Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

That Cold Day in the Park Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 30, 2016

Robert Altman's "That Cold Day in the Park" (1969) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment. The only supplemental feature on the disc is an elusive video interview with critic and filmmaker David Thompson. The release also arrives with a booklet featuring new writing and archival images. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Frances Austen

It is unquestionably the darkest and most unsettling of Robert Altman’s early films. It is structured as a thriller, but it targets the hypocrisy of a class system with style and precision that easily could have emerged from Luis Bunuel’s body of work.

Sandy Dennis is Frances Austen, a young woman who lives alone in Vancouver B.C. From afar she appears calm and confident, like a woman who demands to be treated with a great deal of respect. She appears to be what most men would describe as a classy lady.

But the men Frances attracts are not the type of men she wants to be seen with. The men that she has been communicating with are much older than her and come from a circle of friends that she has inherited from her late mother. In recent years she has tried to move away from them but has repeatedly failed and now frequently feels depressed.

On a cold and rainy afternoon Frances makes an impulsive decision that irreversibly changes her life. While entertaining her friends, she notices a boy (Michael Burns) sitting alone on a bench across from her apartment. She invites him in, dries his clothes and offers him a hot meal. She then begins telling him about her life -- and the more she talks to him, the more she likes him because he quickly proves to be a great listener. She then invites him to spend the night in the guest room and on the following day even buys him some new clothes.

As time passes by Frances convinces herself that she finally has a real relationship with another human being that actually understands how she feels. She keeps talking, and the more she talks, the better she feels. When the boy eventually decides to leave Frances realizes that she must act -- and quickly -- so that she does not lose her precious possession.

The film is loosely based on an excellent novel by Peter Miles which actually has the entire story set in Paris. In the novel the sexual tension is also given much greater attention that ultimately shapes up the relationship between the woman and the boy quite differently. In the film Altman creates a series of fascinating contrasts that slowly transform it from a thriller into a social study. It works really well because it gives one a chance to see how flawed the logic that excuses the dangerous behavior of the woman is. In the final act Altman also rearranges the roles and forces one to see the reality in which the woman exists from an entirely different angle and reexamine her choices. So the film really does work on multiple levels and offers plenty of food for thought.

The two leads are exceptional. In fact, it is a mystery why Dennis did not win any major awards for her performance in this film because her transformation is actually a lot more impressive than that of Sissy Spacek and Shelley Duvall in 3 Women. Burns is also perfectly cast as the quiet boy who loves to wear masks.

The film has the wonderful organic appearance that defined Altman’s best work. It was lensed by the great Hungarian-born cinematographer László Kovács (Easy Rider, Hells Angels on Wheels).

That Cold Day in the Park Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Robert Altman's That Cold Day in the Park arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.

The release has been sourced from the same master that Olive Films worked with when they prepared their Blu-ray release of That Cold Day in the Park in the United States. It is an older master, struck from an interpositive, but I actually like it quite a lot. Indeed, detail and depth are very good. There are some obvious fluctuations in terms of depth, but they can actually be traced back to specific stylistic choices, such as shooting behind glass (see screencapture #16) or favoring close-ups with unusually fluid camera movement (see screencaptures #5 and 6). Elsewhere, light is also managed in unique ways and as a result some sporadic contrast shifts can be observed as well. Grain exposure isn't optimal, but there are no serious anomalies to report. More importantly, there are no traces of recent attempts to degrain or sharpen up the film. Colors are stable. The primaries are quite warm and there is a decent range of nuances. Saturation could be better but not by much (virtually all of the films Robert Altman shot during the late '60s and early '70s favor soft, earthy primaries and nuances). Image stability is very good. Finally, a couple of specks pop up, but there are no distracting debris, cuts, damage marks, or torn frames to report. So there is some room for cosmetic improvements, but this is a solid organic presentation of That Cold Day in the Park that makes it very easy to appreciate the artistic vision of its creator. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

That Cold Day in the Park Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Dynamic intensity is limited, but the film's original sound design does not support a great deal of dynamic movement. Johnny Mandel's score is subdued and quite moody, never really making any significant attempts to seriously enhance or even alter the existing atmosphere. The dialog is stable, clean, and easy to follow, but there is some room for minor balance improvements. There are no audio dropouts, pops, or digital distortions to report in our review.

That Cold Day in the Park Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview - in this brand new video interview, critic and filmmaker David Thompson discusses the novel by Peter Miles that inspired That Cold Day in the Park, some of the major similarities and differences between the novel and the film, Robert Altman's casting choices (Ingrid Bergman was initially approached and asked to consider playing Frances Austen), the film's visual style and atmosphere, its reception and placement in the director's body of work, etc. The interview was conducted exclusively for Eureka Entertainment in March 2016. In English, not subtitled. (29 min, 1080p).

• Booklet - a booklet featuring new writing and archival images.

That Cold Day in the Park Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

That Cold Day in the Park is an excellent addition to Eureka Entertainment's Blu-ray catalog. I think that one can very easily argue that it has been undeservedly placed in the shadow of Robert Altman's bigger and more successful films as the story, direction, and acting are simply terrific. If you don't have the film in your collection, place your orders now. I guarantee you will like it a lot and revisit it many times. The release is sourced from the same master Olive Films worked with in the United States. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.