The Devil's Bride Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

The Devil's Bride Blu-ray Movie Review

The Devil’s Bride is an enchanting romantic musical. The story is adapted from the novel "Baltaragio malûnas" by Kazys Boruta. A musical about love conquering all. Starring Gediminas Girdvainis, Vasyl Symchych, Vaiva Mainelyte, and Regimantas Adomaitis.

Pinchiukas (Gediminas Girdvainis) is a devil who finds himself kicked out of Heaven and ends up at a frog pond owned by the simple farmer Baltaragis (Vasyl Symchych). Pinchiukas promises the farmer the hand of blonde love Marcelé (Vaiva Mainelyte) as long as it is in exchange for the as of yet unborn daughter, Jurga (also played by an adult Vaiva Mainelyte).

The performances are excellent across the board. The entire ensemble does a terrific job with their respective roles. Gediminas Girdvainis is fantastic as Pinchiukas and there is certainly some rather mischievous aspects to his performance. Vasyl Symchych delivers a subtle and refined performance as the farmer Baltaragis. Vaiva Mainelyte excels as both Marcelé and Jurga – the dual roles a good fit for the actress.

The music is an essential element of the production. Composed by Vyacheslav Ganelin (Mano vaikystes ruduo, Visi pries viena), the score adds a lot of whimsy to the production. The songs are fantastic and add so much whimsy and charm to the film. An incredible achievement. The music is perfect and the soundtrack is reason enough to see the film.

The cinematography by Algimantas Mockus (Gyvieji didvyria, Riesutu duona) is lush and beautiful. The evocative cinematography adds so much wonder and charm to the filmmaking. The visuals are superb. There is a sense of majesty and wonder to the visuals and the manner in which the cinematography aids the storytelling.

Edited by O. Dirzytés, Vanda Surviliene (Mano mazyte zmona, Visa teisybe apie Kolumba), and V. Zavadskaités (Sodybu tustejimo metas), The Devil’s Bride is well paced. There are no wasted scenes. The filmmaking is well done and the editing oversight adds to the filmmaking in spades.

The production designs by Filomenos Vaitiekuntenés are first-rate. There is so much wonder to the great production designs. The designs evoke the confidence and talent of the entire production team. A rather beautiful looking film with all the right production elements to make the epic vision come to life.

The costume designs by D. Inciute and F. Vaitiekúnienés are fantastic. The costumes work well for the entire ensemble. The main characters are given especially meaningful and impressive costumes. An excellent effort all around.

Written by Sigitas Geda (Strazdas - zalias paukstis) and Arunas Zebriunas, The Devil’s Bride is a brilliant and engaging musical. The musical is so well done that it is easy to enjoy from beginning to end. The fantastic musical odyssey is something that rewards with compelling storytelling about the powers provided by love.

Directed by Arunas Zebriunas (The Girl and the Echo, The Beauty), The Devil’s Bride is a must-see musical and one quite unlike anything else out there. The musical is creatively independent and manages to evoke a simultaneously dark and light aesthetic that is distinctly its own style. A masterful production and a must-see gem of Lithuanian filmmaking.

The Devil's Bride Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Deaf Crocodile, The Devil's Bride is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.39:1 widescreen. The high-definition presentation is remarkable throughout. Colors are robust and well reproduced. The cinematography is beautifully presented and the encoding is top-notch, too. The transfer capably showcases the eloquence of the filmmaking.

The Devil's Bride Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Lithuanian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with English subtitles) lossless audio presentation is outstanding. Detail is crisp and clear on the release. The score and songs are well reproduced. Everything about the musical sounds great with the high resolution encoding. A fantastic audio presentation.

The Devil's Bride Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The limited edition version comes with a deluxe chipboard art box with beautiful artwork and the standard edition is housed inside of the box-set. The release comes with a booklet, too. 

Audio Commentary by Michael Brooke

"The One Who Carries a Tune": Rock 'n Roll Sessions and The Devil's Bride (HD, 13:34) is a visual essay on the film.

Interview with Director Arunas Zebriunas daughter Monika Edgar (HD, 54:30)

Interview with Lithuanian film critic Ieva Sukyte (HD, 53:27)

The Devil's Bride Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Devil's Bride is an incredible achievement in Lithuanian filmmaking. The classic musical is quite unlike anything else out there. A fantastic film and a musical journey. A must-see for fans of world cinema. The Blu-ray release provides a first-rate high-definition transfer, lossless audio, and a nice assortment of bonus features. Highly recommended.