'A Time For Drunken Horses' DVD Review

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A Time For Drunken Horses

( aka 'Zamani barayé masti asbha' )

directed by Bahman Ghobadi
Iran 2000

"Simplicity... a window on another world... the innocence of childhood. 'A Time For Drunken Horses' is a film filled with honesty, but because it is from an environment that so few can relate it almost appears to be intentionally extracting sympathy as we can hardly believe the plight of the characters shown before us. In reality, it instills the obvious values of family, love and perseverance, especially when any semblance of a life of normalcy is so utterly stripped away. Short, but in its sly, roundabout way it is able to touch... sneaking up on you to extract deep emotion. The brutal frankness of the film can leave you almost catatonic. I was strongly reminded of Kiarostami's 'Close-up' and Mohsen Makhmalbaf's 'Kandahar'. Everyone should see 'A Time For Drunken Horses', not for an understanding of fellow humankind, but a strong introspective look at themselves and their lifestyles."

Poster (Click to enlarge)

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DVD Review:

Tartan Video Region 2- PAL

DVD Box Cover	Click to enlarge	Order from:
Distribution	Tartan Video Region 2 - PAL
Runtime	1:15:03 minutes
Video	1.66:1.00 Letterboxed WideScreen / anamorphic Average Bitrate: 5.23 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
Bitrate: Tartan Video
Audio	Farsi / Kurdish (2.0 Surround)
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Tartan Video Theatrical Release Date: September 13th, 2000 (Toronto Film Festival ) Aspect Ratio(s): Widescreen letterbox - 1.66:1 anamorphic Discographic Information: DVD Encoding: Region 2 - PAL Extras: Original trailer in non-anamorphic widescreen - 1:23 Trailers of other Tartan DVDs: In The Mood For Love in non-anamorphic widescreen - Brian Ferry singing version - 3:16 Ingmar Bergman Collection - 4:3 ratio, Black + White, 2:57 Terrorist in non-anamorphic widescreen - 1:46 Jules et Jim in non-anamorphic widescreen - 3:09 DVD Release Date: January 27th, 2003 Transparent Snap Case Chapters: 12

Comments:

No digitization and this DVD has fine image quality. Colors are true and there are adequate contrasts. I found it a little dark in the indoor sequences but that may have been in comparison to the extremely bright (often snow reflected) outdoor ones. The 2.0 sound is clear. On the down-side there were scenes in which the dialogue was not translated fully. In a few scenes there is talking going on and there are no Eng subs. The Extras are bare-bones, but I did enjoy the trailers, many of which I had not seen. The lengthy Brian Ferry crooning "In the Mood For Love". It is now my favorite for that film. 12 Chapters, which is appropriate as the film is only 1:15. Overall a great anamorphic picture, good sound, occasional weak subs and weaker extras.