Andrew reviews the technical aspects of this week's blu ray release of Under The Skin.
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| Related Review: Under The Skin |
Today the year’s
most polarizing art house film Under the
Skin hits Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Entertainment. After the film’s theatrical distributor A24
announced the title would only be released on DVD, a public outcry exploded and
thus reversed the decision. Since the
film has been reviewed more than once by yours truly on the site, this little
review will focus more on the technical aspects and special features of this
Blu-ray disc.
In terms of picture quality, Under the Skin presents a unique
challenge to viewers accustomed to eye popping images. Though exhibiting a clean and sterile image akin
to the theatrical release, people seem to forget just how dimly lit the film
is. This is a film that will likely have
HDTV owners fidgeting with the settings to increase the brightness and contrast
levels. That said, the Blu-ray
represents a faithful visual presentation and maintains the low light levels
and monochromatic color scheme of the film’s brooding cinematography.
On a level of audio, Under the Skin gets a DTS-HD 5.1
surround soundtrack that is absolutely demo-worthy for cinephiles wanting to
show off their home theater to friends. Much like Lynch’s Eraserhead
with the unsettling strings of Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood, the film is a noisy wind tunnel with
occasional sharp, hollow sounds and eerie, unearthly strings permeating the
echo chamber. Dialogue, much like in
theaters, is presented at low levels and audio at times is compromised due to
the guerilla filmmaking tactics utilized to record the conversations between
Scarlett Johansson and Scottish passerby.
Overall, fans will be pleased with the sonic range of the DTS-HD
track. Be sure to turn the volume up
loud!
As for extras, Under the Skin features a wealth of making-of featurettes which
don’t so much explain the film as it tries to break down individual cinematic
elements going into the production.
Unlike the DVD for Birth which
included only a trailer, Under the Skin,
for an enigmatic film, contains a surprising amount of hands on material
shedding light on some of the ideas Glazer had in mind. Could there have been an audio
commentary? Perhaps, but that would
defeat Glazer’s intention of creating a puzzle for the audience to solve. For those hoping the extras would spell out
the vague and unclear areas of the film for them, I’m afraid the filmmakers
took great care in not revealing too much information that would spoil the
individual experience each viewer has when dealing with Under the Skin.
-Andrew Kotwicki