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Jimmy's Hall
R2 - United Kingdom - Entertainment One Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (26th September 2014). |
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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 the makers of The Wind That Shakes the Barley. In 1921, Jimmy Gralton's sin was to build a dance hall on a rural crossroads in an Ireland on the brink of Civil War. The Pearse-Connolly Hall was a place where young people could come to learn, to argue, to dream….but above all to dance and have fun. As the hall grew in popularity its socialist and free-spirited reputation brought it to the attention of the church and politicians who forced Jimmy to flee and the hall to close. A decade later, at the height of the Depression, Jimmy returns to Co. Leitrim from the US to look after his mother and vows to live the quiet life. The hall stands abandoned and empty, and despite the pleas of the local youngsters, remains shut. However Jimmy reintegrates into the community and sees the poverty, and growing cultural oppression, the leader and activist within him is stirred. He makes the decision to reopen the hall despite the consequences he knows he will face… Some dreams are worth fighting for.
Video
Ken Loach's Irish drama "Jimmy's Hall", gets its home media world wide debut on DVD (and on Blu-ray - but that was unavailable for review) using the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The transfer is anamorphic, in PAL format, and is above average, but far from reference grade. Generally speaking, the transfer that Entertainment One has given us is very clean. Filmed using Arricam cameras on 35mm, there are no signs of damage in the print such as scratches or dust. There is however, some slight aliasing from time to time, but at 96:48, it is surprisingly noticeable for five or so seconds on the back of Jimmy's jacket. Despite this blip, the aliasing isn't overly obvious, and there are only slight signs of edge enhancement. Some light banding can be seen in skylines, but is only worth a passing mention. Details are good for the most part, especially close-ups of clothing and faces, whilst background items rarely succumb to blockiness. Shadow details are okay, but are occasionally lost among the black clothing and dark locations. The colour palette is what you would expect for a film set during this era, with many muted browns, greens, and blacks. At times, the foliage of the countryside locations pop really well, and help to add a good sense of depth to the transfer. This is a solid transfer with only minor flaws. The feature is uncut and runs 104:32.
Audio
There are two audio options available here: - English Dolby Digital 5.1 - English Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo For obvious reasons, I viewed the feature using the non-descriptive English Dolby Digital 5.1 track, which is a solid attempt, but could have made better use of the music to become more immersive. As to be expected by the story line, the music does play a reasonable role in the film, and although the surrounds do give it a boost, it still feels rather central. Dialogue is clear at all times (though some may struggle with the Irish accents), with no mumbling, and consistent volume levels. Some of the smaller environmental noises, like the patter of feet in the hall, also make use of the surrounds, but direction is minimal. There is no damage - it's a technically good track with no issues - but it could be better. Optional subtitle are available in English for the hard-of-hearing.
Extras
The main extra here, is a solo audio commentary by respected director Ken Loach. There are some small dead spots here and there, but they never last longer than a couple of minutes. Loach talks about the history of the story, the culture and dividing views in Ireland surrounding the time period, and some of the choices that were made when making the feature. Loach is a good speaker, but I would have liked this commentary to delve a little more into the technical side of filmmaking, and the pre/post-production. Next up, we have small selection of deleted Scenes (7:29). Available only as a play all option, they cover several bases, from a deleted music sequence, to Jimmy talking a little more in-depth about whether he plans on settling down. Mainly dialogue driven, I guess these scenes were trimmed for pacing, however, some may find them worth watching as they do add a little more to some of the side-characters. A "Making Of" documentary is also included, and clocks in at 33:19. This is by far and wide, the best extra feature available on the disc. We are shown various clips from behind-the-scenes interspersed with interviews with many crew members. We see a choreography lesson for one of the dance scenes, a practice read-through, and some raw footage taken on set. The history behind the story is also explored in different aspects to that in the audio commentary. A very good documentary. There are also some start-up trailers: - "Maps to the Stars" (1:56) - "Mr Turner" (1:58) - "The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet" (2:10) - "Begin Again" (2:14)
Overall
This is far from Ken Loach's / Paul Laverty's usual standard, with cliched dialogue and characters. However, it's still a good film that is worth checking out.
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