Oleanna Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Oleanna Blu-ray Movie Review

#ustwo

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 6, 2020

It’s perhaps salient to note that, per the insert booklet essay included with this release, the film version of Oleanna was shot at a former mental institution in Waltham, Massachusetts, since some might conclude you’d have to be crazy to wade into some of the provocative content that David Mamet offers in this piece. Oleanna has been hugely controversial since it was first performed on the stage, and the intimacy which Mamet’s own film adaptation kind of unavoidably offers due to technical elements like close-ups may only increase the anxiety that audiences have felt about this “two hander” about the perceived power dynamic between a college professor named John (William H. Macy) and a student of his named Carol (Debra Eisenstadt). It’s important to pay attention to that “perceived power dynamic” statement, since, as anyone who has seen Oleanna will probably have indelibly imprinted on their psyche, one of Mamet’s most provocative elements is how he presents a story that can be variously interpreted, at least in part.

The film's tagline was "whatever side you take, you're wrong," and that's perhaps the sanest way to approach what Mamet has to offer here as he presents a story that may be about sexual harassment, but perhaps not exactly in the way some people might interpret that phrase to automatically mean. And that's the underlying tension that Oleanna will probably inevitably create in many viewers, as a story which seems to be about one thing can easily be refracted through another prism to mean its diametric opposite. There's some fascinating dialectical "debates" between critics that the insert booklet contains, and I'll refer interested readers to those comments rather than posting outright plot spoilers here, other than to say in this version (Mamet wrote different endings which have been staged variously), the piece tips into unabashed tragedy any way you slice things.

Oleanna Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Oleanna is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Powerhouse Films' Indicator imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.67:1. Powerhouse's insert booklet has the following verbiage on the transfer:

FilmFour's remaster, supervised by Gary Teetzel for MGM, was the source of this Indicator edition. This 2013 HD transfer was made from a 35mm interpositive on a Spirit at Deluxe Media, Burbank, CA. The film's original monaural audio was remastered at the same time from an original 35mm mono DME printmaster mag.

While this is obviously an older master, and one culled from the not always reliable curators at MGM, this is by and large a rather nice looking presentation, though there are a few inconsistencies. There's noticeable wobble during the credits, and throughout things numerous very small signs of age related wear and tear (nicks, dirt, et al.) can pop up. The opening minute or two even past the titles look just slightly rough, and occasionally throughout grain can spike appreciably for a moment or two for no discernable reason (i.e., there aren't lighting changes or the like that might contribute to such variances). All of that said, the palette here is rather nicely suffused, though intentionally skewed toward burnished "collegiate" tones like browns. Close-ups offers excellent fine detail on the faces of the two focal characters. A few midrange shots (including some of Mamet's attempts to "open up" the play by getting out and about the campus) can look relatively soft at times.

Oleanna Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

While the back cover of this release touts "original stereo audio", as referenced above in the insert booklet, and also as should be obvious from the disc's LPCM Mono track, this is in mono. Rebecca Pidgeon, who originated the role of Carol in the stage version, contributes some folk-esque tunes here (which from what I'm able to discern were not part of the original production), but otherwise this is a typical Mamet "talk fest", and as such the mono track more than capably supports all dialogue. Occasional ambient environmental sounds creep into the mix courtesy of some shots around the campus or one scene where it's raining outside, but for the most part this is a dialogue driven piece which is rendered perfectly well on this track.

Oleanna Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Power Play (1080p; 17:24) is an interview with William H. Macy where he discusses working with Mamet on both the stage play and film versions of Oleanna.


• The Understudy (1080p; 11:09) is an interview featuring the other half of this "two hander", Debra Eisenstadt, who understudied Rebecca Pidgeon (the future Mrs. Mamet) during the stage production.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:04)


• Image Gallery (1080p)

Additionally, Powerhouse has provided a very nicely appointed insert booklet.

Oleanna Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm actually very curious to check in to some of the "alternate endings" that Mamet evidently wrote which are referenced in the essay in this release's insert booklet, because as unabashedly provocative and ambiguous as much of Oleanna is, there's only one way the climax can be read (and/or interpreted), and I'm frankly not sure it totally works. Performances here are top notch, but there's a smarmy, manipulative aspect to this piece that simply may not sit that well with viewers who have lived through the #metoo movement in one way or the other. Technical merits are generally solid for those considering a purchase.