6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A Cape Verdean woman navigates her way through Lisbon, following the scanty physical traces her deceased husband left behind and discovering his secret, illicit life.
Starring: Vitalina Varela, VenturaForeign | 100% |
Drama | 64% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080/50i
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Portuguese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Portuguese: LPCM 2.0
English, Portuguese
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Vitalina Varela is the name of both this film and the woman starring in it, and so one might reasonably infer that this is a documentary offering a real life story. Vitalina Varela (the human being, not the film) first showed up in Pedro Costa's Horse Money, offering a harrowing (supposedly autobiographical) anecdote about being a Cape Verde native who came to Lisbon to attend the funeral of her husband, arriving after much interstitial trauma to find out that he had already been buried. Vitalina Varela (the film, not the person) attempts to "flesh out" that basic storyline, and so, again, might be thought of as either a documentary or perhaps alternatively a somewhat fictionalized dramatic retelling of these events. But anyone who has seen Horse Money will probably already have an inkling that Vitalina Varela offers a presentational style that is about as far from a verité sensibility as, say, Federico Fellini is from D.A. Pennebaker. Vitalina Varela is one of the most audacious films from a purely stylistic standpoint that I personally recall, but the film's elegant, at times almost completely static and tableau driven, imagery can be at direct odds with a "narrative" that doesn't flow as much as it lurches to and fro in an intentionally disjunctive, nonlinear way.
Vitalina Varela is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Second Run with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.33:1. I've been on record since the
widespread advent of digital capture that I personally often prefer RED material to Arri Alexa material, with one reason being to my eyes Arri captures
can look a bit on the murky side under less than optimal lighting conditions. Consider this a prime example of the maxim that every rule (and/or
preference) has an exception, as this was shot with Arri Alexas and, as mentioned above, is virtually light free a lot of the time, but the imagery is still
often breathtakingly detailed and precise looking. Both Costa and cinematographer Leonardo Simões aim light so deliberately that while large sections
of the frame can indeed be swathed in shadows, there is still at least part of the frame with frequently very commendable levels of fine detail
in various objects, either inanimate or (just as often) faces. There is some occasional crush that occurs, especially in the corners of the frame
where things like the priest's vestments or frankly even some body parts can get swallowed up by the looming darkness that permeates this film.
Despite the interlaced presentation, I didn't notice any troubling anomalies.
Note: This disc comes branded with the "Region A, B, C" pyramid. While I've never encountered this particular situation before, I could not
get this disc to load properly in my standalone Region A players (I got the copyright warning and the Second Run logo, then a blank screen), though
interestingly, the disc booted without any problem at all in my (Region A) PC drive. The
disc played fine in my multi-region player which was set to Region B. I'm not quite sure where the "ghost in the machine" (and/or disc, as the case
may
be) is, but I'm reporting this in case anyone else in Region A encounters any difficulties.
Vitalina Varela's sound design is in its own way as evocative as the imagery, and the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track offers some well rendered surround activity that is frequently on the surreal side. Huge waves of ambient environmental sounds can waft through the side and rear channels, and there's an almost ubiquitous use of the surround channels to relay sonic information that isn't happening within the frame, as in background clamor or sounds in other nearby rooms that various characters hear. As mentioned above, there actually isn't a ton of dialogue or even narration, but all spoken material is delivered cleanly and clearly without any problems whatsoever. Optional English subtitles are available.
- Teaser 1 (1080i; 00:42)
- Teaser 2 (1080i; 1:15)
- Teaser 3 (1080i; 00:53)
- Teaser 4 (1080i; 1:49)
If you're looking for a film with a strong narrative thrust, snappy dialogue and wide open spaces, Vitalina Varela is probably not a wise choice. If, however, you're willing to let this film's weird, almost hallucinogenic, spell work its peculiar magic, Vitalina Varela is a really bracing viewing experience. Costa's imagery is consistently riveting, even when there's next to nothing happening, which is certainly a unique achievement. Technical merits are solid and the supplementary package very interesting. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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