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Day at the Beach (A) AKA Roman Polanski's A Day at the Beach (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Powerhouse Films Review written by and copyright: Rick Curzon (12th June 2025). |
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The Film
 Mark Burns (Death in Venice) and Beatrice Edney (Highlander) star in A Day at the Beach, a downbeat tale of alcoholism written by Roman Polanski (Chinatown), produced by regular Polanski collaborator Gene Gutowski (Cul-de-Sac, The Pianist), and shot by celebrated cinematographer Gilbert Taylor (Repulsion, Star Wars). When Bernie (Burns) takes a little girl, Winnie (Edney) – who may or may not be his niece or perhaps daughter – for a trip to a decrepit Danish seaside town on a day of heavy rain, he sets about cajoling the locals in a desperate quest for alcohol, leaving his young charge to fend for herself. The sole feature-film credit for director Simon Hesera, A Day at the Beach received scant distribution at the time of its production, but – after having been lost for decades – it was eventually revived and re-released to critical acclaim, with audiences particularly interested to discover the charismatic cameo appearances by British comedy legends Peter Sellers (The Blockhouse, Hoffman) and Graham Stark (The Wrong Box).
Video
From the booklet: A Day at the Beach was scanned in 4K, restored and colour corrected at Filmfinity, London, using the original 35mm negative. Phoenix image-processing tools were used to remove many thousands of instances of dirt, eliminate scratches and other imperfections, as well as repair damaged frames. No grain management, edge enhancement or sharpening tools were employed to artificially alter the image in any way.This is a very melancholy film set at rain drenched Danish seaside town so skies are wonderfully overcast throughout with plenty of cloud detail and no blown out skies. In fact, this is one of the most melancholy looking films I've seen and the beauty of it is that it's incredibly filmic with masses of texture and grain. It's a stark reminder of the attraction films actually made on film have over digital where their over-sharp, colour-corrected aesthetic will never compare, at least in my opinion. The colour palette is wonderfully naturalistic with plenty of vivid colours where necessary as opposed to an over designed production and set dressing. Being rainy we have lots of blacks, blues and grays, but vegetation is rich and lush, flesh tones ruddy and pinched by cold and Beatie Edney's slicker is a ray of yellow in a sea of moisture and dour backdrops. Shadow detail and contrast are balanced and the encode handles detail and the ever present grain well, especially as this can't have been an easy film for Fidelity in Motion to encode. In any case, it's a beautiful damage free presentation of a beautiful looking, atmospheric film ('A+'). (The extended version - only an additional 2:31 - is only in standard definition from an aging master and presented in 1.33:1. It's rather dull and washed out looking and if nothing else affords us a way of comparing what we had to put up with on VHS, Laserdisc and DVD for decades;I only sampled this version for technical purposes) 1080p24 / ABC MPEG-4 / BD50 / 1.75:1 (81:36), 1.33:1 standard definition upscale (84:07)
Audio
English LPCM 1.0 (48kHz, 24-bit) Subtitles: English HoH The sound isn't as robust as the image but has been restored to be at its best. It's an analogue mono track with limited range and ever present sounds of dripping water and rain. Dialogue is always clear despite mild distortion when Mark Burns is shouting, fairground music, screeching horns and seagulls calling but it's baked into the original and has always been part of the soundscape. Very mild hiss is also evident. Wind buffets the sound field satisfyingly; for a mono track of the period sound design is quite detailed. Hard of hearing subtitles are thorough ('B').
Extras
"Dancing Before the Enemy: How a Teenage Boy Fooled the Nazis and Lived" 2015 documentary (63:57) Chunky documentary by Adam Bardach - who's family were involved in the story itvtells - about producer Gene Gutowski focusing on his history as a survivor of World War II and the Soviet and German occupation of Poland. I knew nothing about Gutowski before watching this beyond the fact he produced films, mainly for Roman Polanski. 1080p24 1.78:1 with lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (48kHz, 192Kbps) and with optional English hard of hearing subtitles. "A Country Girl: Fiona Lewis on A Day at the Beach" 2025 interview (6:03) Brief piece in which veteran actress Lewis tells us how she got started in the business, how she met and worked with Polanski (The Fearless Vampire Killers; or, Pardon Me But Your Teeth are in My Neck) before getting on to discussing A Day at the Beach. She mentions that much of her part ended up on the cutting room floor, including the original ending in which her character figured. She also gives us details and thoughts about both Mark Burns and director Simon Hisera. Presented in 1080p24 1.78:1 with lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (48kHz, 192Kbps). "The Word of the Alcoholic: Roman Polanski, Marek Hłasko and The Noose" 2025 visual essay by Michael Brooke (14:59) An excellent visual essay that looks at Polanski's relationship with celebrity and alcoholic writer Hłasko with Brooke theorises influenced Polanski's script for A Day at the Beach. We get a potted history of Hłasko hearing about his rise as a novelist, meeting Polanski, some misadventures involving the police and the creation of The Noose (1958 directed by Wojciech Has), based on one of Hłasko's short stories it tells the tale of an alcoholic plus additional information about his life. It all leads to the California (with Polanski), the Manon murders, the death of composer Kristoph Komeda due to an argument with Hłasko and his subsequent death by overdose. Presented in 1080p24 1.78:1 (with 1.37:1 pillarboxed clips) with lossy English / Polish Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (48kkHz, 192Kbps) and optional English subtitles for the sections in Polish. "Behind the Camera: Gil Taylor" 1999 TV episode (12:56) Short BBC vignette made and screened to a company a screening of Repulsion. It features interviews with Taylor, Roman Polanski and Anthony Minghella with narration by Sam West. Films discussed: Repulsion (1965), The Omen (1976) and Star Wars (1977). Upscaled 1080p 1.78:1 with lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (48kHz, 192kbps) with no subtitle options. 36-page booklet with new essay by Michał Oleszczyk, a compilation of trade journal reports on the film’s production, interviews with director Simon Hesera at the time of the film’s 1993 re-release, an overview of critical responses and full film credits Plenty of interest here with an excellent new essay and vintage material providing plenty of additional context and value.
Packaging
Not sent for review.
Overall
A once thought lost minor drama from scriptwriter Roman Polanski and commercials director Simon Hisera (making his only feature film) gets a special edition from Powerhouse Films. It's a tough film to like having a completely unsympathetic lead but it's beautiful to look at and easy to appreciate in this stunning new restoration with excellent image and sound. Extras are nit extensive but are very choice. Essential for film buffs and quite possibly one of the discs of the hear if only for bringing back into circulation a film that was all but forgotten. It has had dull looking DVDs but this HD presentation restores it's lustre ('A-').
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