Pariah Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Pariah Blu-ray Movie Review

"Vibrant" and "wonderful" are understatements. 'Pariah' defies expectation and excellence...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown April 23, 2012

Pariah, the deeply moving, deeply personal coming-of-age drama from writer/director Dee Rees, is a film that needs to be seen. Not for its coming-out story, heart-wrenching as it is. Not for its young actors, phenomenal talents that they are. Not for its cinematography, perfectly symbiotic though it may be. And certainly not for its message, which will no doubt be tragically misread by some, mounted on a soapbox by others, and shrugged off by still others. No, Pariah needs to be seen because it's a masterfully crafted reminder of what a film can be. Powerful. Authentic. Sincere. Relevant. A medium that can step across racial, societal and cultural divides and broker compassion and understanding. A glimpse into the very human tales that exist all around us, that define us, that measure us, that test us, that have the potential to better us as a people.

More than a feature-length adaptation of Rees' 2007 short film of the same name, Pariah delves into the life of seventeen-year-old Alike (played by relative newcomer Adepero Oduye, and pronounced Ah-lee-kay), a young lesbian struggling to hide her sexuality from her parents (Charles Parnell and Kim Wayans). Her overprotective mother grows more and more suspicious by the day, though, and tries to keep Alike from spending time with her best friend and most prominent influence, Laura (Pernell Walker). What follows is a clash of cultures, religious leanings, parental weaknesses, infidelity, isolation and insecurity, all of which slowly chip away at Alike's family. Impossible choices come soon after as Alike is forced to decide whether to stay on the path her mother has laid before her or chart her own course toward an unknown and uncertain future.

Oduye, bright and dauntless as her smile, doesn't break character for a second, shouldering the film's greatest burdens and most challenging scenes with a natural poise and innate dignity beyond her years. She not only walks the fine line between a young woman's burgeoning confidence and a little girl's deep-seated vulnerability, she does so with the utmost conviction, making it that much harder to distinguish Oduye the actress from Alike the troubled inner city teenager. It helps that in Rees' capable hands Alike is an intelligent, thoughtful high school student with real promise. Laura may be trapped but Alike is bound for greater things, so long as she can muster the courage to step out and seek them out. Alike shares the same sharp spirit of defiance as other screen teens, yes, but Oduye and Rees aren't satisfied with pegging Alike as defiant. She's far more complex a character than that. She desperately wants her mother and father to understand her, to accept her for who she is and what she's becoming. It pains her to see her parent's marriage in such disarray; she hurts when they hurt, cries when they cry, wavers when they waver. Keeping her sexuality secret is as much about preserving her relationship with them as it is about coming to terms with her identity and bracing for the seemingly inevitable sting of parental rejection.

Unfolding with uncanny slice-of-life realism, Pariah avoids convention at all costs, and doesn't waste time treading ground that others have tread. Intuitive cinephiles will unearth layer upon layer in Rees' labor of love; entire subplots that are richly defined and carefully handled yet given very little attention or screentime. Each character has a history, a trajectory, and their own perspective, whether stated outright or not. We aren't privy to every detail -- every closet isn't cracked open for all to see -- and we aren't given much access to anyone outside of Alike (other than Laura). But motivations, prejudices, shortcomings and defense mechanisms, spoken or no, reveal themselves as more pressure is applied to any given situation. Unfortunately, not every performance withstands such intense pressure. Wayans and Parnell's mother and father are written wonderfully but, at least on occasion, delivered woodenly. Parnell's performance admittedly grows stronger as the story progresses (especially in the film's closing moments), but Wayans' work, while critically hailed, became increasingly canned and melodramatic. Rees use of Wayans bothered me a bit too. Alike's mother is fiercely unlikable when all is said and done, as intended, but I couldn't help but feel as if Rees was exorcising demons to the detriment of the film; villainizing an easy target rather than granting Alike's mother the depth and pathos afforded to the rest of her family and friends.

Even so, Pariah remains one of the standout independent films of 2011, one of the most overlooked gems of the last few years, and one of the Academy's most surprising and disappointing oversights. It deserves to be seen, pored over, and thought through, if for no other reason than to meet Adepero Oduye, one of the finest young actresses of her generation, and Dee Rees, a filmmaker worth keeping an eye on.

Pariah Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Pariah doesn't boast a particularly pretty image, at least not in the traditional sense, but Universal's 1080p/VC-1 encoded transfer presents the film exactly as Rees and award-winning cinematographer Bradford Young intended, oppressive black levels, uneven grain, and hand-held camerawork be damned. Detail is refined and pleasing throughout, with nicely resolved fine textures, reasonably revealing delineation, and clean, largely natural edges free of significant ringing. Close-ups fare particularly well, as pores, freckles, hair, nicks and other facial features exhibit a resilience to softness and other filmic inconsistencies. Colors are on point too, with beautifully saturated skintones, vibrant club primaries, vivid teen-girl pastels, cloud-covered New York City grays, and satisfyingly stark shadows. Moreover, there aren't any errant anomalies of note, meaning videophiles won't have to contend with any unsightly banding, macroblocking or post-processed handiwork. (Crush rears its head, but it's negligible, even at its worst.) Universal's presentation may not leap off the screen, but filmfans will recognize it for its finer qualities almost immediately.

Pariah Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Universal's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track isn't going to leave anyone speechless, but it revels in authenticity, from the disheveled drone of the inner city to the blaring music of an underground club to the quiet creaks and groans of a small house in Brooklyn. The rear speakers aren't aggressive by means, favoring restraint over agitation. Still, the soundfield is convincing and quite immersive, and even more so when Alike and Laura venture out into the streets. The LFE channel is mainly tapped when the girls visit a club or when Alike is lost in thought (and the film's soundtrack), but the boom thoom boom of the bass beats that ensue pour across the floor with welcome weight. All the while, dialogue -- though prone to whatever city noises happen to be in earshot -- remains intelligible at all times. Voices rarely sound as if they're being captured and mixed in a studio, and the characters sound as if they're a living, breathing captive to each locale's natural acoustics and atmosphere. Pariah may not offer a typical lossless powerhouse, but its DTS-HD track gets the job done, and then some.

Pariah Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Pariah's Blu-ray release is light on extras, with only three short EPK featurettes to be had: "Dee Rees: A Director's Style" (HD, 2 minutes), "A Walk in Brooklyn" (HD, 2 minutes) and the slightly longer but no less short-changed "Trying Out Identity: Pariah's Wardrobe" (HD, 3 minutes).

Pariah Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Pariah is a heart-stopping reminder of what independent film can accomplish outside of the big studio machine. It seems independent film has simply become another branch of the studio system, offering alternative entertainment under the guise of home-brewed filmmaking but rarely pushing the art and authenticity of cinema forward as aggressively as it once did. Pariah is a true independent, though, and needs to be seen for all that it accomplishes and more. Universal, recognizing Pariah's value, has put together a strong AV presentation too, one that revels in the same authenticity as Rees and her film. The only disappointment is a meager supplemental package that doesn't dig into the production or the very personal experiences that led Rees to make the film in the first place. Still, don't let this one slip into obscurity. It not only deserves a chance, it deserves a home on your shelves.