|
|
 |
Modern Love
R0 - Australia - Accent Review written by and copyright: Shane Roberts & Noor Razzak (2nd March 2009). |
|
The Film
 After the death of the Uncle who raised him, John (Mark Constable) along with his wife Emily (Victoria Hill) and son Edward (William Traeger) travel from the city to the small town and farm, where he grew up, to handle the estate. Once there he begins to suspect that the death might have been murder rather than a hunting accident and that, plus hunting memories of his unhappy childhood, cause him to withdraw from his family which leads to cracks in his already troubled marriage and sanity. I hadn’t heard of this film before being asked to review it but, being a big fan of horror/thrillers and Australian films in general, plus having read a few glowing reviews myself, I wasn’t expecting to be as completely disappointed as I was. With reviews throwing around comments like “has a surreal sense of time and place that draws viewers into its nightmarish realm” and “it’s horror is terrifying yet it doesn’t fall into the horror clichés”, as well as comparisons to Stanley Kubrick’s "The Shining" (1980) and David Lynch’s "Wild At Heart" (1990), I wonder how many examples of this genre these reviewers have actually seen. The only nightmarish realm I was drawn into was one that gave me the surreal feeling that time was at half speed because the oppressive tone and monotonous music made ninety minutes feel like three hours. Not only did the threadbare story fall into multiple horror clichés but I feel like I’ve seen the whole thing at least half a dozen times before including an overused twist ending that should be retired permanently from movies. There are similarities to "The Shining" in the bare basics of the story of a family going to a remote and possibly haunted location and the father gradually losing his sanity, but a rundown Australian farm house is hardly a decent replacement for a huge, spooky, deserted hotel even if the surrounding Australian landscape is pretty ominous. On the positive side, there is some fantastically haunting cinematography from Nick Matthews and good performances from Mark Constable and Victoria Hill who make the deteriorating relationship between John and Emily convincing. Lastly, the nature of the twist practically explains it but I found it a bit disturbing that, while in your garden variety U.S. backwoods set horrors like "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (2003) and "Wrong Turn" (2003) strange and threatening locals who may turn out to be psychopathic monsters are usually portrayed as exaggerated, inbred rednecks, here the local weirdos are just mentally challenged people… very sensitive. This is one of my shortest reviews but I just feel I’ve wasted enough time on this film, and now that you’ve read this, so have you.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 1.85:1 this anamorphic transfer captures the intended aesthetic quite well. The image is a bit rough and grainy but that adds to the texture of the film and there's no digital noise amid this transfer which is nice to see. Sharpness as a result takes a hit in consistency. The film's colours are a bit muted which also seems in keeping with the overall look of the film. The image is clean and well rendered, making it one of the better transfers I've seen from Accent in a while.
Audio
The audio is in English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo, this film is very atmospheric and I'm disappointed that the film was not presented in 5.1 surround as it would have helped create a richer, more immersive sound experience. However, in saying that, the dialogue was clear and distortion free, music cues and ambient sounds were used to decent effect but still lacking in punch. This disc does not include any optional subtitles.
Extras
Accent has included a few extras on this disc, by way of short films and bonus trailers. Below is a closer look at these supplements. 4 short films from the same director are included: - "Doctor by Day" which runs for 15 minutes 37 seconds is from 1999 and is in pretty awful quality, the image looks like a badly recorded TV broadcast. The film is about a woman who has a seizure and her doctor who lives next door. - "The Longing" runs for 18 minutes 53 seconds and is a short documentary from 2003 about a farmer that moves to the city. - "Zoyd" is the director's student film from 1995 and runs for 17 minutes 40 seconds, the quality if this one is also pretty bad, and is about Zoyd, a man married to the woman running for President in this sort-of political thriller. - "The Art of Tabloid" is from 1997 and runs for 3 minutes 32 seconds, although according to it's IMDB runs for 13 minutes. The film literally cuts out at 3 minutes 32 seconds, I believe this must be a mastering fault. The disc is rounded off with a collection of bonus trailers for: - "Mary" which runs for 3 minutes 1 second. - "Europa" which runs for 2 minutes 30 seconds. - "Day on Fire" which runs for 1 minute 48 seconds. - "Flight from Death" which runs for 3 minutes 4 seconds. - "Mutual Appreciation" which runs for 2 minutes 4 seconds. - "Detour de France" which runs for 2 minutes 17 seconds.
Overall
|
|||||
|