Review by Gary Tooze

 

Production:

Theatrical: Fiction Films

Video: Artificial Eye

 

Disc:

Region: 'B' (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)

Runtime: 1:36:15.041

Disc Size: 41,993,458,850 bytes

Feature Size: 29,335,922,688 bytes

Video Bitrate: 35.00 Mbps

Chapters: 12

Case: Standard Blu-ray case

Release date: July 8th, 2013

 

Video:

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio Italian 1864 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1864 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
LPCM Audio Italian 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit

 

Subtitles:

English, none

 

Extras:

• Electric Chair: Behind the Scenes (47:39)
• Trailer (1:18)

 

Bitrate:

 

 

Description: Italian adolescent drama directed by legendary Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci. Introverted oddball Lorenzo (Jacopo Olmo Antinori) enjoys nothing more than his own company and using the excuse of a week-long skiing trip to hide out in his basement seems like the perfect opportunity to spend some time alone. But when his heroin-addicted half-sister Olivia (Tea Falco) arrives at his sacred refuge, his dreams of isolation are quickly shattered.

 

 

The Film:

Unexpectedly atmospheric for a teen-angst drama cooped up in a basement, Bernardo Bertolucci's "Me and You" feels like an attempt to show that age, infirmity and three decades away from his native Italian cinema have done nothing to blunt his touch for capturing adolescent sensual yearning.

Excerpt from MRQE located HERE

Approaching Bertolucci's first film for ten years is a nerve-racking experience. The expectations are so high, the fear of having hope dashed so great; with such a tremendous legacy to live up to, can the great director really produce something fresh, something worthy of this belated comeback?

Efforts to emulate past grandeur are often doomed to fail. Wisely - and, to an extent, unexpectedly - Bertolucci has done something qute different. In Me And You he returns to the intense intimacy of his most powerful works but drops most of their elegant visual trappings. Here we spend most of our time confined to a grimy basement with just two characters - sullen teenager Lorenzo (Jacopo Olmo Antinori) and his junkie half sister Olivia (Tea Falco).

Excerpt from Jennie Kermode at Eye for Film located HERE

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

Me and You gets an impressive transfer to Blu-ray from Artificial Eye.  It is dual-layered territory and has a strong bitrate for the 1.5 hour feature. Colors are passive but truer than SD could relate and there is no noise in the darker sequences. The 1080P supports solid contrast exhibiting healthy, rich black levels and some minor depth in the 1.85:1 frame.  It's pristinely clean showcasing some hi-def detail and there are really no flaws with the rendering. This Blu-ray probably looks like exactly the theatrical version of the film Me and You. Detail in close-ups is impressive and Fabio Cianchetti's cinematography is well supported by the HD visual. All good.

 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio :

Audio gives the option of a DTS-HD Master 5.1 at 1864 kbps or a linear PCM Audio stereo track at 1536 kbps - both in original Italian. Nothing but positives here for the audio transfer although the separations on the dialogue-driven film are not abundant. This still sounds like a superb replication of the original audio. There are optional English subtitles and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'B'-locked.

 

Extras :

Artificial Eye include an extensive 48-minute Electric Chair: Behind the Scenes piece with plenty of information and background of the production. There is also a trailer.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
Bertolucci's Me and You is pure cinema. With the sparseness of the narrative speaking volumes about the emotion in the film.  I loved every minute. The Artificial Eye Blu-ray provides an excellent a/v presentation with an appreciated supplement. I think Bertolucci fans will receive Me and You very well and I appreciate the Artificial Eye package. 

Gary Tooze

July 2nd, 2013