Paranoid Park Blu-ray - Gus Van Sant

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

Directed by Gus Van Sant
USA 2007

Paranoid Park is a swooping skateboarding free zone where young men learn to fly. It’s also the title of Gus Van Sant’s most recent film, a haunting, voluptuously beautiful portrait of a teenage boy who, after being suddenly caught in midflight, falls to earth. Like most of Mr. Van Sant’s films “Paranoid Park” is about bodies at rest and in motion, and about longing, beauty, youth and death, and as such as much about the artist as his subject. It is a modestly scaled triumph without a false or wasted moment.

Excerpt from Manhola Dargis at the NY Times located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: May 21st, 2007 - Cannes Film Festival

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Comparison:

IFC/Weinstein - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Tartan Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray

1) IFC - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT

2) Tartan - Region FREE - Blu-ray - RIGHT

Box Covers
Distribution	IFC/Weinstein - Region 1 - NTSC	Tartan - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:24:42	1:24:27.395
Video	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.17 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.78:1 Disc Size: 22,938,337,081 bytes Feature Size: 19,989,878,784 bytes Total Bitrate: 24.78 Mbps Single-layered Blu-ray MPEG2 - Video / 1080P
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Bitrate: Blu-ray
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 5.1)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1901 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1901 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) Dolby Digital Audio English 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps Dolby TrueHD Audio English 1197 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1197 kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Embedded: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps)
Subtitles	English (SDH), Spanish, None	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: IFC/Weinstein Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: October 7th, 2008 Keep Case Chapters: 16	Release Information: Studio: Tartan Video 1.78:1 Disc Size: 22,938,337,081 bytes Feature Size: 19,989,878,784 bytes Total Bitrate: 24.78 Mbps Single-layered Blu-ray MPEG2 - Video / 1080P Edition Details: • Theatrical trailer (1:48) • Making Of (26:21) • Future Shorts (Secret Cinema Event) (6:27) Blu-ray Release Date: April 28th, 2008 Standard UK (thick) Blu-ray case Chapters: 16

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Tartan - Region FREE - Blu-ray November 15': I watched this again and decided to finally compare to the UK, Tartan, Blu-ray. I, personally, think the film is far more impacting in the, intended, 1.33:1 framing. You can see from our compared captures the 1.78:1 gains a marginal amount on the sides, but loses much more on top and bottom (see last matched frames.) Also the Blu-ray was an early one and isa lesser MPEG2 (as opposed to AVC or VC-1) so it is certainly not the height of the format's capabilities. But it is progressive and the higher resolution does look crisper - it's just a shame it was not in 1.33;1. Understandably, there are limitation of certain venues and it was shown 1.66 or 1.85. I can only tell you that, despite the higher resolution, the film was far more impacting for me in 1.33:1 (as Van Sant intended) to let Christopher Doyle's cinematography capture you.

The Tartan actually offers a whole slew (well, 3) of audio options (they were always big on sound), and we get two lossless tracks - an DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround that sounds pretty good even at a modest 1901 kbps and a less robust, but also 5.1, Dolby TrueHD which I only briefly testing - preferring the DTS-HD. There is also a lossy standard Dolby also in surround. The soundtrack is special - a cornucopia of snippets from Fellini's Amarcord + Juliet of the Spirits (Nino Rota), Menomena, Elliott Smith, Frances White and others creating such a vibrant mixture and oddly hallucinogenic aura in the stylized skating sequences. The Blu-ray is region FREE but offers not subtitle options.

The Blu-ray has some extras - a 27-minute Making Of with cast and crew, locations and it's fairly standard plate but has some striking looks to it. There is also a trailer and we see the Secret Premiere in the UK from late 2007.

So, what am I saying? I'm holding onto my DVD of this masterpiece and will hope for a 1.33:1 Blu-ray, maybe even with a commentary - in the future. N'uff said.

***

ON THE DVD: Firstly, YES Paranoid Park was meant to be in the 1.33:1 (or 1.37) aspect ratio. There is an excellent article on the whole dispute HERE and we don't need to rehash the reasons. I understand there have been some other DVDs out of the film released in widescreen and this is the first to preserve the director intended ratio (actually I see now that the French edition is 1.33 but the UK Blu-ray is 1.78!). Okay.

The IFC/Weinstein progressive transfer is on a single-layered disc and looks fine supporting the film's varied uses of lenses and visual distortion (haziness) effects. The image looks a little frail on this DVD with some noise but I wasn't deterred during my viewing experience. I'd term is acceptable although with minor weaknesses. The audio is in 5.1 with a few instances of decent separation (skateboards rollers, music). Again an okay audio track that I had no strong complaints with. There are optional subtitles in English or Spanish. The English ones actually detail the music being played and even identify the sound 'building' (as in the shower scene).

Bare-bones with not a supplements in sight and the reasonableness of the price reflects that. This is a shame but the film speaks volumes by itself. This is a highly memorable film experience - Chosen by "Les Cahiers du cinéma" (France) as one of the 10 best pictures of 2007!... and it makes this DVD must-have especially at the price offered.