Fruitvale Station (2013)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Trailer-x 3 for other films
Rating
Year Of Production	2013
Running Time	81:31
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Ryan Coogler
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Michael B. Jordan Melonie Diaz Octavia Spencer Ariana Neal Ahna O'Reilly
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Ludwig Goransson

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 (256Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     At about 2.15 am on New Year’s Day 2009 at Fruitvale BART station in Oakland California, African American Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan), lying face down and handcuffed, was shot dead by a BART transit police officer. Grant was 22 years old. His death sparked riots in Oakland and the police officer was charged, receiving 2 years for involuntary homicide. Fruitvale Station is the story of the last day of Oscar’s life.

     Fruitvale Station commences with what looks like real mobile phone footage of the incident at Fruitvale Station, grainy, blurry and jerky, and culminates with the fatal shot. The film then goes back 24 hours and follows Grant in his last day, showing his interactions with his partner Sophina (Melonie Diaz) and his four year old daughter Tatiana, his mother Wanda (Octavia Spencer), his grandmother and various friends and acquaintances. Grant had been in gaol, was a minor drug dealer and had lost his job in a supermarket for lateness. On New Year’s Eve, with Sophina and some friends, he had taken the train into the city at the urging of his mother not to drive. In the early hours of the morning Oscar was involved in an incident that was not of his making, and not his fault. When white transit police arrived, they targeted the black youths, and things escalated until the fatal shot. Oscar was rushed to hospital, but died later that day.

     Fruitvale Station is written and directed by first timer Ryan Coogler and he does a solid job in what could be confrontational material; after all, these are events which occurred only 4 years ago. Many in the US especially would remember the death and the aftermath, but for those of us in other places the video footage with which the film commences ensures we know where the events are heading. The film uses the tension this creates to good effect; we know it will end badly but there is no inevitability about that conclusion because Oscar’s day is low key and normal as he prepares for the family gathering to celebrate his mother’s birthday and afterwards a night out with friends. Oscar is clearly been in trouble with the police and spent periods in gaol, but as depicted in the film and portrayed by Michael B. Jordan, he was a doting, loving father with a close knit, supportive family and friends and this day had decided to turn his life around, throwing his stash of drugs into the bay. It is only one day of his life but it still seems a bit too sanitised to be completely convincing.

     Ryan Coogler has also made Fruitvale Station with hand held digital Arriflex cameras that are constantly moving and swaying, even in the static dialogue sequences. This is obviously intended to provide immediacy and verisimilitude, but it is overdone and comes across as amateurish, although some sequences do work better, such as the reconstruction of the events in the station which are raw and compelling. The film does not demonise the police, although their actions, including racial profiling, clearly escalate the situation. The film also benefits by showing the aftermath; the rush to hospital, the emergency surgery attempting to save Oscar and the grieving mother, partner and friends.

     Fruitvale Station is by no means perfect. The constantly moving camera is overdone and it seems a bit too sanitised to be completely convincing. Yet at its best the film is compelling, raw and powerful, and it is tragic how a random, and very preventable, act can destroy not only a life but impact upon so many other lives.

Video

     Fruitvale Station is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, the original theatrical ratio being 1.85:1, and is 16x9 enhanced.

     As noted in the plot summary above, Fruitvale Station was shot using hand held digital Arriflex cameras that are constantly moving and swaying. The result is that while the close-ups are clear and sharp, some wider shots with the moving camera are quite soft, especially at night where shadow detail can be indistinct. However, blacks are solid and colours natural if on the flat side. Skin tones are natural, brightness and contrast consistent.

     The film is quite grainy in sections and I saw one artefact at 2:37 but otherwise marks and artefacts were absent.

     English subtitles for the hearing impaired are available.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     Audio is English Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448 Kbps. There is also an English descriptive audio with a male voice, Dolby Digital 2.0 at 256 Kbps.

     This is a film where due to accents the dialogue was hard to hear on a number of occasions, so the subtitles came in handy. The surrounds were not overused, but provided ambient sound, train and crowd noises and music. The sub-woofer was noticeable when the rap music was playing and also supported the fireworks.

    I did not notice any lip synchronisation problems.

     The original score by Ludwig Goransson was used only sparsely, reflecting the realistic feel of the film, but it was effective. There were also some loud rap songs, mostly on Oscar’s car radio.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Trailer

     On start-up there are trailers for Populaire (1:39), One Chance (2:09) and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2:19). They cannot be selected from the menu.

     The Region A US Blu-ray of Fruitvale Station has two extras; The Story of Oscar Grant (21 min) and Cast and Crew Q&A session after a screening of the film in 2013 (27 min). I cannot find however, any review of the Region 1 US DVD, so I cannot say if that also includes the same extras. The Region 2 UK version will be released in October 2014.

     Fruitvale Station is about a preventable tragedy. Given the subject matter, the film is low key and matter of fact; it is raw and amateurish in parts but the knowledge of what happened on that New Year’s Day results in a powerful and tense film that is well worth seeing.

     The video and audio are acceptable; trailers for other films are the only extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall