8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A bawdy, acerbic tale of royal intrigue, passion, envy and betrayal in the court of Queen Anne in early 18th century England.
Starring: Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult, Joe AlwynDrama | 100% |
Dark humor | 33% |
Period | 19% |
Biography | 19% |
History | 2% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.84:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
English SDH, French, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Well, as it turned out, Olivia Colman was indeed “The Favourite” at the recent Academy Awards, besting the recently “rechristened via meme” Glenn “Close, but no cigar”*, who had been touted by the pundit class as a near shoe in, in the Best Actress category. That was one of the few big surprises on Oscar night, but it perhaps helped to shine a light on one of the more peculiar films from 2018, one that combines the typically opulent trappings of a so-called “historical epic” with a much more modern day ambience, leading to a rather interesting intentional clash between style and content. Anyone who has seen either or both of director Yorgos Lanthimos’ two immediately prior films, The Lobster and/or The Killing of a Sacred Deer, may have a (pantalooned?) leg up on the proceedings here, for Lanthimos once again flirts with near surrealism even as he doles out some more anchored psychological truths. The story of the film is very loosely based on actual history, though Lanthimos and his team are up front in the “making of” featurette included on this Blu-ray disc as a supplement that they really weren’t going for anything approaching true “historical accuracy”. That means that not only actual “facts” here are questionable on several occasions, but the whole tone of the film is often deliberately off kilter and almost dreamlike at times.
The Favourite is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.84:1. Shot on film and finished at a 2K DI (according to the IMDb), The Favourite makes a stunning transition to Blu-ray in another often sumptuous offering from Fox. As stated above in the main body of the review, and as can also hopefully be gleaned from several of the screenshots accompanying this review, the stylistic gambits of fisheye lenses and often quite brisk tracking shots both mean certain allowances need to be made in terms of detail, and especially fine detail, levels, notably toward the edge of the frame, where things can tend to look a bit blurry at times. That awareness taken into consideration, things pop with considerable vigor throughout this presentation, even in some scenes ostensibly shot by candlelight and bathed in warm, buttery tones. A lot of framings feature effulgent light sources in the background which tend to bathe things in a kind of soft, gauzy ambience. Close- ups (some again weirdly framed, or achieved via fisheye) can also reveal excellent levels of fine detail on things like fabric, at least toward the center of the frame. The transfer retains a nicely organic appearance throughout, with no signs of compression issues. I have to say, especially in light of my joking comments above about the Academy Awards, that had I been a voting member of the Academy, I probably would have given the cinematography prize to Robbie Ryan and this film, rather than Alfonso Cuarón and Roma, no matter how evocative Cuarón's work was. (Part of this is no doubt due to hindsight, since Cuarón got his "fair share" of statuettes that night in any case.)
The Favourite has a nicely robust DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, one which attains bursts of rather fierce energy in a couple of shooting range scenes, but which also provides good, consistent surround activity courtesy of both score and well placed ambient environmental effects, even within the confines of Anne's home. This track has rather surprising dynamic range and at least bursts of LFE, with dialogue always supported flawlessly as well.
The Favourite's stylistic excesses may actually help the film elide a few dangling plot points. (I for one had a number of questions, including how Abigail came by her knowledge of healing herbs, why Anne was so negatively affected by music in the courtyard, or even why it's hinted Sarah is being kept against her will in a house of ill repute at one point in the story.) This is another really audacious effort from Lanthimos, and it's notable in a way that the film is structured so securely around the three main females that my review didn't even mention any of the (supporting) male characters. Fox offers a beautiful looking and sounding disc, and The Favourite comes Highly recommended.
2008
2018
Choice Collection
2006
2014
2008
2011
2018
2011
1966
2008
2009
1955
Portrait de la jeune fille en feu
2019
First pressing in clear case
2017
2018
2006
2017
2016
Warner Archive Collection
1940
1992