Naked Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

Naked Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 11, 2011

Winner of Best Director and Best Actor Awards at the Cannes Film Festival, Mike Leigh's "Naked" (1993) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an audio commentary with director Mike Leigh and actors David Thewlis and Katrin Cartlidge; trailer; video interview with filmmaker Neil LaBute; video conversation between novelist Will Self and director Mike Leigh filmed for the BBC program The Art Zone; and more. The disc also arrives with a 16-page illustrated booklet featuring essays by Derek Malcolm and Amy Taubin. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Alone

Johnny (David Thewlis, Mr. Nice, London Boulevard), the main protagonist in Mike Leigh’s Naked, is a man on the run. To avoid a beating, he leaves Manchester and arrives in London, where his old lover, Louise (Lesley Sharp, Priest, The Full Monty), lives. He quickly seduces Louise’s roommate, Sophie (Katrin Cartlidge, Before the Rain, Breaking the Waves), and she starts believing that her Prince Charming has arrived.

Louise is surprised and somewhat annoyed to see Johnny again but offers to help him out. However, when she attempts to find out more about his troubles in Manchester, he insults her and then walks away.

On the streets of London, Johnny meets a violent Scot (Ewen Bremner, Trainspotting, Black Hawk Down) and his girlfriend (Susan Vidler, Baby Blue, The Woman in White) who are in the middle of a serious dispute. Then he befriends a lonely night guard (Peter Wight, Babel, Atonement), who tells him about his miserable life. Johnny also encounters a man putting up posters around the city, who quickly gets fed up with him. Eventually, he returns to Louise’s apartment, where a violent landlord (Greg Cruttwell, 2 Days in the Valley) has just raped Sophie.

Naked is about broken people living in a broken society. It oozes anger and slams just about everything the society perceives as normal. Yet Naked is not a political film. It is an honest film completely devoid of political correctness.

The people are desperate and disillusioned, needing to love and be loved. Because they realize that with each day their chances to fall in love are getting slimmer and slimmer, they let themselves sink into “relationships” that make them suffer. The film explores the evolution of these destructive “relationships” from a variety of different angles.

The city where the people live is just as desperate. On the surface it looks healthy and friendly, but once Johnny begins his journey through its streets it quickly becomes obvious that it is something else - a rotten jungle in which the weak and underprivileged are doomed.

Leigh’s frustration with post-Thatcher Britain has never been more obvious. In Naked it reaches its boiling point, which is why some critics have felt comfortable speculating that Johnny is actually the director himself. Johnny’s long monologues are impressive critical observations about the then-current socio-political climate in England, as well as the cynical corrosion of Western democratic values.

Thewlis should have won an Oscar for his performance in Naked. Without a shadow of a doubt, Johnny is one of the greatest characters to emerge from 90s cinema - he is the classic antihero, impossible to like but also impossible to forget.

The supporting cast is also terrific. Cartlidge is incredibly convincing as the on the verge of a nervous breakdown Sophie, while Sharp is outstanding as Louise, the ex-girlfriend willing to give love one more chance.

The film is also complimented by a very atmospheric, very dark, minimalistic soundtrack courtesy of Andrew Dickson (High Hopes, Secrets & Lies).

Note: In 1993, Naked won Best Director and Best Actor (David Thewlis) Awards at the Cannes Film Festival.

Naked Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Mike Leigh's Naked arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc:

"Supervised and approved by director Mike Leigh, this high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35mm interpositive. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, and jitter, and flicker were manually removed using MTI's DRS system and Pixel Farm's PFClean system, while Digital Vision's DVNR system was used for small dirt, grain, and noise reduction.

Telecine supervisors: Mike Leigh, Maria Palazzola.
Telecine colortist: Gregg Garvin/Modern Videofilm, Los Angeles."

There are massive improvements in practically every single area we typically address in our reviews. Image depth and clarity, in particular, are notably better. During the second half of the film, where Johnny begins his journey, there is detail in the nighttime sequences that is simply missing from Criterion's SDVD release of Naked. The macroblocking from the SDVD release is also missing, while color reproduction is much more stable. Some partial softness still remains, but the film now has a pleasing healthy look (the daylight footage, in particular, looks very strong). Furthermore, there are no traces of overzealous sharpening or excessive denoising. Naturally, grain is present throughout the entire film, though some of it is also mixed with light noise. Lastly, the high-definition transfer isn't plagued by heavy artifacts or strong halo effects. There are no serious stability issues to report in this review either. All in all, this is an excellent upgrade, which I believe will be the definitive release of Mike Leigh's Naked for years to come. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Naked Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc:

"The Dolby 2.0 surround soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the Lt/Rt magnetic print master. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube's integrated workstation.".

Andrew Dickson's atmospheric soundtrack gets a terrific boost with the English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. The deep and rich sound truly opens up the entire film and effectively enhances some of the most dramatic sequences. Indeed, audiophiles will definitely be pleased with the good range of dynamics. Finally, the dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and very easy to follow.

Naked Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Neil Labute on Naked - in this video interview, recorded exclusively for Criterion in Vancouver in 2005, filmmaker Neil LaBute (Possession, The Wicker Man) deconstructs Mike Leigh's Naked. In English, not subtitled. (13 min, 1080i).

• The Art Zone:"The Conversation" - a fascinating conversation between novelist Will Self and director Mike Leigh, filmed in March 2000 for the BBC program The Art Zone. The British director addresses the main characters in Naked, the wide range of emotions witnessed in the film, the socio-political climate in Britain before and after the film was made, the universal themes in the film, its production history, etc. In English, not subtitled. (37 min, 1080i).

• The Short and Curlies - David Thewlis and Alison Steadman star in this 1987 short comedy by Mike Leigh about a chatty hairdresser whose client falls for a young man who communicates only through one-liners. The film features commentary by Mike Leigh. In English, not subtitled. (18 min, 1080i).

• Trailer - original trailer for Naked. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080i).

• Commentary - this is the same audio commentary with director Mike Leigh and actors David Thewlis and Katrin Cartlidge that appears on the Criterion SDVD release of Naked. It was recorded exclusively for Criterion in 1994.

• Booklet - 16-page illustrated booklet featuring Derek Malcolm's essay "Desperate Days" and Amy Taubin's essay "The Monster We Know".

Naked Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mike Leigh's Naked is one of the very best films in the Criterion Collection. Original, provocative and controversial, the film offers an uncompromising, notably cynical look at a country in a state of free falling. Suffocatingly bleak, Naked also has one of the greatest and truly unforgettable antiheroes, David Thewlis' Johnny. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.