7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
From acclaimed director Douglas Buck comes an unflinching, disturbingly beautiful look at the underbelly of American family. Three separate narratives (including the shocking film festival favorite "Cutting Moments" as well as "Home" and "Prologue") combine to create a unique trilogy of life today that will leave you devastated... and begging for more.
Starring: Jared Barsky, Gary Betsworth, Ray Bland, Sally Conway, Jayne DeelyHorror | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.67:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Hey, maybe there is hope for anyone who has ever considered themselves to have either been brought up in or perhaps even actually helped to create themselves a dysfunctional family. For those scarred by everything from sibling rivalry to parental discord to — well, just about anything involving their relatives — Family Portraits: A Trilogy of America may in its own shocking, provocative and at times disturbingly graphic way give you a sense that whatever "issues" you've been dealing with are penny ante stuff. Now it needs to be stated up front that none of the three shorts aggregated (for limited festival screenings) into Family Portraits: A Trilogy of America is exactly what might be called an "enjoyable" watch, but that's part of the unsettling power of Douglas Buck's work. Anyone who has suffered from sexual abuse in particular will probably find the first film most especially "triggering" (as is said these days), but in fact all three of the shorts included here are uniquely emotionally savage, and need to be approached with a certain amount of caution, at least for those easily affected not just by on screen imagery, but subtext galore.
Family Portraits: A Trilogy of America is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.67:1. The back cover of this release states this is "now scanned in 2K from the original negative for the first time ever". The results are still probably decidedly on the lo-fi side, with a gritty appearance and sometimes marginal detail levels, especially in some wide shots. Close-ups, however, resonate much more strongly, with at times quite commendable fine detail levels. The palette is a little wan looking over all, though some primaries, notably some reds which are prevalent due to both clothing and, well, blood and guts in the first two shorts, are at least occasionally surprisingly vivid. There are some minor issues like noticeable wobble in some of the credits, but I noticed no compression anomalies.
Family Portraits: A Trilogy of America features a decent DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track. None of the shorts has what I'd term an ambitious sound design, but some elements, like the moody score(s) by Edward Dzubak and David Kristian resonate quite strongly. Some outdoor material, notably in the third segment, offers at least intermittent ambient environmental effects. It looked to me like some these might have been at least occasionally post looped, but on the whole dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly. Optional English subtitles are available.
There are quite a few supplements on this disc, but because of a somewhat labyrinthine menu structure, you might need to dig around a little to find all of them.
- Director Douglas Buck (recorded May 2019)
- Maitland McDonagh (recorded February 2020)
- Cutting Moments (1080p; 26:22)
- Audio Commentary with Actors Nicca Ray and Gary Betsworth (Recorded May 2019)
- Home (1080p; 28:50)
- Audio Commentary with Actor Gary Betsworth (Recorded May 2019)
- Prologue (1080p; 51:38)
- Audio Commentary with Actors Sally Conway, William Stone Mahoney, David Thronton, Larry Fessenden, Beth Glover and Painter Jesse McCloskey (Recorded May 2019)
- Cutting Moments I (Aired September 30, 2018) (480p; 1:10:37)
- Cutting Moments II (Aired September 30, 2018) (480p; 1:03:26)
- Douglas Buck Interview (Aired June 11, 2019) (480p; 2:03:52)
- Cutting Moments (1080p; 3:34)
- Home (1080p; 3:05)
- Prologue (1080p; 3:05)
It's hard to come right out and actually recommend Family Portraits: A Trilogy of America, since it's such an unabashedly unsettling viewing experience. But Buck really has a unique talent that is strongly on display in all three shorts collected here, and for those with a stomach for both the on screen gore as well as the copious subtext, this may well be an unforgettable viewing experience, for better or worse. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplementary package outstanding, for those who are considering a purchase.
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