The Man Who Cried (2001) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Drama | None | |
Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 2001 | ||
Running Time | 95:00 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Programme | ||
Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | Sally Potter |
Studio
Distributor |
Sony Pictures Home Entertain |
Starring |
Christina Ricci Cate Blanchett John Turturro Johnny Depp |
Case | Soft Brackley-Transp | ||
RPI | $36.95 | Music | Osvaldo Golijov |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None | English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) | |
Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
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Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles |
English French Dutch |
Smoking | Yes |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
It is 1927 and Suzie (Christina Ricci), a young Russian girl, is sent overseas by her family to avoid persecution due to her Jewish blood. Ten years later, with a new family and life, Suzie has little memory of her former life, clinging to an aging photo of her real father. Suzie has a penchant for singing and manages to acquire work as a chorus girl and moves to Paris. Here, she befriends Lola (Cate Blanchett) and they both begin working in a prestigious opera group. Suzie meets, and falls in love with, Cesar (Johnny Depp), a Gypsy horse handler.
The imminent invasion of Paris by the Nazi forces brings about change for Suzie again. Will she flee, and leave her lover behind, or will she stay with the possible exposure of her Jewish blood causing dire problems? Will Suzie ever be re-united with her father?
I found this to be an enticing and unusual movie experience. The all-star cast is well utilised with excellent performances all round. Recommended.
The feature is presented in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.
Sharpness is excellent throughout the transfer, particularly around 21:20 where the detail in the pine fronds is simply breathtaking. There is some very minor low level noise to be found around 59:00, but this is nothing to get upset about. Shadow detail is superb, which is fortunate given that the majority of this movie is composed of night-time sequences or filmed in overcast weather.
Colours are generally subdued throughout, but never washed out. This is an artistic choice to really bring home the conditions that Suzie has to face. There is some minor chroma noise in a stage prop at 21:20, but again this has limited impact on the overall viewing experience.
There are no obvious MPEG artefacts to be seen. Aliasing is the only film-to-video artefact to be seen, limited to 7:20 (cart) and 79:20 (sink). I did not notice a single film artefact.
The English subtitles available on this disc are generally accurate and well timed.
This is a single layered disc, and as such there is no layer change to negotiate.
Sharpness | |
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Overall |
The only soundtrack available on this disc is an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track encoded at 384kbps.
Dialogue quality is exceptional throughout. Of particular note is the soaring operatic singing that is woven into the film in numerous scenes. Spine-tingling stuff. Unfortunately, audio sync is troublesome for the entire first half (approximately) of the movie. I am usually fairly insensitive to audio sync issues but even this transfer had me cringing occasionally.
The score, by Osvaldo Golijov, is truly excellent work. It is primarily a classical/operatic score that accompanies, and heightens, the overall emotion of the movie. It has a very wide and immersive soundscape that envelops the listener. The director has also very subtly made use of quiet scenes to maximum impact in this movie, not seen (err, heard...) very often in modern movies.
The surround channels are used to good effect for ambient sounds and score reinforcement throughout. There is very limited action in this movie, and the small amount that is present utilises the surrounds quite well. The subwoofer is used to support the score and the occasional piece of action.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
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Subwoofer | |
Overall |
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;
The video quality is excellent
The audio quality is very good.
The extras do not exist
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Pioneer 106S DVD-ROM with PowerDVD 4.0 scaling to 864p, using RGB output |
Display | Mitsubishi VS-1281E CRT front projector on custom 16x9 screen (270cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
Amplification | Onkyo TX-DS787, THX Select |
Speakers | All matching Vifa Drivers: centre 2x6.5" + 1" tweeter (d'appolito); fronts and rears 6.5" + 1" tweeter; centre rear 5" + 1" tweeter; sub 10" (150WRMS) |