Franklyn (Blu-ray) (2008)

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General		Extras
Category	Suspense	Featurette-A Moment in the Meanwhile Deleted Scenes Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2008
Running Time	97:58
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Gerald McMorrow
Studio Distributor	Hanway Films Icon Entertainment	Starring	Eva Green Ryan Phillippe Sam Riley Bernard Hill
Case	?
RPI	$39.95	Music	Joby Talbot

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Unknown	English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English Linear PCM 48/16
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Franklyn is a film that juxtaposes four narrative strands. Milo (Sam Riley) has been jilted by his fiancé at the wedding rehearsal and finds it almost impossible to come to terms with the rejection; Peter Esser (Bernard Hill) is a divorced church warden from Cambridge in London searching for his missing soldier son; Emilia (Eva Green) is an art student with increasing suicidal tendencies and a hostile relationship with her mother; these three strands occur in contemporary London. The last strand is totally different. Set in a dark, brooding gothic Watchmen / Dark City urban environment called Meanwhile City, private detective / vigilante Jonathan Preest (Ryan Phillippe) is intending to kill a man called The Individual who he believes abducted and killed a young girl. As the film continues, the connections between these disparate stories do become clearer and one shot becomes the link that ties them together.

     This is not a simple narrative structure. The four strands of the film intersect frequently, sometimes only for short scenes, jumbling together and adding, as well, flashbacks amid these strands. Characters from one strand are sometimes seen in the fringes of another strand and, just to take things further, supporting actors play different, or sometimes the same, character in different strands. But there are things that unite the strands; all characters are suffering loss and alienation and all are to a greater or lesser degree obsessive and delusional. There are flashbacks to things that had not happened, to people who didn’t exist. All are from families abandoned by one parent and there is an under-arching search for meaning and belonging. Religion, and religious symbology, is always present; Meanwhile City is a city dominated by religious cults, including a cult based on washing machine instructions, while churches and characters connected with churches recur in the other strands. The climax of the film occurs in the Tabernacle Restaurant and, of course “Preest” is the name of one character.

     If you like a straight forward narrative then Franklyn from first time writer / director Gerald McMorrow is not for you. But while the summary above may make the film sound confusing it really isn’t. Franklyn is an imaginative and beautiful film, with wonderful acting from the leads and a brilliant set design. It is certainly over-ambitious and some of the sections don’t quite gel, including the climax. But the film is never dull and if you like an audacious narrative with many strands juxtaposed, if you like a film to involve you and to make you think, then Franklyn may just be an unexpected delight.

     A pet dislike. Annoyingly, both an unskippable anti-piracy warning and four forced trailers run on start up – the trailers have to be skipped individually as I could not access the disc menu. These trailers cannot be accessed through the extras menu.

Video

     Franklyn is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, the original theatrical ratio in 1080p. The film looks great. There is some grain evident but I did not notice any artefacts. Sharpness and shadow detail is excellent, which is just as well as the Meanwhile City sequences are always in darkness or shadow, and blacks fine. In the other three strands, colour schemes vary, such as the black and red of Emilia’s apartment, but in all the colours are deliberately muted and natural. Skin tones are fine.

     English subtitles are in a clear white font and, judging by the section I sampled, follow the dialogue closely.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     Audio is a choice between Dolby True HD 5.1 and LPCM stereo. The True HD was good if not overwhelming. Dialogue was easy to understand and the surrounds were used appropriately for crowd noise, ambient sounds and music. The sub woofer was used sparingly. This is not an action film; the audio does not give a fully immersive experience but it was adequate for the film.

     There are no lip synchronisation issues.

     The music by Joby Talbot did an excellent job in supporting the tone and mood of the film. Some of the music cues are quite memorable, but without being intrusive. A fine film score.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

     Annoyingly, forced trailers for the following films run on start up – they have to be skipped individually as I could not access the disc menu. These trailers cannot be accessed through the extras menu. Included is: The Road (2:33), Go Fast (1:57), Open Graves (2:28) and Heavy Rain (1:54).

A Moment in the Meanwhile (29:42)

     A reasonably interesting combination of interviews and behind the scenes. Those interviewed are actors Ryan Phillippe, Eva Green, Sam Riley and Bernard Hill plus crew Gerald McMorrow (Director and Writer), Ben David (Director of Photography), Laurence Dorman (Production Designer), Jeremy Thomas (Producer), and Leonie Hartard (Costume Designer). Between them they discuss the motivation of the characters, and the look of the film including creating Meanwhile City. Some “fluff” but still worth a look.

Deleted Scenes (4:12)

     Three scenes. Each is introduced by a caption and is bookended by the film, showing where they would have fitted. None are essential for the film.

Theatrical Trailer (1:40)

     The Region A US Blu-ray seems to have similar video and audio; it also includes more of the interviews with the cast and slightly more deleted scenes. There is a Region B UK release seems the same as ours, including the featurette. At present I see no reason to go beyond our release.

     Franklyn from first time writer / director Gerald McMorrow is over-ambitious, and some of the sections don’t quite gel, but it is a beautiful, imaginative film: the acting is good, the story is never dull and the sets nicely realised. The Blu-ray has excellent video and good audio and one reasonable extra. Franklyn is worthwhile getting hold of; it is an entertaining, unexpected delight.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall