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Lourdes (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - United Kingdom - Artificial Eye Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (29th April 2013). |
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The Film
 ***This is a technical review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** From acclaimed director Jessica Hausner (Lovely Rita, Hotel) Lourdes centres on Christine (Sylvie Testud - La Vie en Rose), a young woman whos been confined to a wheelchair for most of her life. In order to escape her isolation, she joins a party to Lourdes - the iconic site of pilgrimage in the Pyrenees mountains, where they undertake a journey in hope of finding spiritual comfort or bodily cure. But as the trip develops, Christine's faith is put to the test whilst, around her, the affectations and jealousies of the assorted entourage of religious officials and fellow sufferers are being exposed.
Video
 Lourdes is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and Artificial Eye have opted for a 1080p transfer with AVC-MPEG 4 encoding. As far as high definition goes, this is almost reference quality material. Reds are particularly vivid throughout the movie, especially on clothing and creams look cream, rather than white.
Filmed using a Red One digital camera from the Red Digital Cinema Camera Company, the print is very detailed and you can even see creases in the clothing of people who are in the distance. As expected, there are no signs of damage whatsover in the way of blips or scratches, and the only real problem is the slight lack of sharpness between the blacks every now and again. There was no aliasing or edge enhancement that I could notice, and no signs of digital noise reduction. A great showing from Artificial Eye.
Audio
The disc contains a single audio option: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 in the film's original French language. The surrounds aren't used a great amount due to "Lourdes" being a very centralised movie with not a lot of action or movement, but plenty of dialogue. Throughout the movie, dialogue is crisp and clear, never drowned out by background noise or the soundtrack. The one time the surrounds do kick in is during a party scene. During this scene, surrounds are used mainly whilst a couple of the characters sing a song on the karaoke, with the music used to subtle effect and the vocals effectively staying towards the front speakers for the most part. Despite the rear surrounds not being used a huge amount, the audio track suits the style and feel of the film perfectly and there was simply no need for much action in these speakers. I would imagine this is exactly the tone director Jessica Hausner wanted - very similar to that of one of her previous features, Hotel.
Extras
The small extras package starts with an interview with actress Sylvie Testud (14:47). In English without subtitles, the star of the movie navigates her way through several subjects. Interestingly, she talks about how rehearsing with fellow cast members can have an adverse affect on a movie, because you become overly familiar with your co-stars which can cause you to be too much at ease. Also talked about is the filming of the pilgrimage scenes and using thousands of real pilgrims as 'extras'. The only other extra is a theatrical trailer (2:00).
Overall
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