..Gary
Dretzka
..Noah
Forrest
..Leonard
Klady
..R.J.
Matson
..David
Poland
..Douglas
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
..Michael
Wilmington
Ryan's Daughter
Imagine the ‘straight A' student who receives, deservedly, a ‘B' on his term project and you will capture the quandary surrounding David Lean's 1970 mega-feature, Ryan's Daughter, which has been released as a fine Two-Disc Special Edition by Warner Home Video (65170, $27). Lean himself was devastated, as any over-achiever would be, by the reception that greeted the feature, and apparently went into a filmmaking funk that lasted more than a decade. Those who were jealous of his previous successes decried the film as an utter failure, though of course it is not, it just isn't quite as good as his other movies. An adaptation - according to the DVD's special features - of Madame Bovary, set in Ireland during the revolution and World War I, Sarah Miles is the wife of a school teacher in a remote seacoast village who has a fling with a local British officer. Robert Mitchum and Christopher Jones co-star, with Trevor Howard as the community priest, Leo McKern as the father of Miles' character, and John Mills as what everyone on the DVD refers to as ‘the village idiot.' The film falls short of greatness in a number of different ways. It is very self-conscious of its own largeness, its political undercurrent has no resonance whatsoever, and its characters all have mediocre spirits, except, perhaps, the priest. But the good of the movie still substantially outweighs the bad, and even though the film runs 206 minutes, you can readily find yourself coming back to it again every six months or so to have another view. While the story is not complicated, it does have a consistent momentum unhindered by the movie's running time. Maurice Jarre's musical score may be questionably jaunty, but it is addictive nevertheless. The performances are enjoyable, the romantic scenes are compelling, and there is a spectacular storm sequence that deservedly belongs in a listing of the greatest accomplishments in cinema.And what holds everything in the film together is Freddie Young's spectacular and luscious cinematography, which has been transferred onto the DVD with such spellbinding precision that you find yourself salivating over the dreariest cobblestone décor and in exultation when there is the slightest bit of color or nature. The presentation is in letterboxed format only, with an aspect ratio of about 2.15:1 and an accommodation for enhanced 16:9 playback, and this is the sort of movie that will motivate you to go out and buy a larger monitor. The bigger it is presented, the more glorious it feels. Fleshtones are accurate and are finely detailed. The colors are so precise that you can readily spot the differences in the water when Lean had to go to South Africa to shoot some of the beach sequences because of errant weather in Ireland—that water, however, with its sapphire-like translucence, is one of the absolute highlights of a DVD filled with highlights of imagery. The 5.1-channel Dolby Digital sound is not as revved up as the picture, but the storm sequence is fabulous, with distinctive rear channel activity, and the music has an appropriate dimensionality. There is an alternate French audio track in 5.1 Dolby and optional English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Along with a trailer, there are two terrific production documentaries, made in 1970 and running a total 26 minutes, which are filled with thoughtful interviews and great behind-the scenes footage. The entire film is also accompanied by an excellent commentary track, pieced together from interviews with members of the cast, the crew, relatives and fans. Additionally, there is a 49-minute retrospective documentary, but it is a waste of time, using footage from the original production documentaries and combining it with abridgements of the interviews on the commentary track (so abridged that at times, the documentary interview, such as a reminiscence by Richard Schickel, makes no sense at all, until you hear it in full on the commentary track).
No one on the commentary track addresses the film's ‘above average' quality directly, although there is a lot of talk about the critical drubbing it received and the aspirations Lean had for its success, with the film's best attributes praised with detailed justification and its shortcomings mentioned in passing. There are decent artistic insights offered about the film's themes, performances, and its magnificent technical accomplishments. The history of the film's elaborate and ambitious production is also thoroughly covered ("There were days when we were hanging around. We had some days where on the Call Sheet there was eight different alternatives. ‘If raining, if not raining, if cloudy, if sunny, if sunny but cloudy.' There was all those variations. Of course, it used to drive certain people mad, but that's what David wanted."). MGM's financial woes are only addressed in a vague manner, however, and absolutely no mention is made of the intense political struggle that went on to obtain the film a ‘PG' rating.
March 16, 2006DVD Roundup: This Week's DVD Releases
The Review VaultDouglas Pratt's DVD-Laser Disc Newsletter is published monthly.
For a free sample, call (516)594-9304 or go to his website at www.DVDLaser.com
