6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.2 |
In 1870s America, a peaceful American settler kills his family's murderer which unleashes the fury of a notorious gang leader. His cowardly fellow townspeople then betray him, forcing him to hunt down the outlaws alone.
Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Eva Green, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Eric Cantona, Mikael PersbrandtWestern | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Writer/director Kristian Levring is a distinctively Danish filmmaker, one of the early adherents of the infamous (and now-defunct) Dogme95 movement founded by Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg . But Levring is also a cosmopolitan talent who lives in England, frequently works in English, and whose first major work, The King Is Alive, revolved around an impromptu production of King Lear. Levring also happens to be a passionate fan of Westerns, and The Salvation is the culmination of his lifelong dream to add his own contribution to the canon. Working with Danish screenwriter Anders Thomas Jensen, Levring wrote a script into which he poured classic tropes culled from every Western he could fit into one movie. According to the Blu-ray extras, sixty-two are referenced throughout The Salvation. Then the director assembled an international cast and brought them to South Africa, where the rolling plains and majestic mountains provided an effective substitute for the American frontier, just as Spain once doubled for it in Sergio Leone's spaghetti Westerns. Anchoring the film is the memorable Mads Mikkelson, currently finishing his run as television's Hannibal, whose lean, expressive features seem ideally suited to the kind of rugged hero typified by Shane, Marshall Will Kane in High Noon, the Outlaw Josey Wales and the nameless stranger in High Plains Drifter, all sources on which Levring clearly drew in creating The Salvation. On the strength of Mikkelsen's performance, and that of Jeffrey Dean Morgan as his chief nemesis, The Salvation has racked up some strong reviews, but as I watched the film, I found myself curiously unmoved, as Levring checked off the boxes on his list of Western motifs. Everything is beautifully executed, but all of it feels like an empty genre exercise. It has none of the fun, the lowdown, pulpy indulgence that made Westerns popular in the first place. More on that after we talk about the story.
The Salvation was shot digitally by Levring's usual cinematographer, Jens Schlosser (on the Ari Alexa Plus, according to IMDb). Post-production was completed on a digital intermediate, from which MPI Media's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray was presumably sourced by direct digital transfer. (The Region B Blu-ray released earlier this year in France was encoded as 1080/50i; the site review can be found here.) The image has been heavily manipulated in post-production to create a painterly, historical appearance, with deep, saturated earth tones that dominate the daytime scenes and an overcranked contrast that gives the night scenes an almost hallucinatory quality. However, these are obvious stylistic choice by the filmmakers, and the Blu-ray cannot be faulted for reproducing them accurately. Levring's meticulous construction of the American West, part period re-creation, part storybook daydream à la Sergio Leone, swirls in tiny detail through every frame down to the last particle of dust and drop of blood. If the image occasionally looks too digital for one's taste, as it sometimes did for mine, blame it on the limitations of modern digital photography, which hasn't yet caught up to the textures and romance of 35mm film (though it's getting there). Black levels are generally quite good, though a touch inconsistent, because of the varying levels of contrast. Unlike the French release, MPI's version occupies a BD-50, which allows the average bitrate to come in just under 35 Mbps. For digitally acquired material, that is luxurious.
The Salvation has an impressively atmospheric 5.1 sound mix, encoded on Blu-ray in lossless DTS-HD MA, that constantly reminds the viewer of the windswept wildness of the landscape where Jon Jensen battles the savagery of his enemies. Even as Jon and his brother await the train's arrival in the opening scenes, the wind whips around them, and it recurs throughout the film. Horses galloping, stage coach wheels turning, gun shots, ropes, spurs, the creak of boots on wooden floors—all the classic sounds associated with the genre can be heard distinctly and with purpose on The Salvation's soundtrack. Most of the dialogue is spoken in English, and it is clear and well-placed. A small amount of dialogue is in subtitled Danish. The score by Danish composer Kasper Winding is a convincing pastiche of Western and mariachi music, both heavy on mournful guitars. As is typical on MPI releases, an alternate PCM 2.0 soundtrack is available.
The Region B-locked edition of The Salvation released in France in January 2015 (reviewed here) contained no extras. MPI has included several informative extras with this edition, which is marked as being locked for Region A.
Throughout the interviews included with this Blu-ray edition, people are asked about the multi-national nature of the cast and crew for The Salvation. They typically respond (and justly so) that the American West was settled by a melting pot of nationalities and ethnicities. No one found it odd when Sergio Leone took a combined cast of U.S. and Italian actors to Spain to make his "spaghetti" Westerns. It's just as acceptable for Levring to mix U.S., British, Danish, Scottish and Corsican actors in Johannesburg to create a "herring" Western. Whether other Danish directors will follow his example remains to be seen. Everyone interviewed talks about how making a Western was the fulfillment of a childhood dream, which leads one to suspect that there are others who would jump at the same chance. Just remember to write a first act next time. The Blu-ray is solid; decide for yourself about the film.
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