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Empties aka "Vratné lahve" [Blu-ray]
(Jan Sverák, 2007)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: The Czech Republic State Fund for Support and Development of Cinematography
Disc: Region: FREE (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:43:32.456 Disc Size: 23,771,567,467 bytes Feature Size: 19,453,249,536 bytes Video Bitrate: 16.52 Mbps Chapters: 12 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: May, 2015
Video: Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 Resolution: 1080p / 24 fps Video codec: VC-1 Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio Czech 1742 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1742 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) DUBs:
DTS Audio German 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 16-bit
Subtitles: English, Czech, German, Polish, Slovak, none
Extras: • Making of Featurette (31:30) • Trailers (3:48) • Gallery • Storyboards (7:37) The cover, case are in Polish
Bitrate:
Description: The long-anticipated serio-comedy Empties constitutes director Jan Sverak's third installment in his trilogy on aging that commenced with The Elementary School (1991) and continued with the beloved Kolya (1996). The filmmaker's father, Zdenak Sverak, stars as Josef Tkaloun, a curmudgeonly middle-aged lit teacher who grows exhausted from instructing his demanding, occasionally obnoxious students, and opts to take a hike - into an early retirement. Though his wife, Eliska (Daniela Kolarova) (to whom he has repeatedly been unfaithful) continues to tolerate his insensitivity, Josef quickly recognizes his own need for a daily grind, and thus heads into a series of random occupations, including bike messenger and bottle retriever in a grocery store. The latter proves particularly colorful, introducing Josef to a host of eccentric and occasionally funny co-workers. Meanwhile, Josef makes feeble attempts to set his hyper-devout daughter (Tatiana Vilhelmova) up with a crass former coworker (Jiri Machacek), and lapses into lusty fantasies about the headmistress of his former school (Nela Boudova) - endangering his marriage in the process. At the time of its release, this film reportedly netted a greater profit than any movie in Czech history.
The Film:
In Empties, father-son Czech collaborators in the Oscar-winning
Kolya – the Czech Republic's venerated screenwriter/actor Zdenek Sverák
and director Jan Sverák – focus on how poorly a cantankerous high school
teacher (Sverák senior) adapts to what amounts to forced retirement. Excerpt from The Toronto Star located HERE
Those cinephiles who rejoice in both charming foreign films and long
memories will recall Kolya. The story of how a five-year-old Russian
boy gets dumped on a grumpy bachelor cellist in Prague, the Czech film
won the Oscar for best foreign film in 1996. Good news: The
father-and-son team behind it is back with an equally likable offering
in a rather similar vein.
Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. Empties is a wonderful Czech film on Region FREE Blu-ray. It's a delight. It is transferred using a VC-1 encode and looks quite strong despite the low-ish bitrate for the 1 3/4 hour film. It has no untoward gloss and shows some depth and I would guess the 1.85:1 aspect ratio + 1080P transfer is a strong replication of the theatrical appearance a few years hence. This Blu-ray image is as tight as you might expect from a modern film. Visually this gets high marks.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :The audio is transferred via a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround at 1742 kbps in the original Czech. There are two DUBs (German and Polish.) There aren't a lot of separations in Empties but there are a few surprises and the score by Ondrej Soukup sounds excellent in supporting the film with some pleasing depth and eventful pauses. There are optional subtitles, including English (see sample), and my Oppo has identified it as being a region FREE Blu-ray playable on machines worldwide.
Extras : There are some supplements all English-friendly - a 1/2 hour Making of Featurette (with Eng subs) with the filmmakers telling some of the production story, plus there are trailers, a photo gallery, and storyboards.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze August 3rd, 2015 |
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.
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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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