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Candy [Blu-ray]
(Christian Marquand, 1968)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: American Broadcasting Company (ABC) Video: Kino Lorber
Disc: Region: 'A' (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player) Runtime: 2:04:29.712 Disc Size: 32,522,783,793 bytes Feature Size: 27,011,745,792 bytes Video Bitrate: 25.79 Mbps Chapters: 8 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: May 17th, 2016
Video: Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio English 1580 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1580 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitles: None
Extras:
• Interview with Screenwriter Buck Henry (16:51)
Bitrate:
Description: Brand New 2K HD Restoration! Candy Christian (Ewa Aulin) is an innocent yet luscious high school student and when fate sends her on a far-out rxploration - Candy on her trippy travels, encounters lust and lunacy at the hands of a drunken poet (Richard Burton), a Mexican gardener (Ringo Starr), a patriotic general (Walter Matthau), a mad surgeon (James Coburn), and a mystic guru (Marlon Brando). Can the world's most stalwart members get their own sweet piece of Candy? Or will a final freaky twist swallow her whole forever? John Astin, Charles Aznavour, John Huston, Elsa Martinelli, Florinda Bolkan, Anita Pallenberg, Enrico Maria Salerno and boxing legend Sugar Ray Robinson co-star in this notoriously ribald '60s satire, featuring music by The Byrds and Steppenwolf and based on the novel by Terry Southern (Easy Rider) and Mason Hoffenberg that scandalized the decade! Screenplay by the great Buck Henry (The Graduate) and directed by actor Christian Marquand (Of Flesh and Blood).
The Film:
In this big-budget adaptation of Terry Southern's satire (the sort of project that could get an immediate green light in the late 1960's and at practically no other time before or since), Ewa Aulin is Candy, a sweet young woman who doesn't seem entirely aware of the powerful carnal desire she brings out in men. While her father (John Astin) and mother (Elsa Martinelli) try to keep Candy in line, the task proves to be all but impossible, as she's seduced by a remarkable variety of men in her journeys, including a booze-addled poet (Richard Burton), a mystical guru who lives on a truck (Marlon Brando), a gardener from Mexico (Ringo Starr), a fanatical military man who refuses to leave his plane (Walter Matthau), a pair of uncomfortably high-strung doctors (John Huston and James Coburn) and even her own uncle (Astin, again). The Byrds and Steppenwolf contributed songs to the soundtrack; the screenplay was written by Buck Henry.
"Candy" inspires contradictory feelings. On the one hand, it's a
lot better than you might expect, with scenes and lines of high comedy.
On the other hand, it lacks the pure anarchy, the abandon, of Terry
Southern's novel. There's something wacky about using restraint in a
satire on pornography. Excerpt from RogerEbert located HERE
Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. The dual-layered Kino Lorber Blu-ray of 1968's Candy looks decent and consistent in 1080P. It's a 2K restoration and the image quality shows bright colors, pleasing detail in close-ups and some occasional depth. It can look thick and appealing in terms of the video presentation and shows a shade of inconsistency - although that may be a factor of the original production for all we know. The visuals are neither glossy nor crisp but this look authentic to me. I'd be surprised if it can look dramatically superior in this format. The source is clean, and I noticed no noise - but the source shows a bit of its age. This Blu-ray gave me a watchable viewing and I noted no major flaws.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :Kino Lorber use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track at 1580 kbps (16-bit) in the original English language. It's predictably flat but sounds clean with Dave Grusin's (The Midnight Man, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, ...And Justice For All, 3 Days of the Condor, The Front) score. Child of the Universe (the theme) by The Byrds and Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf exported quite pleasingly via the uncompressed. Great tunes. There are no subtitles offered and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.
Extras : Extras include an interesting 17-minute interview with screenwriter Buck Henry reflecting back on the project and his involvement. There is also an interview with film critic and historian Kim Morgan running 9.5 minutes giving historical perspective on Candy. Included are 2 Radio Spots and an original theatrical trailer.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze May 6th, 2016
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