The Short History of the Long Road Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

The Short History of the Long Road Blu-ray Movie Review

American Vagabond.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 19, 2020

One of the sadder films in The Criterion Collection’s immense The Complete Films of Agnès Varda set was Varda’s 1985 effort Vagabond, a film whose original French title was Sans toit ni loi, which translates roughly to “with neither shelter nor law” or alternatively "without shelter or law". That original title may hint, along with the word vagabond itself, that the film was about a homeless young woman attempting to find a life for herself despite harrowing circumstances. The Short History of the Long Road , another film written and directed by a woman (Ani Simon-Kennedy), might be seen as an American companion piece to Varda’s film, since it, too, documents the trials and tribulations of a young woman named Nola (an impressive Sabrina Carpenter) who actually does have a bit of shelter in the form of an old camper van that she is initially seen tooling around the southwest in with her father Clint (Steven Ogg). That said, while there is the same (or at least similar) kind of melancholy wafting through this tale as suffused Vagabond, The Short History of the Long Road is considerably more upbeat in terms of how Nola manages to survive as well as maybe even begin to flourish, despite some serious setbacks.

Without revealing too much of a spoiler (avert your eyes now if you don't want any information), suffice it to say that while Nola begins the tale with her father, most of the film is spent documenting a "solo" trip by the young woman, who sets out to find her long estranged mother Cheryl (Maggie Siff). As Clint mentions early in the film, Cheryl "zigged" while Clint and Nola "zagged", and Nola, nursing perhaps unrealistic dreams of what her missing parent might be like, understandably yearns to connect with her mom, especially after the tragedy that leaves her ostensibly alone in the world. There's arguably a bit too much rote material here, as in Nola ending up working for a mechanic (Danny Trejo) in order to get her van fixed in trade, but there's also an emotional honesty to many of the interactions that helps keep this effort at least relatively grounded in truth.

The Short History of the Long Road Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Short History of the Long Road is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of FilmRise and MVD Visual with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. I haven't been able to track down any authoritative technical data on the shoot, but this was obviously digitally captured and I'm assuming was finished at a 2K DI (as always with my reviews, if anyone has verifiable information, Private Message me, and I'll happily update things here). This is often a rather scenic looking presentation, at least when not dealing with the dowdier elements of Nola's on the road existence. Wide southwest vistas are presented with excellent depth of field and a really beautifully burnished palette a lot of the time. Some of the interior footage, as well as some nighttime sequences, can look fairly murky at times (see screenshot 9). There are very minor flirtations with banding during some lighting and/or brightness changes, but nothing that's overly problematic.

The Short History of the Long Road Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Short History of the Long Road features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 tracks. The surround track nicely opens up a lot of the outdoor material, offering more substantially noticeable placement of ambient environmental effects, as well as offering a more robust soundstage for the frequent source cues and underscore. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Short History of the Long Road Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Blooper Reel (1080p; 2:25)


• Photo Gallery (1080i) is authored without a timecode, but does advance automatically, so have the Pause button on your remote handy if you want to linger on any given image.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:59)

The Short History of the Long Road Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Some of The Short History of the Long Road is arguably a bit too sanguine, suggesting perhaps that Nola will never encounter any obstacle she can't overcome, and certainly never going anywhere near the horrors that ultimately await the heroine in Varda's film. Buoyed by a really impressive performance by Carpenter, The Short History of the Long Road should be enjoyed by those who like smaller scale, intimate dramas with a kind of travelogue aspect. Technical merits are generally solid, and The Short History of the Long Road comes Recommended.