6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.2 |
Hank and Frannie don't seem to be able to live together anymore. After a five-year relationship, lustful and dreamy Fanny leaves down-to-earth Hank on the anniversary of their relationship. Each one of them meets their dream mate, but as bright as they may seem, they are but a stage of lights and colours. Will true love prevail over a seemingly glamorous passion? Welcome to Coppola's Broadway-like romantic musical.
Starring: Frederic Forrest, Teri Garr, Raul Juliá, Nastassja Kinski, Lainie KazanDrama | 100% |
Romance | 31% |
Musical | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.34:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 1.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Note: This film is currently available only in the box set Francis Ford Coppola: 5-Film Collection.
Hollywood and its denizens are famous (perhaps even infamous) for reinventing themselves, but there have
been few reboots as dramatic as the so-called New Hollywood that erupted in the late sixties and continued for another
decade or so, injecting the nearly moribund studio system with a dose of independent film spirit, somewhat akin to a
senior citizen deciding on a whim to smoke a joint or (heaven forfend) drop some acid (perhaps a perfect appropriate
metaphor, given certain proclivities during that time period). A lot of future icons burst into the mainstream during this
period, including several directors who would go on to legendary status. Among these are Martin Scorsese, Robert
Altman, George Lucas, and one man who perhaps best personifies that independent spirit, Francis Ford Coppola.
(Ironically, the most successful director of this “new” generation, Steven Spielberg, is considered to traditional to be
included in most lists of this movement.) Coppola earned his stripes in low budget fare like some Roger Corman
productions, but then after a couple of higher profile screenplay jobs (This Property is Condemned, Is Paris Burning?
) rather incredibly (even to him) was offered the decidedly mainstream film version of Finian’s Rainbow, a
musical that had one of the longest gestational periods in the history of Broadway to Hollywood translations (the
Broadway version opened in 1947, and the film arrived in 1968). The film musical, much like the studio system itself,
was a dying art form in the late sixties, and Finian’s Rainbow, despite being one of the more ebullient film tuners
of its day, died a quick death at the boxoffice, and Coppola found himself returning to screenplay writing for 1970’s
huge hit Patton. In the meantime
Coppola had jettisoned his attempts to work solely in the existing studio system and had begun work on what would
eventually become American Zoetrope, his private production company which not only brought out a number of high
profile Coppola films, but two early films by one of Coppola’s best friends, George Lucas (namely THX 1138 and American Graffiti). Once again irony was not about to let
Coppola be, and when he was hired to direct what was not especially a highly anticipated property, he turned The Godfather into one of the most
legendary films of all time and cemented his place among the greatest directors of his generation.
Something is very much awry with One From the Heart's AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.34:1, though it isn't clear yet whether this is simply a flaw on my particular disc or not (my hunch is it isn't, unfortunately). It may look to the naked eye like the screenshots accompanying this review are at least at the acceptable level of image quality. However, if you download the screenshots and then slightly enlarge them, you will see what appears to be a very strange anomaly, parallel vertical lines running through the image that look almost like very narrow banding, although they're not related to color gradation whatsoever—they remain consistently through the image no matter what's going on. On top of the "narrower" vertical lines are wider vertical areas that are slightly shaded with respect to each other; in other words, there's a wider, darker swath next to a slightly lighter swath extending alternately across the image. Two of our most technically astute staff members have looked at the screenshots in some detail and feel this may be due to a miscalibrated scanner, but my initial contact with the Coppola organization (which has been very forthcoming and is investigating the issue, as is Lionsgate reportedly) seems to think that's impossible, as original co-cinematographer Vittorio Storaro was evidently involved in this transfer in some capacity. I've personally never seen anything like it, and while the good news is it's not that visible while watching the film in motion, once you've become aware of it, you start to notice the bizarre crosshatched pattern that shows up especially on lighter colored backgrounds as if someone had thrown a mosquito net over the proceedings. This is not a screencapture unit malfunction, as all of the screencaptures for the entire Francis Ford Coppola: 5-Film Collection set were done at the same time (not to mention countless other reviews done prior to these two), and this anomaly has only shown up with One From the Heart, and, not to state the obvious, it can be seen while watching the film itself. (For a really noticeable example, go to approximately 49:08 in the film, when Julia and Garr are in the smoky nightclub, and the camera pans past Julia, who is backlit. Suddenly the entire frame is awash in vertical lines that make everything look pinstriped.) There are also some contrast issues which have been endemic to the film since its release and which are reproduced here, with sometimes milky blacks. The overall image is relatively soft, befitting the original theatrical appearance of the film. If and when more information becomes available on the vertical "banding" issue, it will be posted in the review.
One From the Heart features two DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mixes, the original soundtrack of the film and an isolated score option. Both of these sound fantastic, albeit with a somewhat narrower soundfield than might be expected from a supposedly "flashy" musical. Tom Waits' score fills up the surrounds quite nicely, and his duets with Crystal Gayle are decently separated. Some of the crowd scenes, as in the big Las Vegas strip sequence, also feature good immersion, but the bulk of this film is really quieter dialogue segments and therefore doesn't provide a lot of "wow" factor, sonically speaking. Fidelity is top notch and dynamic range is quite wide.
- Early Opening Sequence with Director's Commentary (HD; 4:24)
- Frannie's Dream (HD; 1:09)
- Y.A. Tittle Time (HD; 1:05)
- Odd Little Boy Blue w/o effects (HD; 3:13)
- Little Boy Blue Alternate Version (HD: 1:29)
- Frannie and Hank Drive Home (Extended) (HD; 1:52)
- Early Version of Ending (HD; 2:19)
- Laundromat Meeting/Hank & Moe Meet Leila (with optional commentary) (HD; 1:53)
- Wages of Love – Uptempo (4:01)
- PIckin' Up After You – Early Demo with Edie Lehmann (3:23)
- I Beg Your Pardon – Take 1 (5:25)
- Candy Apple Red Bass Solo (1:05)
- Cold Chisel – Work in Progess (8:27)
- Take Me Home Waits Vocal (1:59)
I've actually always had a soft spot in my heart for this film, despite this somewhat curmudgeonly review. I have in fact been really excited about the prospect of seeing it in high definition ever since Coppola archivist James Mockoski hinted it might be coming soon in our exclusive interview I conducted with him 2011. And it can't be denied that Coppola and Lionsgate have gone above and beyond by porting over everything from the deluxe DVD edition and upgrading it all to HD. But what oh what happened to the video transfer? I am hoping against hope I simply received some kind of bizarrely defective disc, but unfortunately my heart—the arbiter of all truth, as even Coppola knows—tells me otherwise. Until I receive information helping to explain what's going on, I unfortunately can't recommend this release, as much as I'd like to.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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