Love and Death Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.5

Love and Death Blu-ray Movie Review

The Russians are running, the Russians are running.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 8, 2015

Is there such a thing as a "Russian soul" or national spirit? The advent of genealogy sites and research into one's ancestry have given rise to a certain appreciation of characteristics that adherents claim show their genetic predispositions toward various kinds of behavior. But even before Roots and/or the Mormon church (which runs many of the best known ancestry databases) redefined how some folks thought of their ancestors and personal history, various characteristics were routinely identified with certain peoples. Years ago in a college music theory class I was taking, a choral piece I had written was performed and my professor took one look (and/or listen) at me and said, “You’re Russian, aren’t you?” I frankly had no idea, since this was long before the days of the internet, genealogy and/or ancestry sites, as well as DNA testing, not to mention the fact that we simply didn't know that much about some of our family history. I told the prof this, and he simply responded while tapping on my score, “Believe me, you’re Russian.” That actually turned out to be the truth once the internet, genealogy and/or ancestry sites and DNA testing did come along, but it’s salient if obviously nonscientific anecdotal evidence that some lingering elements that might be considered vaguely “nationalistic” or at least broadly ethnic (in a geographical if not racial way) can indeed waft through people, sometimes without there being any conscious realization of the fact. Woody Allen, a man who like a lot of those of us with Jewish ancestry probably has more than his fair share of Eastern European and/or Russian DNA swimming around in his genes, takes that “nationalistic” ambience on full force and plays it for considerable hilarity in the often laugh out loud funny Love and Death, a film which tweaks the vaunted Russian dolorousness and offers a mock seriousness that is, of course, ridiculous and pointedly arch.

The “death” part of Allen’s bifurcated title is alluded to almost right off the bat in the film, as Allen’s own distinctive voice narrates the upcoming demise of his character, the hapless Boris Grushenko. Boris is the typical Allen hero, a twitching, neurotic, sex obsessed guy who just so happens to be living in Imperial Russia at about the time Napoleon decides he needs a bit more elbow room. Boris’ history, delivered via a series of punchline invested flashbacks, is completely in line with some other typical Allen male youths (one thinks especially of characters like Joe in Radio Days), though being a 19th century Russian, little Boris interacts more with Death (in a piquant nod to The Seventh Seal) than with any decoder ring appointed secret agent.

That interaction with the symbol of mortality indicates early on that Boris is a questioning soul, and Love and Death repeatedly interrupts its narrative flow to have both Boris and, later, his distant cousin Sonja (Diane Keaton) simply stop to indulge in philosophical ruminations about life, love and, yes, death in what are mock serious attempts to divine something akin to that aforementioned “Russian soul.” Boris is of course head over heels in love with Sonja, but both the incursions of Napoleon (James Tolkan) as well as Sonja’s upcoming nuptials to an elderly fish monger (a desperate choice after her first elderly suitor doesn’t quite make it past the wedding announcement) stand in the way of “happily ever after.” Of course with Love and Death being a send up of Russian literature and culture, it might be more accurate to simply remove the “happily” and settle for a simple “ever after.”

What’s both immediately apparent and also rather interesting about Love and Death is how it is easily the most “epic” of Allen films as well as being one of his most intimate. Some of this intimacy is achieved through the gambit of Boris and/or Sonja breaking the fourth wall to address the audience with their ruminations, thereby establishing a kind of “one to one” connection. But there’s an underlying well of emotion that Allen actually manages to tap despite the film’s virtually nonstop array of both inspired sight gags and Allen’s typically urbane verbosity. Within this cloistered technique, though, Allen also completely exploits the visual opportunities afforded by the historical milieu and the epochal events that Boris literally stumbles through (another Allen archetype, of course).

The death sentence alluded to above comes courtesy of what is perhaps the film’s only slight misstep, a trek into more traditional farce territory when Sonja hatches a “madcap” plan to assassinate Napoleon. But even here Allen manages to wrest some surprisingly fulsome content out of an intentionally silly premise. Sonja, the mastermind behind the project and a woman who has shown herself to only care largely about herself, manages to make it through the gauntlet relatively unscathed. Hapless Boris, of course, while being basically decent and well intentioned, is set for one of those troublesome chess matches with a certain shrouded stranger.

Love and Death Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Love and Death is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Allen utilized legendary cinematographer Ghislain Cloquet (Night and Fog), who brings some of the misty, dewy ambience to this film that he would later exploit to Academy Award winning effect in Tess (after he took over from Geoffrey Unsworth, who died during production). While that may keep the film from looking "sharp" in the contemporary sense, this transfer offers a wonderfully organic, almost palpably textural presentation that offers an appealingly natural grain field and an overall very accurate looking color space. There's some very slight differentiation in the general warmness of things like flesh tones and elements like reds at times (contrast screenshots 2 and 12). Elements are in generally excellent condition, though there are occasional flecks and specks that dot the presentation. Image stability is consistent and there are no intrusive signs of digital manipulation. Finally, there are no compression artifacts of any note.

Love and Death Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Love and Death features a rather boisterous sounding lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track. 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.

Love and Death Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Isolated Score and Effects Track is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio Mono.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:31)


• MGM 90th Anniversary Trailer (1080p; 2:06)

Love and Death Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.