7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Lee Holloway has recently left a mental institute and has been released into the care of her over-bearing mother and alcoholic father. Determined to get her life together, she gets a job as a secretary for an attorney she does her best to please.
Starring: James Spader, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jeremy Davies, Lesley Ann Warren, Stephen McHattieErotic | 100% |
Romance | 77% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English, English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Sexual taboos in film have fallen by the wayside with such alarming rapidity over the past several decades that one would think there couldn’t possibly be any left. One would be wrong, as Secretary makes so daringly clear in its opening sequence. When was the last time a film had either the courage or insanity, or perhaps both, to open with its star adorned in a bondage metal crucifix of sorts, traipsing around an office and attempting to get her secretarial duties done with her arms attached to the structure? Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Lee Holloway manages to remove a letter from the carriage of her typewriter (yes, typewriter) and get coffee for her demanding boss (James Spader) in this opening sequence, surely one of the oddest few minutes to ever begin a film. And then, as Paul Harvey used to so famously intone, we get. . .the rest of the story.
All dressed up and nowhere to go. . .because Mr. Grey told her not to move.
I never saw Secretary in its SD-DVD incarnation, but I was frankly a little underwhelmed with this Blu-ray's AVC encoded 1080p image (in 1.78:1). Don't get me wrong, there's nothing egregiously horrible here, but there is an overall softness, with some very noticeable grain (especially in the outdoor shots) which makes this a less than pristine high definition image. Colors are generally very strong, with excellent saturation, and at times, sharpness takes an extreme uptick, as odd as that may sound. Close-ups of Spader and Gyllenhaal provide a wealth of detail and some nice tracking shots of flowers look spectacular. But midrange and far shots generally are soft, giving this Blu-ray the appearance of an upconverted DVD at times. Lovers of this film will probably have nothing to complain about. Others coming to this new may have to set their expectations just a tad lower than usual to accept the film (which was after all shot on a relatively miniscule budget) as it comes.
Does Secretary really require its DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless track? Frankly, I'm not even sure the soundtrack as it is warrants much of a surround track to begin with, but be that as it may, we do indeed get a 7.1 mix here, for what it's worth. This isn't a film that screams sonic immersion, though there are some very nice surround effects, including some great gurgling water noises when Lee is floating in her parents' pool and, later, when she makes her way through a monsoon-like rainstorm. Nice environmental ambient effects are subtle, but apparent, in many of the (brief) outdoor shots. For the most part, though, this is a small scale, intimate affair consisting mostly of dialogue between Lee and Edward, as well as Lee's voiceover. The DTS track is of course flawless in this regard, providing crisp and clean sound with excellent fidelity.
Three above average bonuses supplement the main feature. Director Shainberg and writer Wilson provide an insightful Commentary, though they both seem oddly nonplussed about their subject matter. There's also a passable featurette called Behind the Secretary (SD; 7:09), as well as an intriguing Photo Gallery.
You have to give Secretary props for going where few, if any, films have gone before. It's no doubt going to make a lot of people squeamish, but the film actually takes a relatively restrained look at the world of BDSM, managing to handle the content with both a very black sense of humor as well as some disturbing dramatic elements. Gyllenhaal is superb as Lee Holloway, and Spader gives a very nuanced, if patently weird, performance as Edward. This may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's a fascinating film and comes recommended.
2006
Unrated Edition
2018
Original Uncut Version
1986
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2015
Unrated Edition
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4K Restoration
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Import
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