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Turning (The)
R2 - United Kingdom - Soda Pictures Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (8th March 2015). |
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The Film
 ***This is an A/V and Extras review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** Eighteen Australian directors each create a chapter of the hauntingly beautiful novel by multi award-winning author Tim Winton. The linking and overlapping stories explore the extraordinary turning points in ordinary peoples lives in a stunning portrait of a small coastal community. As characters face second thoughts and regret, relationships irretrievably alter, resolves are made or broken, and lives change direction forever. This watershed film reinterprets and re-imagines the work for the screen.
Video
Soda Pictures present this three hour marathon of short stories based on Tim Winton's novel in the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The transfer is anamorphic, and of course changes in tone and feel depending on which segment you are watching. Overall, it is an average transfer though. With eighteen directors and fourteen cinematographers, I think it is safe to say that each segment differs to the style of that particular crew, though there are some similarities in many of the shorts, such as the use of orange hues against the sun-kissed Australian skyline, and an earthiness in some shorts (and in contrast, a bright natural tones in others). Details are a mixed bag, with shorts which have lighter colours such as "On Her Knees" or several parts of "Cockleshell" looking the best. In these scenes, close-up details show good levels of clarity, especially in faces and in clothing, whilst background items look better than they do in the darker segments. Blacks aren't as deep as they should be, and shadow details often struggle to be noticed, though crush is minimal. Unfortunately, but not entirely unexpected due to the film's length, there are a couple of moments where some very light compression issues can be spotted, but thankfully it is minimal. There are no signs of damage in the transfer such as scratches, dirt or other unsightly blemishes, and no major problems with either aliasing or edge enhancement. I did note some light banding in a couple of skyline shots, but nothing that was overly noticeable. Although the transfer isn't going to set the world alight, and it is far from reference quality, there aren't any major problems. Middle-of-the-road. The feature is presented in the full uncut version running 172:14 which is a pleasant surprise as Soda released the abridged version theatrically in the UK.
Audio
Two audio options: - English Dolby Digital 5.1 - English Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo The 5.1 track here is good, though how the sound field is used does of course vary between the numerous segments. The film is very much dialogue driven, though when required, the surrounds kick into effect quite nicely. One of the more enveloping moments for me, was during Shaun Gladwell's "Family" where there is a scene of Australian Football with some really good crowd noise making its presence known. However, there are not many moments like this, and the surrounds are generally used for the score and for the many subtle environmental effects, whether the sound of the ocean, or a quietly swirling wind. Direction and separation is good, and the front placed dialogue is clear at all times. There are no issues to speak of such as pops or scratches. I sampled the descriptive track quickly, and it makes a change hearing an Aussie accent for one of these tracks. Description didn't overrun dialogue, and I imagine does what it is meant to do well. Optional subtitles are also available in English for the hard-of-hearing.
Extras
The extras start off with a huge audio commentary with Marieka Walsh, Warwick Thornton, Robert Connolly, Anthony Lucas, Philippa Campey, Stefan Duscio, Zohie Castellano, Rhys Graham, Tony Ayres, Claire McCarthy, Stephen Page, Shaun Gladwell, Simon Stone, David Wenham, Jonathan auf der Heide, Justin Kurzel, Yaron Lifschitz and Ian Meadows. Yep. 18 bloody participants, ranging from directors, cinematographers, and even a production designer. Don't worry about the commentary becoming overcrowded though, as this has been done perfectly, with a lot of solo efforts for various segments. It is very interesting to get each individual take on not only their own section, but the project as a whole. The commentary often goes into reasonable technical depth for location scouting, the script, and the casting. A couple of people sound tinny (Justin Kurzel, Shaun Gladwell), probably because the commentary will have been made under various circumstances and in several locations. This commentary is really good (better than the film!) and even when it was approaching the three hour mark I remained interested. The first of four short featurettes is entitled "The Directors", with a run time of 3:13. This takes a look at the beginnings of the project and how they went about getting the eighteen directors involved. Some of the directors chat about their attraction to the project, as does cast member Cate Blanchett. It is also good to hear director Mia Wasikowska's thoughts (brief as they are) as she is one of the few directors not present in the commentary. Next up, we have the "Directors on Location" featurette (2:55). This features several of the directors discuss about why and how they chose their locations for their segments. A lot of the info here is covered in the commentary, but still a nice addition. "Directors on Winton's Work" is the next featurette, clocking in at 2:29. It's exactly what the title suggests, with some of the directors involved discussing the work on which the feature is based. Again, some of what is said here is covered in the commentary, but this is a quick bite sized piece. The last of the featurettes is probably the best of the bunch - "Directors and Their Turning Points" (3:02). Okay, it doesn't really have much to do with the film, but it is a look at some of the things happening in the lives of some of the directors and why turning points are a fact of a life. This is quite a profound, but overly short extra. The rest of the extras are self-explanatory. Start-up Trailers (5:39): - "Electricity" (1:52) - "Kon-Tiki" (2:01) - "National Gallery" (1:44) Theatrical Trailer (1:53)
Overall
Although I admire the intentions and goals of this film, it didn't quite gel together well enough for me. Whilst some of the segments are great ("The Turning", "Cockleshell"), I found a couple to be very droll ("Immunity"). Although the project doesn't quite pull off in structure, it is still a very good advert for the strong Australian film making industry, with plenty of performances and elements of direction which are far superior than the end result may suggest. Worth a rental or a cheap purchase.
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