7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Two men return home from World War II to work on a farm in rural Mississippi where they struggle to deal with racism and adjusting to life after war.
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Jason Clarke, Jonathan Banks, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Mitchell (XVI)Period | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Films as disparate as The Best Years of Our Lives and Coming Home have documented what might be termed the plight of vets returning stateside from the battlefield. As viscerally disturbing and moving as those two and any number of other similarly themed films have been, they probably pale in comparison to Mudbound, which takes the "returning vets with problems" aspect to a whole new level by having one of the returning vets be a black man who has to deal not just with the PTSD he experiences courtesy of his wartime memories, but also the prejudice he encounters in his native Mississippi. Mudbound definitely flirts with a soap operatic ambience, but it is buoyed by some extremely effective performances and an evocative production design that depicts the hardscrabble lives of both white and black southerners trying to make lives for themselves against considerable odds.
Mudbound is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. This is the very rare release from Criterion that does not include even a bit of information about the transfer in the insert booklet. Instead, there's a brief description on the back cover which states this was culled from a "new 2K digital master supervised by director Dee Rees and director of photography Rachel Morrison". Morrison is on hand in a very interesting and informative interview included on this disc, where she overtly states she would have preferred to have shot Mudbound on film, but that budgetary and scheduling constraints required a digital capture (by Arri Alexa cameras). In what may surprise some videophiles, Morrison also overtly states that she wanted a bit of digital noise in her captures, while also adding a textural layer of digital grain to attempt to get things as close to looking like film as possible. Even Morrison may hedge her reaction to the results while offering her overall approval, but one way or the other this is a very handsome looking presentation that does have some appealing depth and texture. Grading tends to favor yellows, beiges, ochres and similar tones, and there's almost a sepia ambience throughout the presentation. Detail levels fare best in better lit environments, as should probably be expected, and if there's one slight deficit to the presentation, it may be the relative lack of detail levels in quite a bit of the darker material which tends to become more and more prevalent in the third act in particular.
Mudbound features a nicely immersive Dolby Atmos track that offers some noticeable verticality from the get go (or at least near get go) as a violent storm overtakes the brothers as they attempt to dig a grave. There is a wealth of ambient environmental material in the many outdoor scenes, where the buzz of insects or rustling of breezes can waft through the side and rear channels. A really evocative score by Tamar-Kali is also nicely placed in the surround channels (Blige contributes a closing credits song which got her a second Academy Award nomination, the first time one person has been simultaneously nominated in the Supporting Actress and Best Song categories). All of the music is nicely burnished and full bodied. Dialogue (including quite a bit of narration) is presented cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
Mudbound may verge on the hyperbolic as it wends it way through a very dense, novelistic story, but it provides more than one gut punch along the way as it documents a time in America's history we may not have entirely moved beyond. Technical merits are first rate, and the supplements very enjoyable. Highly recommended.
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