7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Nemo Nobody, a 118 year-old man, is the last mortal on Earth after the human race has achieved quasi-immortality. On his deathbed, Nemo shares his life story with a reporter and reviews the choices he made along the way. Yet even with his last breath, a pivotal decision awaits to conclude his destiny.
Starring: Jared Leto, Sarah Polley, Diane Kruger, Linh-Dan Pham, Rhys IfansDrama | 100% |
Imaginary | 33% |
Romance | 7% |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.34:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
Theatrical version is DD 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
BD-Live
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Four and a half years after its international premiere at the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals, Belgian director Jaco Van Dormael's English-language debut, Mr. Nobody, is finally making its U.S. appearance on Blu-ray. The film, which is only Van Dormael's third feature, is often described as science fiction, and certainly it borrows elements from the genre, including, most obviously, a trip to Mars. But Mr. Nobody is more accurately described as a fantasia of the imagination, an attempt to use all the resources of cinema to explore the fluid boundaries between dreams and reality, past and present, possibility and actuality. In that sense, the film has more in common with Christopher's Nolan's Inception, which appeared the following year and, compared to the puzzles posed by Mr. Nobody, seems like simplicity itself. Mr. Nobody arrives late to Blu-ray in the U.S., having been released over three years ago in a Canadian region-free edition of Van Dormael's director's cut that is approximately sixteen minutes longer than the version that played at Venice and Toronto and was released throughout Europe. For whatever reason, the film was not released here until November 2013, when Magnolia Pictures opened it on a grand total of four screens. It is Magnolia that is finally bringing the film to Blu-ray in region A, and they are offering an "extra" that is not available on the Canadian disc from Entertainment One: a copy of the original theatrical cut, albeit at the lower resolution of 720p. Devoted fans can now perform their own scene-by-scene comparison of how Van Dormael re-edited and expanded his vision of the many lives of Nemo Nobody, who surveys his past(s) from the year 2092 at the advanced age of 118. (Nemo was Jared Leto's last role before his hiatus from acting that ended with Dallas Buyers Club.)
Shot on film by cinematographer Christophe Beaucarne (Adore and Coco Before Chanel), Mr. Nobody was heavily processed in post-production on a digital intermediate, an essential step given the variety of effects works and the precision and importance of the color designs. The result, as presented on Magnolia Home Entertainment's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray, is so sharp and clear that it could almost be mistaken for digital photography. Only an occasional hint of video noise betrays the extent of the digital labors performed to integrate the effects and weave together the footage shot in multiple locations on two continents. One of the film's most impressive visual elements, which is ably reproduced on Magnolia's Blu-ray, is the maintenance of consistent black and contrast levels across the constantly shifting scenes, with their radically different light levels and color palettes. The colors of Mr. Nobody are an astonishing array of hues, from the rich reds inspired by Anna, to the cold blues and grays that dominate the later scenes with Elise, to the intense yellows invoked by Jean, to the muted plaids and checks that Nemo is startled to find himself wearing when he imagines himself to be just like everyone else. If one can detach oneself from the complex action on screen (admittedly not an easy task), it is possible to watch Mr. Nobody just to admire the kaleidoscope of shifting colors that Van Dormael and his team have created. Magnolia typically achieves high average bitrates; so it is somewhat surprising to find this visually complex film measure in at a rate of 21.96 Mbps. The letterbox bars undoubtedly help, as does the existence of numerous scenes with minimal movement. Still, the compressionist's job here can't have been easy. The good news is that it has been well performed, leaving no evident artifacts. (The likely reason for the lower-than-usual rate is the presence of the theatrical version among the extras.)
There is nothing at all naturalistic about Mr. Nobody's 5.1 sound mix, presented here in lossless DTS-HD MA. It's as odd and unpredictable as the environment in which Nemo Nobody recalls his past(s), which may shift at any moment. Several big moments pack the requisite punch with ample bass extension—e.g., a surreal display involving numerous helicopters, a major incident (I don't want to be more specific) in outer space and several episodes involving motor vehicles—but other effects are quiet and subtle: dialogue that is a little too soft or too loud, sudden silences, the sound of rushing water when none should be there. The original score for Mr. Nobody was the last composed by the director's brother, Pierre Van Dormael (Toto the Hero) before his untimely death from cancer in 2008. The score's simple, elegant instrumentals are full-bodied and richly reproduced. Complementing the underscoring is an upbeat selection of pop tunes, notably multiple versions of "Mr. Sandman", the significance of which I leave for the individual viewer to interpret—along with Ella Fitzgerald's rendition of "Into Every Life Some Rain Must Fall", "Daydream" performed by Wallace Collection and "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" by Eurythmics.
One of Jaco Van Dormael's most provocative observations in "The Making of Mr. Nobody" is his comparison of the typical film to a funnel, which begins with a wide opening sweeping in numerous possibilities and much information, then narrows to a single result. In Van Dormael's experience, he says, life is the opposite, because the more you learn and experience, the wider the range of possibilities. Van Dormael's goal is to express that expansion cinematically. I can't say whether he has succeeded with Mr. Nobody; it's the kind of film, like Donnie Darko or Mulholland Drive, that too often gets turned into a "puzzle" fans feel they need to "solve", and while worrying over where each piece fits into the grand scheme, they lose the larger sense of the artistic experience that makes all those parts worthwhile. Still, I cannot recall any film that approached so philosophical a subject as the anxiety of choice with such cinematic grandeur. If nothing else, the boldness of the enterprise is a thing of beauty. Highly recommended.
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