|
|
|
Saraband for Dead Lovers AKA Saraband (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Powerhouse Films Review written by and copyright: Rick Curzon (4th August 2025). |
|
The Film
 From the celebrated director-producer team of Basil Dearden and Michael Relph (The Gentle Gunman, The Ship That Died of Shame) comes Saraband for Dead Lovers, the first colour production from Britain’s legendary Ealing Studios. In this sumptuous historical romance, a teenage princess (Joan Greenwood, Girl Stroke Boy) is trapped in a loveless marriage to Prince George Louis of Hanover (Peter Bull, The Old Dark House), heir to the British throne. To escape the boredom, she begins a dangerous affair with Count Philip Konigsmark (Stewart Granger, Footsteps in the Fog), an affair with potentially terrible consequences for the pair... Adapted from a novel by Helen Simpson (Under Capricorn) by Alexander Mackendrick (Whisky Galore!) and John Dighton (Kind Hearts and Coronets), scored by acclaimed composer Alan Rawsthorne (The Cruel Sea), and shot in ravishing three-strip Technicolor by the great Douglas Slocombe (The Young Ones, Murphy’s War), Saraband for Dead Lovers is a glorious feast for the eyes and ears.
Video
An onscreen card just before the film: Saraband for Dead Lovers is a three-strip Technicolor film. Thirty reels of 35mm YCM (yellow, cyan, and magenta) colour separation masters were scanned at 4K and the resultant files then combined and aligned to create a full-colour master. The colour grading and restoration, which involved over 250 hours of dirt and scratch removal and damage repair, was completed by Filmfinity UK. This project was brought to you by STUDIOCANAL and supervised by Jahanzeb Hayat.As the above states, this is a Technicolor film and as such has three negatives. The problem with this format is that film warps over time and when you three to contend with - yellow, cyan, magenta - each has to align perfectly with the others to create one image. Problems arise when this isn't so and we have fringing, colour bleed (especially noticeably red) and other artefacts. The process died out in the mid 1950s as it was labour intensive, time consuming and expensive. The last film made in this format was apparently The Ladykillers (1955). Saraband for Dead Lovers was released in 1948 at the height of it's use - see also classics like Black Narcissus (1947) and The Red Shoes (1948) - and has to be one of the best showcases of the format, at least that I've seen. I've only been sent the standard Blu-ray to review, so imagine what the 4K UHD version will look like with added HDR (Higher Dynamic Range). This is quite simply one of the most beautiful looking films and one of the most beautiful presentations of any film, from any era I have ever seen and the encode from Fidelity in Motion is award worthy as usual with no signs of damage, digital tinkering or flaws. Grain is expertly handled throughout be it course or fine and I didn't even notice the usual softness with opticals. Demo level quality. Colours are rich and vivid to the max, regardless of what colour we're discussing; the aforementioned alignment is as sharp as a tack. Reds obviously sear the eyes, greens look lush and inviting, purples rich and regal, flesh tones ruddy. Black levels and contrast are perfectly judged with detail on every focal plane standing out even through the inherent softness of late 1940s 35mm film stocks. This is both sharp and soft simultaneously but in a most beautiful and appealing way. Hugely filmic, hugely impressive. Easily one of the discs of the year ... and it's still not the UHD 4K iteration with its added benefit of greater fine detail and HDR. If I could give a rating higher than 'A+' I would ('A+'). 1080p24 / AVC MPEG-4 / BD50 / 1.37:1 / 96:48
Audio
English LPCM 1.0 (48kHz, 24-bit) Subtitles: English HoH The soundtrack is obviously not quite as impressive obviously being only mono, but this was a big budget, prestigious production and as such it has the very best of 1940s sonic technology. It's crisp and clear, dialogue is always to the fore, no signs of age related damage like pops and clicks, just some mild analogue hiss as per usual and even then it's only really noticeable when the 1.0 is pumped through all speakers simultaneously and with the volume cranked up. In any case, as good as can be with top notch hard of hearing subtitles ('A-').
Extras
"The British history Entertainment Project (BHEP) Interview with Michael Relph: Conducted by Sidney Cole and Alan Lawson on 23 January 1990" 1990 audio track that plays as an alternate audio track over the film (86:43) Legendary producer Michael Relph in a career spanning interview with topics covered being how he started out in the business, working with various film industry luminaries, becoming at art director, playing conkers in his office when Warner Brothers executives entered his office, odd jobs when out of work, his war years, working at Ealing, becoming a producer, working with Basil Dearden etc. presented in lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (48kHz, 192Kbps) and no subtitle options. "A Sense of Loyalty: James Dearden Introduces Saraband for Dead Lovers" 2025 interview (10:48) "A Life on the Set: Georgina Slocombe on Her Father Douglas Slocombe" 2025 interview (13:12) 24:00 worth of new interviews conducted for this Powerhouse Films' release. Family members of deceased creatives (Basil Dearden, director; Douglas Slocombe, cinematographer respectively). Both cover the film and where it sits within the careers of both individuals. Dearden also covers the films' failure at the box office, the films oppressive nature, it's ending etc. slocombe covers how Technicolor needed much more light to successfully register, how her father approached the film as if it was a B&W film, how Slocombe's career developed after the film amongst other topics. 1080p24 1.78:1 with lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (48kHz, 192kbps). "A Technicolor Dance: Interview with Film Historian Dr. Josephine Botting" 2022 interview (23:06) "A Strange Adventure: Phuong Le and Matthew Sweet Discuss Saraband for Dead Lovers" 2022 interview (24:16) "Restoring Saraband for Dead Lovers" 2023 featurette (10:07) 57:29 worth of legacy featurettes from the 2023 European Studio Canal release. Botting talks mainly and with authority about the film and how it came to be, the use of Technicolor, the expense of using it, how Saraband fits in with prestige-heritage films, the novel source amd the process of adaptation etc. FIlm historians Le and Sweet have an informative chat about the film covering the initial release, its place in the Ealing catalogue, how it feels more like a Gainsborough production etc. Finally we have a restoration piece which shows us examples from the film showing before and after restoration. All presented in 1080p24 1.78:1 with lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (48kHz, 192Kbps) and no subtitle options. Prague Location Footage (silent) (1:24) What it says on the tin. Silent, B&W B-roll material which is fascinating. At the beginning we see a troop of modern '40s era soldiers march up, come a standstill and suddenly jump cut to them in 18th century soldiers outfits. We see them getting a tram, the director and crew at work. Presented in 1080p24 1.37:1 with no sound nor subtitles. Original Storyboards: - Storyboard-to-Film Comparison: The Fair (storyboards by Alexander Mackendrick) (4:46) - Storyboard-to-Film Comparison: The End of Königsmarck (storyboards by Alexander Mackendrick) (5:29) - Saraband for Dead Lovers Image Gallery: Original Storyboards (134 images) An extensive storyboard package presented in HD, with the first two pieces being featurettes that relegate the filmed image to the top right corner, the main body of the image is the monochrome storyboard. 1080p24 1.78:1 with lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (48kHz, 192Kbps) with no subtitles. Finally we have a whopping 134 images of those storyboards to flip through. Image Galleries: - Saraband for Dead Lovers Image Gallery: Original Promotional Material (133 images) - Saraband for Dead Lovers Image Gallery: Original Programme (11 images) - Saraband for Dead Lovers Image Gallery: Dialogue Continuity Script (80 images) A colossal 223 images presented in HD. 80-page liner notes book with new essay by Robert Murphy, archival pieces by Basil Dearden, producer Michael Balcon, art director Michael Relph, director of photography Douglas Slocombe, costume designer Anthony Mendleson, and conductor Ernest Irving, archival profiles of the film’s cast, an overview of contemporary critical responses and full film credits A chunkier than usual tome to accompany the film, 80-pages being the standard for these deluxe editions from Powerhouse Films. This one being just as good as the best of the others (every one has been topnotch).
Packaging
Not sent for review.
Overall
The kind of film that is best seen on the biggest screen possible, Saraband for Dead Lovers looks and sounds a peach, as good an image as I've seen in high definition and frankly even without the benefit of 4K and HDR (it's also available from Powerhouse Films in that format). Extras are top flight with excellent new and legacy content (from the 2023 Studio Canal releases); this is a disc not to be missed ('A+').
|
|||||
|