Dead Europe (2012)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Featurette-Making Of-The Making of Dead Europe (14:25) Gallery-Photo Gallery-Poster Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2012
Running Time	80:18
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Tony Krawitz
Studio Distributor	Transmission Films	Starring	Ewen Leslie Marton Csokas Kodi Smit-McPhee Jean-François Balmer Yigal Naor William Zappa Françoise Lebrun
Case	Amaray-Opaque
RPI	?	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     The parents of Isaac (Ewen Leslie) migrated from Greece to Australia after the end of WW2 and have never returned. Isaac, a successful photographer, is about to have an exhibition of his pictures in Athens and when his father dies unexpectedly Isaac takes his ashes back to Greece to be scattered near the family’s ancestral village in the mountains. In Athens, Isaac meets his cousin Eleni (Iliana Mavromati) and at his uncle’s house he becomes aware that there is a dark secret behind his father’s decision to migrate to Australia. With Eleni and Andreas (Thanos Samaras) Isaac returns to his parent’s village and there hears of a curse laid upon his family because of a Jewish boy who, during WW2, was hidden from the Nazis in the village. Isaac is sceptical about curses but follows a trail which first leads him to Gerry (Jean-Francois Balmer), a friend of his father living in Paris, and then to Isaac’s brother Nico (Marton Csokas) in Budapest. Nico knows the truth, and had fled the family and Australia some years before.

     Dead Europe, based upon the book of the same name by author Christos Tsiolkas (The Slap), is far more complex than the synopsis above indicates. The journey of Isaac is just the surface story around which the themes of Dead Europe circulate, for Dead Europe is a journey into the dead heart of Europe, of history, crime and the burden of guilt handed down through the generations, of the anti-Semitism and xenophobia that is still all too prevalent in western European society. The film is also about the lost souls of Europe; the refugees, the gypsies, the Jews, the young boys caught up in the sex slave trade. These are the forgotten victims of Europe, personified in the film by the refugee boy Josef (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and the young pregnant refugee Amina (Ania Bukstein) who has her own prejudices. Through them and others Isaac must confront the truth about the past and the burden of guilt that is handed down through the generations.

     Dead Europe packs a lot into its short running time of 80 minutes. Director Tony Krawitz (Jewboy (2005)) keeps the scenes flowing and gives the film an almost a documentary feel, with fragmentary scenes and scene changes that are very abrupt, with loud sound design with the change. Dead Europe is also filmed using moving hand held cameras which I suppose is to enhance the documentary feel, but which sometimes comes across as distracting. At other times, for example where news footage of the riots in Athens is blended into the film, it works better. Yet while fragmentary Dead Europe is held together by two excellent performances, one by Ewen Leslie as Isaac who appears in almost every scene and the second a compelling performance by Kodi Smit-McPhee, who is magnificent in a small but essential part.

     Dead Europe takes on the broadest of themes in its short running time and has perhaps bitten off more than it can chew; in trying to cover so much it becomes fragmentary and occasionally loses focus, such as in the sex scenes. Nevertheless Dead Europe is a complex, powerful and disturbing film that should be seen.

Video

     Dead Europe is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, the original ratio, and is 16x9 enhanced.

     Detail in close-ups is fine but during a lot of the wider shots the print of Dead Europe looks quite soft, perhaps due to the moving handheld cameras. Colours are also muted; this is not a Europe of vibrant colours, but a Europe with a dead heart. Blacks are good and shadow detail fine, brightness, contract and skin tones natural and consistent.

     The print shows minor ghosting with movement but otherwise marks and artefacts are absent.

     There are no subtitles but clear white subtitles translate the non-English dialogue.

     The layer change at 50:09 resulted in the slight pause.

     A soft print with a waving camera but no technical issues.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track at 448 Kbps.

     Dialogue is clear and centred and easy to understand despite the various accents. The surrounds were not overused, but produce music, crowd noises and the occasionally panning effect, such as passing cars. The sub-woofer added bass where appropriate.

     The original music by Jed Kurzel used European ethnic themes to good effect. It provided good support to the visuals and was well rendered in the audio mix.

     Lip synchronisation is fine.

     The audio track was effective, doing what was required.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

The Making of Dead Europe (14:25)

     This featurette consists of behind the scenes and film footage plus interviews with Tony Krawitz (director), Emile Sherman and Liz Watts (producers), Louise Fox (screenwriter), Fiona Crombie (production designer), Germain McMicking (cinematographer), Emily Seresin (costume designer) and Ewen Leslie (Isaac). Items discussed include the book upon which the film was based, shooting in Europe, preparation, casting and the director’s intentions. Short but interesting.

Stills Gallery

     12 film stills. Silent, use the remote to advance to the next still.

Theatrical Posters

     3 film posters. Silent, use the remote to advance.

Trailer (2:13)

    The film trailer.

     There are currently no releases of Dead Europe in other regions.

     Dead Europe is a journey into the dead heart of Europe, of history, crime and the burden of guilt that is handed down through the generations. It has perhaps bitten off more than it can chew, nevertheless Dead Europe is a complex, powerful and disturbing film that should be seen.

     The video and audio are fine. The principal extra is worth watching.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall