7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A liberated young schoolteacher at an Edinburgh girls' school in the period between the two wars, instructs her girls on the ways of life. Ignoring the more mundane subjects, she teaches them of love, politics and art. Her affairs with two male teachers become known and she finds herself fighting to keep her job. She believes that she can always count on the 100% support of her favourite pupils, but one of them does not feel that Miss Jean Brodie is in her "prime" any more. No longer swayed by her teacher's eloquence, she begins to learn about life and love herself.
Starring: Maggie Smith, Robert Stephens, Pamela Franklin, Gordon Jackson, Celia JohnsonRomance | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Fans of Downton Abbey: Seasons 1, 2, 3 & 4 who can only picture Dame Maggie Smith as the imperious elderly Dowager Countess of Grantham may be at least temporarily thrown for a loop by Smith as an equally imperious but much younger “commoner” teaching at an all girls’ school in the Edinburgh of the 1930s. Smith’s inherent elegance and glamor might seem to be an odd match for the character of Jean Brodie, a flighty eccentric whose sway over “her” girls is like an ineluctable force of nature—at least most of the time. But Smith’s flintier qualities are also on display, for there’s one trait that both of these inimitable characters she has helped bring to such memorable life share—they are both prone to think they are always right, cottoning little dissent in their relationships. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie famously handed Smith an Academy Award for Best Actress and probably served as one of the first introductions of the actress to American audiences, despite notable previous turns in The VIPs, The Honey Pot and her previous Oscar nominated performance (for Best Supporting Actress) in the Laurence Olivier version of Othello. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie had originally been a novel by Muriel Spark which in turn was adapted into a long running play by Jay Presson Allen, who then adapted her own play for the screen. The tale of a forceful teacher indelibly shaping impressionable minds might seem to be the stuff of iconography (or even hagiography), but this is no elegiac Goodbye, Mr. Chips or (to get the other side of a traditional greeting in) Good Morning, Miss Dove. Jean, for all her dazzling charisma, is a deeply flawed character and her decisions end up spilling out into both her students’ lives and others' in her wake in unexpected and perhaps even tragic ways.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1, culled from the 20th Century Fox catalog. While some may lament the overall drab appearance of this presentation, it's important to note director Ronald Neame's own discussion about the palette in the excellent commentary included on this Blu-ray release, where he specifically mentions trying to tone everything down. While there are subtle bursts of color here and there, including some wonderful costumes for Jean, there's a kind of hushed, burnished look to much of the film that doesn't provide much in the way of traditional "pop", other than a couple of outdoor scenes where hues are somewhat more vivid than in the bulk of the film. While elements are in great shape from a damage standpoint, there does appear to be very minimal fade, with flesh tones edging slightly toward brown. The film has never looked sharp in a contemporary sense, and that continues to be the case in this iteration. Image stability is fine, as is the very natural and organic looking grain structure. There are also no signs of artificial sharpening on display.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track that capably supports the film's "wall to wall dialogue" (in the words of Neame), as well as Rod McKuen's wistful score. The song "Jean" was one of a banner year of Academy Award nominees for Best Song (bested by "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head," but sharing company with such modern standards as "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" and "Come Saturday Morning.") Fidelity is fine and there are no problems of any kind to report.
Teachers are so regularly lionized in modern media that it may come as a bit of a shock for some when The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie offers a more "warts and all" sensibility that may pretend there's a glorious satisfaction to edifying young minds, but which ends up showing the dark side of mentorship. Smith is a commanding presence every step of the way here, but she's equalled by a really fierce supporting turn by Pamela Franklin, as well as an incredibly colorful supporting cast. Technical merits are generally very strong, and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie comes Highly recommended.
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