London River - Brenda Blethyn

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

directed by Rachid Bouchareb
UK/France/Algeria 2009

London River tells the story of a friendship which develops between two seemingly unconnected people: Elizabeth (Academy Award nominee Brenda Bleythn) and Ousmane (Sotigui Kouyate). Both have come to London to search for their children who are missing in the aftermath of the 7/7 bombings. Beautifully detailed and movingly realised by Academy Award nominated director Rachid Bouchareb (Days Of Glory), the film convincingly creates a portrait of a multi-ethnic city struggling to come to terms with the terrorist attacks. At its centre it contains a stunning lead performance from Brenda Blethyn hailed by critics as her strongest since she won a best actress Golden Globe for Secrets and Lies.

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Theatrical Release: 9 July 2010 (UK)

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DVD Comparison:

Trinity Entertainment - Region 2 - PAL vs. Cinema Libre - Region 0 - NTSC

Big thanks to Gary Tooze and Eric Cotenas for the Screen Caps!

(Trinity Entertainment - Region 2 - PAL - LEFT vs. Cinema Libre - Region 0 - NTSC - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	Trinity Entertainment Region 2 - PAL	Cinema Libre Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:24:24 (4% PAL speedup)	1:28:06
Video	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.47 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.86:1 Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.31 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: Trinity Entertainment
Bitrate: Cinema Libre
Audio	English/French/Arabic Dolby Digital 5.1; English/French/Arabic Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo	English/French/Arabic Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
Subtitles	English (for French and Arabic dialogue), none	English (burnt-in - for French and Arabic dialogue)
Features	Release Information: Studio: Trinity Entertainment Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Interview with Rachid Bouchareb and Brenda Bleythn (16:9; 14:37) • Trailer (16:9; 1:34) DVD Release Date: October 11th, 2010 Amaray Chapters 12	Release Information: Studio: Cinema Libre Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.86:1 Edition Details: • Theatrical Trailer (16:9; 1:28) • Trailers for THE LAST HURRAH, LATINO, THE BEINEIX COLLECTION, LITTLE SENEGAL, DUST OF LIFE, and NOW & LATER DVD Release Date: March 6th, 2012 Amaray Chapters 14

Comments

Cinema Libre's barebones single-layer, anamorphic, progressive presentation is respectable visually, although it is framed at 1.86:1 instead of the import's 1.78:1 framing. The French/UK/Algerian co-production was shown on TV in France (and won awards as a television production) but theatrically elsewhere. The 1.78:1 framing only reveals a sliver more picture info on the top and bottom of the frame of this 16mm-35mm blow-up production. Both discs use a French source print.

Cinema Libre's disc includes only a 2.0 stereo track while the import also includes a 5.1 mix. Presumably the 5.1 mix accompanied the theatrical showings, but it may or may not have been present on the TV screenings. While the import provides optional English subtitles for the film's French and Arabic dialogue, the domestic disc provides burnt-in subtitles for those sections. The sole related extra is a trailer (trailers for other Cinema Libre titles are also included).

Cinema Libre also has a Blu-Ray edition HERE, but the image is 1080i and the audio is lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 (although it does feature an interview with the director not present on the DVD edition)

- Eric Cotenas

ABOUT THE TRINITY RELEASE: First off - this is an excellent film. Bouchareb really nails the narrative and Brenda Bleythn gives another impressive performance. It touches on prejudice and an emotional humanity of two desperate, and unlikely, people finding support and solace in their mutual discoveries. It has received a strongly positive reaction from viewers. In case you were unaware - on July 7th, 2005 four coordinated suicide attacks (3 within fifty seconds of each other on Underground trains) occurred on London's public transport system. The bombings were carried out by four Muslim men - all of whom died - three of British Pakistani and one of British Jamaican descent. 52 other people were killed and around 700 were injured.

Trinity from the UK is a new label that has brought us some fabulous world cinema including an excellent DVD of Cristian Mungiu's Tales from the Golden Age plus Blu-rays and DVDs of Import/Export, and Warwick Thornton's Samson and Delilah. With London River this is a fabulous start!

My single-layered screener is 1.78 anamorphic and progressive. It looks adequate and is probably a decent digital representation of the film. Tighter visuals wouldn't improve the important aspects of the presentation. There is no manipulation and colors are probably not far off how it looked playing the festival circuit from Toronto and Berlin to São Paulo and Hong Kong. Other DVDs have come out in France and The Netherlands but we don't own to compare.

Audio gives two flavors - stereo 2.0 channel and an under utilized 5.1. Dialogue is clear but there is some Arabic and the Brit accents may be harder for some - so optional English subtitles are available. This disc is region 0 in the PAL standard.

Supplements consist of a good 15-minute interview with writer/director Rachid Bouchareb (in French w/subs) + a briefer time with actress Brenda Bleythn. There is also a 1 1/2 minute trailer.

I was very entertained by this and surprised at how much I got into the story. Director Rachid Bouchareb (Days Of Glory) is an exceptional story-teller and we give this film a healthy endorsement. The DVD is a reasonable price for value offered.

Gary W. Tooze

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(Trinity Entertainment - Region 2 - PAL - LEFT vs. Cinema Libre - Region 0 - NTSC - RIGHT)