7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
The arrival of an engineer and his colleagues from Tehran in a remote village in Iranian Kurdistan. Assumed by the locals – with whom they form an ambivalent relationship – to be archaeologists or telephone engineers, the visitors’ behaviour and keen interest in the health of an ailing old woman seem strange and their true motives are shrouded in mystery.
Starring: Bahman Ghobadi, Behzad DoraniForeign | 100% |
Drama | 99% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Farsi: LPCM 2.0
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Richard Alpert was a well respected Harvard professor who became infamous when his research with Timothy Leary into the therapeutic effects of psychedelic drugs like LSD and psilocybin landed both of the once august teachers on the unemployment line. Alpert continued his quest into mystical topics for the rest of the sixties, including a pilgrimage to India. A few years after his dismissal from Harvard he was gifted by his guru with the spiritual name of Ram Dass (“servant of God”) and authored what many consider to be the seminal tome of what would ultimately become known as New Age philosophy, the 1971 opus Be Here Now. That three word maxim seemed to sum up the (already dying?) hippie philosophy of remaining in the present moment, not letting past peccadilloes weigh down the soul and certainly not worrying about what tomorrow might bring. Alpert’s title might not have the negative connotations of the famous aphorism found in the Gospel of Matthew (“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”), and his fostering of the idea of residing in the now seemed to be a joyous formulation that was repeated by thousands of global acolytes as an unabashedly religious mantra. While the very fact that something at least similar to “be here now” had appeared in the Bible thousands of years before Alpert coined his famous phrase serves as proof of the longevity of the concept, many Westerners who didn’t dabble in Eastern mysticism probably couldn’t have cared less that much the same idea runs rampant through all sorts of regional religious texts and even more secular offerings like stories and poems. That ethos is a deep seated facet of Iranian lore, and it is front and center in the often hypnotic 1999 film by Iran’s master filmmaker Abbas Kiorastami. Despite having received rapturous reviews not just for this film, but for his previous works like Taste of Cherry, Kiorastami remains almost shockingly unknown (or at least underappreciated) by even those who consider themselves well informed cineastes. That tendency is supported by the fact that while The Wind Will Carry Us was ostensibly released in 1999, it took several more years for the film to be fully appreciated by the global critical community. This new Cohen release will hopefully help the film and Kiorastami to achieve a larger body of appreciators.
The Wind Will Carry Us is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Film Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Those who have seen the film in previous home video incarnations may initially feel like this is something of a disappointment, though I would caution a careful examination of such sentiments. While the palette here is a good deal cooler, even drab, than on DVD editions of the title, those DVD editions seem (to my eyes, anyway) to suffer from artificial color and contrast boosting. Here, things are a good deal more subtle, with a range of beiges and browns in the general backgrounds (and even in the village) that looks accurate, if not overwhelmingly vivid. As Rosenbaum mentions in his commentary, Kiarostami only very rarely indulges in close-ups, and so fine detail is somewhat mitigated. That said, when there are close-ups, detail is at very good if not outstanding levels (see screenshot 1). Contrast and black levels are generally quite strong here, though some of the low light sequences (including an important segment inside an almost totally black room) lack significant shadow detail. Despite some telecine wobble evident in the opening credits, the rest of the image remains stable. Fine grain is natural looking and consistent.
The Wind Will Carry Us features an LPCM 2.0 track in Farsi. Sound design here is paramount, even if it is largely subtle and nuanced, and this track supports everything with excellent fidelity, if an attendant narrowness at times. Dialogue is presented very cleanly and clearly, and the ambient environmental effects are extremely well prioritized, adding a bit of depth to the proceedings. The track exhibits no issues of any kind to warrant worry.
Let The Wind Will Carry Us carry you away into its dreamlike yet still kind of gritty ambience, and chances are you will discover one of the master filmmakers of our age (if you're not already aware of Abbas Kiarostami). The interplay between Behzad Dorani as the Engineer and Farzad Sohrabi as the (adorable) little boy who becomes his tourguide around the village is sweet, but there's more enigmatic content available with regard to some of the grown up villagers. The Wind Will Carry Us is intentionally discursive and doesn't give up its secrets easily, but it's one of the most purely evocative films you're likely to see this (or any) year. Highly recommended.
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