Morgiana Blu-ray - Iva Janzurová

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

(aka "Morgiana" or "Cerná kocka")

Directed by Juraj Herz
Czechoslovakia 1972

Often described as the 'last' film of the Czech New Wave, Juraj Herz's delirious tale of terror is a fantastical and surreal phantasmagoria of dark desires and splintered minds.

Morgiana, based on a short story by Aleksandr Grin, (the 'Russian Poe'), is the story of two sisters, Klára and Viktoria who live a life of decadent excess stranded somewhere between the mid-19th and early 20th century. Klára is blonde and beautiful, whilst Viktoria is ugly, sadistic, bursting with hate and jealousy - and hatches a terrible revenge by slowly poisoning her more popular sister. As the poison takes hold, Klára begins to lose grip on her sanity...

Part fairy-tale, part Gothic horror, Morgiana is a full-blown hallucinatory experience from the director of The Cremator.

***

Delirious gothic fairytale with Janzurova playing both the roles of 'good' and 'bad' sister in this adaptation of Alexandr Grin's Edwardian-set novel. Tom Hutchinson has called it 'living Aubrey Bearsdley', which captures perfectly the ornate costume and set design, but not the hallucinatory Hammer-like atmospherics and the drenched colour. Often shot from the point of view of the cat (Morgiana), the film is an elegant, beautifully executed, post-'60s essay on sex and repression.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: September 1st, 1972

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Review: Second Run - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Second Run - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:41:29.083
Video	1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 37,346,929,987 bytes Feature: 31,252,144,128 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.96 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	LPCM Audio Czech 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit Commentary: LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Second Run 1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 37,346,929,987 bytes Feature: 31,252,144,128 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.96 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • An exclusive filmed interview with director Juraj Herz (2010). (16:07) • A Projection Booth audio commentary with Mike White, Kat Ellinger and Ben Buckingham Booklet featuring essay by Daniel Bird and Dr Ian Conrich Blu-ray Release Date: May 1st, 2023 Transparent Blu-ray Case Chapters 12

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Second Run Blu-ray (May 2023): Second Run have transferred Juraj Herz's Morgiana to Blu-ray. It is cited as "presented from a new HD transfer from the best existing original materials created by the Czech National Film Archive". We reviewed the Second Run DVD from 2010 HERE. It is quite a striking upgrade with the heavy green replaced by a less-infusive one. The image is brighter with better color balance, more information in the frame although still having the occasional marks (see samples below.) This is a notable 1080P upgrade.

NOTE: We have added 48 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Second Run use a linear PCM dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original Czech language. Morgiana has few demonstrative moments and they are shown with an expressionist skewed perspective without bass audio. Like the video there are a scant few audio imperfections. The often intense score was by Lubos Fiser (Valerie and Her Week of Wonders) supporting the film's dark mysterious qualities atmospherically in the lossless transfer. Second Run offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Second Run Blu-ray offers a new A Projection Booth audio commentary with Mike White, Kat Ellinger and Ben Buckingham. They discuss Morgiana as a decadent Gothic, the doubling, mirrors, Herz - the ultimate outsider and hard to pin down - being initially snubbed by the New Wavers, films like Pearls of the Deep, Daisies, Diamonds of the Night, surrealism, the fish eye lens of New Wave cinematographer Jaroslav Kučera, and many other astute observations on the production. It covers many topics related to the director and this film. I felt further educated by listening to it. Repeated from their 2010 DVD Second Run include the exclusive filmed interview with director Juraj Herz that runs over 1/4 of an hour further revealing intentions in Morgiana. The package also has the liner notes booklet featuring essay by Daniel Bird and Dr Ian Conrich.

Juraj Herz's Morgiana is a richly atmospheric, Gothic-infused, story - almost to point of representing a campy fairy tale with overriding themes of jealousy, inheritance dissatisfaction, doppelganging mirrors, a hauntingly hypnotic, point-of-view, feline and a secretively hidden vial of a slow-acting poison! Iva Janzurova plays both sisters; evil Viktoria and innocent Klára, aided by heavy Victorian makeup and gorgeous costuming with laced black veils and exaggerated Gothic era head coverings. Just gorgeous. It was so adeptly expressed that many audiences often remain unaware of the dual performances. Angelic Klára inadvertently fuels the jealousy, attracting the most appealing available suitors while brooding Viktoria is rejected by the handyman peeping-tom after she brazenly exposes herself seeking carnal attention. Juraj Herz's unique visual style is filled with beauty - intentionally distracting from the malicious planning. Morgiana is so rewatchable and Second Run's Blu-ray package has the vastly improved a/v, new commentary, director interview and booklet. The appeal of this extends well beyond Czech New Wave fans. This received a strong recommendation.