Burn Burn Burn (2015)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Trailer-x 3 for other releases
Rating
Year Of Production	2015
Running Time	101:02 (Case: 106)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Chanya Button
Studio Distributor	Gryphon Entertainment	Starring	Laura Carmichael Chloe Pirrie Jack Farthing Joe Dempsie
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	?	Music	Marc Canham Candy Says

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

     Dan (Jack Farthing), aged only 29, has died of pancreatic cancer. At his funeral there is a surprise for his close friends Seph (Laura Carmichael) and Alex (Chloe Pirrie); Dan has requested that Seph and Alex scatter his ashes in four specific locations across the United Kingdom, Glastonbury, Cardiff, York and Ben Lomond, and has left them video instructions to be viewed at each location. Seph and Alex are reluctant but when Alex walks in on her girlfriend having sex with another woman and Seph is fired from her job as a nanny and is having second thoughts about her relationship with nice guy James (Joe Dempsie), the two embark upon a road trip complete with Dan’s ashes and his video. Along the way they meet some quirky but generous people, including Adam (Julian Rhind-Tutt) and Diana (Alison Steadman) and, helped by watching Dan’s honest last words to them, discover some home truths about life, and themselves.

     Burn Burn Burn is the first feature by director Chanya Button. It is a manipulative film, using music and landscapes to raise themes about death, family, relationships, regrets and honesty in life. As a road movie it is also episodic, but the film succeeds in drawing us in because of its dead pan sense of humour, some spectacular landscapes and the marvellous, genuine performances by Laura Carmichael and Chloe Pirrie. Carmichael, best known as Lady Crawley in Downton Abbey, as the more outgoing and vivacious blonde Seph, and Pirrie, as the more serious Alex, are great to watch together and, as the central characters, they hold everything together beautifully. They are funny and natural, doing their thing without false histrionics, something that holds for the film as a whole. Appearing only in videos Jack Farthing is also very good; his physical and mental deterioration in the videos as the disease takes hold is heart-rendering, while his monologues and home truths, which could have come across as mawkish, are anything but.

     Burn Burn Burn pulls at the emotions. It is sad but is not depressing as its humour is never very far away, right up to the final reels of the film on Ben Lomond. This is an entertaining low budget independent film that will reward those who are prepared to give the it a chance.

Video

     The cover of Burn Burn Burn states that the film is presented in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio. This is incorrect; the film is in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and is 16x9 enhanced.

     Filmed on locations including the ruins of Glastonbury Cathedral, Wales, York Minster and Loch Lomond, Burn Burn Burn looks beautiful. Colours are natural, without obvious manipulation, detail strong, blacks and shadow detail very good, skin tones natural, contrast and brightness consistent. I noticed no marks or artefacts.

    The layer change was at 55:05. As it occurred during a scene with loud music it was quite noticeable.

    There are no subtitles available.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
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Audio

     The audio is English Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448 Kbps.

     Burn Burn Burn is a film where there is no action as such so the rears except for music provided ambient sound, such as engines on the motorway. The original score by Marc Canham was not used a lot; instead pop songs, mostly by Candy Says (who also has a small part in the film, playing at the funeral) and Little Fish, blasted loudly from the surrounds. The songs, it must be said, were very good and aided the mood of the film, but they were loud! The dialogue was naturalistic but sometimes hard to understand due to the music or the accents, when subtitles would have helped. The subwoofer added oomph to the music.

     Lip synchronisation seemed fine.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Trailers

     Trailers for Umrika (2:11), Supermensch The Legend of Shep Gordon (1:32) and Glass Chin (1:42) play on start-up. The same trailers can also be selected from the menu.

     Elsewhere there is only a Region 2 UK release of Burn Burn Burn available which, as far as I can tell, does not have any extras either.

     Burn Burn Burn is a buddy movie about relationships, self-discovery and truth, sort of Thelma and Louise without the violence or that classic, dramatic ending. The film is manipulative, but in a nice way, and it gets away with it due to a winning combination of dead pan humour and wonderful performances by the two female leads. I really had no idea what to expect but I ended up captivated by Burn Burn Burn. Sweet, funny, sad and feel good all at once Burn Burn Burn is certainly one to watch out for.

     The video and audio are fine, trailers for other films are the only extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall