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(aka "La madre muerta" or "The Dead Mother")
Directed by Juanma Bajo Ulloa
Spain 1993
Ismael (Karra Elejalde, Timecrimes) breaks into the house of a fine art restorer and shoots the homeowner dead, leaving her daughter orphaned and traumatized for life. Years later Ismael is working in a bar where he sees the daughter again. Paranoid that she has recognized him and will report him, he kidnaps her and holds her hostage, demanding that her hospital pay a ransom for her release. As he spends more time with her a strange bond develops that causes him to delay the ransom request or fulfill his threats of throwing her in front of a train. But he can’t delay forever… A gothic thriller with pitch-black humour that recalls the Coen brothers, Juanma Bajo Ulloa’s sophomore feature won a host of prestigious international awards and was a precursor to the Spanish genre explosion. *** Ismael Lopez (Elejaldo), a petty criminal, shoots and kills a painting restorer during a bungled burglary, and shoots her daughter as well. Twenty years later, and the daughter Leire (Alvarez) has been left mute and with a mental age of a child, spending most of her time in a mental home. A chance meeting between Leire and Ismael, who now works in a bar, leads Ismael to think that she still ight be able to recognize him, and turn him in to the police. With the help of his girlfriend Maite (Lio), he kidnaps Leire and chains her to the bed in his house. He is unable to kill her, however, and instead asks the mental home for a ransom for her return. Whilst a prisoner, though, Leire and Ismael grow closer and closer through his attempts to make her laugh and their mutual love for chocolate. |
Posters
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Theatrical Release: September 2nd, 1993 (Venice Film Festival)
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
Review: Radiance - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures: |
Distribution | Radiance - Region FREE - Blu-ray | |
Runtime | 1:51:04.324 | |
Video |
2.35 :1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-rayDisc Size: 45,327,053,143 bytesFeature: 29,685,582,144 bytes Video Bitrate: 31. 42 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate Blu-ray: |
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Audio |
LPCM Audio Spanish
2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -30dB |
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Subtitles | English, English for commentary, None | |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: Radiance
2.35 :1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-rayDisc Size: 45,327,053,143 bytesFeature: 29,685,582,144 bytes Video Bitrate: 31. 42 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Edition Details: • Audio commentary by Bajo Ulloa • The Story of La Madre Muerta - a documentary on the making of the film featuring behind-the-scenes images and interviews with the cast and crew (38:19) • Victor's Kingdom [El reino de Victor] (1989, 38:04) - Goya Award-winning short film by Ulloa, restored in 4K • Gallery of behind-the-scenes and promotional imagery • Trailer (3:22) Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow Limited Edition booklet featuring new writing on the film by Xavier Aldana Reyes, author of Spanish Gothic: National Identity, Collaboration and Cultural Adaptation, and newly translated archival writing by Juanma Bajo Ulloa, co-writer Eduardo Bajo Ulloa and an appreciation by Nacho Vigalondo Limited Edition soundtrack CD featuring Bingen Mendizábal's sumptuous score
Transparent Blu-ray Case inside slipcase Chapters 12 |
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Comments: |
NOTE:
The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.
NOTE: We have added 50 more large
resolution Blu-ray captures
(in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE
On their
Blu-ray,
Radiance use a linear PCM 2.0 channel track (24-bit) in the
original Spanish language. The Dead Mother
has aggressive effects; gunshots, fights with plenty of head butts by
Ismael and there is bass response. There is a score by Bingen Mendizábal.
He first composed the music for Juanma Bajo Ulloa 's short film El
reino de Víctor (included in the supplements) in 1989. He is a lover
of traditional Basque music and Irish folk and there are representations
in his film music. He has worked for Spanish and international
directors. The score here supports the film's ambiguous elements very
well. Radiance offer optional English subtitles for both the feature and
the Spanish-language commentary - on
their Region FREE
Blu-ray.
The Radiance
Blu-ray
Juanma Bajo Ulloa's The Dead Mother
offers quite a fascinating and unique story.
Wikipedia describes that this film "contributed to the
creation of an aura of cult auteur around the director." I can
understand why. The lead character is a nasty sociopathic criminal. I
can't recall the number of people he head-butted people in the film. The Dead Mother
is shocking at times, but never exploitive. What evolves is a connection
between the violent Ismael and emotionally damaged Leire (Ana Alvarez)
that appears to lead to a redemption for Ismael. No question this is a
memorable film and a great choice for Radiance Films to bring to Blu-ray |
Menus / Extras
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Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures: |
Distribution | Radiance - Region FREE - Blu-ray |
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