Kaos - Taviani

(aka "Chaos" )

directed by Paolo & Vittorio Taviani
Italy 1984

With a free adaptation from Luigi Pirandello's works, the Taviani brothers have constructed
an ethereal odyssey into the Sicilian landscape. A highly fragmented film - with four stories and an epilogue - it brings together all the main actors whom the Tavianis had previously collaborated with, in a voluptuous naturalistic trip.

[...]

Kaos is a film of a glorious naturalism previously unencountered in cinema. Giuseppe Lanci's incredible photography, along with the mythical character of the stories and Piovani's unearthly music, ascribe to the film a kind of dreamlike fluidity. Aerial views of temples and castles on top of rocks, full moons with mystical power, vast stretches of land under the sunlight, and an almost purifying Mediterranean sea contribute to a deification of nature, something which is not new in the Taviani's work. Magically euphoric cinema with uniquely conjured images.

Excerpt of review from Edinburgh U Film Society located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: USA 13 October 1985 (New York Film Festival)

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Koch Lorber - Region 1 - NTSC

Big thanks to Per-Olof Strandberg for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Koch Lorber Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	3:09:06
Video	1:1.78 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.24 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Koch Lorber Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1:1.78 Edition Details: • None DVD Release Date: April 1, 2008 Keep Case Chapters 31

Comments

For Koch Lorber catalog titles this DVD is on their higher end, even though that is not necessarily promising an overwhelming endorsement. The anamorphic image is in 1.77:1, so it's a little bit cropped from the 1:1.66 OAR. The colors seems a little bit dull, and the image is not pristinely sharp. Through a projector it looks quite acceptable, but on a closer look there's macro blocking and some digital tape 'dropouts'. But to be honest we have seen so much worse, that there's no excuse to not to buy these masterpiece film. I believe this is the first English friendly DVD of Kaos out.

The audio is taken from an optical print. It has some popping in the beginning and end of every reel, and it sounds a little bit narrow. I believe this mono sound could be much more dynamic.

The only extra is a 8 page booklet. The cover states the film runs for 105 minutes, but luckily it's a misprint, and we have the original 189 minute version.

BOTTOM LINE: Not Criterion standard, but still a DVD worthwhile to purchase. Don't miss it!

NOTE: These DVD didn't function (after the FBI warnings) on my VLC player. However it did function on the built-in DVD player of my Mac, but that again doesn't have any snapshot function. So these screen caps are taken with a program called CAPTURE ME, and are taken from my computer window instead of "inside" the DVD. They may not be valid in a possible future comparison.

- Per-Olof Strandberg

DVD Menus