7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A comprehensive history of the medium and art of motion pictures.
Starring: Mark CousinsDocumentary | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English, English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (3 BDs)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of The Complete Story of Film.
The Complete Story of Film encountered so many ultimately hilarious delays in being released on Blu-ray that I started a running joke
with
another
film journalist friend who was getting the same seemingly endless "street date change" announcements from Music Box Films. After each and
every
PR blast alerting us to
yet another delay, I'd ask, "What? Are they including [insert name of
movie released that particular week] now?" Hey, when you've advertised your documentary as the complete story, it had better be
complete, hadn't it? Of course, since people are still evidently making and releasing films up to and including the very day you may be reading
this, a
complete story may be well nigh impossible. One way or the other, the long wait for The Complete Story of Film may be
worth it for those who like a whirlwind tour through decades of international cinema, with an approach which amounts to a more or less "meta"
demonstration of so-called "montage theory", though there may be some stylistic and even content quirks here that could chafe against certain
sensibilities. Written, directed and narrated by Mark Cousins (to frankly varying effect), The Story of Film: An Odyssey was first
broadcast
in 2011, and then a decade later Cousins followed things up with The Story of Film: A New Generation, which premiered at Cannes in
2021.
This Blu-ray collection aggregates both pieces in a four disc set.
Norman, is that you?
The Story of Film: An Odyssey is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Music Box Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in a variety of aspect ratios, but with much of the newer interview footage in 1.78:1. This piece is so gobsmackingly all encompassing that there's simply no way there wouldn't be pretty wide variances in image quality, and that's certainly the case here, though I will say on the whole, while this is ostensibly a progressive presentation, it looked to me like quite a few of the film clips may have had an interlaced element at some point during the workflow, and some in fact looked upscaled. More modern digitally captured productions tend to fare better than some of the film offerings, but that said many of the film offerings have good detail levels and a generally natural appearance. There is a glut of both archival and what I assume was newly shot interview material. The new material has some extremely odd framings at times (see screenshots 1 and 14 for two examples), but offers good clarity and commendable detail levels.
The Story of Film: An Odyssey features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 options. The surround track opens up some of the omnipresent scoring (which kind of hilariously utilizes what I assume is some stock music, some of which sounds almost exactly what they use during the "which house will they choose" segments on HGTV's House Hunters). There is intermittent engagement of the surrounds courtesy of various sound effects as well as some of the actual soundtracks, though I'd argue more with regard to the former element than the latter, especially since so much of this piece covers material either in the silent or monoaural eras. Cousins' lilting brogue is front and center and always easy to discern. Optional English subtitles are available.
The only on disc supplement is a Trailer (HD; 1:27) for The Story of Film: A New Generation, which is offered on Disc Four of this four disc release. However, the very nicely designed quasi-DigiPack (all cardboard which unfolds into five sections, with discs in cardboard sleeves) features a wonderful insert booklet which rather incredibly lists all of the films utilized, so that those interested might go back and do their own independent research.
One of the funniest all time comments someone ever posted about one of my reviews was "I wish reviewers would just stop offering their opinions", and if you feel the same way, The Story of Film: An Odyssey is probably not for you. Cousins is simply full of opinions, and some of them may frankly strike you as being daft, as I'm told the Irish are fond of saying, but others just may take your breath away, if only for a moment. This is an audacious achievement one way or the other and serves as a fascinating example of just how exhaustive one man's approach to a medium can be. Technical merits are generally solid, and The Story of Film: An Odyssey comes Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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