"Morvern Callar" Palm Pictures - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Momentum Pictures - Region 2

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directed by Lynne Ramsay
UK 2002

Lynne Ramsay creates an atmosphere of being in daze throughout the film, which is wholly appropriate and effective, since the lead character is herself caught in a confused, dreamlike state of mind after her boyfriend commits suicide. It's clear that for some time afterwards she simply doesn't know how to deal with it, and therefore doesn't -- she numbly walks through her daily routines as if nothing has happened, before eventually, impulsively, disposing of his body and assuming authorship of the novel he finished just before his death. She then travels to Spain on a road of self-discovery with some money he left behind for her.

This is an engaging, beautifully photographed film, but I found myself thinking about it very little after it was over. In the end, it's a disappointing follow-up to Ratcatcher. - Donald Brown

The following is an excerpt from a Salon.com review by Stephanie Zacharek:
I would have thought "Morvern Callar" an unfilmable book, or at least one that would be easy to botch. But Lynne Ramsay, director of "Ratcatcher"...has turned it into a work of astonishing delicacy and force, a tone poem about the Frankenstein jolts that all of us, at one time or another, have to live through. (Ramsay co-wrote the screenplay with Liana Dognini.) "Morvern Callar" is a small movie and not a particularly detailed one; it drifts by on mood and nuance and suggestion. But the picture grows richer and more mournful as it moves along -- its sense of rhythm always pushes forward, like the tide forcing its way up the shore inch by inch. It has no formal dramatic structure whatsoever, and yet what's there is so wholly felt that it seems almost classical -- a sustained fugue that catches us up gently and carries us to a place we never would have expected.

Posters

Theatrical Release: May, 2002 - Cannes Film Festival

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DVD Comparison:

Palm Pictures - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Momentum Pictures - Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Donald Brown and Mark Wilson from NicheFlix for the captures!

(Palm Pictures - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Momentum - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers

Distribution

Palm Pictures

Region 0 - NTSC

Momentum Pictures
Region 2 - PAL

Runtime

1:37:24

1:33:12 (4% PAL speedup)

Video

1.82:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 6.42 mb/s
NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s

1.82:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: ? mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes

Bitrate:

Palm

Bitrate:

Momentum

Audio

English (Dolby Digital 5.1)

Subtitles

None

English, None

Features

Release Information:
Studio: Palm Pictures

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.82:1

Edition Details:
• Interviews with Lynne Ramsay, Samantha Morton, Kathleen McDermott
• Trailer
• Weblinks

DVD Release Date: December 16, 2003
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Chapters 18

Release Information:
Studio: Momentum Pictures (UK)

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.82:1

Edition Details:
• Theatrical Trailer (2:21, 1.85:1 Anamorphic, 2.0 Stereo)

DVD Release Date: August 4th, 2003
Keep Case

Chapters 9

Comments:

In my eyes the Momentum image is too red and artificially brightened. It's hard to know for sure which has most accurate colors but that is my guess. They both have very similar sharpness. The Momentum does have English subs which many have requested because of the thick Scottish accent used at times in the film. There is a little bit of cropping on the right edge of the Palm edition. Extras go in favor of the Palm Pictures DVD with interviews as well as the trailer included on the Momentum Release.

- Gary W. Tooze

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(Palm Pictures - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Momentum - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)