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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Persona Non Grata (2003)

Persona Non Grata (2003)

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Released 24-Mar-2005

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Documentary Menu Audio
Trailer-Bus 174, Lost Things, I Stand Alone, Fallen Angels
Trailer-Criminal Lovers, My Flesh & Blood, Fanny & Alexander
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2003
Running Time 67:07
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By Oliver Stone
Studio
Distributor
Accent Film Entertainment Starring Yasser Arafat
Ehud Barak
Benjamin Netanyahu
Shimon Peres
Oliver Stone
Jasan Yosef
Case Amaray-Opaque-Secure Clip
RPI $29.95 Music None Given


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

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    One of the most difficult and dangerous political situations in the world is the ongoing conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Despite many years of effort from various international agencies and governments, there seems to be no resolution to this problem. At a very superficial level, the problem seems to be simple in that the Palestinians want independence but the Israelis don't want to give up control of the land. However, there are many complexities that I cannot hope to explain to you. This one hour documentary was directed by Oliver Stone, who travelled to the affected areas in 2002 and was able to interview a number of important people on both sides of the conflict.

    On the Israeli side he gets the chance to interview three former Israeli Prime Ministers. Their broad range of views about the crisis and Yasser Arafat are very interesting. Starting from the most conciliatory, the three Prime Ministers are Shimon Peres, Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu. Peres is especially revealing as he agrees that Israel has made many mistakes and that they know what they need to do to achieve peace. On the Palestinian side he interviews a leader of the political wing of Hamas, Hasan Yosef, and some masked members of the Martyrs Brigade, who train and equip suicide bombers. He also plans to interview Yasser Arafat and spends many days waiting in Ramallah for the chance. While he is there the Israelis attack Arafat's compound at Ramallah and some suicide bombings occur in Israel, which add to the tension and risk of the film crew's situation.

    This documentary is mostly filmed with hand held cameras and is very realistic. This is not a sit back and pontificate style documentary but is rather a very hands on and involved film which shows the crew's experiences during their stay in Israel and Palestine. Unfortunately, after watching this film, I did not feel I had really learnt a whole lot more about the situation, although it was obvious that Stone set out to achieve a more balanced coverage than was usually given by the US media. The highlight for me was the interview footage with the Israeli ex-Prime Ministers which was fascinating.

    If you are interested in the Palestinian situation, this is certainly worth seeing. It is also available in the Oliver Stone box set but in a different format.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The video quality is very good.

    The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is probably the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise. The bitrate was consistently high. Shadow detail was reasonable, but some scenes were captured by a hidden camera in a bus travelling at night to a clandestine interview, so what can you expect?

    The colour was well rendered, but in accordance with the weather and style of footage a bit dull.

    There were no noticeable artefacts.

    There are subtitles in English. They were clear and easy to read, however were only available for non-English languages and heavy accents.
    

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

Audio

    The audio quality is good.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 448 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand except for some accents and there was no problem with audio sync.

    The music was well used and was from various sources.

    The surround speakers were not used.

    The subwoofer added tension and highlights as appropriate.

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

Extras

    None.

Menu

    The menu included music, stills and the ability to select subtitles.

Accent Trailers

    Trailers for Bus 174, Lost Things, I Stand Alone, Fallen Angels, Criminal Lovers, My Flesh & Blood and Fanny & Alexander.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    This documentary is only available as part of the Oliver Stone Box Set in Region 1.

Summary

    An interesting documentary about the Palestinian situation directed by Oliver Stone which runs just over one hour.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is good.

    The disc has no real extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Friday, August 19, 2005
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV667A DVD-V DVD-A SACD, using Component output
DisplaySony FD Trinitron Wega KV-AR34M36 80cm. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 576i (PAL)/480i (NTSC).
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersBose 201 Direct Reflecting (Front), Phillips SB680V (Surround), Phillips MX731 (Center), Yamaha YST SW90 (Sub)

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