The Man From London

(aka "A londoni férfi" )

France | Germany | Hungary 2007

Maloin leads a simple life without prospects at the edge of the infinite sea; he barely notices the world around him, has already accepted the slow and inevitable deterioration of life around him and his all but complete loneliness.

When he becomes a witness to a murder, his life takes a sudden turn. He comes face to face with issues of morality, sin, punishment, the line between innocence and complicity in a crime, and this state of scepsis leads him to the ontological question of the meaning and worth of existence.

The film is about desire, man’s indestructible longing for a life of freedom and happiness, about illusions never to be realised – about things that give all of us energy to continue living, to go to sleep and get up day after day... Maloin’s story is ours – all of those who doubt and are able to question our humdrum existence.

Poster

Theatrical Release: France 23 May 2007 (Cannes Film Festival)

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DVD Review: Artificial Eye - Region 0 - PAL

Big thanks to Per-Olof Strandberg for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Artificial Eye Region 0 - PAL
Runtime	2:13:26 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1:1.66 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
Audio	English; French (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Subtitles	English (only on the French parts), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Artificial Eye Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1:1.66 Edition Details: • Interview (16:01) DVD Release Date: 6 April 2009 Transparent keep-case Chapters 12

Comments

Artificial-Eye gives THE MAN FROM LONDON an anamorphic transfer in its OAR 1:1.66 (black borders on the both sides) on a Dual Layered disc (occupying 6,72 Gb of size ) in PAL standard. The disc is region free, even though the back sleeve claims it's region 2.

There are certain artists that doesn't make compromises in their vision. Béla Tarr's THE MAN FROM LONDON is made for cinema, and should bee seen there. The transfer to digital media is full of limitations. This disc doesn't look its best even on a projector. The dark image with monochrome contrasts are hard to handle. The DVD looked far better on a bright TV display, that could handle the low level lighting. On the other hand, the rhythm of the film benefits from a bigger screen.

Most probably this disc is the best the film can look on SD. The image is mostly sharp, and it looks good especially on the daylight and bright indoor scenes. On a projector there appears a lot of film grain, that sometimes looks more like digital artifacts (See large capture # 3). Also many of the dark scenes has been brightened, so that there are at least some information left on the image (see # 4). Those who haven't the possibility to see this in a cinema shouldn't be afraid to buy the disc. I'm sure you get a better option only if the film appears on Blu-ray one day.

The only audio option is in Dolby Digital 2.0 (even tough Artificial-Eyes web sites claims there is a DD 5.1 mix). The sound is flawless, occasionally exporting a strong bass response.

There are only optional English subtitle for the French dialogue. The English dialog comes without subtitles.

On the extra material there is a interview with Béla Tarr(16:01)

- Per-Olof Strandberg

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