High Life Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

High Life Blu-ray Movie Review

In space, you can still hear a baby cry. Unfortunately.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 12, 2019

A lot of science fiction films appeared in the wake of Stanley Kubrick’s monolithic (in more ways than one) 1968 opus 2001: A Space Odyssey, with some of them, like 1969’s Marooned, kind of desperately trying to ape the stunning outer space effects that helped make 2001: A Space Odyssey so profoundly intriguing. One of the more interesting if kind of strangely lesser remembered science fiction films which sought to recreate some of 2001: A Space Odyssey’s visual effects magic was 1972’s Silent Running, a film which not so coincidentally was the feature film directing debut of Douglas Trumbull, arguably the major special effects guru who worked on Kubrick’s masterpiece. Silent Running did have its fair share of “out there” effects, but one of the more unusual aspects of its presentation was its prime focus on a greenhouse contained within a spaceship (the film had a then au courant ecological aspect), and at least for that reason, fans of the Trumbull directing enterprise may feel a twinge of déjà vu as they watch High Life, since this film features the same conceit.

While shots of what appear to be lushly forested terrain are part of what amounts to an opening montage, in just one of at least a couple of moments that may remind viewers of Kubrick’s legendary opus, High Life 's initial series of images also offers a sequence featuring an astronaut in a spacesuit attempting to effect repairs on the outside of a ship. Monte (Robert Pattinson), the astronaut in question, is also attempting to keep an infant named Willow, who is in the spacecraft and none too happy about being left alone, occupied by talking to her. Monte has also evidently left a rather weird video on one of the monitors in front of Willow that is playing a decidedly odd vintage piece that recurs a couple of times and whose import frankly completely escaped me (it seems to be a Native American reacting in shock to some kind of explosion, but I could be way off the mark).

High Life is the work of writer and director Claire Denis, and fans of Denis’ sometimes opaque material will probably not be surprised to know that not only is the story told here in a deliberately disjunctive manner, it is filled with little recondite plot points, as well as even arguably some imagery, that tip over into an almost unreal ambience. The film seems to be documenting Monte’s attempts to raise Willow on an isolated spaceship where he and the tot appear to be the only crew around, though Monte dutifully reports to some entity via a computer that is hardly in the HAL category, at least in terms of technology (the entire film features a kind of intentional retro vibe). However, as a series of more and more revelatory flashbacks reveal, Monte was once one of several , and, once again like any number of outer space sagas including but not limited to 2001: A Space Odyssey , not every intrepid astronaut makes it out of this particular mission alive.

As information is doled out, it becomes apparent that Monte was part of a kind convict “work crew” placed aboard a spaceship in what is perhaps a sacrificial mission to check out a black hole. Monte has a number of crewmates that are introduced, including the ship’s doctor, Dibs (Juliette Binoche) who may have her own agenda with regard to her “patients”, an ulterior motive which in fact plays into why Monte has an infant to care for. The film has an often dreamlike (and/or nightmarish, depending on your point of view) quality, but it also erupts into viciousness at a couple of junctures. If 2001: A Space Odyssey plied a kind of emotionless, technologically driven atmosphere, parts of High Life are so rife with hyperbolic emotion that it’s almost as if Douglas Sirk were making a sci-fi “epic”.

While resolutely different than 2001: A Space Odyssey in several meaningful ways, High Life does share a similar visual acuity, though once again one that is perhaps diametrically opposed to Kubrick’s often monochrome, static proclivities. Denis and cinematographer Yorick Le Saux work in an “old school” aspect ratio (achieved on this presentation via windowboxing, kind of unusually), and the frame is often bathed in almost Bava-esque splashes of very deep hues. Interestingly, Kubrick memorably utilizes depth of field within the frame to document one horrifying death in the film, where a victim tumbles into the void away from the viewer. Here, Denis depicts a whole retinue of deaths with a visual trope that seems to suggest the inexorable pull of a black hole is always going to be down.

High Life Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

High Life is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer largely in 1.67:1. As can be gleaned from the screenshots accompanying this review, as well as my statement above in the main body of the review, this aspect ratio is achieved via windowboxing for whatever reason, and it's notable if perhaps almost imperceptible that the aspect ratio widens out in the final few seconds of the film, though I'm frankly not sure what is really accomplished with that conceit (albeit I'm aware of the perhaps "metaphysical" underpinning of such a choice). The film was shot both digitally and "old school" via Super16, and there's an obvious and understandable difference in the looks of various moments. The bulk of the digitally captured imagery is very sharp and sleek looking, with excellent detail levels and a really nice accounting of a sometimes almost luridly lit and/or graded palette. The smaller format celluloid material is again expectedly a bit rough looking by comparison, with less fulsome fine detail levels (see screenshot 19 for one example).

High Life Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

High Life features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that really doesn't offer much in the way of "typical" science fiction bombast, but which creates some steady immersion courtesy of well placed ambient environmental effects that document a number of different "eras" aboard the spacecraft, including some bustle when populated, and, later, more cavernous, echo laden sounds when Monte and Willow become the focal characters. Stuart A. Staples' kind of spacy score also wafts through the surround channels regularly. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free track.

High Life Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audacious, Passionate and Dangerous: Making High Life (1080p; 18:45) is an above average EPK with some good interviews.


• Visualizing the Abyss: The Look of High Life (1080p; 11:15) focuses on elements like production design and cinematography, both done on what is described as a rather small budget.

High Life Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm not quite sure that High Life is as profound as it seems to think it is, but you know what? I'm not quite sure that it isn't, and that ambiguity in my own reaction is probably testament to the fact that at least this film has the courage to be something at least a little different, and to approach a number of weighty issues from unusual angles. Anyone thinking this is a "traditional" science fiction spaceship extravaganza is going to be pretty disappointed, but those who are fans of the cast and/or the writer-director and who are willing to go with the flow (even if it's being tugged on by a black hole), may find High Life a rather interesting film. Technical merits are solid, and High Life comes Recommended.