7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
A look at the brief occupation of Timbuktu by militant Islamic rebels.
Starring: Ibrahim Ahmed, Toulou Kiki, Abel Jafri, Fatoumata Diawara, Hichem YacoubiForeign | 100% |
Drama | 12% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.38:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Arabic: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Arabic: Dolby Digital 5.1
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Timbuktu is one of those place names that is so redolent sometimes people don’t stop to think about where it actually is. Could you identify what country this ancient city is in? If you knew that the answer is Mali, you may also have enough contextual awareness to piece together what’s going on in Timbuktu’s early going. Mali has been yet another battleground state for jihadist movements, and in fact the film’s titular city was under the sway of just that sort of fundamentalist mindset for a year or so starting in 2012. As news reports documented in heartbreaking fashion at the time, these “conquerors” were almost willfully abusive to the region’s cultural heritage, smashing and destroying icons that had withstood other, more temperate, assaults for untold centuries if not millennia. A line of totems is serving as target practice as Timbuktu opens, but soon the oppressive tactics of the jihadis have turned from inanimate objects to humans. A devastating indictment of radicalism, Timbuktu also manages to be surprisingly objective in its depiction of these rabid “believers.” While the film gets into some of the less appealing aspects of that good old bugaboo of current American political chatter, sharia law, some of Timbuktu’s most potent emotional elements reside in the vagaries of chance and misfortune.
Timbuktu is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Media Group with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.38:1. Digitally shot with the Arri Alexa, Timbuktu makes evocative use of its Mauritanian (filling in for Mali) locations, offering a somewhat narrow but still nicely variegated palette that emphasizes the dusty beiges and ochres of the sand dunes and villages, while also exploiting brilliant pops of color like the bright turquoise and teal dress a local shaman woman wears (see screenshot 4). The image is excellently sharp and precise, resolving potentially problematic elements like swirls of sand effortlessly. Contrast is also strong and consistent, providing an unexpected amount of shadow detail in some nighttime sequences. Close-ups offer abundant fine detail in everything from dust streaked faces to pill on fabrics. There are no issues with image instability or compression artifacts.
Timbuktu features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track (in a variety of languages including Arabic, French and even English), though once again Cohen has had this disc authored to default to the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 track instead, so make sure to check your audio settings when watching the film. The soundtrack is gorgeously layered and spacious sounding, with beautiful if subtle ambient environmental effects creating a vivid representation of the wide open spaces. Dialogue is very cleanly presented and the fascinating score Amin Bouhafa which combines ethnic sounds with a more traditional Western symphonic ambience, is expertly embedded in the surround channels. Fidelity is top notch. Dynamic range is a bit subdued, but gets brief bursts of activity courtesy of some gunfire and the like. There are no issues of any kind to cause concern on this well rendered track.
Timbuktu received a well deserved Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language film, and hopefully this new Blu-ray release will bring it an even wider audience. Anyone on either side of the American political spectrum who has listened to talking heads pontificate on the perceived horrors of sharia law would do well to spend a bit of time with this unsettling film. Almost willfully quiet (until things burst out of control on a couple of horrifying occasions), Timbuktu, like an imam in the film itself, makes its case urgently but without resorting to screed like tendencies. Technical merits are first rate, and Timbuktu comes Highly recommended.
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