Take Out Blu-ray - Charles Jang

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

directed by Sean Baker and Shih-Ching Tsou
USA 2004

The American dream has rarely seemed so far away as in the raw, vérité Take Out, by Sean Baker and Shih-Ching Tsou, an immersion in the life of an undocumented Chinese immigrant struggling to get by on the margins of post-9/11 New York City. Facing violent retaliation from a loan shark, restaurant deliveryman Ming Ding (Charles Jang) has until nightfall to pay back the money he owes, and he encounters both crushing setbacks and moments of unexpected humanity as he races against time to earn enough in tips over the course of a frantic day. From this simple setup, Baker and Tsou fashion a kind of neorealist survival thriller of the everyday, shedding compassionate light on the too often overlooked lives and labor that keep New York running.

***

Co-directors Shih-Ching Tsou and Sean Baker (whose Prince of Broadway earned him best narrative feature at the Los Angeles Film Festival earlier this year) are in town this week for the theatrical release of their 2004 DV production, Take Out. It’s a powerful example of guerilla filmmaking with a commitment to the rhythms and social fluxes of urban life, as well as to the quiet human costs and virtues teeming at its core. Tsou and Baker effectively formed a two-person crew, and they camped out for a month at a busy Chinese take out restaurant in the Upper West Side (Manhattan Valley, an area known for its economic diversity, racial tensions, and general cultural smorgasbord) to film a fictional story about an undocumented bicycle deliveryman who has to earn enough tips in a single, rainy day to pay off a loan shark.

With cinematic models that include the Dardennes and Ken Loach, Baker knows his plot is a vehicle on which to hang an exploration of the everyday textures and personal interactions in his chosen socioeconomic setting. The plot maintains the countdown suspense of its premise, but the beauty of the film lies in the way that suspense shifts from its practical conflict to an existential and ethical one in the final act, bringing home the despair and decisions that define so many lives on and off the screen.

Excerpt from Doug Cummings at Film Journey.org located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: January 18th, 2004 (Slamdance Film Festival)

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Kino - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Criterion - Region 'A' / 'B' - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Gregory Meshman for the DVD Review!

Box Cover
Distribution	Kino - Region 0 - NTSC	Criterion - Region 'A' / 'B' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:28:06	1:28:07.323
Video	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 7.16 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 42,066,270,280 bytes Feature: 26,402,248,704 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.56 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate DVD:
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	Dolby Digital 2.0 (Mandarin, English, Spanish)	LPCM Audio Chinese 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -31dB
Subtitles	English, Traditional Chinese, None	English translations, English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kino Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Audio Commentary with Directors Sean Baker and Shih-Ching Tsou and Actor Charles Jang • Cast and Crew Interviews (18:06) • Two Deleted Scenes (3:50 + 1:48) • Charles Jang's Audition (1:39) • Theatrical Trailer (1:26) • Stills Gallery DVD Release Date: September 1st, 2009 Keep Case Chapters 12	Release Information: Studio: Criterion 1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 42,066,270,280 bytes Feature: 26,402,248,704 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.56 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Audio commentary featuring Baker, Tsou, and actor Charles Jang • Reflecting on "Take Out" (28:40) • The Making of "Take Out" (17:50) • Deleted Scenes (6:22) • Charles Jang Screen test (1:40) • Trailer (1:27) PLUS: An essay by filmmaker and author J. J. Murphy Blu-ray Release Date: September 13th, 2022 Transparent Blu-ray Case Chapters 17

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (September 2022): Criterion have transferred Sean Baker and Shih-Ching Tsou's Take Out to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by directors Sean Baker and Shih-Ching Tsou". The Criterion has some blue and green leaning but the 1080P resolution brings out sharpness to a higher degree. It is a bit darker. The DVD was in the 'opened-up' 1.78:1 where the Criterion HD presentation is in the accurate 1.85:1 losing a small amount of information - mostly on the right, top and bottom edges. As Gregory states it was "Shot on digital recorder, the image is showing limitations of the technology." The visuals as subject to the production. However the film's impact is not diminished. Despite the color cast on the image it is a superior presentation.

On their Blu-ray, Criterion use a linear PCM 2.0 channel track (24-bit) in the original English and Mandarin languages. Take Out has diegetic sound - cars etc. with no score but some may recognize BlakGerl performed by Lesonya Gunter (as La Sonya Gunter) and I'm from NY performed by 59's Finest. This is independent vérité with imperfect audio exporting the dialogue fairly consistently in the uncompressed transfer. Like the video it is very grassroots cinema. Criterion offer optional English and English (SDH) subtitles on their Region 'A' / 'B' Blu-ray. This BD is available in the US and UK.

The Criterion Blu-ray offers the 2009 commentary track with Baker, Tsou, and actor Charles Jang as also found on the Kino DVD. Criterion also repeat the 18-minutes of 2006 cast and crew interviews in the program about the making of the film, the two deleted scenes, Charles Jang's screen test and a trailer but they add new interviews with Baker, Tsou, Jang, and actors Wang-Thye Lee and Jeng-Hua Yu in a new 1/2 hour documentary, produced by Criterion in 2022 where the participants consider the making of the film and its importance in their lives since. It is entitled Reflecting on "Take Out". There are also liner notes with an essay by filmmaker and author J. J. Murphy.

Sean Baker and Shih-Ching Tsou's Take Out is brilliant pure cinema. I don't know that I can add more than our friends Gregory and Doug have commented on above and below. Its extensive acclaim is warranted showcasing a day-in-the-life of an illegal Chinese immigrant, Ming Ding (Charles Jang), who delivers Chinese take-out in New York City. He has fallen behind on a large huge debt to individuals who smuggled him to the United States. Here at DVDBeaver we love Sean Baker's work; Starlet, Tangerine, The Florida Project. Take Out is such a welcome addition to Region 'A' + 'B', directors approved, Blu-ray and I hope this Criterion package further exposes the film to a new audience. It is strong recommended and very much worth owning. Don't miss this one.

Gary Tooze

ON THE DVD (2009): An excellent cinéma vérité-style independent film just got a welcome DVD release from Kino. The thought-provoking feature shows the one day in the life of an illegal immigrant delivering Chinese food to make enough money to pay his debt. Shot on digital recorder, the image is showing limitations of the technology, but at least the transfer is anamorphic and progressive. The original Mandarin/English audio is provided, but English subtitles are only provided for Mandarin dialogue.

Cavu Pictures and Kino provides a nice set of extras featuring a full-length audio commentary by the creators (they are more than just directors) and its star ("I speak English! Surprise, surprise!"). Also, there's a nice set of interviews about the film that runs almost 20 minutes, 2 deleted scenes, a sample of film's audition by Charles Jang, trailer and a set of behind-the-scenes photos in a stills gallery. The film and this DVD release is highly recommended and I wish despite all the limitations and higher price tag for this DVD, it can reach bigger audience.