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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.
A Good Man (2009)

A Good Man (2009)

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Released 2-Sep-2010

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Documentary Trailer-Four Gil Scrine film trailers
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 2009
Running Time 79:00
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Programme
Region Coding 4 Directed By Safina Uberoi
Studio
Distributor
Antidote Films Starring None Given
Case Amaray-Transparent
RPI $29.95 Music None Given


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Unknown English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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Plot Synopsis

     It's not often that you hear a story as uplifting and as uniquely bewildering as this one. A Good Man tells the story of sheep farmer Chris Rohrlach and his dedication to his quadriplegic wife, Rachel and their two children. The dedication that Chris shows to his wife, as told in flashback when Rachel suffered a stroke when she was first pregnant fifteen years ago, is awe-inspiring. The stroke left Rachel unable to speak or walk, but that has not stopped Chris’ love for her. The twist in this story comes in Chris’ decision to build a brothel in his local town as a means of paying his debts, which have become worse with the drought. Can Chris be thought of as a 'good man' after entering into this business venture, albeit with his wife's blessing?

     This documentary was directed and co-produced by Safina Uberoi, an Australian-Indian filmmaker. Her best known documentary, My Mother India, is an autobiographical film that won eleven major international awards including the Australian Film Critics Circle Award for best Australian documentary. A Good Man won the Sydney Film Festival Best Documentary and Audience Award. Chris Rohrlach, despite his gregarious nature is a private man and only agreed to do this documentary because of his relationship with Uberoi's brother, who he went to university with.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     This documentary utilises archived television footage and personal home video footage, so the merits of the video transfer are fairly typical of a film of this genre. The aspect ratio is 1:85:1, 16x9 enhanced.

     The average bitrate of this documentary is 5.56 m/b per sec. Sharpness varies from very good for the film shot with the Rohrlach family to basic for the archived footage highlighting the Rohrlach family's ordeal. For a documentary, this is to be expected. Colour is standard for this low budget film. The video transfer utilises natural lighting for scenes as much as possible. There are no notable film artefacts apart from the film grain of the archived video footage.

     Unfortunately, there are no subtitles presented with this DVD.

     There is no RSDL change because the main presentation comes o a single-layered DVD5 disc.

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

Audio

     As this is a documentary, there is a lot more dialogue than background and incidental music. The main soundtrack is an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 224 kbps. Dialogue is clear and synchronised.

     Music is not used often, but it is used effectively to support establishing shots for scenes.

     Basic stereo effects are employed for the background music. The subwoofer, however, is not utilised.

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

Extras

Trailers

     Four Gil Scrine trailers are presented here: Four of a Kind, RIP: A Remix Manifesto, In Search of Beethoven and The Most Dangerous Man in America.

R4 vs R1

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

    This Region 4 version of A Good Man is the only one currently available.

Summary

     A Good Man premiered on the ABC on July 15th and since then it has had a theatrical run around Australia promoting disability charities along the way. Reaction to the film amongst critics and the public has been overwhelmingly positive. Chris Rohrlach's dedication to his disabled wife is extraordinary and inspiring, the paradox here is the fact that he went ahead and opened a brothel. Is he still a 'good man'? Strictly speaking, if one was to define the concept of good by our traditional western Judean-Christian ethic, then no-one can be defined as good. Personally speaking, I wouldn't have addressed my monetary problems in the same manner; then again, this isn't a documentary about me. In summarising, this documentary is unique and different, and well-worth watching.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© John Stivaktas (I like my bio)
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Review Equipment
DVDSony BDP-S550 (Firmware updated Version 020), using HDMI output
DisplaySamsung LA46A650 46 Inch LCD TV Series 6 FullHD 1080P 100Hz. Calibrated with THX Optimizer. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderSony STR-K1000P. Calibrated with THX Optimizer.
AmplificationSony HTDDW1000
SpeakersSony 6.2 Surround (Left, Front, Right, Surround Left, Surround Back, Surround Right, 2 subwoofers)

Other Reviews NONE