8.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
The Yokoyama family gathers for an annual commemoration of the eldest son Junpei, who drowned fifteen years ago while saving someone's life. Over the course of the day, suppressed tensions and resentments are gradually revealed amidst forced pleasantries and shared meals as second son Ryo endures feelings of inferiority in front of his curmudgeon father and passively judgmental mother, both of whom disapprove of his recent marriage to a widow with a 10-year-old son.
Starring: Hiroshi Abe, Yoshio Harada, Yui Natsukawa, Kazuya Takahashi, Shohei TanakaForeign | 100% |
Drama | 87% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, Hirokazu Kore-eda's "Aruitemo aruitemo" a.k.a "Still Walking" (2008) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include the film's original theatrical trailer; interviews with director Hirokazu Kore-eda and cinematographer Yutaka Yamazaki; and making of featurette. The disc also arrives with a 20-page illustrated booklet. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Father and son
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Hirokazu Kore-eda's Still Walking arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc:
"Supervised and approved by director Hirokazu Kore-eda and director of photography Yutaka Yamakazi, this new high-definition digital transfer was created on a Cintel C-Reality Telecine from the original camera negative.
Telecine supervisors: Hirokazu Kore-eda, Yutaka Yamazaki.
Telecine colorist: Mori Seijiro/Imagica, Tokyo."
This is an excellent high-definition transfer. Fine object detail is very good, clarity pleasing, and contrast levels consistent throughout the entire film. The film's lovely spectrum of warm colors is beautifully reproduced - the variety of light blues, greens, yellows, grays, browns, and blues look fantastic. Edge-enhancement is never a serious issue of concern; neither is macroblocking. I also did not see any traces of heavy noise reduction. I did a few random comparisons with the R2 UK SDVD release of Still Walking, courtesy of New Wave Films, which I have in my library, and must say that the Criterion Blu-ray release represents a substantial upgrade in quality - in addition to superior detail and improved contrast, the random background noise, blockiness, and occasional color pulsations present on the SDVD release have also been effectively addressed. Lastly, the film's grain structure has been retained, and there are absolutely no serious stability issues to report in this review whatsoever. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc:
"This film features a fully digital soundtrack. The audio for this release was mastered at 24-bit from the original digital audio master using Pro Tools HD."
I don't have any major reservations. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and exceptionally easy to follow. There are no balance issues with Gonchichi's music score either. Generally speaking, the Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track has a good range of nuanced dynamics and pleasing organic qualities. Finally, while viewing the film I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or audio dropouts to report in this review.
I hope that this excellent release of director Kore-eda's beautiful Still Walking will also inspire Criterion, or another distributor, to bring to Bu-ray his equally impressive After Life and Nobody Knows. In the meantime, I urge you to add Still Walking to your libraries. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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