7.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A devout coward vows to assassinate Napoleon in the name of love.
Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Féodor Atkine, Harold Gould, Jessica HarperDark humor | Insignificant |
War | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
History | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region B (A, C untested)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Note: This film is also available as part of the set Woody Allen: Six Films 1971-1978.
The six films included in a new set from Arrow comprise some of Woody Allen’s best known and best loved offerings, but they also provide a
nice
window into Allen’s evolution from a schtick and gag laden auteur to a filmmaker with something obviously a bit deeper on his
mind
than “only” going for the gusto in terms of laughs. Tracing the kind of frankly odd route from Bananas to Interiors
may not provide much grist for a mill interested in narrative through lines, but it at least provides ample evidence that Allen, no matter how he’s
seen
currently within the context of his external “baggage,” has always been a relentlessly unique force in the contemporary film world. Allen’s
filmmaking
craft also increases exponentially over the half dozen films in this set, and one of the more interesting things to pay attention to is how his
directorial
chops noticeably improved in terms of even relatively simple things like framings and how to set up a shot for maximum impact. But Allen’s
writing
went through a similar metamorphosis, slowly but surely turning away from, or at least relying less upon, sight gags and just downright
goofiness in
favor of more intellectually prone humor. Allen continues to be a divisive figure, not just in the annals of cinema but (not to state the obvious)
for some
of the personal choices he’s made through the years (not to mention allegations that have been leveled against him), but these six films, most
done
before any major “brouhahas” had started to append “meta” analyses to his offerings, are an often stunning example of a brilliant comedic mind
who
also began to nurture his more dramatic tendencies.
Love and Death is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Academy with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. I've tried to reproduce several of the screenshots included with our review of the American release, so that those interested can do a full screen compare and contrast, which I often find more instructive than me trying to adequately describe differences. The Arrow release looks just slightly darker than the American Blu-ray, but aside from that difference these two presentations are extremely similar if not identical, down to the same minor damage to the elements at the same places, something that suggests either the same elements and/or same master were utilized for both presentations. The darker overall look of this transfer tends to highlight things like minus density a little bit more than on the American release. As with the American release, grain can occasionally be a little coarse looking, but the overall palette looks fresh and convincing. Eagle eyed observers will note I gave the American release a 4.0, while I'm giving this one a 3.5. This may be evidence I was feeling overly generous with the American release, or maybe am being overly stingy now, but I just wasn't quite as thrilled with the look of the film this time as I was when I reviewed it for its American release. My actual score is 3.75.
Love and Death features a rather boisterous sounding LPCM 2.0 mono track, which is for all intents and purposes identical with the DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track on the American release. Allen turned to the classics for his music for Love and Death, and the film is awash in the tambourine and trumpet filled spectacular sounds of Sergei Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé. Lieutenant Kijé has matriculated into pop and jazz music with rather stunning regularity, including tunes by the Sauter Finegan Orchestra (Midnight Sleigh Ride), The Free Design (their Kijé's Ouija is a really fun song), Blood, Sweat and Tears (40,000 Headmen) and Sting (Russians). Here Allen utilizes it in its original orchestral setting and it provides a perfectly astringent counterpoint to the goings on, sounding clear and clean in this lossless presentation. Dialogue is similarly clean sounding, and this problem free track has no signs of age related damage like dropouts or noise.
Maybe it's just my genetic predisposition toward feeling simpatico with regard to something this ostensibly "Russian," but Love and Death has always been one of my favorite Allen films. It has the flat out goofiness of early, more nonchalant, entries like Bananas while beginning, if only jokingly most of the time, to address some substantive issues like, well, you know, love and death. Allen and Keaton play their stereotypical roles here, but they play them to the hilt, and Love and Death has a rather unexpectedly epic and sumptuous feel for such an otherwise proto-indie feeling film. Technical merits are generally very strong and even without a bevy of supplemental material, Love and Death comes Highly recommended.
Arrow Academy
1971
Arrow Academy
1973
Arrow Academy
1984
Arrow Academy
1983
1972
Arrow Academy
1989
Arrow Academy
1991
Arrow Academy
1982
Arrow Academy
1990
Play Time / Restored
1967
The Big Day / The Jacques Tati Collection
1949
Mr. Hulot's Holiday / Restored
1953
The Jacques Tati Collection
1958
Restored
1971
Eureka Classics
1968
Arrow Academy
1985
Arrow Academy
2016
2013
Masters of Cinema
1923
Indicator Series
1971