Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

Tesis Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 12, 2014

Winner of multiple Goya Awards, including Best Film, Best New Director and Best New Actor, Alejandro Amenabar's "Tesis" (1996) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Tanelorn Films. The supplemental features on the disc include a brand new video introduction by the Spanish director; deleted scenes; making of featurette; storyboards; and new documentary produced by Robert Fischer for Fiction Factory. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The dangerous collection

The overwhelming majority of the film takes place inside the classrooms and media archives of Universidad Complutense de Madrid -- the same academic institution which director Alejandro Amenábar attended -- and follows closely Anna (Ana Torrent, Cría Cuervos), a beautiful student finishing her thesis on violence in contemporary media. Anna is single and has dedicated all of her time to her project.

While waiting for Professor Figueroa (Miguel Picazo) to help her gain access to a large collection of restricted material, Anna meets Chema (Fele Martínez, Bad Education), who has an equally dangerous collection of violent and sexually explicit films. During her casual encounters with Chema, Anna learns about snuff films.

Soon after, Professor Figueroa dies from an asthma attack while viewing a restricted film in one of the university’s screening rooms. Sensing that he might have seen something truly dangerous that could have triggered his asthma attack, Anna steals his VHS tape and takes it home. Initially, she only listens to the tape, but the screams and noises quickly convince her that what is on it is real. When she eventually shows the tape to Chema, the two make a shocking discovery.

Amenabar’s directorial debut, Tesis, has a very distinctive Hitchcockian flavor. Though it was shot with a small budget, the film very quickly creates an atmosphere that forces one in a guessing mode and then begins playing with one’s guesses as different pieces of its puzzle are rearranged. All of this is done with a surprisingly good for a first film sense of balance and understanding that too many twists can spoil the magic.

What gives the film its identity, however, is its willingness to step into an area that is genuinely dangerous. But -- and this is precisely the reason why it continues to work as well as it does -- once there, the film lets the viewer imagine the worst. As a result, the black hole that typically consumes other similarly themed films, and in particular exploitation films, is effectively avoided.

There are no elaborate special effects in the film, but sound is used in a variety of interesting ways to enhance the tense atmosphere.

The cast is excellent. Torrent, who is probably best known for her incredible performance in Victor Erice’s equally atmospheric The Spirit of the Beehive, is terrific as the young student who becomes fascinated by death. Martinez is completely believable as the film geek. (His best performance, however, is in Julio Medem’s indescribably beautiful Lovers Of The Arctic Circle). Eduardo Noriega also does not disappoint as the handsome and mysterious student Bosco.

Amenabar shot the film with cinematographer Hans Burmann. A year after completing Tesis, the two also collaborated on the terrific thriller Open Your Eyes, which was remade by Cameron Crowe to remake it as Vanilla Sky.

Tesis 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, Alejandro Amenábar's Tesis arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Tanelorn Films.

The high-definition transfer has been struck from a pre-existing master and more often than not it shows. Detail can be decent at times, but there are traces of light denoising corrections that have clearly affected image depth (see screencapture #6). Some sharpening adjustments have been applied as well, and as a result parts of the film could look rather harsh (see screencaptures #13 and 15). Colors remain stable. Overall image stability is excellent -- there are no transition issues or general stability issues to report in this review. The encoding could have been better. In areas of the film where light is restricted artifacts are occasionally noticeable, but even during the daylight footage it isn't difficult to see that there is room for improvement. All in all, the Blu-ray release definitely represents a step up in quality over the existing R1 and R2 (Spanish release) DVD releases of Tesis, but the film unquestionably can look better in high-definition. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).

Tesis Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Spanish LPCM 2.0. For the record, Tanelorn Films have provided optional yellow English subtitles for the main feature.

The lossless track is excellent. There are no elaborate audio effects, but there are areas of the film where sound is used in very specific ways to enhance the tense atmosphere. In these areas, the lossless track serves the film very well. The dialog is always clean, crisp, stable, and very easy to follow. There are no pops, cracks, distracting background hiss, audio dropouts, or distortions to report in this review. The English translation is excellent.

Tesis Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Introduction - a brand new video introduction by Alejandro Amenábar. In English, not subtitled. (1 min, 1080p).

• Touching Death - in this brand new documentary, director Alejandro Amenabar recalls how his first film came to exist, and discuses its subject and reputation, cinematographer Hans Burmann's lighting and framing of key sequences, the specific use of sound throughout the film, how his directing style has evolved since Tesis, etc. The documentary was produced by Robert Fischer for Fiction Factory. In English, not subtitled. (42 min, 1080p).

• The Making of Tesis - in this archival featurette, director Alejandro Amenábar, actors Ana Torrent (Angela), Fele Martínez (Chema), and Eduardo Noriega (Bosco), executive producer Emiliano Otegui, cinematographer Hans Burmann, and producer Jose Luis Cuerda discuss some of the major themes in Tesis and the shooting of select sequences. In Spanish, with optional yellow English subtitles. (24 min, 480/60i).

• Deleted Scenes - a gallery of deleted scenes. In Spanish, not subtitled. (8 min, 480/60i).

• Storyboards - with music. (10 min, 480/60i).

Tesis Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I have followed closely Spanish director Alejandro Amenabar's career and I have to say that his first two films, Tesis and Open Your Eyes, remain his best. The former is now available on Blu-ray courtesy of U.S. distributors Tanelorn Films. While the Blu-ray release definitely offers an upgrade in quality over existing DVD releases in Region 1 and Region 2, the film can look better in high-definition. Amongst the supplemental features on this Blu-ray release is a very good new documentary produced by Robert Fischer for Fiction Factory, which I think fans of the Spanish director and his work will like a lot. Get the Blu-ray release only if you can find it on sale.