The Giants (Les géants) (2011)

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General		Extras
Category	Action Adventure	Music Video-Across the River by The Bony King of Nowhere (2:56) Featurette-Making Of-Making Of Featurette (3:08) Theatrical Trailer-Theatrical Trailer (1:38) Trailer-Palace Films Trailers (8:18)
Rating
Year Of Production	2011
Running Time	80:12
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (48:42)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Bouli Lanners
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Paul Bartel Zacharie Chasseriaud Marthe Keller Karim Leklou Martin Nissen
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$29.95	Music	Bram Van Parys

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Unknown	French 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	English (Burned In)	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Belgian filmmaker Bouli Lanners directs his third feature film, The Giants (Les géants) after his debut Ultranova (2005) and follow-up, Eldorado (2008). Lanners has only recently moved into making feature films; he is a seasoned Belgian actor with 59 credited appearances to date, including the 2012 Cannes Festival, Palme d'Or nominated Rust and Bone (De rouille et d'os) by Jacques Audiard and co-starring Marion Cotillard.

     The Giants began as a film for children but became something more when Lanners encountered some teenagers on a trip to the Belgian countryside and reflected on their transition from childhood into adolescence. The plot, as outlined from the film's website at Palace films here sets the action/adventure during summertime. Brothers Seth (Martin Nissen) (16) and Zac (Zacharie Chasseriaud) (“13 and three quarters”) have again been left to fend for themselves by their neglectful single mother at the family’s cottage in the verdant and isolated Luxembourg countryside. Just like every holiday before, they’ve resigned themselves to another mundane summer, but things shift dramatically after they strike up a friendship with local kid Danny (Paul Bartel) and the most perilous – and greatest – journey of their lives begins. Together, as the boys scavenge for food, steal their grandfather’s car and pursue harebrained schemes to make money, they find their bravado repeatedly punctured by the rigours of an adult world they cannot comprehend.

     The adults in the film are presented as caricatures. Like in a fairy tale they serve to highlight the choices of the three main characters to deal with each scenario they encounter as they leave childhood and enter adolescence; note how they are always positive and optimistic. The Giants has obvious references to Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the films The Outsiders and Stand By Me from the 1980s. Cinematographer Jean-Paul De Zaeytijd uses many natural scenes for establishing shots in an homage to Terrence Malick and perhaps Yasujiro Ozu. The soundtrack by Bram Van Parys uses country folk tunes to support the remoteness of the Belgian countryside setting.

     The Giants won the SACD and Art Cinema Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. Its sense of 'realism' shouldn't be confused with fellow Belgian filmmakers, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, nor is The Giants an homage to Francophone Belgian cinema. Rather, as Lanners points out, think of The Giants as inspired by the Anglophone cinema of Mike Leigh and Ken Loach.

Video

     There are many beautiful establishing shots in this film which highlight the Belgian countryside ( although the film was shot in Luxembourg).

     The aspect ratio is 2:35:1, 16x9 enhanced for widescreen televisions.

     Jean-Paul de Zaetijd’s excellent cinematography looks crisp and sharp. This is a brilliantly shot film.

     Colour stands out in this transfer; there is a deliberate artistic choice throughout to highlight primary colours such as red, green and blue.

     The film is only 80 minutes long and is presented on a 5.83gb DVD, with an average bitrate of 8.24 m/b per sec. In fact the bitrate is constant at 8 to 10m/b per sec, which is outstanding for a DVD transfer.

     Unfortunately there's no option to turn off the subtitles if you are a French speaker, as they are 'burnt-in' in English.

     The RSDL change occurs at 48:42, during a scene transition where the scene fades to black.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
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Film Artefacts
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Audio

     The score features the band, The Bony King of Nowhere (which is a reference to Radiohead, hence the vocal style of the songs) and it evokes a country folk feel throughout the film.

     The main audio track is a Dolby Digital 5.1 track in French encoded at 448 kbps.

     Dialogue is clear and the audio is synchronised.

     As mentioned, the music has a country folk theme, perhaps it's a tad too gentle for the themes of the movie.

     Surround channel usage is mainly used for the many shots of nature. Most of the time the action comes through the front channels.

     The subwoofer mainly supports the score.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Across the River by The Bony King of Nowhere (2:56)

    This music video uses clips from the film. It is presented in the aspect ratio of the main feature (2:35:1) and is in widescreen.

Making Of Featurette (3:08)

    This very short extra should have been retitled as outtakes. Almost two minutes of it is set to music. The rest features the cast and crew usually laughing on set.

Theatrical Trailer (1:38)

    A short theatrical trailer which includes some funny scenes from the film.

Palace Films Trailers (8:18)

    Four Palace Films trailers are included for All Our Desires (2:21), Elena (1:51), Declaration of War (1:34) and Goodbye First Love (1:53).

    The Giants has been released in Region 2 in France with identical extras and in the United Kingdom in a barebones (i.e. no extras) release. For an English-friendly version of the film, I would say that it would be best to stick to the Region 4 Australian release, despite the burnt-in subtitles!

     Despite the slower pace of the film and the unresolved ending (where it seems that the three main characters resolve to continue their adventure, no matter what obstacles they encounter!), this tribute to adolescence and a devotion to freedom will either leave you admiring the film or leave you wanting more. I'll leave that for you to decide!

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall