The Missing Picture

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

(aka "L'image manquante" )

directed by Rithy Panh
Cambodia/France 2013

Utilizing clay figures, model backgrounds, and archival footage, filmmaker Rithy Panh tells the personal story of his experiences as a teenager when the Khmer Rouge "purified" the city of Phnom Penh and sent "the new people" (the bourgeoisie class) for brutal re-education to erase class divisions in the rice fields where individualism was a crime and resistance or protest equaled death (indeed, he lost his parents, his cousins, and his siblings during this period). Although the titular "missing picture" eludes the director - whose words are performed by actor Randal Douc - he reconstructs the images of suffering, hunger, and death missing from Pol Pot's propaganda films (apart from a single image of starving children that lead to the photographer's torture and execution) as well as the pre-revolution world of his childhood in Phnom Penh, mementos of which were all but destroyed and the physical ruins "ripped from history".

Eric Cotenas

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Theatrical Release: 19 March 2014 (USA)

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DVD Comparison:

New Wave Films - Region 2 - PAL vs. Strand Releasing - Region 1 - NTSC

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for all the Screen Caps!

(New Wave Films - Region 2 - PAL - LEFT vs. Strand Releasing - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	New Wave Films Region 2 - PAL	Strand Releasing Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	1:32:00	1:35:51
Video	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 8.54 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 8.68 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: New Wave Films
Bitrate: Strand Releasing
Audio	French Dolby Digital 5.1; French Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo; English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo	French Dolby Digital 5.1; English Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles	English, none	English (for the French track), English SDH, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: New Wave Films Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Trailer (16:9; 1:50) DVD Release Date: 24 March 2014 Amaray Chapters 15	Release Information: Studio: Strand Releasing Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Trailer (16:9; 1:35) • Strand Releasing Trailers: • - 'The Amazing Catfish' • - 'Bicycling with Molière' • - 'Stranger by the Lake' • - 'The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears' DVD Release Date: 10 June 2014 Amaray Chapters 8

Comments

With their maxed-out bitrates, the US and UK dual-layer DVDs of THE MISSING PICTURE are as flawless as can be in standard definition. The UK audio defaults to a French Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo mix but there is also a French 5.1 track and an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track. The US DVD features both the French and English tracks in 5.1 as well as English subtitles for the French track and SDH subtitles for the English narration track. Both discs offer the trailer as the sole related extra, while Strand offers trailers for four other releases.

- Eric Cotenas

DVD Menus
(New Wave Films - Region 2 - PAL - LEFT vs. Strand Releasing - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)