West 11 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

West 11 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 28, 2024

Michael Winner's "West 11" (1963) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new program with critic Matthew Sweet and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Reigon-B "locked".

Had Michael Winner made Play It Cool (1962), West 11 (1963), The Girl-Getters a.k.a. The System (1964), and The Jokers (1967) in France, he would have been a very different director. But he did not. Winner made them in the United Kingdom, where they did not perform particularly well, and after Hannibal Brooks (1969) his career was permanently redirected.

So, what did the British miss? They missed that what Winner was doing was not all that different from what the Nouvelle Vague crew was doing at the same time in France. For example, West 11 has a lot in common with Breathless (1960) and Band of Outsiders (1964). The Girl-Getters and Masculin Féminin (1966) are very close relatives, too. Play it Cool and Lola (1961) can make a terrific double bill as well. In fact, Play it Cool is such a perfect film that Winner did not even have to make it in France to see his career blooming in the best way possible. It should have been a huge hit in the United Kingdom and a great sell overseas.

The British also missed that Winner was equally good when directing hot stars and completely unknown young actors. Indeed, if one compares the work Winner did with Oliver Reed and the work Jean-Luc Godard did with Jean-Paul Belmondo, one would quickly discover seemingly endless similarities, especially in terms of how the personalities of these two great actors were utilized to shape a film’s identity. Winner was not as bold as Godard was while operating the camera and making framing choices, but any of the four films that are mentioned at the top of this article instantly reveals that he had a clear understanding of where cinema was heading. (In an exclusive program, critic Matthew Sweet speculates that at the time Winner was essentially an exploitation-lite director, but this could not be further from the truth. The films Winner made during this period had far less ‘exploitative’ material than Godard’s A Woman Is a Woman (1961) and Vivre sa vie (1962)).

In West 11, a young and very handsome Alfred Lynch plays Joe Becket, a free-floating Londoner who is fully aware that he is wasting the best years of his life. Because he is unable to figure out a way out of his misery, Becket grows angrier by the day, jeopardizing the last relationships that give a somewhat normal structure to his existence.

Following a casual encounter with Dickie Dyce (Eric Portman), an ex-army officer-turned-small-time criminal, Becket is offered a chance to earn his dream ticket to the world of permanent happiness. All he must do is take out Dyce’s very wealthy aunt (Marie Ney), who lives alone in the countryside and does not have a clue that she has been a moving target for months. Initially, Becket hesitates, but after the voices in his head interfere reaches back to Dyce, and together they design the perfect murder.

Several sections of West 11 boast unmissable noirish qualities, which are very effectively enhanced by a fine jazzy soundtrack courtesy of Stanley Black. This relationship and Becket’s decision to go down a very dangerous path make it easy to compare West 11 to Elevator to the Gallows (1958) as well.

But West 11 is not a film noir. It is a time capsule that values realism as much as the classic British ‘kitchen sink’ dramas did. This happens to be the reason why the perfect murder is not the main event in it, which of course makes it easy to compare it to the films that the Nouvelle Vague directors made.

The cast also includes Kathleen Breck, who is Becket’s on-again off-again girlfriend, and Diana Dors, who plays a lonely abandoned wife searching for a new man. Kathleen Harrison is Becket’s elderly mother. A young David Hemmings can be spotted playing a rowdy thug as well.

Winner’s director of photography was Otto Heller, whose credits include such iconic British films as The Ladykillers (1955), Peeping Tom (1960), and Alfie (1966).

West 11 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, West 11 arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal.

The release introduces a very beautiful recent restoration of West 11. Indeed, excluding a few darker areas where some shadow nuances could have been handled a little bit better to preserve existing detail, I think that West 11 looks as good as it can in 1080p. For example, in areas with plenty of natural light, close-ups and wider panoramic shots look fantastic. Indoor footage looks impressive as well. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections, so even though sporadic density fluctuations are noticeable, all visuals have a very solid organic appearance. Image stability is excellent. The entire film looks clean and healthy, too. My score is 4.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

West 11 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The jazzy score is quite interesting and effectively enhances the desired atmosphere. I thought that some of the dynamic contrasts it produces were very nice, but you have to keep in mind that West 11 was made with a modest budged in the early 1960s, which means that the original soundtrack has easily recognizable limitations. The upper register was clear and very stable. Also, I did not encounter any dropouts, pops, or crackle to report.

West 11 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with Matthew Sweet - in this exclusive new program, critic Matthew Sweet discusses West 11 and its placement in Michael Winner's body of work, as well as the era in which the film emerged from. In English, not subtitled. (22 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for West 11. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

West 11 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Michael Winner will always be remembered for the big cult films he directed in the second half of his illustrious career, and specifically Death Wish and The Mechanic. However, despite being very different, some of his earliest films are just as good. Had Winner made them in France, where at the time the Nouvelle Vague crew was shooting very similar films, I think that the progression of his career would have been drastically different. West 11 is one of these early films. It is a good time capsule, with the appearance of a film noir that values realism as much as the classic British 'kitchen sink' dramas did. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.