The Cotton Club (1984)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Main Menu Introduction Menu Animation & Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	1984
Running Time	123:13
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (60:37)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Francis Ford Coppola
Studio Distributor	Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Richard Gere Diane Lane Gregory Hines Lonette McKee Bob Hoskins James Remar Nicolas Cage Allen Garfield Fred Gwynne Gwen Verdon Lisa Jane Persky Maurice Hines Julian Beck
Case	?
RPI	$19.95	Music	John Barry Irving Mills

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	Dutch	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes

    So, you are Francis Ford Coppola in the early 1980s. You have recently directed three masterpieces of cinema; The Godfather, The Godfather II and Apocalypse Now. Do you a) jump straight into another sequel or b) try some different things? Coppola chose option b) and proceeded to make two teen angst movies based on the novels of S E Hinton, and this, a film in some ways related to The Godfather but in others totally different. I found this to be a very entertaining film with some excellent music, great dance numbers, tough action, comedic moments, romance and drama. It does not have the gravitas of films like The Godfather but then again that's not what it's trying to be.

    The Cotton Club revolves around the titular club in Harlem in the 1920s. It is the time of prohibition, gangsters, entrenched racism, Charlie Chaplin, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, James Cagney and an explosion of great popular music. All of these things play a significant role in the film which follows the intertwining lives of a number of characters. The lead male character is Michael 'Dixie' Dwyer (Richard Gere), an Irish cornet player who is attractive and talented. He saves the life of a gangster, Dutch Schultz (James Remar), and despite his better judgement ends up working for him. Through Dutch, Dixie meets and falls in love with Vera Cicero (Dianne Lane). Unfortunately, Vera is also Dutch's mistress. The owner of the club, Owney Madden (Bob Hoskins) is also one of the top gangsters in New York. His partner, who plays an important role in the film, is Frenchy Demange (Fred Gwynne). A scene between them involving a watch is one of the best moments of the film. Another plot thread involves Dixie's younger and headstrong brother Vince 'Mad Dog' Dwyer (Nicolas Cage, who is Coppola's nephew), who gets a job with Dutch as an enforcer, but then tries to rise above his station.

    The club itself only allows white people to enter, however all entertainment is provided by coloured people. A pair of hopefuls who try to get a job at the club are tap dancer Delbert 'Sandman' Williams (Geoffrey Hines) and his brother Clay (real life brother of Geoffrey, Maurice Hines). The film also follows their ups and downs including Delbert falling in love with a half white, half-black showgirl, who tries to pass herself off as white. Some of the best musical numbers involve the Hines brothers and their song and dance routines. Laurence Fishburne also appears as gambler and pimp, Bumpy Rhodes. Music fans should also watch out for Tom Waits as Irving Stark, a club employee.

    To my mind, the only thing which really lets this film down at all is perhaps the casting of the leading characters, Dixie & Vera. Their romance is not overly believable and I found myself caring more about the Williams brothers than them. But this is really a minor quibble as generally I found the film interesting, entertaining and a worthy addition to the Francis Ford Coppola body of work, without reaching the heights of some of his other films. I have read criticism that this film is confusing and lacks a strong narrative but I did not find that. I feel that if you are prepared to follow the various story strands, there is much to be enjoyed. It is true to say that the film does not have one simple narrative, however, I would question whether that is necessary. There are some very effective scenes in the film such as the aforementioned scene with the watch, many of the scenes in the club itself and the scene with Vera and Dixie in bed, especially the use of shadows. Another well used device is the interspersing of violent action with musical numbers, while the music continues.

    I would recommend this film to people who enjoyed other Francis Ford Coppola films, however if you do not go into it expecting another masterpiece, there is much to enjoy.

Video

    The video quality is quite good without being spectacular. There is nothing major to complain about.

    The feature is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout without being crisp. There is no evidence of low level noise. The shadow detail was very good with most details being visible in darker scenes, except where the detail was not meant to be seen such as the previously mentioned scene with Vera & Dixie in bed. There is some very light grain throughout.

    The colour was good but not overly vibrant. There were no specific colour issues to report.

    The only noticeable artefacts were some mild aliasing such as on the taxi at 47:35 and the blinds at 62:07 and some small specks here and there. There was one small section where the film artefacts were more noticeable at 22:06. There were some obvious blacks lines and specks at that point.

    There are subtitles in Dutch only. I cannot comment on their quality as I don't speak Dutch. Strange choice of language to include on a Region 4 release, especially when English is not included.

    The layer change occurs at 60:37 and was quite noticeable although well placed at the end of a scene.
    

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is good although some of the dialogue left a little to be desired in terms of its clarity.

    This DVD contains one audio option, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at a less than optimal 192 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was mostly clear and easy to understand although there were a number of lines which were either slightly muffled or drowned out by the music. The lack of English subtitles did not assist in this regard. There was no problem with audio sync.

    The music in this film is a combination of lots of popular period tunes and a score by John Barry. The music is definitely one of the highlights of the film and would certainly be enjoyed by fans of classic jazz. The music sounds full and warm.

    The surround speakers added some mild atmosphere when played using Dolby ProLogic II.

     The subwoofer added some mild bass to the music but this is a function of my amp's bass management rather than the soundtrack itself.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    Nothing, nada, zilch!

Menu

    The menu included an intro, music, and the ability to select scenes and subtitles.

    The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;

• A Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, with better quality dialogue (according to reviews)
• A French mono soundtrack
• Theatrical Trailer
• French & Spanish subtitles

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;

• Dutch Subtitles 

    The Region 1 is the winner here.

    The video quality is quite good.

    The audio quality is good.

    The disc has no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall