Sleeping Beauty Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Sleeping Beauty Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 20, 2012

Nominated for the prestigious Palme d’Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Australian director Julia Leigh’s first feature film “Sleeping Beauty” (2011) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Revolver Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include original theatrical trailer and cast and crew interviews. In English, without optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Interviewed

Stunningly beautiful student Lucy (Emily Browning, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Sucker Punch) has two part-time jobs but can’t make enough to pay her rent on time. After she is confronted by her roommates, she decides to get a third job – which is unlike any other job she has had before.

The required interview is strange. An elegant woman (Rachael Blake, Lantana) explains to Lucy that the people she represents are looking for a silver service waitress who would work at private events. The waitress would also have to wear specific handpicked lingerie and assist other girls, some of whom will have other responsibilities. The pay is very good but the waitress should not discuss her work with her friends and family.

After Lucy accepts the terms of the position she is told that her vagina would be a temple, and that it will not be penetrated. Then, her skin is carefully examined by an elegant man (Eden Falk).

The first event is a few days later. Lucy is picked up by a man driving an expensive car and then taken to an expensive villa. There, together with other girls, all dressed in lingerie, she serves food to a group of aristocrats.

Not long after the first event, Lucy is phoned and asked to get ready for a private encounter with a client. The same man with the same expensive car appears and drives her to the same expensive villa. There, the woman who interviewed and hired Lucy explains to her that all she is expected to do is sleep in a rather large bed for a certain period of time. After she hands her a cup of tea, the woman also notes that when Lucy wakes up she would feel profoundly restored.

In the weeks that follow, Lucy is routinely contacted and asked to meet other clients. The phone calls often come during the day, when she is at school, and disrupt her schedule. Eventually, she is given a two-week notice by her roommates, and her best friend reveals to her that he has little time left to live. Realizing that her new job has profoundly changed the way she lives her life, Lucy decides to find out what happens when she falls asleep in the large bed.

The atmosphere in Australian director Julia Leigh’s first feature film is similar to that maintained in Jean-Claude Brisseau’s most recent films (Les anges exterminateurs, À l'aventure) - sensual tension is countered with coldness and purity that is borderline offensive, at times also disturbing. However, unlike Brisseau’s films, which are mostly about people testing various limits or breaking taboos, Sleeping Beauty is about people losing their identities and getting locked in a cold and dangerous underworld ruled by cynics.

For me the film works well precisely for the very reason others have argued it does not – it remains vague. It is clear why Lucy applies for the job, but it is unclear what type of a person she is outside of the Sleep Chamber. She likes to tease men in upscale bars, but she also likes to take care of her seriously ill friend. She allows to be treated as an object, but she is also fiercely independent. Her clients are also strange people having even stranger contracts with the owner of the Sleep Chamber. It is clear what their weaknesses are, but it is unclear what their strengths are.

Full transparency would have easily transformed Sleeping Beauty into a subversive tale about old and wealthy men playing dirty games. As it is, the film offers a glimpse into an underworld and culture that treat sex, life, and death in ways that simply cannot be understood by those who have never been exposed to them.

Browning is brilliant. She looks innocent but often also dangerously determined to prove that she isn’t. Blake is also magnificent as the elegant but intimidatingly cold owner of the Sleep Chamber.

Sleeping Beauty Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Julia Leigh's Sleeping Beauty arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Revolver Entertainment.

The film's transition to Blu-ray is quite impressive. Detail is very pleasing, both during close-ups and panoramic shots, clarity excellent, and contrast levels stable. Color reproduction is also convincing - there are various rich but warm and very natural looking yellows, greens, blues, browns, greys, and blacks. There are no traces of post production tinkering. Naturally, even though some selected sequences where natural light is restricted appear a bit soft, the entire film have a very strong organic look. Additionally, there are no serious transfer-specific anomalies, such as aliasing or banding. Lastly, blown through a digital projector the film remains tight around the edges and background flicker is never a serious issue of concern. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Sleeping Beauty Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English LPCM 2.0. For the record, Revolver Entertainment have not provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

Sleeping Beauty is primarily a dialog-driven feature. Naturally, excluding some light ambient effects there is very little movement in the surround channels. This being said, the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is virtually flawless - even the tiniest sound/noise is incredibly crisp and clear, while the dialog is always very easy to follow. There are no audio distortions, sync issues or audio dropouts to report in this review.

Sleeping Beauty Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: Some of the supplemental features on this release are encoded in PAL. Therefore, you must have a player capable of converting PAL to NTSC in order to view them in North America.

• Trailer - original theatrical trailer for Sleeping Beauty. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• Interviews - director Julia Leigh, cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson, and Emily Browning discuss Sleeping Beauty, its characters, message, and some of the difficulties they faced during the production process. In English, not subtitled. (13 min, 1080/50i).

Sleeping Beauty Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I thoroughly enjoyed Julia Leigh's Sleeping Beauty. It is a bold, elegant, at times hypnotic film, which will likely disappoint just as many people as it will impress because it does not play by the rules, and it certainly does not follow conventional genre narrative paths. If you like experimenting and enjoy seeing provocative contemporary films, this is a film you do not want to miss. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.