Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Life Before Her Eyes Blu-ray Movie Review

Teen drama meets a violent reality.

Reviewed by Lindsay Mayer September 26, 2008

Everyone has a particular story - whether oral tradition, written word, or some visual media like painting, tapestry or film - that they cannot help but to be intrigued with, no matter what popular opinion dictates. The Life Before Her Eyes is a film adaptation of the novel by the same name, written by Laura Kasischke and first published in 2002. It contains sensational themes and a twisting narrative that have left most critics cold or indignant. It is certainly far from the perfect film, but it leaves an inexplicable desire to view it again once the credits scroll. Perhaps some like to experience the violent voyeurism perpetrated by the film's young antagonist. More likely, it is the sheer amount of detail that is so attractive. The production design alone is lovely to look at, with the lush flared-out flowers and insects, or the close-ups of sodden schoolbooks and drowned sprigs of leaves. The narrative detail is arguably more inviting of a second look, however. The climactic twist isn't so surprising in itself, but the way in which all the hints and small touches come together in a kaleidoscope of symbolism surely invites further analysis from the viewer upon retrospect.

How lovely is the silence of growing things.

Lost in all of this obsession with minute elements, however, is the story itself. On a whole, it's somewhat sensational at best, offensive at worst. It tells a tale of two unlikely friends - one a hedonistic rebel and the other a tolerant, churchgoing conservative - meeting in their latter high school years and becoming nigh inseparable. In the dwindling days of their senior year, Diana (Evan Rachel Wood) and Maureen (Eva Amurri) take a detour into the girl's bathroom, gabbing on about shallow teen things that Hollywood likes to think young women gab about, when gunshots and screaming peal through the door. Frozen with fear, Diana admits she knows who it is - a student named Michael Patrick, bullied into vengeful thoughts, had sworn to bring a gun in and "kill everybody" just the day before. Diana had simply shrugged it off as an empty threat. All too soon, they hear him come closer, gunning down the science teacher by the door and bursting in on the petrified girls. Begging not to be shot, Michael reassures them that he's going to kill only one. So who's it going to be, then?

All of this happens within the first 5 minutes or so. What follows is the life of an adult Diana (Uma Thurman), 15 years on and the apparent survivor of that fateful confrontation with the despairing gunman. Living an idyllic life, with all the trappings of a boring social norm - handsome husband, darling daughter, and a house in a painfully neat neighborhood - Diana has become an art teacher, still living in the same town. Her daughter Emma receives her education in a strict Catholic facility, supposedly as a result of her mother's fear about public schools. Diana's husband is a professor of philosophy, and so the two make a rather cerebral pair. Despite initial appearances, Diana suffers from survivor's guilt and possible post-traumatic stress, and her world seems to be unraveling about her as the 15th anniversary of the shootings draws near.

The film jumps back and forth between the adult Diana's life and that of her carefree days of youth. Par for the course, teen Diana drinks, smokes pot, and has sex with the archetypal bad boy, Marcus (Oscar Isaac). Her friend Maureen disapproves, but nonetheless tolerates the wayward life of her best friend. The two hold substantial common ground, and support one another in tough times. The most trying of which is likely Diana's abortion, which sends Marcus running. No matter - the girl has already developed something of a crush on the philosophy professor Paul McFee after attending one of his lectures for extra credit in her science class. Though all of this frivolous existence is cut short, changed forever the day she and Maureen step off into the bathroom.

With all the bizarre happenings of a psychological thriller, Her Eyes is not as straightforward as it presents itself. The twist may feel contrived, and predicted from a generous distance by more astute viewers, but it nonetheless sparks a thoughtful reflection of all the clues large and small laced throughout the film. Though it makes for interesting cinematic material, one does have to wonder whether this story, with all of its strange turns and mysterious happenings, fared better on the page than as a silver screen subject. In any case, The Life Before Her Eyes undeniably leaves an impression due to its visceral elements of high emotion and life or death choices.

The Life Before Her Eyes Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

With an AVC codec averaging 25 Mbps, The Life Before Her Eyes is a lovely film to look at, due in part to the aforementioned detail that the camera takes long pans to contemplate. Macro photography of flowers, insects, and other minuscule subject matter is sprinkled throughout; color and texture of said subjects is captured in fine form. Film grain is subtly present throughout the feature, helping to augment the depicted detail. Blacks and shadow detail are smooth and adequately rich. Contrast overall is good, and natural hues for forests and flower gardens are beautifully reproduced.

As an aside, the directorial choice to use a rather wide, scope ratio on this film is somewhat of a puzzle. Filmed in 2.39:1, the subject matter doesn't exactly lend itself to the vista-like views of a scope movie - better suited to epic, sweeping landscapes and the like. Perhaps it's a mark of prestige to make your film using the widest standard. Or maybe director Vadim Perelman decided to use that specific composition to emulate a sort of claustrophobic intensity while the story unfolded. Whatever the case, it seems an odd choice for a small, intimate film such as this.

The Life Before Her Eyes Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Life Before Her Eyes comes to Blu-ray with the standard compressed and lossless options. Two English tracks are provided in Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as DTS-HD MA 5.1. The DTS option gives the film an appropriate, unsettling air; it is especially effective when abrupt scene cuts occur - such a tactic is used throughout the film. Her Eyes jumps back and forth on a timeline of its own design, and quiet conversations in the future can suddenly lead to a spray of bullets from the past. The sound equalization is done well - even when "jump" scenes catch the viewer by surprise, the sound never suffers from such an imbalance that it causes one to reach for the remote. Dialogue is clear and distinguishable, staying in the center channel for much of the film as per usual. Fronts pick up speech occasionally, while scoring and the main bulk of ambiance take up most of their work. Rear channels keep to the effects work, while LFE adds just enough "boom" to loud scenes. It is a nice mix overall, though not one to give your sound system a workout, due to the film's not-so-action-packed subject matter.

The Life Before Her Eyes Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Arranged on a jumbled side menu that's little more than a block of text, the Blu-ray's extra features are mostly standard fare for a smaller release like The Life Before Her Eyes. All featurettes save for the trailers are presented in standard definition. The Audio Commentary with director Vadim Perelman and production designer Maia Javan finds the two speaking at length on, in Javan's case, the joys and challenges of the surprisingly lush look of the film. Perelman gives the typical pre-production anecdotes and opines on choice of actors and such. The Deleted Scenes play a continuous stream of cut snippets from the film totaling 12 minutes. Most of them focus on Diana's torment and the daily struggles she endures with her family. The Alternate Ending is essentially the same as what is seen on film, with a smidgen of dialogue changed to imply it was the character's conscious that dictated her choice to die, and not her heart - or something like that.

Next comes the Eva Amurri Casting Tape, which is about four minutes worth of the actress' reaction to lines read from the script offscreen. The Flower Photo Gallery contains still shots of the digitally manipulated blooms from the opening sequence, while the Flower Montage is a video of the same sequence sans credits; it'd be a little more impressive were it provided in high definition.

Flashback: Behind The Life Before Her Eyes is the longest of the featurettes, clocking in at 54 minutes. It is more or less a generic making of, showing snippets of behind-the-scenes footage as well as interviews with the main cast and crew. On a technical level, the most interesting segment would probably be the discussion of the bathroom scene, calling for the construction of a unique set and film equipment to endure long hours of flooding water 4 to 5 inches deep. Listening to production designer Maia Javan recalling ways to keep props from floating away, or which inks on textbooks would leach and run, demonstrates an admirable attention to detail. Reflections Back and Beyond is a 12 minute segment that feels like it would be more at home on a faith-themed public access channel than on this BD. It is a rather bland collection of senior citizens and plump middle-aged women detailing their near-death experiences. Thematically, it kind of fits in with the content of the film, but it seems to jump out of nowhere here on the extra features, and is more baffling than insightful.

Last of all, an HD Theatrical Trailer for the film is provided, as well as three high definition Previews for other Magnolia Blu-ray releases - What Just Happened?, The Signal, and The Host.

The Life Before Her Eyes Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A twisting spiral of a psychological thriller, The Life Before Her Eyes probably works best for viewers clueless to plot of the film, and likewise have no expectations built for what they sit down to watch. Though it is often judged sensational, silly, or tasteless by critics, the film nevertheless works best when its audience is caught off guard. There is enough pull generated by the first few minutes to keep the viewer engaged and even tense at times. So much detail is sprinkled throughout, both visually and via the narrative, that the film can even be rewarding upon a repeat viewing.

Still, The Life Before Her Eyes is probably best off as a rental. The Blu-ray release features great picture and good sound, as well as a satisfactory amount of supplements to riffle through. Overall, the film is a pretty good sophomore effort from the Ukraine director Vadim Perelman.