Dissolution Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Dissolution Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 5, 2023

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Arbelos' Cinematic Sorceress: The Films of Nina Menkes release.

Nina Menkes is a name many are probably not all that familiar with, but she might be an interesting filmmaker to check out for anyone who has ever felt displaced or on some kind of journey toward "self", since there's a certain mystical quality to Menkes' work that should resonate even for those who aren't particularly fond of some of the "artier" aspects of independent film. Menkes' Jewish parents evidently were able to make it out of Nazi Germany as children, but there's maybe just a slight touch of what has been termed "intergenerational Holocaust trauma" running through her work, at least as a subliminal subtext. While Menkes' Jewish heritage is probably most noticeable in efforts like The Great Sadness of Zohara, which was shot in and around Jerusalem, and Dissolution, which was shot in Jaffa and is in Hebrew, there's a rather fascinating current of spiritually wandering individuals, Jewish or not, throughout many of the features and shorts assembled in this collection by Arbelos. The subjects are actually rather far ranging, and several productions are set in the good old United States, but Menkes has both a deconstructionist ethos (which at times is rather reminiscent of the Nouvelle Vague) combined with an often audacious sense of visuals, which might be best exemplified by the snippets shown on the main menus of the two discs in this collection, with Disc One offering a moment from Queen of Diamonds with a really arresting look at a giant palm tree that is aflame, with two people standing next to it, just gazing off into the distance, and Disc Two offering an equally surreal moment from The Bloody Child, where what looks like a Marine Corps checkpoint or crime scene is suddenly interrupted by a wild horse galloping up the road.

Directly out of high school, before I had started college, my girlfriend at the time and I cohabitated and quickly bought a cat which we named Raskolnikov, which I impart only to indicate that utilizing Dostoevsky's iconic character for unexpected purposes may be a "thing" for some, including Nina Menkes. This, along with The Great Sadness of Zohara, will be an especially resonant viewing experience for anyone caught up in the fracas(es) enveloping the Middle East as this review is being written, and in a way, Dissolution is arguably even more "on point" vis a vis the current situation than the relatively more loosely plotted earlier short. If Menkes forsook her frequent muse, her sister Tinka, in 2007's Phantom Love, she completely departs from offering a female protagonist at all in this film, and even the focal male isn't exactly what you'd call a traditional protagonist, given that the (once again unnamed, per Menkes' standard operating procedure) central character (portrayed by non professional Didi Fire) is at least partially based on Dostoyevsky's legendary "criminal".

The setting here is Jaffa, the largely Arab enclave within Tel Aviv, and per Menkes' own seemingly inevitable formulation, the story deals with alienation and isolation within an often surreal and frankly hellish landscape. This a claustrophobic urban environment where everybody may not know your name (especially if you don't have one), but where due to close quarters, everyone can at least hear everyone else's "business". This is easily the most traditional narrative offered in the Menkes set, and as such it might be a good place for "non initiates" to begin, even if they should prepare themselves for an almost unbearable heaviness of being.

Dissolution Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Dissolution is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arbelos with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is one of the films that doesn't even merit the brief technical information imparted about some of the other films in this set, though Menkes' site offers an "HD PAL" technical data point, without specifying what kind of camera she used. This understandably has more of an "HD video" appearance than the other shot on film productions included in this set, but the imagery is frequently incredibly striking (per Menkes' norm), and detail levels are uniformly high. There's just a hint of chiaroscuro in some of the lighting choices, and contrast supports the extremes on both the black and white ends of the spectrum extremely well. While there are some brief actual focus pulling issues, for the most part the imagery is crisp and extremely well detailed.

Dissolution Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Also setting this film apart from its sibling in this set is the fact that it's in Hebrew, offered via an engaging DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. This is another really nicely designed listening experience, which blends a lot ambient environmental sounds, including various ethnic music(s), with more traditional dialogue scenes. The stereo imaging can be quite noticeable at times, especially with regard to some of the ambient environmental sound effects. All spoken material is delivered cleanly and clearly. Optional English subtitles are available.

Dissolution Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Arbelos has packaged this release with three films per disc, with some "general interest" supplements on both discs, so I'm offering the complete list of supplements here, which may or may not be specific to this particular film.

Disc One

• Nina Menkes in conversation with Mike Plante (HD; 25:55)


• Cards on the Table (HD; 11:33) is a kind of cool visual essay linking Menkes' work to the Tarot, which itself has Kabbalistic links.


• Queen of Diamonds Trailer (HD; 1:44)


• Commentary on The Great Sadness of Zohara is by Nina Menkes.


• Commentary on Magdalena Viraga is by Nina Menkes.

Disc Two

• Nina Menkes in Conversation with Ann Hornaday (HD; 31:27)


• Nina Menkes in Conversation with K.J. Relth-Miller (HD; 27:34)


• The Bloody Child Trailer (HD; 1:13)


• Cinematic Sorceress: Retrospective Trailer (HD; 1:57)


• Short film: The Lioness (HD; 2:00)


• Commentary on Phantom Love is by Nina Menkes.


• Commentary on Dissolution is by Nina Menkes.

Dissolution Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you're a little worried about "jumping into the deep end" with Nina Menkes, an end which can admittedly be very, very deep at times, Dissolution, despite its almost oppressive nature, may be a good place to "dip one's toes", so to speak. For a Menkes film, this is relatively straightforward and accessible, and like all of the other films in this set, it features some extremely striking imagery, delivered here in high contrast black and white HD video. Technical merits are solid, and at least for those willing to experience something rather unusual, Dissolution comes Highly recommended.