7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Parent and child journey through the outskirts of society a decade after a pandemic has wiped out half the world's population. As a father struggles to protect his child, their bond, and the character of humanity, is tested.
Starring: Anna Pniowsky, Casey Affleck, Tom Bower, Elisabeth Moss, Hrothgar MathewsDrama | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
With Light of My Life, Writer/Director Casey Affleck has constructed a thoroughly convincing portrait of a dystopian world decimated by death and distrust, defined by dreariness and decay, a directionless world of despair and disrepair. His vision of a drastically altered landscape is not set against a backdrop of zombies or ruined cities but rather within the beating hearts of a father (Affleck) and his daughter (Anna Pniowsky). It's a tale of survival in the aftermath of an unexplained die-off. Survival means maintaining a semblance of the status quo under the challenges of a new normal. The father teaches his daughter morals and ethics, they regularly practice spelling difficult words, but education now encompasses the processes of surviving in a world of limited means and dangerous unknowns: filtering water, planning routes of escape, and treating others as probable enemies rather than potential friends. The movie is reflective rather than kinetic, slowly constructed but rewardingly paced, carefully executed and hypnotically real in its representation of a radically altered yet fundamentally recognizable world.
Light of My Life's 1080p transfer is very efficient and true to the movie's deliberate visual stylings. Noise is readily evident in low light, right out of the gate in the extended nighttime tent interior dialogue scene. The movie is largely low light and dreary in visual tone, so expect a fair amount of noise throughout, albeit never to any scene-breaking density. Textural efficiency is high. Though the image is bleak and inhospitable, there is no shortage of impressive clarity and attention to detail to be found on faces, the well worn clothes, dusty and unkempt home furnishings, and all variety of natural terrain. The picture's overall sharpness is very impressive and in the most forgiving light there's a very high level of visual robustness on hand. Colors as noted are dull and deliberately so. There's a gray cast to much of the movie. It's nowhere near as hopelessly bleak as The Road, but don't expect anything resembling bold, brilliant colors. Still, natural greens fare well, clothes and warm faces are likewise true to the overall cast, and white snow is crisp and brilliant. Black levels are deep but don't overpower fine object, low light detail. This appears to be a very true, accurate, and well-rounded Blu-ray presentation from Paramount.
Light of My Life is not a movie with an intense soundtrack. Sound design is subtle, reserved, and there's not much happening in terms of raucous, high volume, prominent sound elements. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack works with the inherently subtle sonic cues. Many of the track's best moments are simple atmospherics. The track opens up with incredibly rich and well defined examples thereof. Gently falling rain subtly pelts the stage. Rolling thunder presents with balanced depth and distance. Woodland ambience seamlessly draws the listener into the movie's damp and dense and largely quiet locales. Some more intense gusts of wind occasionally work their way into the track. Small things like creaking floorboards and knocks on doors represent some of the more obvious sounds in the film, and with the picture's focus on dramatic content rather than action-first spectacle, the engineering efficiency and lifelike placement and detail are vital to build the tension, and the DTS track never lets the listener down. Dialogue is the primary sound mover. It is as clear and well prioritized as one would expect.
This Blu-ray release of Light of My Life contains no supplemental content. No DVD copy is included. The package does, however, ship with a digital copy code and a non-embossed slipcover.
Light of My Life only flashes backwards a couple of times, revealing the final moments the father had his wife before the mystery illness took her and changed his world forever. These are key moments that reveal obvious, but certainly vital, foundations that better define a simple story of parenthood in a unique post-apocalyptic world. Little attention is ultimately given to why. The movie focuses on how with often lingering scenes of father-daughter companionship and breathless moments of terrifying uncertainty. Real, kinetic action is rare, and the movie is better for its inward, rather than outward, focus. Paramount's Blu-ray is disappointingly featureless, but then again the movie's tone might feel betrayed by any sort of behind-the-scenes insight (though certainly the same can be said of many other films). Video and audio qualities are good. Very highly recommended.
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