Love & Friendship Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Love & Friendship Blu-ray Movie Review

Whit Stillman's "Love & Friendship" (2016) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Curzon Artificial Eye. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer and Making Of featurette with cast and crew interviews. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Lady Susan Vernon

Love & Friendship Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Whit Stillman's Love & Friendship arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Curzon Artificial Eye.

The U.S. release from Sony Pictures is framed in 1.85:1 and the brightness settings here appear a tad elevated here, but I am not convinced that these releases are actually sourced from different masters. If I had to guess, I would say that there is one master that is available for licensing and different releases are simply encoded differently. (If additionally information is available and this isn't the case, please feel free to contact me). This said, I have to say that I prefer the look of the U.S. release. The difference is marginal at best, but overall it has a slightly better balanced appearance that I prefer. Detail, clarity, and depth are exceptional, while colors are incredibly lush and wonderfully nuanced. There are absolutely no stability issues whatsoever. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Love & Friendship Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English LPCM 2.0. Also included is a Descriptive Audio (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) track. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The film has a gentle baroque score that wonderfully enhances the period atmosphere. Clarity and depth are excellent. Also, there are no balance issues to report. The dialog is always stable, easy to follow, and free of distortions or other purely digital anomalies.

Love & Friendship Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailers - original trailer for Love & Friendship. In English, not subtitled. (2 min.)

• Making of - presented here is a standard featurette with raw footage from the shooting of the film and cast and crew interviews. In English, not subtitled. (10 min.)

Love & Friendship Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

All of Whit Stillman's films have a bit of an eccentric edge that makes them stick out, but this is a quality that also seems to turn off some viewers. Love & Friendship has it as well, though here it is essentially an integral part of the period atmosphere and as such it is hardly noticeable. I think that most fans of Jane Austen's work will find the film quite refreshing, but it won't be regarded as a masterful adaptation of Lady Susan. RECOMMENDED.