6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Midway through his time in Germany, Ingmar Bergman returned to Fårö for his second documentary exploration of the remote Swedish island he loved and the socioeconomic realities experienced by those who lived there.
Starring: Ingmar BergmanForeign | 100% |
Documentary | 9% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.38:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Swedish: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Criterion's Ingmar Bergman's Cinema set.
It understandably may be well nigh impossible to choose an "all time greatest filmmaker" of the 20th century, if for no other reason than that personal
tastes differ, but I can't
imagine any "devoted cineaste" not having Ingmar Bergman at least near the top of their own aggregation. Criterion
has been feting
some iconic creative forces with expansive box set compendia of films, including Essential Fellini and
The Complete Films of Agnès Varda, but in terms of overall offerings and packaging extras, Ingmar Bergman's Cinema may
itself be sitting atop a list of finest Blu-ray collection offerings. Some of the films in this impressive collection have in fact had prior releases by
Criterion, as should probably be expected, but there are a fair number making their Blu-ray debuts. As tends to be the case with Criterion releases,
technical merits are also generally excellent, and the supplements can be very appealing.
Fårö Document 1979 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.38:1. Criterion's kind of overwhelming insert book offers nice summations of each film's transfer attributes, and the relevant data points for this film are as follows:
Picture element: 16 mm color reversal intermediate negative, duplicate negativeAdditionally, a brief text card at the beginning of this presentation offers a bit of additional information in that the digital restoration was accomplished in 2016. Perhaps due to both a CRI and dupe negative source, this transfer may not have quite the lushness, saturation and detail levels of Fårö Document, but it's often quite appealing on its own terms. Some midrange and wide framings can admittedly lack detail, but most of the interview sequences and certainly the majority of close-ups offer rather abundant fine detail. The palette can be somewhat cool looking as in the earlier feature, but I'd argue it's more consistently rosy and warm at least in places than the 1969 film's color moments. Grain is a bit heavier in this presentation than in Fårö Document, but doesn't really encounter any major hurdles.
Scanner: Scanity
Transfer resolution: 2K
Sound element: 17.5 mm magnetic track
Picture and sound restoration: Swedish Film Institute
As with the first film, Fårö Document 1979 features an LPCM Mono track that is perfectly supportive of a documentary that has a lot of talking head material, with some brief asides for outdoor vignettes that can offer some appealing ambient environmental sounds. All spoken material is delivered cleanly and clearly. Optional English subtitles are available.
I'm not sure Fårö Document 1979 would have quite the emotional resonance it does without its link to the 1969 documentary, but I guess that's part of the story here, in several senses. Technical merits are solid, and the two Bergman shorts included as supplements very appealing. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
Fårödokument
1970
För att inte tala om alla dessa kvinnor
1964
Efter repetitionen
1984
En passion
1969
Riten / The Ritual
1969
Hamnstad
1948
Till glädje
1950
Törst
1949
Skepp till Indialand / A Ship Bound for India
1947
Nära livet
1958
Kvinnodröm
1955
Aus dem Leben der Marionetten
1980
Kvinnors väntan / Secrets of Women
1952
Kris
1946
2003
Tystnaden
1963
Trollflöjten
1975
Nattvardsgästerna
1963
Gycklarnas afton
1953
Såsom i en spegel
1961