Review by Leonard Norwitz
Studio:
Theatrical: BBC Production with Arts & Entertainment Network
& Chestermead
Blu-ray: BBC 2/entertain
Disc:
Region: All
NOTE
:
despite being sold in the UK this
Blu-ray
is REGION FREE and will play on
Blu-ray
players worldwide.
Runtime: 327 min
Chapters: 6
Size: 50 GB
Case: Expanded Blu-ray case with flip page
Release date: January 20th, 2009
Video:
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Resolution: 1080i or 1080p
Video codec: AVC @ about 33 Mbps
Audio:
English DTS HD Master-Audio 5.1
Subtitles:
English SDH, none
Extras:
• Pride and Prejudice: A Turning Point for Period Drama with
Andrew Davis & Costume Designer Dinah Collin. (31:10)
• Technical Restoration Featurette (5:36)
• Detailed Video Calibration Menu
The Film:
From the same people who gave us the remarkable Planet Earth
series on Blu-ray, comes an important historical drama. It
is important not only because it is an example of a
well-produced period drama – and arguably the best
adaptation of this most popular Jane Austen novel – but
because it signals possibilities in restoration that we had
always longed for but thought was not possible. For those of
us who appreciate the kind of fine drama that was produced
for television over the previous couple of decades, and
particularly those series produced for the BBC and found
their way to North America on Masterpiece Theatre or the A&E
Network, this Blu-ray of Pride and Prejudice will astonish
and delight.
For this is not merely a transfer onto high definition video
of the same masters from which we watched the show on
television and certainly not from whatever sources were used
for the DVDs that followed. No, this is a
back-to-the-negative affair, the results of which are
mind-boggling – even considering that the original source is
only 16mm.
It was indeed the enthusiastic popular and critical response
to this production of Pride and Prejudice that cleared the
way for a resurgence of adaptations of the novels of Jane
Austen. Following close on its heels were Ang Lee's Sense
and Sensibility with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet (1995),
Patricia Rozema's Mansfield Park with Frances O'Connor
(1999), an adaptation for television of Emma (1996) with
Kate Beckinsale, and a theatrical Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow
in the same year; and later, an updated Pride and Prejudice
with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen (2005), at least
one film about or directly inspired by Jane herself:
Becoming Jane, plus all manner of TV series including yet
another Emma now in production. There was in fact a superb
made for TV movie of Persuasion with Amanda Root and Ciarán
Hinds that was first released in North America the same
month that Pride and Prejudice began its run in England. But
it was the smashing success of Pride and Prejudice that
turned a two-hundred year old spinster, about whose personal
life surprisingly little is known, into England's most
popular source for movies and television dramas.
The Series : 9
While hardly unknown by 1995, it was his performance as Mr.
Darcy, the snob surprised by love, that nailed the screen
persona of Colin Firth for which he has become famous in
roles similar and diverse in The English Patient,
Shakespeare in Love, Bridget Jones's Diary (where he plays a
character named Mark Darcy) and Love Actually (where he
plays a character named Jamie Bennett).
Jennifer Ehle (pronounced "EE-lee") hails from North
Carolina and studied in London. A serious stage actress, she
has won two Tony's as well as critical acclaim for her work
for film and television (and a BAFTA for Pride and
Prejudice). She played Christabel LaMotte in the 2002
misguided film adaptation of A.S. Byatt's Possession, and
recently was seen as the terminally ill wife in Pride and
Glory.
Image:
5/6
The first number indicates a relative level of excellence
compared to other Blu-ray video discs on a ten-point scale.
The second number places this image along the full range of
DVD and Blu-ray discs.
As can be inferred by my score for the video, it is not in
absolute terms that this Blu-ray is to be valued or
understood. Nor do I want to rest my case with a casual
defense of the original source being super 16mm (with its
picture area of about 1.66:1). Cf:
HERE. The image quality is not much compared to well
transferred material from 35mm sources in good condition.
But neither is it objectionable as we take in its full five
and a half hour length. The grain that we observe is
perfectly natural to the medium. But the image is otherwise
sharp and rich with color, especially for the costumes and
sets – which was hardly the case with the DVD. And that's an
understatement.
We find bit rates that are very high – typically in the
mid-30s, contrast is excellent, and flesh tones have been
restored to standards that the living enjoy. The aspect
ratio change is inspirational. The image on the DVD often
seemed cramped or cropped of important figures on one side
of the other. Well, here they are. To be fair, the Blu-ray
does crop the top and bottom of the frame compared to the
DVD, but this never appears in error as does the previous
horizontal cropping.
No, what sets this Blu-ray apart and makes it of historical
importance is how much better it is than any version anyone
has seen before – on broadcast or on video. I imagine that
what was seen on British television was superior to the DVD
(either the A&E/Image R1 or, by reports I've read, the R2),
but nothing could have come close to what we have here. Most
important is the extent by which it obliterates the existing
DVDs, since that has been the only form any of us have been
able to watch this for the past decade, and what it portends
for other made-for-TV dramas that have shared a similar fate
on DVD.
In the 5-minute featurette about the hows and whys regarding
the restoration we learn a most remarkable thing: that
previous videos were sourced from positive prints rather
than directly from the negative, and that sorting out how to
master from these kinds of 16mm negatives, with their
problematic joins between scenes, has only been sorted out
recently – so says our guide.
The only thing I have not been able to yet confirm to my
satisfaction is whether the image is 1080i or 1080p. The
cover says "1080i" but my PS3 fails to indicate a change of
resolution from the 1080p page before it. I shall try to
sort this out with 2entertain and report back ASAP.
Blu-ray
TOP vs. original DVD BOTTOM
Blu-ray
TOP vs. original DVD BOTTOM
Blu-ray
TOP vs. original DVD BOTTOM
Audio & Music:
6/9
Once again, uncompressed audio rules. The new Blu-ray even
benefits from the extra ambiance that the 5.1 mix provides,
permitting more of the feel of those peculiarly English 18th
century rooms and halls. The music blossoms forth with a
radiance that the DVD never knew existed. I can't say that
the dialogue is any crisper, but it does sound more natural
and seems to emanate from actual people (a serious fault on
t he R1 DVD) – otherwise, why bother with Jane Austen in the
first place.
Operations:
7
Now this is a first – for me anyway. Both discs have
selectable audio guided menus plus an audio commentary that
describes the action of the entire feature. There are even
audio guides to the most elaborate setup instructions and
calibration test patterns I've yet encountered on Blu-ray.
Remarkable! I debited one point for the infernal internal
flip-page – as cheap and silly as ever.
Extras:
7
There are two extra features, one pf them in HD, both
recorded last year for this Blu-ray presentation. The first
is a 30-minute discussion of the series from the points of
view of Andrew Davis, the person who adapted Ms. Austen's
novel and Dinah Collin, who talks about costumes. Also on
board are Drama Publicist Alan Ayres and TV Critic Baz
Bamigboye who place the series in the historical context of
contemporary media. Davis's comments are especially
interesting, since I wouldn't have guessed the extent to
which his adaptation included directions for how the shots
were to be considered. He speaks candidly of one instance
that he wished could have been staged differently, as if it
were his fault for indicating the actors should be walking
together instead of standing face-to-face, a decision I
would have taken to be the director's. This feature is
rendered in high quality 16x9 standard definition.
The other feature is a short technical discussion led by
Vince Narduzzo, who has been in the business of color
grading and telecine mastering of motion picture and
television film since 1980. I found the visual examples he
gave compelling – jaw-dropping would be more like it, but
his explanation for why there were difficulties mastering
direct from the negative until now assumes knowledge even
the average videophile might not have. Still, his talk and
demo, which also touches on the subject of film grain and
how it is manifest on video, was sufficient for the purpose.
I do like that the segment is presented in 1080i so that we
can see the comparison to best advantage, though keep in
mind that what he shows us as video made from prints is
still much better than what we have endured on DVD.
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Bottom line:
9
While the image quality of this release is not up to the
standards we have come to expect from 35mm or HD video
sources, BBC/2entertain should be given high marks and our
support for bringing this superb drama series to life.
Leonard Norwitz
February 8th, 2009
