Rapture Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Rapture Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 29, 2014

John Guillermin's "Rapture" (1965) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment. The only supplemental feature on the disc is an audio commentary with film historians Nick Redman and Julie Kirgo. The release also arrives with a booklet featuring an essay by critic Mike Sutton and vintage stills. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

"He does not want you bothering him..."

The main protagonist in John Guillermin’s Rapture is a 15-year-old girl named Agnes (Patricia Gozzi, Sundays and Cybele), who lives with her father (Melvyn Douglas, The Americanization of Emily, Twilight's Last Gleaming), a retired judge, and their housekeeper (Gunnel Lindblom, Winter Light, Loving Couples) in a secluded beach house somewhere on the coast of Brittany. Agnes does not have any friends, which is why she spends the majority of her time playing with her dolls. MOst of the time her father does not mind, while the housekeeper simply does not care.

Before a massive storm, Agnes makes a scarecrow and begins treating it like a real human being. Soon after, a wounded convict (Dean Stockwell, Paris, Texas, Blue Velvet) appears and steals the scarecrow’s clothes. Convinced that she has created the stranger, Agnes welcomes him with open arms and with the housekeeper’s assistance hides him in her father’s bedroom. By the time the convict recovers, she is already madly in love with him.

But the housekeeper also becomes interested in the convict and when the right opportunity arises she immediately attempts to seduce him. Agnes witnesses how the convict succumbs to the housekeeper’s charm and goes berserk. Meanwhile, Agnes’ father, who has discovered the wanted man and concluded that he must be a victim of the cruel and unjust legal system he has been writing about for years, begins observing and analyzing his impulsive reactions.

The atmosphere in this little seen film from the early ‘60s is quite unusual. It is beautifully lensed by the great cinematographer Marcel Grignon whose fluid camera work at times feels a lot more appropriate for an atmospheric period picture (and this should not be too surprising considering the fact that Grignon contributed to Walerian Borowczyk’s The Beast). The wide range of emotions and different sexual overtones, however, bring Rapture closer to Mai Zetterling’s work (Night Games, in particular, immediately comes to mind).

There are two key events that map out the direction the film wishes to follow. The first is the arrival of the wounded convict, which allows the viewer to effectively profile Agnes. After it, it is clear that she really does view the world around her differently and that the film will focus on her behavior. The second is the convict’s rejection of the housekeeper. After the rejection, Agnes is placed in a new environment which gradually reveals an entirely different side of her personality.

The emotions on display and the actions they inspire before and after the two events are quite polarizing. Naturally, this is a film that will delight viewers who conclude that they are authentic and logical and frustrate viewers who reject them as absurd and outlandish.

Gozzi and Stockwell are quite good together. The former, in particular, looks straight into the camera in ways that frequently change the tone of entire sequences. (See the long sequence at the end where she loses the money). Lindblom is also likeable as the beautiful housekeeper. Douglas’ performance, however, occasionally feels out of sync.

Rapture is complimented by an appropriately atmospheric soundtrack courtesy of the legendary French composer Georges Delerue (Jean Becker’s One Deadly Summer, Francois Truffaut’s Day for Night).

Rapture Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, John Guillermin's Rapture arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment.

The high-definition transfer has been sourced from the same master that was accessed by Twilight Time for the U.S. release of the film. Unsurprisingly, the same quite distracting traces of edge-enhancement are visible throughout the entire film. Most of the daylight footage, in particular, can look quite very harsh at times (see screencapture #7). Contrast has also been boosted, though the adjustment isn't a serious issue of concern. There are no traces of problematic degraining corrections. However, because the encoding here is superior the grain appears better resolved (see screencapture #5). Overall image stability is very good. Finally, there are a few tiny flecks that pop up here and there, but there are no large debris, cuts, damage marks, or stains to report in this review. All in all, Eureka Entertainment's technical presentation of Rapture is clearly superior, but the issues described above make the film look quite uneven. (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).

Rapture Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. For the record, Eureka Entertainment have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The sound is well rounded and stable. Rather predictably, the range of nuanced dynamics is limited, but depth and clarity very good (see the sequence with the police car). Georges Delerue's music also shines in all the right places. The dialog is crisp, stable, and very easy to follow. There is no distracting background hiss, audio dropouts, or distortions to report in this review.

Rapture Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary - film historians Nick Redman and Julie Kirgo deconstruct key sequences from the film and discuss its production history. Also provided is plenty of information about John Guillermin's career. The commentary was recorded in in London in 2014.

• Booklet - booklet featuring an essay by critic Mike Sutton and vintage stills.

Rapture Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The talent involved with Rapture is undoubtedly impressive, but the end result is rather underwhelming. Indeed, the film tries too hard to be too many different things at once and it never quite manages to be as brilliant as it could have been. Still, large parts of it are beautifully shot and Georges Delerue's soundtrack is wonderful. Eureka Entertainment's Blu-ray release has been sourced from the same master that was used for the U.S. release of the film, but the technical presentation is stronger. If you are planning to add Rapture to your library, you should consider this Region-B release first. RECOMMENDED.