Shiraz: A Romance of India Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Shiraz: A Romance of India Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 6, 2019

England’s relationship with India has obviously been strained at various junctures, but Shiraz stands as a rather stunning document of what the two nations could do when they banded together to create something. Interestingly, there were evidently Germans involved, too, in this international co-production which came out in 1928 and which purported to provide a little “history lesson” as to what inspired the Taj Mahal. Anyone looking for actual history had probably best keep on that particular quest, but Shiraz is an often sumptuously beautiful silent film that manages to quite effectively touch the heart.

The name of Himansu Rai may be largely unfamiliar to Western film goers, especially younger folks, but Rai was one of the pioneers of the Indian film industry, and he served as both producer and star of Shiraz. In the film Rai portrays a villager named Shiraz, who as a little boy becomes infatuated with a little girl named Selima (played as an adult Enakshi Rama Rau). Selima is brought to Shiraz’s village after her caravan is attacked and everyone but the toddler is killed. Unbeknownst to the villagers, Selima is a princess.

Shiraz and Selima grow up together and end up in love, but tragedy seem to haunt Selima, and she’s soon kidnapped and sold into slavery. A number of melodramatic events occur, and while there isn’t a traditional “happy ending” for the pair, at least the world got the Taj Mahal as a consolation prize (in more ways than one).

Shiraz was filmed entirely in India, with a "native" cast (proudly trumpeted in a text card at the start of the film), and it's an incredibly evocative piece of filmmaking that seems to leap off a figurative mythic page. Director Franz Osten, who went on to make some considerable successes with Rai, has a real eye for light and shadow, and the cast delivers some really emotionally astute (and surprisingly low key at times) performances.

Shiraz: A Romance of India Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shiraz is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Visual and Juno films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. This release is based off an impressive restoration done by the British Film Institute, which itself was culled from the original negative and a positive safety. The results here are largely gorgeous, with excellent detail levels and a really appealing rendering of what are almost chiaroscuro techniques at times. I'm assuming several moments that are somewhat darker with a coarser grain field were sourced from the secondary element, perhaps due to damage in the negative. There are still some signs of age related wear and tear, including several brief blemishes (often in the corners of the frame), as well as one pretty significant horizontal scratch toward the top of the frame that occurs late in the film.

Shiraz: A Romance of India Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shiraz boasts an incredibly beautiful new score by Anoushka Shankar, Ravi's daughter and Norah Jones' half sister. As evidenced by the closing credits, Shankar utilizes everything from ethnic instruments (like lots of tablas) to "newfangled" stuff like Moog synthesizers, and the result is easily one of the most gorgeous "world music" scores I've had the pleasure to listen to in quite some time. DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 version are available, but I strongly recommend the surround track for its increased low end and especially the spaciousness it affords some of the percussion batteries that Shankar likes to use. We need an original soundtrack recording of this film, stat.

Shiraz: A Romance of India Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Unfortunately, neither of the supplements listed on the back cover of this release, a restoration demonstration and a vintage documentary about Indian musical instruments, seem to be on either the Blu-ray or DVD included in this package. I've let Juno and MVD Visual know, and if there's any further information forthcoming, I'll post an update here.

Shiraz: A Romance of India Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Shiraz was a pleasant surprise in my review queue, and I can't imagine any lover of silent cinema romances not finding something to appreciate here. The BFI has done a remarkable job restoring this, and technical merits on this release are solid. Unfortunately, the supplements listed on the back cover seem to have gone missing somewhere along the way. Highly recommended.