to expect). Also, here the overall color balance is different -- some of the primaries are better saturated, and some of the supporting nuances are expanded. However, there are also a few areas where I am not seeing any difference at all, which tells me that at the very least the other master in the 1.66:1 ratio was referenced. During the outdoor and indoor footage grain exposure looks very nice and the visuals have the type of 'tigtness' that I would expect to see from a brand new 2K/4K remaster, which is something that instantly has a positive effect on fluidity as well. In other words, if you view your films on a larger screen, expect to see really strong visuals. (The exception would be the footage that I have speculated comes from a secondary source).

The aspect ratio: The film looks really good in the Academy ratio, which isn't an odd one in Luis Bunuel's oeuvre. For example, Fever Mounts at El Pao, which was completed a few years after Death in the Garden, was also fully restored and presented in the Academy ratio and looks very convincing. Los Olvidados is another popular film from the 1950s that has been presented in the exact same way as well. The point is, even if some of these films were screened in 1.66:1, after viewing this particular restoration and reconstruction of Death in the Garden I can comfortably say that the film looks very nicely composed in 1.33:1. 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 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 DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Aside from the opening credits where the music feels a tad 'thin' the rest of the audio sound lovely, boasting great clarity and sharpness. A few very small fluctuations in terms of dynamic stability exist, but my guess is that they are essentially part of the reconstructive job that was done to create the master. Also, you should keep in mind that some of the overdubbed, so there is some native unevenness as well. The end production, however, is of very high-quality.

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, 1080p).

• 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, 1080p).

• Commentary - critic Samm Deighan addresses the conception of Death in the Garden as well as Luis Bunuel's so-called Mexican period, where some of his most political films emerged.

• Booklet - a 10-page illustrated booklet featuring critic Peter Tonguette's essay "The Adventuresome Luis Bunuel".

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. Kino Lorber's new release of Death in the Garden has a technical presentation of the film that is not identical to the one that this release from Eureka Entertainment offered. I don't know when or how the master that was used to source it was it was prepared, but I think that overall it has a more convincing organic appearance. RECOMMENDED.