7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
In Warsaw, a pair of mermaid sisters are adopted into a cabaret. While one seeks love with humans the other hungers to dine on the human population of the city.
Starring: Marta Mazurek, Michalina Olszanska, Kinga Preis, Andrzej Konopka, Jakub GierszalForeign | 100% |
Drama | 65% |
Horror | 29% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Musical | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Polish: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Winner of Eagle Award for Discovery of the Year at the Polish Film Awards, Agnieszka Smoczynska's "The Lure" (2015) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; collection of deleted scenes; the documentary film "Off the Hook", featuring cast and crew interviews; and two early short films directed by Agnieszka Smoczynska. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring Angela Lovell's essay "One is Silver and the Other Gold" and technical credits. In Polish, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Different performers
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Agnieszka Smoczynska's The Lure arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:
"The film was shot with an ARRI ALEXA camera in ARRIRAW format (3.2K) and the production was completed in a fully digital workflow. The DPX files were color-corrected in 2K resolution on an Audiodesk Lustre. This film features a fully digital soundtrack. The 5.1 surround audio for the release was mastered at 24-bit from the original audio master files using Pro Tools HD.
Transfer supervisor: Kuba Kijowski.
Colorist: Ewa Chudzik/WFDiF, Warsaw."
The film looks stunning in high-definition. It it is strikingly sharp with wonderful fluidity and a tremendous range of rich colors. A lot of the nicely-lit footage from the cabaret is basically what I would point out as 'reference material', but the darker footage also boasts incredible depth. Obviously, because the film was shot with the ALEXA camera image balance is very impressive as well. There are no basic stability issues or encoding anomalies to report. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Polish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.
The film has a fully digital soundtrack, so the lossless track is essentially an exact replica of it. The audio is very clean, sharp, and with a strong range of nuanced dynamics. I think that the music numbers benefit the most, but there are a few action sequences where dynamic intensity is also impressive. There are no audio dropouts or digital distortions to report.
When Agnieszka Smoczynska mentions in one of the documentaries that are included on this release that the two sirens in The Lure essentially represent her generation, the thirty-somethings, which experienced the ugliness and absurdity of communism as well as the unbearable frustration and anger that were inseparable parts of it, I know exactly what she means. Her brilliant directorial debut is a reminder of that almost surreal reality of extreme contrasts that Poland was forced to endure while being part of the now defunct Soviet Bloc, and in a way a very unique warning not to forget it. Of course, it is also one utterly wild and entertaining film that has introduced to the world a young director with an incredible imagination and style. The Lure is one of my favorite releases this year, and I will definitely be placing it on my Top 10 list in December. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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