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Oedipus Rex aka Edipo Re [Blu-ray]
(Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1967)
Criterion's Pasolini 101 9 film Blu-ray boxset has Oedipus Rex and is reviewed HERE
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Arco Film Video: Eureka - Masters of Cinema - Spine #39
Disc: Region: 'B'-locked (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:44:08.041 Disc Size: 30,812,223,506 bytes Feature Size: 29,701,711,872 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.99 Mbps Chapters: 14 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: September 24th, 2012
Video: Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio Italian 1240 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1240 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 512 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles: English (SDH), none
Extras:
• Original Italian theatrical trailer
Bitrate:
Description: Three years after
The Gospel According to Matthew, Pier Paolo Pasolini
resumed his series of classical adaptations with a savage,
highly personal take on Sophocles’ ancient Greek tragedy
Oedipus Rex [Edipo Re]. As his first colour
feature, Oedipus Rex makes brilliant use of wildly
alternating Moroccan landscapes to transpose collective myth
into a particular vision that is at once tender, sensual,
and wholly unsparing.
The Film: Pasolini's working of the Sophocles tragedy, though not wholly successful, has its very definite strengths. Citti's Oedipus is intuitive and primitive rather than intellectual; the myth itself is treated as a dream set in the Moroccan desert in parenthesis between 'Oedipal' scenes in modern Bologna; and visually it's often astonishing, the harsh desert sunlight and dry buildings isolating the characters effectively. Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guiide located HERE This updated version of the Greek tragedy from Sophocles bears some slight resemblance to the original mythology. Edipo (Franco Citti) is abandoned by his father after the father receives an oracle telling him he will die at the hands of his own son. Raised by a childless couple, Edipo goes through a series of adventures before he marries his own mother. When they discover they are mother and son, Edipo blinds himself and his mother commits suicide. Excerpt from MRQE located HERECriterion's Pasolini 101 9 film Blu-ray boxset has Oedipus Rex and is reviewed HERE Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. The Masters of Cinema Oedipus Rex doesn't look dissimilar to the BFI Blu-rays of Pasolini films (Arabian Nights, Medea, The Decameron). The 1080P image is represented via a dual-layered transfer with a high bitrate. Nature colors; earthy browns, greens etc. look strong. The image quality shows minor grain and looks a bit soft/waxy at times but there is some infrequent depth and generally looks.... pretty sweet in-motion. It is neither glossy nor pristinely sharp and I would guess the 1.85:1 aspect ratio is a strong replication of the theatrical appearance. This Blu-ray has a nice realistic feel with a reasonable heavy film-like sense to it. Quite impressive.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :Masters of Cinema offer an uncompressed DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel stereo track at 1240 kbps with minimal depth but the film doesn't require any demonstrative aggression in the Soundstage. The track is 'minimalist' and mostly passive - and not bass-dependant. It sounds pretty clean to me - with dialogue audible and there are plenty of lengthy silent pauses. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles and m y Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'B'-locked.
Extras : Digitally we get the original Italian theatrical trailer but with the package is a 28-page booklet featuring vintage writing by Pasolini, excerpts from an interview with the director by Oswald Stack about the film, and rare archival imagery.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze August 17th, 2012 |
About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 3500 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.
Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who
focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I
find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction. 60-Inch Class (59.58” Diagonal) 1080p Pioneer KURO Plasma Flat Panel HDTV PDP6020-FD
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