Review by Gary Tooze

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• Le Film Maudit de John Huston (14:34)
• Audrey L'Indienne (14:26)
• Autour de Roman (6:52)
• Trailers (4:19)

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Description: One of Hollywood's most famous and acclaimed directors, John Huston guides this western with an unerring hand -- the cast of notable stars is no drawback either. Setting up the story with a series of suspenseful scenes, Huston has a mysterious stranger on horseback come into a small community in the Texas Panhandle and then proceed to cause a mini-war. The time is the mid-19th century and there is already antagonism between the white settlers in the community and the local Kiowa Indian nation. The Zachary family is at the crux of the trouble. Matilda (Lillian Gish) is the matriarch who holds a family secret -- her adopted daughter Rachel (Audrey Hepburn) is actually a Kiowa child. There are three brothers in the Zachary family, and one of them, Ben (Burt Lancaster) is obviously in love with Rachel. Another, Cash (Audie Murphy) hates Native Americans, while the youngest (Doug McClure) is there to defend the family when they need it. The stranger on horseback has done the unthinkable, he has made it widely known that Rachel is a Kiowa -- and then the battles begin.

 

 

The Film:

Excerpt from the NY Times located HERE

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

Firstly, we suspect that this European version of The Unforgiven, like Mr. Majestyk, may be very similar in appearance to the US, Kino-Lorder, Blu-ray. But that will be region 'A'-locked, may have optional English subtitles, be progressive (this has PAL speedup, 1080i) and will probably be bare-bones (maybe a trailer) and like this Filmedia will be single-layered with lossless audio and I would think the screen captures will look the same. The Unforgiven is an attractive film. The 2.35:1 Blu-ray exports an appealing image. Textures are present but there is also a crispness - no gloss and some depth exported. This Blu-ray resolution has some decent contrast and a reasonable HD video image.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filmedia offer an uncompressed DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel stereo track at a modest 898 kbps.  The score by Dimitri Tiomkin (Angel Face, Strangers on a  Train, The Men, Dial M For Murder, The Thing From Another World etc. etc.) sounded a shade unusual at times and I question if it was really his - I did notice the PAL speedup in the dialogue. There is a French DUB option and optional French subtitles (remore-removable) and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'B'-locked.

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BOTTOM LINE:
The Unforgiven is an interesting, and occasionally odd, film. I loved the last half. I get the feeling it had an ambitious intent but was restrained in some respects although certain sequences are 'heavy-handed' with the racial themes. There is a lot to like although the French Blu-ray underwhelms with its 1080i/25 frame presentation and English un-friendly extras. We might look at the German Blu-ray one day but right now suggest the US version. 

Gary Tooze

August 5th, 2014

 

Also available in the US from Kino Lorber:       and in Germany: