The Salvation Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

The Salvation Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 13, 2015

Winner of the Audience Award at the Robert Festival, Kristian Levring's "The Salvation" (2014) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Seven7. There are no supplemental features on this release. In English and Danish, with imposed French subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Father and son

America, the 1870s. A Danish immigrant named Jon (Mads Mikkelsen, The Hunt) reunites with his beautiful wife and son. But on the way back to his home two bandits murder them and leave him for dead hundreds of miles away from the nearest town. Bleeding and barely able to stand on his feet, Jon eventually tracks down the men and kills them.

When the bodies are discovered, the brutal gangster Delarue (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Watchmen) emerges and announces that one of them belongs to his brother. Then he orders the sheriff (Douglas Henshall, Orphans) of Black Creek to find the killer in the next two hours. If he fails to do so, Delarue and his men will start executing the people he has been elected to protect.

Meanwhile, assisted by his brother Peter (Mikael Persbrandt, In a Better World), Jon buries the bodies of his wife and son and then the two head to Black Creek to sell their house and land. The sheriff offers Jon a bad price for his property, but he accepts the deal, realizing that the sooner he leaves the area, the better. The suspicious sheriff then informs Delarue that Jon might be the man he has been looking for.

What happens next is hardly surprising. Delarue and his gang go after Jon and his brother and many men die. In the chaos, Jon also meets Madelaine (Eva Green, Cracks), the beautiful wife of Delarue’s dead brother, who has been waiting for the right moment to steal his money and run away with it.

In North America Kristian Levring is probably best known for his involvement with The King is Alive, a very atmospheric film shot according to the strict principles promoted by the Dogme movement. The film was lensed by Jens Schlosser, who won Robert Award (the Danish equivalent of the American Oscars) for Best Cinematography.

Levring’s latest film, The Salvation, is a brutal western which was again lensed by Schlosser. While its visual style is drastically different -- this film embraces just about all of the major aesthetics the Dogme directors avoided -- its atmosphere is actually quite similar to that of The King is Alive. There is something about its characters that also seems awfully familiar -- they ride horses and know how to handle guns, but having lost their faith in humanity they seem just as desperate and are frequently driven by their most basic instincts.

The story is straightforward and the finale very predictable, but the solid acting more than makes up for the lack of surprises. Mikkelsen, at the moment unquestionably one of the most impressive European actors, is wonderful as the angry Danish immigrant who has become a target after killing the two bandits. Morgan was also the right choice to play the nasty Delarue who wants his head. Green does not utter a single word, but is very convincing as the disillusioned wife of Delarue’s dead brother. Only soccer legend Eric Cantona tries a bit too hard to be a meanie.

The Salvation is complemented by a great score courtesy of Kasper Winding (The Riot Club). Ennio Morricone’s influence is easily felt, but the music has exactly the type of edge this film deserves.

The Salvation Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Kristian Levring's The Salvation arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Seven7.

The high-definition transfer is encoded in 1080/50i, but it actually contains progressive frames. This means that there is absolutely no motion-judder whatsoever. To be clear, this is essentially a solid progressive transfer "locked" inside a 1080/50i encode.

During the daylight panoramic shots depth and clarity are frequently very impressive and exceptionally small objects and details can be very easy to see (see screencaptures #5 and 8). Fluidity is also very pleasing and viewers with larger screens will likely be quite impressed with the lush visuals. Generally speaking, close-ups also boast strong depth, but there are some contrast fluctuations that introduce minor discrepancies. Additionally, the black levels can vary between select sequences and as a result shadow definition also may appear somewhat inconsistent. It is difficult to tell precisely to what extent these fluctuations are intended as the film has a very specific stylized appearance, but in some areas contrast levels appear to have been pushed up a bit more than it makes sense (you can see an example in screencapture #13). Still, the film does look appropriately vibrant and well polished. There are no serious stability issues. Lastly, there are no compression anomalies to report in this review. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

The Salvation Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (with a few exchanges in Danish). For the record, Seven7 have provided imposed French subtitles for the English audio track. (The subtitles cannot be turned off via the main menu or the remote control).

The lossless English track is excellent. Depth is outstanding, clarity very good, and the wide range of nuanced dynamics open up the action sequences very well. Kasper Winding's edgy soundtrack -- mimicking the the classic spaghetti western style of Ennio Moriconne's best soundtracks -- also greatly benefits from the excellent mixing. Obviously, the fact that there are a few Danish exchanges that are not subtitled in English makes this release less than perfect for English speakers, but these exchanges are indeed very short and very basic.

The Salvation Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found in this release.

The Salvation Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Danish director Kristian Levring's The Salvation has just about everything one can expect from a solid western -- great characters, uncompromising action, beautiful visuals, and a fantastic soundtrack. I think that when it eventually reaches the United States, fans of the genre will like it a lot. This French Blu-ray release is probably not a good option for English speakers, but French speakers in Canada should be pleased with it. RECOMMENDED.