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Looking for Light: Jane Bown (Limited Premium Edition)
R2 - United Kingdom - Soda Pictures Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (16th November 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.*** A revealing portrait of this most self-effacing but great portrait photographer emerges through conversation, anecdote and candid reflection. In the almost six decades that Jane Bown (born 1925) worked for the Observer newspaper, she became renowned for insightful, highly individualistic portraits of the famous. Some of these portraits are now regarded as classics of the genre - Samuel Beckett, Queen Elizabeth, The Beatles, Bertrand Russell, Mick Jagger, Margaret Thatcher, and more. This feature documentary is a beautiful portrait of both Jane Bown, her determination to succeed in an almost exclusively male world, and her process of working as a photographer. It includes interviews with Rankin, Nobby Clark and Don McCullin and her many iconic photographs of the great and the good (and a few bad) of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Video
Independent distributor Soda Pictures continue their range of photography documentaries by releasing this for a second time as a limited edition, just a couple of weeks after releasing "Finding Vivian Maier". The release uses a mix of 1.78:1 anamorphic and 1.33:1 non-anamorphic aspect ratios, and looks good, but not great. As with most documentaries, there is a mix of footage here, with some filmed 'on-the-fly' following Jane Bown around, and the majority filmed at pre-determined arranged interview locations. The pre-arranged footage generally looks better due to levels of lighting, but unfortunately can contain a few flaws. One of the main flaws is some recurring moire in some clothing. This is most notable in interview segments with Don McCullin, the renowned war photographer. Another problem is some obvious edge enhancement along a back wall roughly half an hour in. Blacks aren't always quite dark enough in the interview scenes, but when it comes to black and white portraits that are often shown of various figures including Winston Churchill and Martin Scorsese, black levels are perfect. Details also look great in the photographs, and in most of the interviews look fine too, though shadow details often struggle to be noticed in some of the darker shots. There are no problems with the print - it's clean with no damage. Note that older interview footage shot in 2004 (at least I think that is when it was shot) is 1.33:1, whilst newer footage is 1.78:1. The documentary is uncut, and runs 82:56.
Audio
There is a single Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track here in the original language of English. It is generally an adequate track with several minor problems along the way, though all due to the low production values, and not the distributor. At 55:57 during an interview with Bown, there are some quite distracting noises of what appears to be a microphone rubbing against clothing. This happens for roughly fifteen seconds, though dialogue is still audible. Volume levels are not particularly consistent with some segments considerably quieter than others, and, in some of these scenes, the dialogue can come across as mumbled and flat. There are no major issues such as scratches, drop outs or background hiss. What is provided is adequate, but could be improved upon. No subtitles have been included.
Extras
The main extra included here, is a series of extended interviews: - Edna O'Brien (6:59) - Rankin (9:40) - Sean O'Hagan (7:14) Irish novelist Edna O'Brien gives us a couple of anecdotes from conversations she had with Bown, and talks about the photos Bown took of her. Fashion photographer John Rankin Waddell (known professionally as Rankin) talks about how he discovered Bown, portrait photography in general, dealing with PR's, and why you shouldn't control light. O'Hagan is a photography journalist for The Observer and The Guardian. He discusses how people think photography is easy, various portrait photographers, types of portrait photography, and how Bown instinctively doesn't intellectualise what she does. These interviews are certainly welcome additions. We also have some start-up trailers for "Journal de France" (1:35), "No Greater Love" (2:37) and "Patience (After Sebald)" (1:18), as well as a theatrical trailer (2:06) on the disc. Inside the case of this limited premium edition, we have an original photograph of John Betjeman signed by Jane Bown, and a booklet featuring essays by film makers Luke Dodd and Michael Whyte. These were not provided for review, so I cannot comment on them.
Overall
Limited to 1000 copies, this release is worth a look for people interested in the long career of photographer Jane Bown. For everyone else, rent it first.
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