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Twentynine Palms
R0 - Australia - Accent Review written by and copyright: Jim Stanton & Noor Razzak (13th October 2006). |
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The Film
 It is with trepidation I approach anything labelled "Uncut Original Version" especially when it comes to an indie or art house movie. Basically it makes me want to warn you of two things. One 'CAUTION: Director lacks the discretion to edit crap from watchable footage' and two, did you bring delicious snacks and a picture of your loved ones when you sat down to watch this?, as during the 114 minutes of its running time you will need something to give you the will to live. Oh "TwentyNine Palms" if ever I needed a reason to avoid being in a relationship you are it. Within minutes of beginning we have a man and a woman travelling across the Mojave desert under the glaring sun to "TwentyNine Palms" oh my god that's the name of the film…is it a sign of things to come? A subtle clue to deeper meaning? A hint dropped into the deep pool of my subconscious? Simply put, no. The relationship of the couple David (David Wissak), an American and Katia (Yekaterina Golubeva) , his French non-English speaking girlfriend is a tenuous as my interest in their attempts at subtitled conversation. "What's wrong?" "Nothing" "Fine" "Fine" (Insert 10 minute sequence of Katia gently breaking down, crying then getting over it) In any film that relies on the interaction between two main characters and virtually no-one else efforts must be made to insure that dialogue and plot move along at a speed that carries the viewer with them. No such luck here as Katia has yet another cry after 15 minutes of tedious learning to drive instruction from the insensitive David. I had more faith in Tom Hanks and his volleyball sorting out their issues than the pent up rage of David versus the tear sodden fodder of Katia. Jealousy, rage, lust and communication barriers are all addressed but in such a light dusting was it really worth insinuating they had been addressed at all? Visually "TwentyNine Palms" has some great moments. The stark outlook of the desert mirrors the scarcity of words between David and Katia, their eyes squint into the sun showing us how far from home they both are. The interior shots of the car and string of motels have a used impermanent feel as they push on towards their unseen destination. So often we are prey to movies that hard sell us escapism that it becomes a conscious effort to try and stay involved in a film in which you feel more like an intruder than a voyeur. The scenes of intimacy between the two are raw and real and in a world of clean functional television sex, all L shaped sheets and dimmed lights it is a useful tool for grounding a very possible story firmly in the realm of reality. As the journey progresses the trip takes a darker turn as jealousies flare and civilisation disappears into the rear-vision mirror. In the same vein as Greg Mclean's "Wolf Creek" (2005) the terror of the new turn of events comes from their very possibility. It's not so far from the everyday news to hear of travellers attacked in the back roads of anywhere but again director Bruno Dumont subverts this to find more raw and primal material for the viewer as both man and woman struggle to deal with a brutal attack. "TwentyNine Palms" has been grouped in with films such as Lars von Trier's "Dogville" (2003) but I feel it doesn't stand up to the same level of complexity that "Dogville" shows. Dumont gives a grim, cruel vision of the nature of physical passion and human relationships against the backdrop of a heat soaked desert but fails to excite or intrigue. Thank God I had those delicious snacks. Although the packaging states that this disc is Region 4 encoded it is actually Region 0.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1 this anamorphic transfer presents the film accurately with a slightly washed out tone. Image clarity and sharpness is excellent, blacks are deep and bold and rarely show any compression noise. Shadow detail is consistently good throughout the entire film. I spotted some edge-enhancement in a few scenes but this was never a nuisance. Otherwise this is a very good transfer.
Audio
A single audio track is included which consists of both English and French as the film features both languages. The track is a Dolby Digital 2.0 surround mix. This is basically a sparse sound track, the film has occasional scenes of dialogue, which are clear and distortion free, but this track is mostly reliant on the environment that the characters are travelling through. And in that regard we do get some subtle sound effects that place us in the desert town. Otherwise this isn't exactly a track to write home about, it does its job and that's about it. Subtitles are included only in English on the parts of the film that is spoken in French.
Extras
Accent have included a small platter of extras on this disc containing the film's theatrical trailer plus a collection of bonus trailers as well as a text comments on the film from its director. Below is a closer look at these supplements. First up is a Director's comments which includes 5 pages of material, The director discusses his motivations for the film and it's themes as well as elaborates on the overall tone and subject matter of the film. It's not quite a commentary but does provides some insight into what he was trying to achieve. Also included is the film's original theatrical trailer which runs for 1 minute 7 seconds. Rounding out the extras on this disc are a selection of bonus trailers for: - "High Tension" which runs for 1 minute 42 seconds. - "9 Songs" which runs for 1 minute 33 seconds. - "Irreversible" which runs for 1 minute 39 seconds. - "I Stand Alone" which runs for 1 minute 23 seconds.
Overall
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