kal
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| Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 2:26 am Post subject: Breaking the Waves [Blu-ray] |
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Breaking the Waves (Criterion Collection) (Blu-ray + DVD) (1996)
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| Quote: | Undoubtedly von Trier's masterpiece, 'Breaking the Waves' is also his most emotionally resonant, fully formed offering to date. Watson and Skarsgård deliver fearless, world-class performances that see them both at the top of their game – which is quite impressive, as this was Watson's first feature film. Filled with tremendous beauty that demonstrates what a captivating – if often deliberately provocative – filmmaker von Trier was and continues to be. The supplements on this disc are quite interesting and manage to offer some new insight into the thinking of the director. With a spectacular image and wonderful sound, this comes highly recommended.
The Video: Sizing Up the Picture
'Breaking the Waves' has been given a tremendous 4K digital restoration that was supervised by director Lars von Trier. The resulting image and 1080p AVC/MPEG-4 encoded transfer give the film a distinct warmth and attention to detail it has not had in any of its previous home video incarnations. The image has been enhanced so that skin tones, textures, and environments look far more lifelike than before. The picture now maintains a hearty earthen hue that remains consistent throughout, while avoiding making the image look as though it the picture was shot with the aid of filters.
Fine detail is easily detectable throughout, making facial features and textures prominent without losing them in the layer of grain present in the film. Addiitonally, contrast levels are very high, affording the rich, robust black levels that exhibit an impressive and consistent grayscale. Whites are even, and manage to avoid the blown out look of previous iterations of the film, while fine detail remains present even in the darkest sections of the film. Colors are bright, but the palette of the film is mostly drab grays and earth tones. Still, a few bright reds, blues, and greens manage to peek out from time to time, and offer a glimpse of the vividness this transfer is capable of.
There are a handful of imperfections that are still present, but they only work to remind the viewer of the manner in which the film was made, and actually serve to enhance what is overall a very nice viewing experience.
The Audio: Rating the Sound
Von Trier also supervised the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix given to this edition of the film and the result is a warm, immersive listening experience that utilizes atmospheric elements as strongly as it does the film's dialogue. In that sense, actors are very easily heard, while variations on accents ring true throughout the film. Additional elements are added, though they are deliberately kept sparse. Still, certain sounds continue to ring true during scenes like Bess and Jan's wedding reception, and during the moments, where automobiles or boats play a part. Because portions of the film can be quieter, the seemingly benign aspects of the mix then become tremendous in their impact, making the even larger moments that much more exuberant in their expression. This is, of course, in reference to von Trier's use of '70s music from Elton John, Rod Stewart, Leonard Cohen, and the magnificent David Bowie.
Most of the dialogue is handled through the center channel, with the odd off-screen addition being handled through the front or sometimes rear channels. The front right and left does most of the heavy lifting with regard to the music cues, which also extends nicely into the rear channels at times. There's some LFE used to punch up the sounds of helicopter rotors and boat engines, but it is handled with great subtlety. Balance and imaging is also top notch throughout.
This is a great sounding mix on a film that surprisingly makes good use from it. |
Kal
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