7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Following her father Richard's death in an unexplained road accident, reclusive teenager India Stoker withdraws further into the quiet rural life she shares with her emotionally disturbed mother Evie. But her curiosity is stirred when her mysterious uncle Charlie, who she has never met, suddenly arrives unannounced. Told that the darkly charismatic Charlie will now be staying at the house, India's initial well-founded distrust of her uncle's motivations begins to waver as she finds herself becoming ever more deeply entranced by his sinister charms.
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode, Dermot Mulroney, Jacki Weaver, Phyllis SomervilleDrama | 100% |
Psychological thriller | 82% |
Mystery | 29% |
Coming of age | 25% |
Horror | 6% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1
Hungarian: Dolby Digital 5.1
Polish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1
Turkish: Dolby Digital 5.1
DD all 448 kbps
English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Bulgarian, Cantonese, Croatian, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Malay, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Polish, Romanian, Serbian, Slovenian, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Setting aside the Bram Stoker reference for a second—although that will certainly come into play here too—a "stoker" is someone who adds fuel to a
fire. Gets it roaring, heated up, feeding the flames. This is the underlying metaphor of Stoker, a twisted coming-of-age thriller about a morbid
teenaged girl whose inner appetites—sexual and otherwise—are fed by a charismatic long-lost uncle who arrives suddenly in her life. To get further use
out of the analogy, the film—written by Prison Break star Wentworth Miller and helmed by Oldboy director Park Chan-wook, making
his English-language debut—has stoked its share of controversy, with critics and audiences divided on whether it's a garish, style-over-substance
misfire or a gorgeous and deeply unsettling example of modern Gothic Romanticism.
As with all art, it comes down to perspective. This is a film that requires you to be in a certain head-space as a viewer. Part of that is knowing up front
that Stoker doesn't fit tidily into any one genre. It has horror elements, familial melodrama, and off-kilter romance, but the best way I can
think to describe it is that this is a foremost a Park Chan-wook film in tone—violent and elegant in equal measure—albeit one filtered through the
respective aesthetics of Alfred Hitchcock and David Lynch, part putting-the-pieces-together mystery/suspense movie, and part fractured surrealist
nightmare about family, obsession, and female sexuality.
India
With it becoming increasingly unusual to see movies—especially lower-budgeted movies—shot on film, it's a real pleasure to view Stoker's gorgeous 1080p/AVC-encoded 35mm transfer, which looks vivid and organic. A fine grain structure is visible throughout—no DNR smearing here—and there are no obvious manipulations to the image. (A few spots may have received some slight digital sharpening, from the looks of it, but never to the extent of creating halos around hard edges, or other artifacts.) Working with his usual collaborator, cinematographer Chung Chung-hoon, Park Chan-wook has created a stark visual style that transitions easily to Blu-ray. The sense of clarity is excellent—see the closeups of India's face, the scuffs on her saddle shoes, the fine textures of her doll-like clothing—and the color grading is very deliberate, cool somehow even when the image has a warm cast. (If that makes sense.) Contrast balance, black levels, skin tones—no problems here whatsoever. Neither are there any glaring compression issues. Visually, Stoker is one of the best high definition experiences I've had thus far this year.
The film is aurally exceptional too. In one of the earliest lines, India says, "My ears hear things that others cannot hear," and that claim is certainly amplified in Stoker's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, which features lots of carefully wrought sound design. The crisp cracking of an eggshell against the kitchen table. The exaggerated tock, tock, tock of a clicking metronome. The tiny patter of a spider's legs. The rear speakers are usually filled with subtly immersive sound—wind, insect screeches, hooting owls, pouring rain—and the ambience is often mixed with more impressionistic noises as well, contributing to the uneasy atmosphere. Clint Mansell's tense orchestral score further plays up the mood—and sounds fantastic doing it—without becoming obtrusive. Most importantly, dialogue is always sharp, clean, and easy to understand. A highly effective mix, overall. The disc also includes numerous dub and subtitle options; please see above for details.
From the reaction it's gotten, Stoker seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it affair, with those who appreciate David Lynch-style surrealism drawn in by director Park Chan-wook's appropriation of the form, while others—perhaps expecting a more straightforward horror-thriller—have been put off for the very same reason. This is an odd and particular film, and while it does have some disappointing shortcomings—like a backstory that ultimately isn't as interesting as some of the possibilities hinted at but not exploited in the narrative—it's a must-see experience for fans of enigmatic movies that don't fit in the usual genre boxes. The film's Blu-ray release is excellent too, with striking picture quality, well thought-out sound design, and some worthwhile special features. Highly recommended for anyone whose interests span Hitchcock, Lynch, and recent Korean cinema.
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