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.
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.
Ferpect Crime (Crimen Ferpecto) (2004)

Ferpect Crime (Crimen Ferpecto) (2004)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD

Released 12-Jul-2006

Cover Art

This review is sponsored by
BUY IT

Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy Trailer-Brides, Beat My Heart Skipped, Russian Dolls,Turtles Can Fly
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2004
Running Time 98:28 (Case: 91)
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Ads Then Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By Álex de la Iglesia
Studio
Distributor
Sogepaq
Twentieth Century Fox
Starring Guillermo Toledo
Mónica Cervera
Luis Varela
Enrique Villén
Fernando Tejero
Javier Gutiérrez
Kira Miró
Rosario Pardo
Gracia Olayo
Penélope Velasco
Montse Mostaza
Eduardo Gómez
Enrique Martínez
Case ?
RPI $34.95 Music Roque Baños


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English (Burned In) Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

    Spanish Director Alex de la Iglesia is one of my all-time favourite filmmakers. His career to date has included such films as La Communidad, the brilliant spaghetti western tribute 800 Bullets (800 Balas), the hilarious Sci-Fi spoof Mutant Action (Accion Mutante) and cult classics The Day Of The Beast (El Dia de la Bestia) and Perdita Durango. His films always promise to be entertaining and different, and Ferpect Crime adheres to that trend superbly.

    Rafa (Guillermo Toledo) is an impulsive chap who lives for the moment and knows exactly what he wants in life. He's excelled in his career as a department store salesman. Working for years in the women's fashion department has given him the ability to talk women out of their purse or their clothes - whichever suits him at the time. But, working his dream job and bedding every woman in sight fails to fill the void inside, and he yearns to climb the ladder to a manager's position that brings with it a place in the store's corporate upper-hierarchy. When his latest attempt at a promotion fails, the frustration is too much, leading to a confrontation with a customer and subsequent demotion.

    Things change drastically when his recently appointed superior disappears under dubious circumstances. Rafa's jealousy and conflict with the missing man is widely known and with the police fearfully nearby he finds himself coerced into a liaison with the most undesirable of women. The relationship soon escalates out of control to the point where his sanity begins to unravel and he is desperate to find a way out. But fear not, Rafa proves his resourcefulness as he concocts an elaborate caper in order to reclaim his life and freedom.

    I don't intend to elaborate on the spelling of the film's title, as it refers to an important scene in the film that you should experience for yourself. Suffice it to say that it is a running gag throughout the movie.

    This is an inventively written and smoothly directed film, with many hilarious moments throughout. If you're familiar with Iglesia's past work or if you appreciate a good adult comedy, this may be ideal.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

    The transfer is presented in the film's original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, complete with 16x9 enhancement.

    The image is a little soft, and would have benefited from a higher video bitrate. That said, there is no film artefacting to speak of, nor are there any ugly jagged edges to worry about. Black levels contain adequate depth and the few darker scenes in the film contain acceptable shadow detail. There was no low level noise evident in the transfer.

    The film's rich, yet realistic colour scheme is translated with bold, consistent rendering. I didn't notice any bleeding or oversaturation in the slightest.

    English subtitles are burned into the video stream and are composed of a white font with a thin black outline. The text moves a little fast at times but is generally easy to follow.

    This disc is single layered (DVD5 format) so there is no layer break present.

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

Audio

    There is only one soundtrack accompanying this film on DVD; the film's original Spanish language, encoded as Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s). This film was screened theatrically with Dolby Digital 5.1 EX audio.

    The dialogue is always easy to discern in the soundtrack and never overpowered by effects or score. I don't speak a great deal of Spanish, however the film's ADR and audio sync appeared to be spot-on.

    Although the soundtrack isn't flagged, I noticed that it responded favourably to Pro Logic II processing. Some elements of the soundtrack score, as well as some Foley effects, were directed to the rear channels and made the experience a bit more involving.

    The score is credited to Roque Baños and fits the mayhem of the film like a glove. There is so much going on in this score it is really mind-boggling at times.

    There is no dedicated LFE channel present, nor did I notice any residual spill to my subwoofer.

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

Extras

Menu

    The menu pages are static, silent and 16x9 enhanced.

Trailers (4)

    Additional trailers from Palace Films; Brides, Beat My Heart Skipped, Russian Dolls and Turtles Can Fly.

R4 vs R1

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

    Our Region 1 counterparts either missed the joke completely, or are very easily confused. You guessed it, in a fit of twisted common sense they re-titled the film Perfect Crime. I'd love to hear the Director's thoughts on that bit of heresy! Their disc is similarly bare, but includes Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 audio.

    Of course, the Region 2 Spanish DVD is the best out there. The extras are not subtitled, however the feature does include optional English subtitles. Included is:

Summary

    Crimen Ferpecto is an enjoyable farce with superb performances and adept direction. Fans of the Director's past work should certainly check it out.

    The video transfer is acceptable, but contains burnt-in English subtitles.

    The audio transfer is a passable stereo effort, but quite responsive to Pro Logic decoding.

    There are no extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Rob Giles (readen de bio, bork, bork, bork.)
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Review Equipment
DVDDenon DVD-3910, using DVI output
DisplaySanyo PLV-Z2 WXGA projector, Screen Technics Cinemasnap 96" (16x9). Calibrated with Video Essentials/Digital Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 720p.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Digital Video Essentials.
AmplificationDenon AVR-2802 Dolby EX/DTS ES Discrete
SpeakersOrpheus Aurora lll Mains (bi-wired), Rears, Centre Rear. Orpheus Centaurus .5 Front Centre. Mirage 10 inch sub.

Other Reviews NONE