Under the Silver Lake Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Under the Silver Lake Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 1, 2019

The venerable Merriam Webster dictionary defines pastiche as:

literary, artistic, musical, or architectural work that imitates the style of previous work.

Interestingly, film is not included in the media and/or Arts listed in that definition, and yet in some ways it’s probably inarguable that the often deliberately opaque Under the Silver Lake is indeed a pastiche. That said, it may be difficult to discern exactly what “ingredients” from which pre-existing elements Under the Silver Lake is referencing and/or paying homage to, which may or may not be one of the film’s chief allures, depending on which side of the fence you personally come down on with regard to needing to have every jot and tittle of a movie overtly explained. Some sequences in Under the Silver Lake will jump out immediately to devoted cineastes, including a longish quasi-montage (replete with quasi-optical dissolves) of the film's hero, a seemingly unemployed young man named Sam (Andrew Garfield), trailing a blonde mystery woman in his car in a virtual tour around Los Angeles, which obviously echoes similar scenes (in San Francisco) in Alfred Hitchcock's meditation on obsession, Vertigo (and it's notable that director David Robert Mitchell and cinematographer Michael Gioulakis utilize the so-called "vertigo effect" on at least one occasion). There's also a brief moment of a gorgeous blonde appearing up through the water at the end of swimming pool which seems to deliberately evoke a now famous image from what was Marilyn Monroe's final (and unfinished) film, Something's Gotta Give (a "reconstructed" version of that film, including that sequence, is available as a supplement in Forever Marilyn).

Sam lives in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, residing in one of those midcentury modern apartment complexes built around a central inner courtyard with a pool. He’s not shy about spying on two of his neighbors, an older woman (Wendy Vaden Heuvel) who likes to traipse around topless on her balcony while tending to her pet parrot, and Sarah (Riley Keough), who lives in a downstairs apartment tending to her pet dog. The film is a virtual smorgasbord of voyeurism, both within the context of Sam’s arguably illicit surveillance of several characters, but also presentationally in terms of how writer and director David Robert Mitchell literally frames things — at times, there’s a “POV” aspect (notably in some of the driving sequences), and at other times, it’s like the camera itself is spying on the participants in the story, ironically even when individual shots are clearly given over to Sam spying on various people.

Since Mitchell isn’t shy about evoking Hitchcock (the director’s surname shows up overtly on a gravestone in one moment, though there’s some interesting info on that marker in the production design supplement included on this disc), it’s probably not too far of a stretch to state that this film has a pretty deliberate “McGuffin”, namely the disappearance of Sarah almost immediately after she pretty obviously comes on to Sam one night. This disappearance takes place within the confines of two other mysteries, the disappearance of a multi-billionaire named Jefferson Sevence (Chris Gann), and a disturbing series of dog killings in the Silver Lake neighborhood. Just looking over the very few plot points outlined in this very paragraph may give some inkling of Under the Silver Lake’s decidedly outré sensibilities, but there are also subplots dealing with the music industry, conspiracy theorists and, ultimately, “spiritual ascension” believers, all woven together (more or less, anyway) into some kind of delirious hallucinogenic experience Sam is having.

Mitchell is obviously a stylist of considerable technique, and this film is stuffed to its veritable gills (a fitting metaphor given a central underwater sequence) with bizarre events featuring what might be termed a Felliniesque assortment of extras. But I'm not sure Mitchell ever quite manages to grasp some kind of metaphysical brass ring he seems to be going for, and while the film is never less than engaging and often cryptically intriguing, some may wonder if it ever really means anything. Mitchell appears to be aiming for the same kind of "everything is interconnected" ambience that informed, say, Lost, but he arguably dilutes his thesis with what may be for some a too odd and random assortment of "clues" that Sam uncovers on his path toward — well, if not “enlightenment”, at least a bit more comprehension.

Despite the flagrant excesses this film almost tends to wallow in, I found a lot of Under the Silver Lake to be unusually compelling at least visually and aurally, if not completely from a story perspective. It’s obvious that Mitchell is almost offering a combo platter of Hitchcock and David Lynch here, and while not always successful, it’s an audacious, ambitious effort that those interested in cinematic curios and perhaps unanswerable mysteries may get at least an occasional kick out of.

My colleague Brian Orndorf was considerably less enthused about Under the Silver Lake. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

Under the Silver Lake Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Under the Silver Lake is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. This was shot with Arri Alexas and I'm assuming it was finished at a 2K DI. Lionsgate is entering the MOD BD-R arena that has been staked out by some other labels, and for those wondering about any quality differences, from a purely presentational aspect, I found nothing particularly problematic here, other than the fact that the disc didn't want to load right away on one of my standalone players. As mentioned above, Under the Silver Lake has style in abundance, if for some arguably not much else, and this transfer preserves the slightly surreal, dreamlike quality of the film very well. Detail levels on things like fabrics and even some sets are often impressive looking, and fine detail on elements like the tiny hexagonal floor tiles in Sam's bathroom or even some of the line detail in some animated sequences supposedly culled from a graphic novel by a conspiracy theorist obsessed with the history of Silver Lake resolve with precision. There are some noticeable variances in clarity with regard to some of the POV material, including some shots from Sam's car that are fisheyed and make me wonder if perhaps they may have been done with a GoPro, even if that isn't listed on the IMDb (see screenshot 18). The palette is quite vividly suffused throughout much of the presentation. As tends to be the case with some Arri captured material, I found shadow definition to be a little on the murky side in several dimly lit interior scenes.

Under the Silver Lake Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Under the Silver Lake regularly engages the surround channels in its DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, courtesy of both Disasterpeace's original score and a glut of source cues underpinning various sequences. There are also a lot of crowd scenes in this film where the spill of conversation and other party noises dot the side and rear channels winningly. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free presentation.

Under the Silver Lake Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• What Lies Under the Silver Lake: Production Design (1080p; 10:25) is a really engaging piece with Production Designer Michael T. Perry, with both interview segments and some really interesting snippets from the film with little "color swatches" lining the bottom of the frame seeking to show the palettes being employed.


• Beautiful Specter: Musical Neo-Noir (1080p; 9:30) is another interesting featurette devoted to the film's rather interesting combo platter of original score and source cues. Disasterpeace's Rich Vreeland contributes some interviews.

Under the Silver Lake Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I've watched Under the Silver Lake twice now in quick succession, and in what may be a troubling sign (for me, if for no one else), I actually ended up with more questions after the second viewing than the first. As Production Designer Michael T. Perry alludes to in the engaging featurette with him included on this disc as a supplement, this is a film of many layers, and my hunch is some simply may not have the patience or interest to take the time to peel them all back. When added to the fact that whatever is underlying all those layers may ultimately be kind of silly and even arguably meaningless, that may make Under the Silver Lake a hard sell for some. All of that said, however, I was kind of fascinated with this film, especially for its admittedly hyperbolic stylistic proclivities. Lionsgate's MOD BD-ROM offers no real quality issues, for those considering a purchase.