The Comfort of Strangers Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Cortesie per gli ospiti" )

directed by Paul Schrader
US/UK/Italy 1990

Mary (Natasha Richardson) and Colin (Rupert Everett) attempt to reinvigorate their flagging relationship with a romantic trip to Venice. Soon, though, they find themselves drawn into a complex web of deceit, passion, perversion and sexual intrigue, subtly spun by mysterious Robert (Christopher Walken) who resides nearby in palatial splendour with his wife Caroline (Helen Mirren).

***

The relationship of divorced Mary (Natasha Richardson, A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY) and her boyfriend Colin (Rupert Everett, CEMETERY MAN) has gone stale. Even away from her children in Venice, the two wander oblivious to the sights and pick at each other (some wonderful exchanges courtesy of Harold Pinter; the novel just gives us the gist of their situation at the opening) over meals at outside cafes. One evening, they get up too late to have dinner and get lost in the labyrinthine alleys of the city looking for a cafe and run into dapper, white-suited Robert (Christopher Walken, THE DEAD ZONE) - who, unbeknownst to them has been following and photographing them - who leads them to a bar. Over breadsticks and wine, he amuses and terrifies them with an anecdote from his childhood (the subject of a recurring monologue narrated by Walken throughout the film). Too drunk to find their hotel, they sleep in an alley and run into Robert again the next day. He insistently invites them to his grand mirrored and mural-glutted palazzo of an apartment where they meet Robert's meek, seemingly terrified wife Caroline (Helen Mirren, PRIME SUSPECT). After a tense dinner with the older couple, Mary and Colin find their sex lives reinvigorated even as they continue to grow emotionally distant. Their ultimate decision of whether to stay together or not when they return to England is irrelevant as Robert and Caroline have something more ominous in store for them.

Harold Pinter took Ian McEwan's masterful novella and smoothed out little details that wouldn't necessarily transfer to the screen convincingly, gave it a concrete location (Venice, the back of my copy of the book suggests it could easily have been Amsterdam), and added his own layered dialogue; thus freeing director Paul Schrader (CAT PEOPLE) to concentrate on the spectacular visuals (gold-toned photography by Dante Spinotti, costumes by Giorgio Armani, and Gianni Quaranta's amazingly detailed reproduction of a Venetian palazzo). After his work for David Lynch, Angelo Badalementi provides an atypical orchestral score accented with Turkish motifs. The film's sting-in-the-tail ending is unpredictable and leaves the viewer with unanswered questions to mull over long after.

Eric Cotenas

Posters

Theatrical Release: 29 March 1991

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Comparison:

MGM - Region 2,4 - PAL vs. BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the MGM DVD Screen Caps!

Box Covers
Distribution	MGM Region 2,4 - PAL	BFI Region 'B' - Blu-ray	Criterion - Spine #1041 Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:40:21 (4% PAL speedup)	1:44:37.729	1:44:45.237
Video	1.83:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 7.72 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 31,999,812,870 bytes Feature: 29,486,028,096 bytes Video Bitrate: 26.74 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video	1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 48,659,996,584 bytes Feature: 31,672,547,328 bytes Video Bitrate: 36.16 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: BFI Blu-ray
Bitrate: Criterion Blu-ray
Audio	English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono; German Dolby Digital 2.0 mono; French Dolby Digital 2.0 mono	LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit Audio Extras: LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit Commentary: LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit	LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles	English (HoH), German (HoH), French, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Portuguese, none	English (HoH), none	English (HoH), none
Features	Release Information: Studio: MGM Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.83:1 Edition Details: � Theatrical Trailer DVD Release Date: 1 March 2004 Amaray Chapters 16	Release Information: Studio: BFI 1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 31,999,812,870 bytes Feature: 29,486,028,096 bytes Video Bitrate: 26.74 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Audio commentary by director Paul Schrader, newly recorded for this release • Prospectus for a Course Not Given: The Paul Schrader Film Masterclass (1982, 100 mins, audio only): Paul Schrader provides an illuminating precis of the film he had recently presented in America • Paul Schrader Guardian Interview (1993, 85 mins, audio only): the director discusses films and filmmaking with critic Derek Malcolm • Venice in War Time (1918, 1:06), The Glass Makers of Murano, Venice (1928, 3:35), City Lights (1964, 3:08): fascinating glimpses of Venice in archive film • Theatrical trailer (1:29) • Fully illustrated booklet with full film credits and new writing by Director of Photography Dante Spinotti, film historian Dr Deborah Allison, Guardian theatre critic Michael Billington, and Little White Lies essayist Paul Fairclough DVD Blu-ray Release Date: September 24th, 2018 Custom Blu-ray box Chapters 12	Release Information: Studio: Criterion 1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 48,659,996,584 bytes Feature: 31,672,547,328 bytes Video Bitrate: 36.16 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • New interviews with Spinotti (13:17), director Paul Schrader (17:29), actor Christopher Walken (5:46), and editor Bill Pankow (14:29) • Interviews from 1981 and 2001 with novelist Ian McEwan (26:24) and actor Natasha Richardson (6:13) • Trailers (2 - 3:46) • PLUS: An essay by critic Maitland McDonagh Blu-ray Release Date: August 18th, 2020 Transparent Blu-ray box Chapters 13

Comments

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: (July 2020) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray: Criterion have also transferred Paul Schrader's The Comfort of Strangers to Blu-ray. It is described as being a "new, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer Dante Spinotti". We have some significant differences from the BFI 1080P.

The 1.66:1 image is housed on a dual-layered Blu-ray with a max'ed out bitrate, but as you can see we have much more information in the frame, on all four edges, than the 2018 BFI Blu-ray. It seems apparent that these must be from different sources. So, something is up and it is above my pay-grade to know what. The Criterion colors are far richer and bolder (pale yellow to gold) and it almost touches on being saturated. It looked extremely rich and lush on my system - a very different viewing experience from the BFI Blu-ray. There is a touch of teal-leaning in the Criterion but I didn't fins it overwhelming.

Criterion use a linear PCM 24-bit mono track and I wouldn't tell any differences from the similarly uncompressed BFI. There isn't much aggression in the soundtrack but has a score by Angelo Badalamenti - who has done a lot of compositions for David Lynch including Twin Peaks- Fire Walk With Me, Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, Wild at Heart and The Straight Story among others. He's also done the score for Schrader's Auto-Focus, and other films like 44 Inch Chest, The Edge of Love etc. It sounds fairly subtle here but suits the film well via the uncompressed. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles on Criterion's Region-A locked Blu-ray.

Criterion include new interviews with Spinotti for a dozen minutes (he talks about shooting in Super 35, how Schrader didn't want a 'Postcard' look of Venice but a darker, more dangerous Venice, dolly shots and much more), director Paul Schrader for shy of 18-minutes, actor Christopher Walken for less than 6-minutes, and editor Bill Pankow for a 1/4 hour. There are also some older interviews from 1981 and 2001, respectively, with novelist Ian McEwan (on The Southbank Show) and actor Natasha Richardson plus two trailers for the film. The package has liner notes with an essay by critic Maitland McDonagh.

This Criterion Blu-ray a/v represented an entirely new '4K digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer Dante Spinotti' presentation for me and I'd like to live with it for a while. We actually LOVE when there are differences giving consumers more options. I keep gaining new appreciation for The Comfort of Strangers - an incredible piece of cinema.

***

ADDITION: (October 2018) BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray: BFI have brought Paul Schrader's The Comfort of Strangers to Blu-ray adapted from Ian McEwan's novel of Harold Pinter's play. The 1.85:1 image is housed on a dual-layered Blu-ray with a supportive bitrate. The image quality is very strong - a notch ahead of the 2004 MGM PAL DVD. It's very crisp without a preponderance of depth. I see no digitization and hardly any speckles at all. It's a solid HD presentation in-motion - colors are rich but a bit pale - adept contrast. No complaints.

BFI use a linear PCM 2.0 channel track (24-bit). There are optional English (SDH) subtitles on this Region-B locked Blu-ray.

BFI add many extras but significantly notable is a new audio commentary by director Paul Schrader who is always interesting in his in-depth observations. Plus there are two other audio extras featuring Schrader that play to the film; Prospectus for a Course Not Given: The Paul Schrader Film Masterclass runs 1-hour 40-minutes from 1982 where Schrader provides an illuminating précis of the film he had recently presented in America. The Paul Schrader Guardian Interview is from 1993, and runs 1.5 hours having the director discusses films and filmmaking with critic Derek Malcolm. There are some less-relevant shorts; Venice in War Time (1918, 1:06), The Glass Makers of Murano, Venice (1928, 3:35), City Lights (1964, 3:08) showcase Venice in archive short film. There is a theatrical trailer and gallery plus the package has a fully illustrated booklet with full film credits and new writing by Director of Photography Dante Spinotti, film historian Dr Deborah Allison, Guardian theatre critic Michael Billington, and Little White Lies essayist Paul Fairclough. Also included is a second disc DVD.

The Comfort of Strangers has Pinter's style all over it with unusual, often awkwardly honest conversations between the characters. Schrader has made another fascinating film with beautiful scenery and it stands up over multiple viewings. This BFI Blu-ray is a wonderful package with commentary, many extras - this is recommended far beyond simple fans of Schrader but those who can appreciate deeply nuanced cinema. Your digital collection is weaker without it.

-Gary Tooze

ON THE DVD: MGM's DVD of this forgotten early nineties Paul Schrader film is a beautiful if slightly soft (perhaps intentionally so) 16:9 presentation which is sharper than I remember the previous NTSC tape release being. The image is not flawless. There are speckles throughout but Spinotti's cinematography is well-rendered. The only extra is a theatrical trailer (hopefully Schrader and Pinter will have some input if an official US DVD ever comes out though I believe MGM only owns the European rights). Like MGM's disc of Ken Russell's GOTHIC which I reviewed some time ago, this disc has English, French, and German menu languages and audio tracks as well as subtitles in several other languages suggesting that DVD release of the film in those countries are the same presentation. Although the cover states that the English, French, and German audio tracks are mono, the often-erroneous imdb.com lists the film a stereo release (which makes sense since it was made in 1990 even if a lot of Italian non co-productions were still being mixed in mono at the time). All three language tracks are 2.0 224 kb/s which is a tad extravagant for 2.0 mono (I'm not sure if the directional sounds I'm hearing on my headphones are from the original mix or my software player). The Australian DVD has the same audio and subtitles options.

There is a fullscreen American DVD (probably out of print) that may be unauthorized and likely sourced from Paramount's OOP VHS release. The film was released theatrically by the now defunct Skouras Pictures in the US. I can't confirm it but I seem to remember that the US version of the film credits Natasha Richardson before Rupert Everett (MGM's DVD version credits Everett before Richardson).

NOTE: Program unable to graph bitrate.

-Eric Cotenas

DVD Menus
MGM - Region 2,4 - PAL