Hierro Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Hierro Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 2, 2010

Screened at the Cannes Film Festival (La Semaine de la Critique) and winner of the the Directors’ Week Award for Best Actress at the Fantasporto International Film Festival, Gabe Ibánez's "Hierro" (2009) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment. The only supplemental feature on the disc is the film's original theatrical trailer. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

On the ferry

Gabe Ibanez’s Hierro reminded me about Francois Ozon’s Sous le sable. In Ozon’s film a woman (played by the terrific Charlotte Rampling) loses her husband and then begins falling apart - dramatically affecting the lives of everyone around her. In Ibanez’s film a young mother loses her son and as time goes by nearly loses her mind.

Here’s a detailed summation of Hierro: Maria (Elena Anaya, Sex and Lucia, Mesrine: Killer Instinct), a single mother, decides to take her four-year old son, Diego, on holiday to the beautiful Canary Island of El Hierro. When the two get on the ferry, she falls asleep and Diego disappears.

Maria wakes up and begins searching for Diego. When the ferry reaches El Hierro the local authorities also assist with the search, but Diego is nowhere to be found. Eventually, a body is discovered and Maria is asked to identify it. She insists that it is not her son. The police, however, decide to bring a judge and run a DNA test, which can be done only once every three days. Maria rents a room in a local hotel.

During the next couple of days Maria embarks on a journey looking for Diego. She meets another woman whose son has also disappeared. She also follows a suspicious caravan to a remote, stunningly beautiful area of El Hierro.

Like Ozon’s Sous le sable, Ibanez’s Hierro is not a whodunit affair. Diego’s disappearance is just a pretext, a starting point for an incredible look into the mind of a woman who does not know how to cope with loss. She is so overwhelmed by it that actually loses her ability to separate fantasy from reality. Suddenly, she finds herself in a world where nothing is what it seems and no one is to be trusted.

Ibanez does not attempt to logically explain everything the woman sees or experiences. What he is interested showing us is how her pain bents reality and how her mind reacts to it. Unsurprisingly, many of the visuals in Hierro are quite misleading; it is unclear if they are real or produced by the woman’s mind.

Ibanez generates considerable heat from the displacement of emotions and visuals. Some of the calmer moments in Hierro quickly evolve into some of the most disturbing ones. A great classical soundtrack, courtesy of Zacarías M. de la Riva, is also used to further enhance the effect of these sudden transitions.

Anaya is very impressive as the emotionally devastated Maria. She has an endless arsenal of facial expressions that are absolutely fascinating to behold. When she discovers that Diego is missing and switches into panic mode, the tension is almost unbearable. Generally speaking, the supporting cast is likable.

The production values are of high standard, and particularly Alejandro Martínez’s wonderful lensing. Enrique Garcia’s editing is also pleasing, even though there are a couple of scenes in Hierro that could have been shortened a bit.

Note: In 2009, Hierro won the Best Actress Award (Elena Anaya) at Sitges - Catalonian Film Festival. Earlier this year, the film also won the Directors’ Week Award for Best Actress at the Fantasporto International Film Festival.

Hierro Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Gabe Ibanez's Hierro arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment.

This is a very strong high-definition transfer. Fine object detail is excellent and clarity very pleasing. The color-scheme is certainly unique; shot with the Red One camera, Hierro boasts a variety of different warm blues, greens, yellows, and browns. Many of the panoramic vistas from El Hierro, for instance, look stunningly beautiful. There are no serious stability issues. Blown through a digital projector, Hierro looks healthy and notably tight around the edges. Finally, I did not see any purely transfer-related anomalies to report in this review. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Hierro Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Spanish LPCM 2.0. For the record, Optimum Home Entertainment have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.

The Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is solid. The bass is potent and punchy, the rear channels intelligently used, and the high-frequencies not overdone. Once Maria embarks on her journey, there are a number of excellent ambient effects that you will hear. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and very easy to follow. There are no balance issues with Zacarías M. de la Riva's music score either. Finally, while viewing the film I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or hissings to report in this review.

I tested only a couple of scenes with the Spanish LPCM 2.0 track (a few of the beach scenes). The key difference between the Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and the Spanish LPCM 2.0 track is the manner in which the ambient effects are handled. The dialog seems identical on both tracks.

Hierro Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Trailer - the original theatrical trailer for the film. (2 min, 1080p).

Hierro Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Gabe Ibanez's Hierro is a dark and disturbing yet beautifully lensed film about a woman on the verge of madness. Spanish actress Elena Anaya is very impressive in it. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment, looks and sounds excellent. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.