Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

The Rose Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 24, 2015

Nominated for four Oscar Awards, Mark Rydell's "The Rose" (1979) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an audio commentary with the American director; exclusive new video interview with actress Bette Midler; new filmed conversation between director of photography Vilmos Zsigmond and cinematographer John Bailey; archival episode of NBC's Today; and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by music critic Paula Mejia. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The Rose

Bette Midler is Mary Rose Foster, a popular rock singer whose performing style and eccentric personality are very similar to those of the great Janis Joplin. She is loved by her fans and admired by everyone in the music industry. From afar, it looks like her life couldn’t be any better.

But Rose is on the verge of a serious nervous breakdown. She has been drinking to cope with the stress and exhaustion, but the alcohol has made her feel even worse. Lately, she has even had a difficult time singing in front of her fans.

When her manager, Rudge Campbell (Alan Bates, Zorba the Greek), refuses to give her some time off of her busy concert schedule, Rose runs away with a handsome limo driver (Frederic Forrest, Apocalypse Now) and the two begin a passionate affair. Soon after, she concludes that she has finally met someone that truly understands how she feels and loves her for the person she is. But as time passes by, she slowly begins to realize that being a rock star and enjoying the simple things that make life worth living might be impossible.

Mark Rydell’s The Rose was initially meant to be a Janis Joplin biopic. However, after Midler agreed to play Rose she also requested that her character was only inspired by the legendary singer. As a result, the original script -- which came with a different title for the film, Pearl -- was revised by Rydell and Bo Goldman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Scent of a Woman).

The film is incredibly beautiful but uncompromisingly cynical. Rose genuinely loves performing in front of her fans but has a difficult time enduring her abusive manager, the hordes of reporters and industry insiders, and the chaos they create. A large part of the film is dedicated precisely to this very unhealthy environment that seemingly defines the music business and ultimately destroys the stars it creates.

There are some quiet moments where Rose slows down and breathes more easily, but there is no balance in her life and when eventually she is drawn back into her reality she suffers even more. With the exception of her lover, who is also dealing with personal demons, no one seems to care. All that matters to the people around her is whether she can continue to sell out her tours.

The massive concert sequences are quite incredible. The final one, for instance, had more than 6,000 people in attendance, and Midler always performed live. (Virtually no cutting was done so that as much of the vitality and intensity of these performances can be retained in the film). The concert sequences were filmed with nine different cameras operated by such renowned cinematographers as László Kovács (Easy Rider), Jan Kiesser (Some Kind of Wonderful), David Myers (Woodstock), and Owen Roizman (The French Connection).

The film’s director of photography was Vilmos Zsigmond (The Deer Hunter, Heaven's Gate), who carefully manipulated light, shadow and colors to give it a dazzling period appearance. Quite a bit of the non-concert footage, for instance, has near-Technicolor vibrancy.

The band Middler performs with was assembled specifically for the film, while the soundtrack was created by Paul Rothchild, who produced Joplin’s final album, Pearl (1971).

In 1981, Midler won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "The Rose".

The Rose Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Mark Rydell's The Rose arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text is included in the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"Supervised by director of photography Vilmos Zsigmond, this new digital transfer was create din 4K resolution on a Sanity film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for small dirt, grain, and noise reduction.

The 5.1 surround mix was created from the original 35mm magnetic tracks of the original 70mm 6-track mix.Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD, AudioCube's integrated workstation, and iZotope RX 4.

Transfer supervisor: Vilmos Zsigmond, Lee Kline.
Scanning: Alex Hernandez/Colorworks, Culver City, CA.
Colorist: Joe Gawler/Harbor Picture Company, New York."

The new 4K restoration of The Rose was supervised by director of photography Vilmos Zsigmond and unsurprisingly now the film looks mighty impressive on Blu-ray. Indeed, even in sequences where light and shadow are carefully managed to enhance the period look and atmosphere depth and clarity are fantastic. The most impressive aspect of the new restoration, however, is the terrific color scheme -- there is a wide range of beautifully saturated colors that literally give parts of the film near-Technicolor vibrancy; some of the intimate sequences also have a special airy quality that will most likely be lost on the DVD release of the film (see screencaptures #3 and 11). Grain is retained and beautifully resolved throughout the entire film. Minor fluctuations are present, but they are part of the original cinematography. (For example, the lighting during the concert footage was managed differently to enhance the rawness director Rydell and Zsigmond wanted in the film). There are absolutely no traces of problematic sharpening adjustments. Overall image stability is outstanding. Finally, there are no scratches, debris, cuts, or stains to report in this review. All in all, this truly is a very beautiful restoration of The Rose that will unquestionably remain the film's definitive presentation on the home video market. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free Blu-ray player in order to access its content).

The Rose Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English SDH subtitles have been provided for the main feature.

Separation and depth are excellent. Obviously, during the concert footage balance is fluid, but this is how the film was indeed shot and mixed to retain as much of the raw vitality as possible. The dialog is clean, stable, and very easy to follow. Also, there are no pops, cracks, hiss, audio dropouts, or distortions to report in this review.

The Rose Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Bette Midler - in this brand new video interview, actress Bette Midler recalls how she was introduced to the script for The Rose (apparently, the first version of the script did not impress her), how she developed her character and how the band she performed with was assembled, and discusses Mark Rydell's working methods, her interactions with the rest of the cast, the shooting of the final sequence, the costumes and the art direction, etc. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in Los Angeles in 2015. In English, not subtitled. (18 min, 1080p).

• Mark Rydell - presented here is a filmed conversation between Mark Rydell and his friend filmmaker Charles Dennis. The director of The Rose recalls how he became involved with the project, how Bette Midler was brought on board (he had initially seen her performing in a club and was determined to use her in the film), and how he dealt with her manager during the first day of shooting, and discusses Vilmos Zsigmond's lensing, the film's 'raw look', the shooting of the live performances (some had more than 6,000 people in attendance), etc. The conversation was filmed exclusively for Criterion in Los Angeles in December 2014. In English, not subtitled. (17 min, 1080p).

• Vilmos Zsigmond - presented here is a filmed conversation between director of photography Vilmos Zsigmond and cinematographer John Bailey (The Big Chill, American Gigolo). Mr. Zsigmond discusses the script for The Rose (it was initially called Pearl and the film was meant to be a Janis Joplin biopic, but it was altered by Bo Goldman after Bette Midler requested that her character was only inspired by the legendary singer), Bette Midler's performance, the lighting and the use of color throughout the film, the framing and composition of various sequences, the concert sequences (and specifically the lighting which is quite different from that of the rest of the film), the decision to shoot on 35mm, the unique qualities films are losing with the proliferation of digital technologies (for example, the organic lighting that made many films special), etc. The conversation was filmed exclusively for Criterion in 2014. In English, not subtitled. (31 min, 1080p).

• Today - presented here is an archival episode of NBC's Today in which Tom Brokaw interviews singer and actor Bette Midler and director Mark Rydell during the shooting of a sequence from The Rose. The episode was broadcast on June 27, 1978. In English, not subtitled. (5 min, 1080i).

• Gene Shalit and Bette Midler - in this archival video interview, film critic Gene Shalit and Bette Midler discuss the character she plays in The Rose. The interview originally aired on NBC News on November 8 and 9, 1979. In English, not subtitled. (15 min, 1080i).

• Audio Commentary - director Mark Rydell recalls how the cast of The Rose and the band Bette Midler performed with were assembled, and discusses the film's period look and atmosphere, the unique qualities of the main character, some of the changes he and Bo Goldman made to the script, the shooting of the massive concert sequences (all of the singing in the film was shot live with nine cameras and additional recording equipment), Vilmos Zsigmond's lensing, etc. The commentary was recorded in 2003.

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by music critic Paula Mejia.

The Rose Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A popular rock singer tries to restore balance in her life in Mark Rydell's The Rose, a beautiful period film which was initially meant to be a Janis Joplin biopic. Director of photography Vilmos Zsigmond has supervised the new 4K restoration of The Rose, and I have to say that it looks absolutely magnificent on Blu-ray. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.