6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 3.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.4 |
Did you know that God is alive and lives in Brussels with his daughter ?
Starring: Benoît Poelvoorde, Yolande Moreau, François Damiens, Catherine DeneuveDrama | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English, French
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Even the most religious people imaginable probably have moments when they’re convinced that some Being somewhere is out to get them. Life is full of detours, and often those detours seem “organized” by some force whose only motivating factor is to intentionally cause befuddlement. That very (and admittedly paranoiac) concept is at the core of the often incredibly amusing if just as often pretty dark The Brand New Testament, though those with more fundamentalist tendencies may well find this one of the most provocatively offensive films they’ve ever witnessed (pun intended). Those with a more liberal sense of humor may well find delight in the “high concept” (high, as in heavenly, as a matter of fact) which posits the Creator (Benoît Poelvoorde) as a harried husband and father living in Belgium while explicitly spending his days doing whatever he (He?) can to afflict Mankind with various traumas and tragedies. Already co-writer and director Jaco Van Dormael is flirting with a subject matter that some, maybe even many, will find downright sacrilegious. Those who can accept the fact that the Big Man Himself, rather than “just” his Son, could incarnate and live among Mankind may find the foundation for this outrageous concept easier to handle, and those folks may find some laugh out loud material as the Divine Being finds himself exiled from his own Paradise (also known as his apartment) when his errant daughter Ea (Pili Groyne) decides a “third” covenant is badly needed, leading her to take matters into her (Her?) own hands.
The Brand New Testament is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Music Box Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. In what I can only consider a Divine miracle (given its sparseness of data on several recent releases I've covered), the IMDb actually lists the cameras used for this shoot, the Sony F55 and Sony F65 (part of the CineAlta line). While detail levels are generally quite excellent throughout this presentation, this is an often intentionally softer looking presentation, one that can either offer diffuse, almost (appropriately) angelic, effulgent halos around objects or, conversely, bathe the frame in deep shadows. Brussels is presented as a rather drab and often rainy and dreary place, something that can also tend to minimally affect fine detail levels at times. There some fairly playful special effects work on display at times, some of which can also look relatively soft. Outright animated elements crop up a time or two and add a comic book ambience. The palette is rather varied, veering from cool slate grays in some of the rainy sequence to incredibly vivid and bright pops of appealing pastels in some of the setups introducing various characters.
The Brand New Testament features enjoyable DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 mixes in the original French (with optional English subtitles). The film really doesn't offer a glut of whiz bang audio effects, but a lot of ambient environmental sounds are more resonant and immersive in the surround mix, and An Pierlé's score also gets a bit more breathing room in the 5.1 version. Ea narrates or provides voiceover for a lot of the film. Dialogue is presented very cleanly and clearly and with excellent prioritization.
As I've shared in some of my reviews of more "traditional" religious films, I had an unusually eclectic upbringing that exposed me to a whole host of different religious traditions, and that has made me perhaps both more agreeable to "alternative" presentations while also more skeptical to accept any religion at face value. Either or both of those tendencies will help anyone curious about The Brand New Testament, for there's no avoiding how provocative this film's subject matter is, or at least might be for those who hold their religious beliefs as inviolate and unquestionable. What's so wonderful about this film is how ebulliently funny it is while at the same time it resolutely refuses to shy away from darker, deeper ponderings about the fate of Mankind and any relationship with "Dieu". Technical merits are strong, the supplementary package appealing, and The Brand New Testament comes Highly recommended.
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