Romeo, Juliet And Darkness

(aka 'Romeo, Juliet and Darkness' or 'Sweet Light in a Dark Room')

Directed by Jiří Weiss
Czechoslovakia 1960

Jiří Weiss, born in Prague’s German-speaking Jewish community, had twice been forced to flee from his homeland. The first time was in 1939, when the German army marched into Czechoslovakia. Originally an award-winning documentary filmmaker, Weiss fled to Paris and then on to London. He worked there with the Crown Film Unit and later documented the war years in films such as The Rape Of Czechoslovakia (1940) and Before the Raid (1943), which was about a group of Norwegian fishermen facing the Nazi occupation of their small village.

Weiss returned to Prague after the end of the war. The Wolf Trap (1957) was his first major feature film, won the Critics Prize at the 1957 Venice Film Festival, and established him as a key figure in Czechoslovakia’s burgeoning post-war cinema. Set in the 1920s and against the backdrop of bourgeois respectability, it centres on an orphaned young woman taken in by a small-town mayor and his older wife. A study of frustration and denial, the film is distinguished by Weiss’ distinctive cinematic language.

Romeo, Juliet and Darkness came in 1969 and enhanced his reputation even further, winning the Grand Prix at both the San Sebastian and Taormina Film Festivals that year.

Theatrical Release: September 28th, 1962

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DVD Review: Second Run - Region 0 - PAL

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Second Run DVD - Region 0 - PAL
Runtime	1:32:15
Video	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.59 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:
Audio	Czech (Dolby Digital mono)
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Second Run DVD Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Image Gallery • 8-page liner notes booklet DVD Release Date: February 19th, 2007 Transparent Keep Case Chapters: 8

Comments:

The single-layered, non-progressively transferred image is quite weak - most likely coming from a faded analog source. As stated on the Second Run website: "This 1960 film has been digitally re-mastered and newly subtitled from the best existing source available to us. However, due to the age and condition of the source master, there remain visual 'noise' imperfections which could not be removed without affecting the integrity of the entire film.". We appreciate the forthrightness and the description is accurate. The transfer shows some digital artifacts, limitations in contrast and similar inconsistencies in the audio but it is certainly watchable. There is a stills gallery and a liner notes booklet.

The DVD inferiorities didn't take away from my enjoyment of the film, which I suspect may look as good as it ever will on a digital source. There is a Facets VHS available and it probably looks and sounds correspondingly inferior. The film walks a tightrope of subtitles with a foreboding and harrowing impact. Certainly cineophiles will reap the benefits of a viewing. Recommended but just be prepared for the transfer quality.

Gary W. Tooze

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