NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (August 2022): Criterion have transferred Ronald Bronstein's Frownland to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "New 2K digital transfer, supervised by director Ronald Bronstein". Frownland was shot 16mm and is, predictably, characterized by heavy grain textures. There are some pleasing close-ups that show surprising detail but the visuals are prone to the limitations of the production format. There is some frame-specific damage (see samples below.) It is on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate and will likely not look better, or more authentic, in this 1080P format.

NOTE: We have added 34 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. Frownland has few aggressive moments keeping with its Indie roots. There is music by Paul Grimstad - his first composition credit. It is supportive, sounding clean and flat. Criterion offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

Criterion's Blu-ray supplements are prefaced by text statements by director/writer Ronald Bronstein. Initially, there is a "Director Statement": "I was always opposed to giving orientation to an audience before a screening. My face, my voice, my thoughts on the movie: who cares? But I was obligated to make something to precede a run in Canada and landed on this: a re-creation of a public access show I caught on television as a kid composed solely of candid-camera-style footage of people picking a dollar bill off the sidewalk only to discover the bottom side is coated with dog shit. It blew my mind that something so antagonistic could exist for my entertainment."

For each of the two deleted scenes there is text. For the first, the 9-minute "MS Association"; "This sequence is a good indication of the kind of movie we were making when we started shooting. The cast and crew were all in love with one another. It warped the material. Made it funnier, more playful. To this day, my hackles go up whenever I hear about people having too much fun making a movie. Immediately, / presume the results are going to suck! ": for the second, Analysis Take 3 running shy of a dozen minutes; "For this scene, I hired a real psychoanalyst and subjected Dore Mann to a one-hour session in character. I've been asked, "Why is Keith so articulate here?" The answer is simple. The analyst is the only person in the movie predisposed to let him speak. If the other characters weren't so driven to shoo him away, he'd sound like this in every scene."

Lastly, is a 35-minute conversation between Bronstein and filmmaker Josh Safdie- described by Bronstein as "Josh had a 103-degree fever when we recorded this in 2018. He was all messed up, but I needed him there, as a security blanket. I've always been a coward when it comes to interviews. A huge portion of real estate in my brain gets distracted by the thought of someone like me watching me and making fun of me. It's my comeuppance, I guess, for being so ungenerous with my opinions for so many years."

The Criterion Blu-ray package has liner notes with an essay by critic Richard Brody and an oral history of the making of the film. The film's cover is by Josh Safdie.

Ronald Bronstein's Frownland has a black-comedic aura with the character's desperate darkness unrelentingly invading him and the screen. We can both feel sympathy for Keith without wanting to 'get involved' in his self-inflicted nightmare. I felt evocations of Lynch's Eraserhead. The spirit of Independent cinema haunts the film experience. In the opening scene a small TV is showing the 1974 Hammer horror Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell. Frownland was written, directed and edited by Ronald Bronstein. The crew consisted of the trifecta of one cameraman, Sean Price Williams, one soundman and one grip. It's revelatory to see Frownland - a remarkable effort with the lead character, played by Dore Mann, exporting a curious blend of pity-inducing insecurities, tortuous self-loathing and constant meaningful apologies. Ohh, it's unique and adventurous Indie film fans will revel in Keith's honest awkwardness and compounding despair. The Criterion Blu-ray gives Frownland a new audience with good supplements. To each his own.

Gary Tooze