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Jinnah AKA Mohammed Ali Jinnah (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Powerhouse Films Review written by and copyright: Rick Curzon (10th January 2024). |
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The Film
 Christopher Lee (I, Monster) stars in Jinnah, an epic drama about the life of Pakistan’s founding father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, directed by Jamil Dehlavi (Born of Fire, Immaculate Conception). Exploring Jinnah’s journey, from political isolation in the Indian National Congress to his leadership of the Muslim League, and from his controversial fight for a Muslim homeland to the Partition of India, this ravishing and enthralling film examines the founding of Pakistan, as well as the bloody aftermath. Co-starring Indian screen icon Shashi Kapoor (Shakespeare Wallah), and with support from James Fox (Performance), Indira Varma (Game of Thrones), Sam Dastor (The Life and Death of Peter Sellers), and Maria Aitken (A Fish Called Wanda), Jinnah features a commanding performance from Lee – one which he himself considered to be the best of his career.
Video
The generally difficult to see Jinnah gets the deluxe treatment on Blu-ray by Powerhouse Films for the UK and US markets. There had been a barebones 2016 UK BD from Eureka but for the most part, this new edition promises to be Jamil Dehlavi's widest home video exposure. A film I'd heard about being a big fan of Christopher Lee and of Dehlavi's Born of Fire (1986), which has also been released by Powerhouse Films along with his 1991 effort Immaculate Conception which I covered back in 2019. Before we dive in, it's important to note that Jinnah was shot in the Super35 format which affords the filmmakers the option of presenting the movie in different aspect ratios. It's a common top format which means that no matter what aspect ratio you view it in - complete open matte 1.37:1, scope 2.39:1 or the director's preferred 1.85:1 - the top of the frame tends to match across the choices with extraneous information towards the bottom being cropped to greater of lesser extents. Some earlier editions of the film (the 2004 DVD from GVI in the UK for instance) were in the 2.39:1 scope ratio but Dehlavi's restoration favours 1.85:1 which was also the choice on the 2016 BD. From the booklet: Jinnah was sourced from Dehlavi Films’ HD remaster, created from the original negative. Additional grading corrections were made under Jamil Dehlavi’s supervision. The film’s original stereo and 5.1 surround sound tracks, and the Urdu dub track, were also delivered by Dehlavi Films. Dare to Dream was delivered in SD by Dehlavi Films.A very filmic transfer with a nine level of fine grain throughout. The encode is the usual superb work done by great Fidelity in Motion which manages the films sometimes soft, filtered look well. Balanced also with other sections that are very sharp and clear. Detail is generally excellent, with textures in fabrics and skin standing out. Close ups and medium shots fare best, detail in backgrounds is stronger in the unfiltered scenes, less defined in filtered material. Colours are warm and vivid throughout this presentation with string delineation - it's a gorgeous looking film; I'm no fan of the bleached look favoured by a fair number of mainstream 21st century films, and Dehlavi's films (at least the three I've seen) are sumptuous to look at, bravo! The colour palette is earthy with plenty of lovely beiges, browns, khakis. Greens stand out nicely with grass being inviting like a pool of serenity. Black levels and contrast are perfectly balanced. The image is flawless, no signs of age-related wear and tear and I detected no digital tinkering ('A+'). 1080p24 / AVC MPEG-4 / BD50 / 1.85:1 / 109:54
Audio
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) English LPCM 2.0 Stereo (48kHz, 24-bit) Urdu LPCM 2.0 Stereo (48kHz, 24-bit) Subtitles: English (for the Urdu track) English HoH (for the English tracks) (both optional) I watched the film with the English 5.1 track (the language spoken on set and therefore the definitive track) and sampled the others by way of comparison. The 5.1 is a significant improvement on the 2.0 stereo, even when the latter is played through Prologic II (it's otherwise with surround directionality). The 5.1 is not a track that will win awards, this isn't the most active and enveloping experience but it does reflect the intentions of the filmmakers I'm sure. The surround filed is mainly used to open the score up with occasional sound effects during crowd scenes for instance. The subwoofer was fairly active with a satisfying amount of LFE that befits the drama at hand, giving some boom to the score when needed. Just don't expect blockbuster levels of bombast. The Urdu track is fine for what it is, 2.0 stereo which has some surround effects when played via an amp in ProLogic II or similar. It has some hiss not detected on the English 2.0 stereo and obviously it wasn't the language spoken on set so doesn't match the lip movements. The hard of hearing subtitles translated every nuance of dialogue in the sections I sampled. Overall rating = B+.
Extras
"Dare to Dream" 1997 documentary, revised 2023 (37:24) A revised vintage documentary that covers briefly the true history the film and them segues into the making of the film itself. Surprisingly it looks at the controversy that arose during production. Presented in upscaled 1080p24 1.33:1 pillar boxed with uncompressed English LPCM 2.0 stereo (48kHz, 16-bit) with no subtitles. Theatrical Trailer (2:53) Vintage promo in 1080p24 1.85:1 with Jinnah Image Gallery: Behind the Scenes (17 images) 36-page liner notes booklet by Éric Peretti, an overview of contemporary critical responses and film credits Another excellent hardcopy companion that is worth the price of the disc by itself. The Peretti article is a first rate dissection of the film's troubled history from preproduction, through production, post production and mostly the aftermath, which gets the lions share of the text. Corruption is highlighted and various parties come off in a very bad light, mainly executive producer Akbar Ahmed and his wife Zeenat who between them contrived to not pay anyone, discredit director Jemil Dehlavi and rob him of his film in all ways, claim directorship for Ahmed and in general the couple feathered their own nest. Sadly, Christopher Lee also doesn't come off terribly well either, although his negative aspects seem to have been tetchiness on set and his son in law trying to nab worldwide home video rights. A superb article that should be the first port of call for anyone preparing to watch the film.
Packaging
Not sent for review.
Overall
The rarely seen period drama Jinnah gets the Powerhouse Films Indicator treatment. As far as I'm aware it's the only western film to deal with the character of Muhammed Ali Jinnah and the partition of India and creation of Pakistan. It's a n odd film that takes a narrative position of magic realism, similar to A Christmas Carol, in which events in Jinnah's life are witnessed by the spirit of Jinnah (the film begins with him dying) as he's led through the events by Narrator (Shashi Kapoor) who is a sort of ghost figure. Sound and image are excellent and true to the source, extras limited but choice ('A-').
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