7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
As she comes of age in 19th-century Australia, the beautiful and headstrong Sybylla Melvyn stuns her family and friends by deciding to become a writer despite the restrictive Victorian environment in which they live. To pursue her ambitious dream, she rejects an enticing proposal from a handsome, wealthy, and persistent suitor, fearing the match might stifle her creativity.
Starring: Judy Davis, Sam Neill, Robert Grubb, Julia Blake, David Franklin (I)Drama | 100% |
Romance | 36% |
Coming of age | 2% |
Period | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM Mono
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Gillian Armstrong's "My Brilliant Career" (1979) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental fearless on the disc include an original trailer for the film; archival audio commentary with the director; new video interview with production designer Luciana Arrighi; and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by critic Carrie Rickey and technical credits. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Gillian Armstrong's My Brilliant Career arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the leaflet that is provided with this Blu-ray release:
"This new digital restoration was undertaken in collaboration with the National Film and Sound Archive in Australia. A new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a Northlight film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris. scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI Film's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for jitter, flicker, small dirt, grain, and noise management. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm dual magnetic mono track by Spectrum Films in Moore Park, Australia.
Transfer supervisor: Gillian Armstrong, Donald McAlpine, Nicholas Beauman, Margaret Fink.
Project coordinator: Gayle Lake/National Film and Sound Archive, Acton, Australia.
Colorist: Roman Hankewycz/Harbor Picture Company, New York.
Additional color grading: Giles Sherwood/Criterion Post, New York; Vandal, Sydney".
The new presentation makes Blue Underground's old release from 2009 look quite poor. Simply put, the 4K restoration has delivered entirely different depth and ranges of nuances that are missing on the old master. At times the difference is so profound that on the other release portions of the old film look as if they are upscalled. Predictably, fluidity is also vastly superior, so if you are viewing your films on a larger screen or project, expect to see a variety of drastic improvements and in multiple areas. Colors are fresher, lusher, and also with new ranges of supporting nuances. There are no traces of problematic digital work. Lastly, the entire film looks exceptionally healthy as well. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
The lossless track is excellent. Depth, clarity, and dynamic balance are as good as one can expect from a film of this caliber. Also, it is worth pointing out that Blue Underground's release of My Brilliant Career had only a lossy Mono track, so the remastered Mono track actually offers a rather significant upgrade in quality.
The rebellion that Gillian Armstrong's film chronicles is very easy to understand. What I am having trouble rationalizing is the logic behind the young woman's decision to reject the marriage proposal of a man that loves her and is willing to support the writing career she dreams of. Why does she have to choose between the two when they are not mutually exclusive? Criterion's release is sourced from an excellent new 4K restoration, so if you own the previous release of the film from Blue Underground most, consider an upgrade. RECOMMENDED.
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