7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
When a leprous winery owner in 1930s China dies a few days after his arranged marriage, his young widow is forced to run the winery to make a living while contending with bandits, her drunkard lover, and the invading Japanese army.
Starring: Gong Li, Wen Jiang, Chunhua Ji, Rujun Teng, Zhaoji JiaForeign | 100% |
Drama | 63% |
Romance | 22% |
Period | 7% |
War | 4% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Mandarin: LPCM 2.0 Mono
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Zhang Yimou's "Red Sorghum" (1988) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Via Vision Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include an exclusive new program with film critic Tony Rayns archival interview with the director. In Mandarin, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Red Sorghum arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Via Vision Entertainment.
I expected this release to be sourced from the same 2K master that Chinese label Diskino used to produce this release in 2018. However, it is sourced from a different master, which appears to be older.
There are some pretty substantial differences and I don't know which of the two releases offers a more accurate presentation of the film. I think that I prefer the 2K master, but I must admit that it is primarily because of its overall strength. Indeed, there are very specific grading differences, and given the unique stylization choices, I think it is fair to conclude that only the director can declare with the proper authority how the film ought to look in high-definition. (You can see an example of one such discrepancy if you compare screencapture #22 with the corresponding screencapture from our review of the Chinese release).
Generally speaking, depth and clarity are quite pleasing. However, there are areas of the film where delineation fluctuates a bit and it is not because the original cinematography demands that it does. Indeed, this is the main weakness of the current master, though I must note that the encoding isn't optimized and as a result its impact on the quality of the visuals is actually exacerbated. Naturally, if you view your films on a larger screen, you will notice areas where the visuals are not as strong as they should be. Image stability is good, but I did notice a bit of shakiness popping up here and there. There are no distracting large debris, cuts, damage marks, warped or torn frames to report. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Mandarin LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.
The lossless track is solid. I compared it to the one from the Chinese release and I could not detect any difference. Clarity, sharpness, and overall stability are excellent. After the arrive of the Japanese soldiers, there are a couple of sequences with great dynamic intensity as well. The English translation is excellent.
Zhang Yimou's Red Sorghum is a powerful, very clever, and very risky directorial debut. I am convinced that it was conceived a lot like the great Soviet classic films, many of which had the ability to deliver completely different messages when viewed from different angles. This release is included in Australian label Via Vision Entertainment's Collaborations: The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li eight-disc box set. It is sourced from an older master that offers a decent presentation of the film, which could have been more convincing with a few specific encoding optimizations. RECOMMENDED.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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