6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A man seeks to break free from his predetermined path, a cop questions his wife's demeanor after her return from a supposed drowning and a woman's quest to locate an extraordinary individual prophesied to become a renowned spiritual guide.
Starring: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong ChauDark humor | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: DTS 5.1
German: Dolby Digital 5.1
Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
What a difference a year makes. Around this time last year, word was already building for Poor Things, which had then recently taken the Venice Film Festival by storm and won the Golden Lion, whetting appetites for what would be the film's "wide" release in a couple of months, but starting a veritable onslaught of press reporting that I can tell you from personal experience pretty much filled my news feed for weeks. Which brings us to Kinds of Kindness, Yorgos Lanthimos' follow up to his Oscar winning sensation, and one which not so coincidentally reunited him with star Emma Stone, and featured players Willem Dafoe and (Sarah) Margaret Qualley (there are other tethers between the two outings on the production side of things as well). To simply cut to the chase, have you heard much about Kinds of Kindness? Well, you very well might have heard something, but as of the writing of this review, I can tell you based simply on my own admittedly nonacademic anecdotal reportage, there's virtually none of the "buzz" surrounding this film that accompanied Poor Things, and one sign of that deficit may be the actually kind of amazingly small receipts the film has evidently generated at the box office. Poor Things managed to rake in well over $100 million globally, but Kinds of Kindness has barely earned back more than its reported $15 million budget. Audience acceptance is not always an apt barometer of a film's true "worth", and in one of those "let's just face facts" data points, Yorgos Lanthimos has never seemed especially concerned about viewer reaction to his often completely gonzo approaches, but one way or the other, this so-called "triptych" may be three times too weird for even diehard fans of this auteur whose very oddness is one of his most celebrated aspects.
Kinds of Kindness is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Studios' Searchlight imprint and Disney / Buena Vista with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Shot on film and finished at 4K, this is a often gorgeous looking transfer, with a beautifully suffused palette that takes full advantage of some passingly breathtaking locations, as in the high rise in the first "episode", or the seaside cult in the third outing. Blues in particular are incredibly evocative throughout all three stories, including some more teal tones that seem to have been intentionally utilized to at least subliminally link the sections. Kind of interestingly, the IMDb lists a whole slew of different stocks that were utilized, which may help to explain certain variations in both overall color temperature but some observable differences in grain resolution. This being your good, old fashioned (?) Yorgos Lanthimos movie and all, there are a number of relatively unexplained black and white interstitials which serve a kind of quasi-flashback or at least alternative point of view function, and those offer secure contrast and excellent detail levels.
Kinds of Kindness features a nicely immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that manages to offer regular engagement of the surround channels despite what might be considered an absence of "showy" sonics. Instead, the piano based score by Jerskin Fendrix, returning to collaborate with Lanthimos again after Poor Things (and evidently already slated to score Lanthimos' latest, Bugonia) as well as subtle but easily discernable ambient environmental sounds, are consistently placed around the soundstage. There are occasional near startle effects, as in the unexpected first car crash in the opening story. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English, French and Spanish subtitles are available.
This is another exercise in. . .well, something Yorgos Lanthimos-ish. Finer minds than mine will have to divine some unrecognized meaning in all of this craziness, but I know from having heard from some Lanthimos fans, that Lanthimos' very craziness is what they crave, and those fans will have a field day with this wacky and admittedly unsettling offering. Technical merits are first rate for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.
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