7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Inspired by DIY culture and infused with a spirit of rebellion, three Swedish girls decide to form a punk band in the 1980s, even though they possess no musical instruments and are told the genre is dead.
Starring: Mira Barkhammar, Mira Grosin, Liv LeMoyne, Johan Liljemark, Mattias WibergForeign | 100% |
Drama | 59% |
Coming of age | 5% |
Music | 2% |
Comic book | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Swedish: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Swedish: LPCM 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Note: This version of this film is available on Blu-ray as part of Arrow Video's The Lukas Moodysson Collection.
When The New York Times is touting someone as "Sweden's most praised filmmaker since Ingmar Bergman", attention should probably
be
paid, even if some reading that description and then looking at the name of its referent might still be asking, "Lukas who?" Lukas
Moodysson achieved a fair degree of success right out
of the gate with his first feature Show Me Love (which
had
a somewhat more visceral original title, as can be seen on the poster I've included as the "cover image" for that individual listing), but unlike
some "overnight successes", he has never seemed content to rest on his laurels, and has frequently thrown caution at least partially to the wind,
resulting in a rather audacious array of films that vary from bright and breezy to decidedly dark, dour and depressing (maybe that's
where
the Bergman angle might be most relevant, and, yes, that's said in jest, at least kind of). Arrow Video has now aggregated a really appealing
collection of seven Moodysson films, along with the
label's usual penchant for some outstanding supplemental material, handsome packaging and non disc swag.
We Are the Best! is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow lumps all of the films together on their page devoted to the transfers in the hardcover book included with this set, as follows:
All seven films in this collection are presented in their original aspect ratios (1.85:1 for Fucking Åmål, Lilya 4-Ever, Container, and We Are the Best!; 1.66:1 for Together; 1.78:1 for A Hole in My Heart; and 2.35:1 for Mammoth) with their original 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo audio mixes. Container is presented with both Swedish and English narration options in both 5.1 and 2.0.Based solely on the often iffy technique of screenshot comparison, this Arrow release looks largely interchangeable with the Magnolia Pictures Blu- ray. The production design here is given excellent support by the transfer, with a nicely saturated palette and some very expressive detail levels on the "vintage" (i.e., 1980s) outfits. Reds, blues and yellows are especially vibrant. Close-ups offer typically excellent fine detail levels on everything from those selfsame outfits to things like the soundproofing baffles in a recording studio. The presentation has a nicely organic quality throughout, and grain resolution encounters no issues.
Fucking Åmål was restored in 2K by the Swedish Film Institute and approved by director Lukas Moodysson and cinematographer Ulf Brantås. The appearance of the film is the result of an unusual production process. It was shot on 16mm film prior to cutting and then to 35mm duplicate negative which was lit for the final screening copy. For the digital restoration, the original camera negative has been used as source material; this also meant that the optical printer work had to be cut and recreated.
Together was restored in 4K from the original camera negative by the Swedish Film Institute and approved by director Lukas Moodysson and cinematographer Ulf Brantås.
The high definition video masters for the other five films were supplied to Arrow Films by TrustNordisk in association with Memfis Film. Additional restoration work on the digital video master for Container was carried out by R3Store Studios, London.
We Are the Best! features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 audio options in the original Swedish. Perhaps surprisingly given the musical emphasis of the plotline, the actual story here features relatively little on screen playing, and once again Moodysson prefers to utilize so-called "diagetic" underscore courtesy of a glut of source cues that can be heard in passing. Those do provide a bit of surround activity, but a lot of this film's sound design tends to favor front and center placement. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
We Are the Best! serves as as somewhat complementary bookending pair with Show Me Love, in that both films offer a group of young friends, though in this case it's three females instead of two females (and there's not really any sexual undertone here). There's a real sweetness to this tale, and I have to say one of the final scenes was wonderfully funny for me personally since when I was a little boy one of my older sisters hosted a Swedish exchange student from Västerås. Technical merits are solid and the supplements very enjoyable. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
Tillsammans
2000
2004
2006
Fucking Åmål
1998
2002
2009
Adieu au langage
2014
2015
Pionér
2013
Mitt liv som hund
1985
Yin shi nan nu / 飲食男女
1994
După dealuri
2012
Nuovo cinema Paradiso
1988
Bande de filles
2014
Prova d'orchestra
1978
La grande bellezza
2013
En man som heter Ove
2015
2009
Lásky jedné plavovlásky / A Blonde in Love
1965
وجدة
2012