Cirque du Soleil-Varekai (2003) |
|
Cirque du Soleil-Varekai (2003) |
|
|
| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Dance |
Main Menu Audio & Animation Menu Animation & Audio Multiple Angles |
|
| Rating |
|
||
| Year Of Production | 2003 | ||
| Running Time | 112:50 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | RSDL (60:23) | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By |
Dominic Champagne Nick Morris |
|
Studio
Distributor |
A Productions Conte Sony Pictures Home Entertain |
Starring | John Gilkey |
| Case | ? | ||
| RPI | $39.95 | Music | Violaine Corradi |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English dts 5.1 (768Kb/s) |
|
| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
 |
||
| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | None | Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | Yes, closing credits over audience applause | ||
The very notion of a circus seems like a half-forgotten memory from our childhood. If you are like me, then perhaps it's not even a memory, but a concept you have read about but never actually experienced.
In any case, I doubt that you would have considered a circus 'high art' - with its clowns, magicians and acrobats all performing under a tent. Well, a French Canadian-based troupe - Cirque du Soleil - wants to turn your perceptions around. They have very successfully "updated" the concept with world music, clever lighting effects, and operatic production sensibilities. Now going to the circus seem more like attending a concert, ballet or opera (or maybe all three with a circus thrown in!).
Cirque du Soleil was founded in 1984 by a group of street performers. They now have over 2500 employees (from over 30 nations), and have performed over 240 performances in 90 cities which have been attended by over 40 million people.
They have numerous "productions", each with a different "theme" and featuring different acts. Multiple productions are running concurrently in different parts of the world.
"Varekai" is one of the newest productions, featured in the TV documentary "Cirque Du Soleil: The Fire Within". It will be touring the US in 2004. The "theme" or "storyline" of Varekai is thus: A man ("Icarus", from Greek mythology) (Anton Chelnokov) plunges into a forest at the summit of a volcano. There he encounters a strange world filled with fantastic creatures and rediscovers life and true love. Varekai is a Gypsy word for "wherever": the story could have happened anywhere in the world, in any time.
This "performance" was captured at the start of the Varekai world tour, and filmed live under the Grand Chapiteau in Toronto.
The acts featured in the performance include:
The transfer is in widescreen 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. I presume this is the intended aspect ratio.
The transfer is quite good, with no source artefacts whatsoever. Detail levels are good, although the overall look is a bit on the soft side. Colour saturation is perfect, which would have been difficult to achieve given the dark lighting conditions.
The source appears to be interlaced video, since I noticed some deinterlacing artefacts (mainly combing) with WinDVD forced to "progressive" deinterlacing mode. The combing, which mainly occurs in fast moving objects, were minimized when I selected "Bob" (interpolation) mode.
Compression artefacts are limited to low level Gibbs effect.
There are no subtitle tracks.
This is a single sided dual layered disc (RSDL). The layer change occurs in Chapter 11 at 60:23. It occurs in between acts. There is a slight pause but it is not too objectionable.
| Sharpness |   |
| Shadow Detail | |
| Colour | |
| Grain/Pixelization | |
| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
| Film Artefacts | |
| Overall | |
Surprisingly, we get three audio tracks on this disc: English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s), English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s), and English dts 5.1 (768Kb/s).
Both the Dolby Digital and dts 5.1 audio tracks sound fantastic. I did not notice any significant differences between them, no matter how many times I switched between the two.
The surround mix is particularly impressive, with all channels effectively utilized. There are quite a few examples of sounds being directed towards the surround channels, so they are not just used for ambience. In addition, there are some rather low frequencies in the soundtrack, which are supported by the LFE channel.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track on the other hand sounds a bit dull and flat. It is recorded at a lower level than the 5.1 audio tracks.
The original music score, composed by Violaine Corradi, can best be described as "world music" containing a fusion of various ethnic musical styles. Matthieu Lavoie and Zara Tellander provide vocals, presumably singing in Romany although it is hard to tell.
| Dialogue | |
| Audio Sync | |
| Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
| Surround Channel Use | |
| Subwoofer | |
| Overall | |
Unlike the 2 disc set released in Region 1, we only get one disc. Presumably, the featurettes present on the second disc are not cleared for release outside North America.
The menus are 16x9. The menus also include animation and background music. In addition, there are animated menu transitions.
This consists of three acts from the performance, presented from multiple angles. When you watch one angle, the views of the other two angles are presented as small picture-in-pictures within the frame and you can use the angle button on your player to switch to them.
The first angle is an overview angle taken from the top looking down. It gives you a good idea of the overall performance. The second angle is typically the one used in the main feature, and is a balanced view. The third angle is a close-up on a particular performer or part of the stage.
The three acts featured are:
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The Region 4 version of this DVD misses out on the features present on Region 1's second disc:
The Region 1 version of this DVD misses out on nothing.
The clear winner is Region 1 due to the inclusion of an additional disc full of extras.
Cirque du Soleil's lavish and surreal production of Varekai is a must if you are a fan of the French Canadian based performance company. The "story" revolves around the the flight and fall of "Icarus" into an enchanted forest full of magical creatures.
The video transfer is acceptable.
The audio tracks are excellent.
Extras are limited to a number of scenes rendered using multiple angles. The Region 4 releases misses out on an additional disc full of extras available in Region 1.
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Extras |  |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Custom HTPC (Asus A7N266-VM, Athlon XP 2400+, 512MB, LiteOn LTD-165S, WinXP, WinDVD5 Platinum), using RGB output |
| Display | Sony VPL-VW11HT LCD Projector, ScreenTechnics 16x9 matte white screen (254cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials/Ultimate DVD Platinum/AVIA. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Denon AVC-A1SE (upgraded) |
| Speakers | Front and surrounds: B&W CDM7NT, front centre: B&W CDMCNT, surround backs: B&W DM601S2, subwoofer: B&W ASW2500 |