7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A tragic love story set at the turn of the millennium in Milan. The film follows the fall of the haute bourgeoisie due to the forces of passion and unconditional love
Starring: Tilda Swinton, Flavio Parenti, Edoardo Gabbriellini, Alba Rohrwacher, Pippo DelbonoDrama | 100% |
Foreign | 69% |
Romance | 42% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English, English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
BD-Live
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Midway through I Am Love, a sumptuous turn-of-the-millennium drama from Italian director Luca Guadagnino, there comes a flash of culinary transcendence, what you might call the film’s Ratatouille moment. Tilda Swinton, playing Emma Recchi, the Russian-born wife of an extravagantly wealthy Milanese textile magnate, is dining at a posh restaurant with the past and future of her family—her mother-in-law (Marisa Berenson, of Visconti’s Death in Venice) and soon-to-be daughter-in-law. The waiter brings a dish of glistening, oil-covered prawns, sensually arranged. As Emma slices a shrimp open and takes her first bite, the world dims around her and she’s bathed in an isolating glow of golden light. Her face registers a complex combination of awe, emotional awakening, and knee-buckling, nearly orgasmic pleasure. In this instant, her character changes; she gives up her staid, tradition-bound role as housewife/heiress, and gives in to the volcanic passion she feels toward the culinary mastermind behind this seafood platter—a half-her-age chef, a sensitive soul who also happens to be her son’s best friend. Like the film as a whole, the moment is melodramatic, yes, but decadently delicious all the same.
For all of I Am Love's lushness, the film's 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer is somewhat dull, neither as sharp nor as colorful as you might expect. Clarity is very much mixed; this is undeniably a high definition production—detail is much stronger than anything you'd see on DVD—but overall, the image isn't quite as resolved as most contemporary releases. Slight softness pervades many scenes, and even close-ups lack the finest details, like skin texture, that you're used to seeing in other modern films. Color is rather realistic and neutral, with only a few instances of obvious post-production tonal tweaking—like the yellowish cast when Emma meets Betta at the train station. There are flashes of bright color—a tangerine dress, yellow pollen, green grass—but the film's palette is largely restrained. Black levels are a bit hazy, especially in darker scenes, and contrast is weak, resulting in an image without much pop. All that said, I didn't see the film theatrically, so I can't make any comparisons, but I suspect the relative flatness of the image is mostly due to the way the movie was shot—that is, the lenses, film stocks, and lighting conditions that were used—and not any fault of this high definition transfer. After all, I Am Love had nowhere near the budget of typical Hollywood drama. As for the transfer and encode—the print is clean, grain looks natural, and there are no overly apparent compression problems.
If there's one standout element to I Am Love's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, it's John Adams' fantastic score, which builds, over the course of the film, to a roaring crescendo at the narrative climax. The music—which often spreads throughout all channels—is rich and dynamically rounded, with satisfying low-end presence, a punchy midrange, and highs that are clear without being shrill. Outside of the score, the track delivers exactly what you'd hope for in a family drama—clean, effortlessly prioritized dialogue, and an attempt to fill the soundstage with environmental ambience. The rear channel output isn't as involving as it could be, but you'll hear the drizzle of rain in a cemetery, the bustle of the servants coming and going within the house, chirping birds and flitting insects, train station chatter, and even the hush of snowfall mingling with distant traffic sounds. All the aspects of the film's audio—the score, the dialogue, the sound effects—are balanced and come together well for an engaging listening experience. English, English SDH, and Spanish subtitles are available in easy-to-read white lettering.
Commentary with Director Luca Guadagnino and Tilda Swinton
Swinton and Guadagnino's collaboration on I Am Love goes back 11 years, when they first began planning a story that Guadagnino describes as
"Visconti on acid." Their conversation here is endlessly informative and more thematically based than most commentary tracks, with lots of talk of the
characters' motivations and the ideas present within the film, along with the usual on-set anecdotes and production details.
Moments on the Set of I Am Love (SD, 14:33)
Straight up behind-the-scenes footage, highlighting some of the beautiful locations, and with some brief interviews with Swinton and others.
Interviews with the Cast and Crew (SD, 1:10:36)
Includes extensive interviews with Luca Guadagnino (Director), Tilda Swinton (Emma Recchi), Alba Rohrwacher (Elisabetta Recchi), Diana Fieri (Eva
Ugolini), Edoardo Gabbriellini (Antonio Biscaglio), Gabriele Ferzetti (Edoardo Recchi, Sr.), Flavio Parenti (Edoardo Recchi, Jr.), Marisa Berenson (Allegra
Recchi), Mattia Zaccaro (Gianluca Recchi), Pippo Delbono (Tancredi Recchi), and Silvia Venturini Fendi (Producer/Stylist).
Theatrical Trailer (1080p, 2:09)
Also from Magnolia Home Entertainment Blu-ray (1080p, 6:28)
Includes trailers for Ondine, The Extra Man, and The Oxford Murders, along with a promo for HDNet.
Some viewers might understandably find I Am Love longwinded and overly ornate, perhaps even pretentious, but those attuned to a more European arthouse mindset will appreciate the film's slow cinematic burn, its attention to emotional nuance, and its indebted homage to Italian greats like Antonioni and Visconti. One thing we can probably all agree on is that Tilda Swinton gives the greatest—and most vulnerable—performance of her career here, letting her typically icy demeanor, that of Narnia's White Witch, for example, thaw into something sensual and raw. Recommended!
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