Drylongso Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Drylongso Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 31, 2023

Some may recall a film from a few years ago entitled The Last Black Man in San Francisco, and without trying to sound too cheeky, at least one of several intertwined subplots in Drylongso might be subtitled The Last Black Man in Oakland. That's due to the fact that co-writer and director Cauleen Smith had, according to a really fascinating interview with her included on this disc as a supplement, been working as a news transcriber in the CNN Building in Los Angeles, where she was repeatedly exposed to stories of black women being killed in and around the metropolis, in what she became more and more convinced was a serial murder spree. The cops evidently couldn't have cared less, and Smith recounts that it wasn't until years later that indeed a serial murderer was apprehended for all the killings. That idea is slightly morphed in Drylongso as a focal young girl named Pica Sullivan (Toby Smith) is obsessed with taking Polaroid photos of young black men in her Oakland neighborhood, since she's aware of the statistics that state many and maybe even most of them will either end up in jail or dead before too much longer, and she wants some proof of their existence, especially since a serial murderer may be in her midst.

That "simple" subplot might have been more than enough for some filmmakers, but Smith is obviously ambitious, and Drylongso involves any number of other subplots, including a woman named Tobi (April Barnett) whom Pica befriends when Tobi is unceremoniously dumped from a car by an obviously abusive boyfriend across the street from Pica's house. April ends up dressing in men's clothing in order to not be hassled by anyone, and the two end up working together, along with several young men from the neighborhood, not only to memorialize neighborhood youths who haven't made it to adulthood but also to try to help discover who may be a serial killer prowling around the dark alleyways of Oakland looking for prey. Yes, it's a very heady brew at times, and I'm frankly not sure if Smith might have been better off paring down her approach a bit, but the film's power and gravitas stems from its ineluctable sense of community, especially since it's a community under duress.

In the interview with Michael B. Gillespie included on this disc as a supplement Gillespie almost instantaneously identifies Smith as a "black feminist filmmaker", a description she tacitly agrees with, and so those uncomfortable with the cinematic equivalent of so-called "identity politics" may not find the film particularly interesting, but anyone looking for a really distinctive point of view depicting what are generally called "down and out" types should find Drylongso a fascinating viewing experience.

Drylongso Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Drylongso is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. The keepcase includes a foldout poster which has information on the reverse in lieu of an insert booklet, and it provides the following verbiage on the master:

Drylongso is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Approved by director Cauleen Smith, this new digital master was created from the 16mm original camera negative, which was scanned in 4K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm magnetic track by John Polito at Audio Mechanics in Burbank, California.

Smith kind of winningly talks about the really heavy grain in some of her shorts in the introduction to that set of supplements on this disc, and Drylongso's transfer certainly preserves a very healthily organic layer of grain throughout the presentation. The palette is also beautifully robust almost all of the time, and some of the outdoor material in particular has some very appealing primaries, notably bright blue skies and some of the reds in the outfits characters wear. There are some nighttime moments where grain can look kind of chunky and where fine detail levels can ebb, but generally detail levels are consistently commendable throughout. Occasionally some baked in anomalies like light flares can intrude at the edge of the frame (something else Smith singles out as a "plus" in her introduction to the shorts).

Drylongso Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Drylongso features a surprisingly robust LPCM Mono track. The film has some really appealing source cues scattered throughout, all of which sound nicely full bodied despite the absence of a surround track. This production has a kind of "fly on the wall" quality at times, and some of the outdoor dialogue can be a little variable in the amplitude department, but overall everything is rendered cleanly and clearly with no problems. Optional English subtitles are available.

Drylongso Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Cauleen Smith and Michael B. Gillespie (HD; 24:44) is an engaging interview with Smith.


• Short Films offers a nice selection of Smith's prior work.

  Introduction (HD; 12:08)

  
  

  Chronicles of a Lying Spirit by Kelly Gabron (HD; 6:07)

  
  

  Songs for Earth & Folk (HD; 10:41)

  
  

  Lessons in Semaphore (HD; 4:19)

  
  

  Engungun (Ancestor Can't Find Me) (HD; 5:21 or 53:33) kind of intriguingly offers two viewing options, Play (first timing) or Play as a Loop (second timing).

  
  

  Remote Viewing (HD; 15:27)

  
  

  Suffolk (HD; 7:40)

• Trailer HD; 1:57)

Drylongso Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Drylongso may not be a word that non black people are overly familiar with, and rather than try to offer a definition myself, I'll simply recommend those interested to do a bit of internet sleuthing. But in that general regard, I'd say that if this film purportedly shows the "same old same old" of both the positives and negatives of inner city black life, it does so in a completely original, multifaceted way. Some may feel as I do there are in fact maybe one or two too many facets here, but the film has an unmistakable point of view and some rather piquant things to say about community and the life of younger black people in particular. Technical merits are solid and the supplements very appealing. Recommended.