Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Next of Kin Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 4, 2013

Canadian helmer Atom Egoyan's directorial debut "Next of Kin" (1984) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye. There are no supplemental features included on this release. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

A family divided

Peter Foster (Patrick Tierney, Speaking Parts), the main protagonist in Atom Egoyan's directorial debut Next of Kin, is a young man who likes to stay as far away from his parents as possible. Their pointless arguments frustrate him so much that he frequently forces himself to sleep long hours so that he can’t hear them.

Seriously concerned about their son’s health, Peter’s parents enroll him in a video-based therapy program. At the local clinic, Peter watches a stack of videos with an Armenian family who twenty years earlier gave up their son for adoption. Looking to add some excitement to his life, Peter travels to Toronto and introduces himself as the family’s long-lost son.

The strength of this film comes from its effective observations of two profoundly different ways of living. The first is the typical North American arrangement which has supposedly forced Peter to suffer. Because his parents have been preoccupied with their careers and stress has irreversibly altered their relationship, the majority of the time Peter has been treated as an object rather than as an individual. Unsurprisingly, Peter’s reactions have rarely been sincere – an obvious attempt to quickly please his parents and communicate as little as possible with them.

The Armenian family’s philosophy of life is quite different. For the head of the family (Berj Fazalian) loyalty and tradition are a lot more important than professional success. His wife (Sirvart Fazlian) also rarely confronts him because for her unity is a lot more important than occasionally proving her husband wrong. Also, when help is needed they both look for it inside the family, not outside of it.

Despite the obvious differences between the two families, however, when Peter meets his "sister", Azah (Arsinee Khanjian, Felicia's Journey, Ararat), he quickly comes to realize that her life has been equally frustrating. She wants to be independent and proactive, but her father frequently questions her decisions and quickly scolds her when she dares to disagree with him. Eventually, Peter also realizes that like him Azah also secretly wants to experience a new way of life, perhaps one quite similar to the one he’s had with his real parents.

There are large sequences that are deliciously funny and notably warm, but the film never evolves into an ethnic comedy. There is a certain degree of casualness in it that keeps it fresh and unpredictable. For a debut feature with a limited budget, the attention to detail is also quite impressive. (The Armenian dishes are excellent. The traditional folk music was also provided by The National Song and Dance Ensemble of Armenia). Unsurprisingly, by the time the final credits roll it is difficult not to agree that the film has been both educational and enormously entertaining.

Next of Kin was lensed by Canadian cinematographer Peter Mettler (The End of Time, The Top of His Head), who also collaborated with director Egoyan on his second feature film, Family Viewing (1988).

In 1984, Next of Kin won Interfilm Award and Mannheim Film Ducat Prize at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Filmfestival in Germany.

Next of Kin Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Atom Egoyan's Next of Kin arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Artificial Eye.

The film has a certain raw quality that is effectively captured on this Blu-ray release. Close-ups, in particular, look very good (see screencaptures #3 and 13). Colors are well saturated and stable, always looking very natural. There are absolutely no traces of problematic lab tinkering - grain is retained and beautifully resolved and sharpening corrections have not been performed. There are no serious stability issues to report in this review. Also, there are no large damage marks, debris, cuts, stains, or warps. Compression is also very good. All in all, I think it is quite easy to tell that this is the best Next of Kin has ever looked on any home video format. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Next of Kin Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English Dolby Digital 2.0. For the the record, Artificial Eye have not provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The lack of a lossless track is a bit surprising, but the Dolby Digital 2.0 track is actually very good. In fact, considering the film's limited budget and the manner in which it was shot, I doubt a lossless track would have managed to open it up any more. The dialog is stable, clean, and easy to follow. Also, there are no pops cracks, audio dropouts or distortions to report in this review.

Next of Kin Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Unfortunately, there are no supplemental features on this Blu-ray release.

Next of Kin Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is great to see that this summer Artificial Eye are bringing to Blu-ray the films of Canadian director Atom Egoyan and American director Hal Hartley, two of the most exciting figures in contemporary independent cinema. Mr. Egoyan's directorial debut, Next of Kin, is a deliciously funny and notably warm film that offers a glimpse at a world most North Americans are probably unfamiliar with. It has been difficult to track down and see for quite some time, which is why this handsome release should not be missed. RECOMMENDED.