Vincent (2005)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Main Menu Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	2005
Running Time	274:29
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Roger Gartland Peter Lydon Terry McDonough
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Ray Winstone Suranne Jones Joe Absolom
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Dual
RPI	$29.95	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (256Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.75:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Television drama - should we make it here or import it? Should we make mini-series or longer productions? These questions seem to bring very very different opinions from those in the industry. Just a few days ago, the ABC head of drama, Scott Meek, left the ABC after a disagreement with his new boss over questions like those above. It's a great shame as he was responsible for some excellent productions in his time there including a couple I reviewed, Answered by Fire and The Silence. There has been much written in the media over the last few years about the declining state of Australian made television drama and I am sure his departure will do nothing to arrest that slide. Prior to coming to Australia, Meek worked in the UK producing television drama such as Hamish Macbeth & Inspector Morse. It is this link that allows me to get of my high horse and focus on the subject of this review, another excellent drama series from the UK. Every time I turn around another one of these series hits our screens, reinforcing once again how much excellent television is made in the UK.

    The show in question is Vincent which recently screened here on the ABC. It was made in England by Granada in 2005 and screened there on ITV. A second series has also since been made. It is set in a northern city of England, but I couldn't quite work out which one (Manchester maybe?). The series focuses on a private investigator, Vincent Gallagher (Ray Winstone) and his team of investigators. Vincent is an ex-police detective with a disastrous personal life and a sometimes less than optimal perspective of what constitutes good business as opposed to a personal crusade. At the beginning of this short series of four episodes (on 2 discs), his long time girlfriend, Cathy (Eva Pope), has just left him for a policeman and he's not happy about it. He resorts to underhanded tactics to disturb them including bugging her new house. Generally speaking his morals can be a little suspect, being very much a believer in the end justifying the means. Despite this he is a very likeable character and you certainly want him to succeed. Each episode introduces a new case for Vincent and his team to work on.

    Vincent's team consists of two women and two men, being:

• Beth (Suranne Jones) a tough, non-nonsense field investigator who clashes with Vincent regularly but also admires and respects him
• John (Ian Puleston-Davies) a middle aged investigator who works surveillance and has Vincent's complete trust
• Robert (Joe Absolom), a younger tech-focused guy, learning the business and doubling as the comedy relief in what is quite a gritty show and
• Gillian (Angel Coulby), a young mother who mostly does office based work but occasionally helps in the field

    This is a moody, dramatic and entertaining series which features some excellent ensemble acting from the cast, excellent music and some interesting camera work. The stories are generally very interesting and well written although I did feel the third episode was not as well done as the other three. In detail the episodes are:

1. (67:49) - Vincent and the team are asked to investigate whether or not a client's wife is having an affair behind his back. Unfortunately things gets violent and Vincent gets personally involved. Excellent start to the series.
2. (68:37) - A young man gets murdered in a bar owned by a notorious gangster and no-one is talking. Security video of the event has disappeared. The young man's father hires the team to find out what happened to his son.
3. (68:52) - A football betting syndicate has just won big but at the celebration party a young woman leaves the party and jumps under a train. The syndicate is organised by a woman and her 'Rainman' style brother who calculates the odds. She hires the team to investigate the death.
4. (69:11) - A wife finds a lot of cash in her husband's wardrobe. She hires Vincent to find out what is going on. Vincent starts a personal relationship with the main suspect and things become very confusing for him.

    Highly Recommended.

Video

    The video quality is very good.

    The feature is presented in a 1.75:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is probably the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was reasonably clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise. Shadow detail was very good which considering the dark colour scheme of the show was very welcome. There was some occasional mild graininess.

    The colour was very good with no major issues to report.

    The only noticeable artefact was some mild aliasing.

    There are subtitles in English which were clear and easy to read. There was some minor summarization and they were helpfully positioned on the screen under the person speaking.
    

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is very good.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 256 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was mostly clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync. Some lines were slightly muffled.

    The music is very moody and reminiscent of late rainy nights. It added significantly to the feel of the show.

    The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    None

Menu

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

    Both series are now available in Region 2 in seemingly the same format, either separately or together. They are not available in Region 1.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good.

    No extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall