7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
In the late 19th century, a young Danish priest travels to a remote part of Iceland to build a church and photograph its people. But the deeper he goes into the unforgiving landscape, the more he strays from his purpose, his mission and morality.
Starring: Elliott Crosset Hove, Ingvar Sigurdsson, Jacob Lohmann, Hilmar Guðjónsson, Ingvar ÞórðarsonForeign | 100% |
Drama | 97% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.31:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Icelandic: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Hlynur Palmason's "Godland" (2022) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Janus Films/Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new program with the director and original trailer for the film. In Icelandic and Danish, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.31:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Godland arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Janus Films/Criterion.
I think that Godland looks terrific in high-definition. My only minor criticism pertains to the presence of several tiny nicks, which easily could have been removed -- unless they are supposed to be there to strengthen the unique stylization of the visuals. I do not think that my speculation is correct, but given how the film is framed, I would not be surprised if it turns out that it is. Everything else looks either very good or outstanding. Delineation, clarity, and depth, for instance, are consistently terrific. There are fantastic ranges of natural colors as well. Image stability is excellent. I thought that the fluidity of the visuals was really good too, so when I upscaled the film to 4K, a lot of the content looked like native 4K content. All in all, this release offers a fantastic presentation of Godland that makes it a treat to experience at home. My score is 4.75/5.00. (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).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Icelandic DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (with portions of Danish). Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.
The film has a very moody but very effective soundtrack that does a lot to enhance its atmosphere. I thought that the 5.1 track produced a lot of terrific dynamic contrasts, which is not as easy as it may sound because there is no action footage that offers opportunities to impress. The dialog was always very clear, sharp, and stable. The English translation is excellent.
Films like Godland are rare because they visit unique places where Mother Nature is so glorious and so powerful that it becomes impossible to tell a conventional story. The very best of these films are fully aware of this, so for a short period of time, they connect with Mother Nature and treat her as their undisputed star. Even though Godland is a period film and visits a different place where Mother Nature is fully in control, it reminded me of How I Ended This Summer, which is another visual stunner. This recent Blu-ray release from Janus Films/Criterion offers an outstanding technical presentation of Godland. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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