Doubt (Blu-ray) (Walt Disney Studios) (2008)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Featurette-Making Of-DOUBT: From Stage To Screen Interviews-Cast-The Cast of DOUBT Interviews-Crew-Scoring DOUBT Featurette-The Sisters Of Charity Audio Commentary-Feature Commentary With Writer/Director John Patrick Shanley
Rating
Year Of Production	2008
Running Time	103:54
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	John Patrick Shanley
Studio Distributor	Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	Meryl Streep Philip Seymour Hoffman Amy Adams Viola Davis Alice Drummond Audrie J. Neenan Susan Blommaert Carrie Preston
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$44.95	Music	Howard Shore

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Unknown	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 (4608Kb/s) French dts 5.1 (768Kb/s) Spanish dts 5.1 (768Kb/s) English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English French Spanish Swedish Norwegian Danish Finnish Icelandic Dutch Arabic	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Doubt is a rare movie, one of 27 pictures to receive 4 or more Oscar acting nominations since 1927, alas it also shares the honour of been one of six to win none of those awards. This isn't a reflection of the acting performances in the film, the four actors to receive those nominations give great performances, with two of them having previously won Academy acting awards (Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman). The other two actors to receive nominations for Doubt were Amy Adams and Viola Davis, both for best supporting actress.

    Doubt was adapted from the stage play Doubt:A Parable which won the Pulitzer prize best drama and 4 Tony Awards. It was written by John Patrick Shanley who has previously wrote the screenplays for Moonstruck (1987), Joe versus The Volcano (1990) and Alive (1993). Doubt was directed by Shanley also, but the adaptation from the play to writing the screenplay is what was challenging for Shanley, who had to 'flesh-out' his play that involved only 4 actors and one ninety-minute act. The screenplay is faithful to the theatrical production of the play, with only some incidental location shots and shots emphasising turbulent weather (such as storms and the wind) symbolising uncertainty and thus the main theme of the film, added.

    Philip Seymour Hoffman stars as Father Flynn, a progressive parish priest who pastors at St Nicholas Catholic Church in the Bronx, New York. The film is set in 1964 and is based on Shanley's experiences of attending a Parish School like the one in the film. Meryl Streep plays Sister Aloysius, the strict principal of the school who is conservative and holds to the 'old-school' values of strictness and discipline. Sister Aloysius becomes suspect of Father Flynn's relationship to the school's first black student, Donald Miller, who also serves as an altar boy. When Sister James (played by Amy Adams) sees Father Flynn act suspiciously after mass she tells Sister Aloysius and thus the dramatic events of the film start to escalate, with Sister Aloysius determined to prove her suspicions of Father Flynn, even seeking out Donald's mother (played by Viola Davis) for support. When Mrs Miller does not consent to support Sister Aloysius, citing her abusive husband and Donald's possible sexual orientation as an excuse for his behaviour, and then stating that Donald's enrolment at St Patrick's serves as a possible boost to his attending a better high school, Sister Aloysius has to confront Father Flynn about her concerns alone, which leads to the dramatic conclusion of the film.

    The film starts and ends (and therefore goes 'full-circle') on it's theme of doubt. In the beginning Father Flynn gives a sermon on doubt and at the end Sister Aloysius confesses her doubt. But what exactly does she doubt? Whether Father Flynn is guilty or not? Or her own faith after Sister Adams, Mrs Miller and Father Flynn's superior, Monsignor Benedict refuse to believe her? The only people that know for sure are Shanley and the actors who played Father Flynn in the play and the film after Shanley told them. Incidentally, look out for Jimmy Hurley in the film (played by Lloyd Clay Brown) as this role is based on John Patrick Shanley when he attended St Patrick's School in the late 1950s-early 1960s.

Video

    Doubt is present on one layer of a dual-layer Blu-ray in 1080p and utilising a MPEG-4 AVC video codec for it's transfer.

    The aspect ratio of the film is 1:85:1, 16x9 enhanced for widescreen televisions.

    As the film is presented in 1080p there is no grain or low level noise evident at all. Roger Deakins, the film's cinematographer, adds some unique touches that makes Doubt stand out as his work. These are related to his shots that highlight shadow and light. Compare the faces of Sister Aloysius and Sister Adams around the 33-minute mark, Sister Aloysius' face at the 38-minute mark when she compares her goal of confronting Father Flynn to a cat catching a mouse. Similarly, notice and compare the shot on Father Flynn's face that is deliberately overexposed at around the 42-minute mark. Deakins also uses 'dutch-angles', that is camera angles that are slightly tilted to highlight the tension of a scene or the reaction of a character in a scene. Overall, Deakins' cinematography, with it's well-planned and prepared use of light and shadow to support the film's look add a subtle touch to the dramatic elements in the movie.

    Colour is distinctive due to the cinematography, however the colours are not bright. Rather they are neutral, this being a deliberate creative decision supporting the sombre subject matter of the film.

    There are no MPEG artefacts.

    Subtitles are in white and are easy to read.

    There is no RSDL change.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    Howard Shore, who scored the Lord Of The Rings films and for Martin Scorsese, David Cronenberg and David Fincher in the past, scored this film and the score, like Deakins' cinematography, adds to the sombre theme of the film.

    The main soundtrack is an English DTS-HD Master Audio track encoded at 4608 kbps, with two dubbed soundtracks in French and Spanish in DTS encoded at 768 kbps also included on the Blu-ray. An English Audio Descriptive track and A Director's Commentary track are also included, these are both encoded at 192 kbps in Dolby Digital 2.0.

    Dialogue is clear and synchronised throughout the film.

    The music by composer Howard Shore is subtle and slightly discordant at times, supporting the dramatic conflict of the main theme, but is deliberately neutral to prevent the viewer from empathising with any of the main characters' points of view.

    Surround Channel Usage is mainly limited to the front channels as the film is mainly dialogue-driven.

    The Subwoofer is used during the turbulent weather scenes, when there are storms or winds, used as a visual metaphor for the theme of 'doubt'.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Featurette-Making Of-DOUBT: From Stage to Screen (19:06)

Interviews-Cast-The Cast of DOUBT (13:50)

Interviews-Crew- Scoring DOUBT (4:37)

Featurette-Sisters of Charity (6:28)

Audio Commentary by Writer/Director John Patrick Shanley

    Doubt was released on Blu-ray in Region A on the 7th of April, 2009 with the following features:

    * From Stage to Screen—An intimate discussion with playwright, screenwriter and director John Patrick Shanley about the history of Doubt, including his inspirations for the story, the acclaim the play’s Broadway run received, the Pulitzer Prize and the process of adapting it for the screen. Joining the conversation are Meryl Streep and Sister Margaret McEntee (a consultant on the film and Shanley’s former teacher).

    * Scoring Doubt—Renowned composer Howard Shore discusses his inspiration for the music in the film and his collaboration with both John Patrick Shanley and producer Scott Rudin.

    * The Sisters of Charity—In an insightful and lively dialogue, Meryl Streep and John Patrick Shanley discuss the interviews that Shanley did before shooting with real nuns to discuss their lives and make sure they would be accurately portrayed in the film.

    * Feature Commentary with John Patrick Shanley.

    * The Cast of Doubt—A conversation with actors Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Viola Davis.

    Doubt will be released in Region B in the United Kingdom on the 6th of July, 2009 with the exact same features as the US Region A and Australian Region B release.

    The ending of Doubt leaves the viewer with one notion, either Father Flynn is who he says he is, or Father Flynn is who Sister Aloysius says he is. The plot to the film is presented in such a way that ironically we can never be sure on this matter, there will always be doubt as to the meaning behind the events of the film. To make a firm assertion one way or the other would be like successfully collecting the feathers that were scattered to the wind as Father Flynn mentions in his sermon during the movie.

    John Patrick Shanley's screenplay may be deliberately obscure on Father Flynn's innocence or guilt, however, I believe the real heart of the film is in Shanley's overall presentation of the impact upon the Catholic Church before and after the Second Vatican Council in 1962. Sister Aloysius represents the conservative approach prior to the council, whereas Father Flynn represents the progressive approach that the Church adopted afterwards. These two opposing views are what provides Doubt with it's interesting and conflicting tension in it's plot and the superb acting performances from Philip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep emphasises this point.

    The presentation of Doubt on this disc, with it's stunning video transfer, audio in DTS-HD Master Audio and extras in high definition further supports Disney as leaders at the forefront of Blu-ray production.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall