6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Stark naked man comes out from the sea and begins to walk the streets, interfering in daily episodes, always in search of justice. He names himself Finis Hominis (The End of Man, in latin), and soon becomes sort of a modern Messiah, capable of performing miracles. An adulterous woman and a cheated husband are among his most faithful followers, as well as a group of hippies.
Starring: José Mojica Marins, Mário LimaForeign | 100% |
Surreal | 16% |
Drama | 12% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Portuguese: LPCM Mono
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of the Inside the Mind of Coffin Joe collection from Arrow Video.
If you know about Coffin Joe, no introduction is necessary, and if you don't, no introduction could probably ever suffice. That said, for those who
aren't aware of this weirdly iconic Brasilian character, he (it?) sprang from the febrile imagination of one José Mojica Marins, a writer and
director
who in addition to those tasks in fact played
Coffin Joe in several films aggregated in this gonzo new collection from Arrow Video. Rather interestingly, and perhaps saliently, one
supplement in this immense set has the redoubtable Stephen Thrower refusing to call Marins "insane", despite the fact that other pundits
have described Marins as meeting that clinical definition, while another supplement is devoted to Marins as a "neuro divergent"
and at least possibly ADHD afflicted filmmaker. That rather wide gamut of reactions will probably be matched by the general public, though if
Marins was "crazy", he was crazy like a fox, as they say, and his films, while intentionally provocative and rather frequently
horrifyingly
graphic in terms of bodily immolations and the like, generally have rather impressive production values, which suggests a certain competency at
least. One way or the other, virtually all of Marins'
films are suffused with mood, even if narrative structures can be on the wobbly side. This is another impressive effort from Arrow Video
that is obviously designed to cater to a cult audience, but that particular demographic should find themselves very well served by this release.
The End of Man is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. Arrow's insert booklet offers some general information about all of the transfers, followed by more individualized information about this particular film, as follows:
The Coffin Joe films by José Mojica Marins have been exclusively restored by Cinecolor, in cooperation with One Eyed Films and Arrow Films. All restoration work was overseen by producer Paulo Sacramento in collaboration with Arrow Films.Additionally, a prefatory text card offers the following further information:
The original film elements sourced for this project represent the best existing film elements available, and while every effort has been made to present these films in the highest quality possible, some instances of damage remain, in keeping with the condition and age of these materials. Likewise, the audio soundtracks which at times have a slightly rough quality of are in keeping with their production origins. In places audio synch will appear loose as very little audio was ever recorded live and the mixes were generally recorded and created in post-production.
The End of Man / Finis Hominis is presented in its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio with mono Brazilian Portuguese audio.
The film was scanned and restored in 4K resolution from the original 35mm camera negative.
The audio was remastered from an original 35mm print.
2023 4K restoration executed at Cinecolor Brazil Lab with the support of Arrow Films and under the supervision of Mojica's last producer, Paulo Sacramento.Probably due at least in part to its negative source element, this is one of the stronger looking presentations in the already generally excellent offerings on tap in Arrow's set. This film ping pongs between color and black and white, like many of the previous entries in the collection, though this time it's the color sequences that predominate. This arguably has some of the same yellow/orange skewing that is mentioned in the reviews of This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse and Awakening of the Beast, but I'd say less so, overall, resulting in a rather healthy and nicely suffused looking palette. The black and white sequences offer solid contrast and well modulated gray scale. Detail levels are commendable throughout, though the opening scenes in particular tend to feature wider framings (probably because Marins is buck naked), where fine detail understandably isn't as noticeable. Grain resolves naturally throughout.
Digital restoration done from the original 35mm image negatives supplied by Cinemateca Brasileira.
The audio files were restored from the preexisting telecine of a 35mm print.
The End of Man features LPCM Mono audio in the original Portuguese. This is another generally fine sounding track, though like a number of other audio tracks in this set, there is a very bright high end that is probably most noticeable in some of the whimsical underscore (notably some music box material). There's also just a bit of flutter in the opening score, and the entire track can reveal a bit of background hiss and crackle. The film's hilarious use of source cues won't be spoiled here, other than to say you've never quite experienced "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" the way you will in this film. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
Arrow has packaged The Awakening of the Beast and The End of Man together on one disc, with the following supplements:
- Awakening of the Beast (HD; 3:16)
- The End of Man (HD; 4:02)
If you wend your way through Arrow's set "in order", The End of Man will probably be something of a palette cleanser, and it's oddly endearing in its own totally gonzo way. Technical merits are solid and the supplements enjoyable. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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