Review by Gary Tooze

Production:

Disc:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:
• New interviews with actors Rita Tushingham (18:17) and Murray Melvin (18:38)
• Audio interview with director and coscreenwriter Tony Richardson from the 1962 Cannes Film Festival (15:02)
• Excerpt from a 1960 television interview with A Taste of Honey playwright Shelagh Delaney (15:17)
• Interview from 1998 with cinematographer Walter Lassally (19:51)
• Remaking British Theater: Joan Littlewood and “A Taste of Honey,” a new piece about the film’s stage origins, featuring an interview with theater scholar Kate Dorney (21:30)
• Momma Don’t Allow (1956), a Free Cinema short film by Richardson, shot by Lassally (21:11)
• PLUS: An essay by film scholar Colin MacCabe

Bitrate:

 

Description: The revolutionary British New Wave films of the early 1960s were celebrated for their uncompromising depictions of working-class lives and relations between the sexes. Directed by Tony Richardson, a leading light of that movement, and based on one of the most controversial plays of its time, A Taste of Honey features Rita Tushingham in her star-making debut role as a disaffected teenager finding her way amid the economic desperation of industrial Manchester, and despite her absent, self-absorbed mother. With its unapologetic identification with social outcasts and its sensitive, modern approach to matters of sexuality and race, Richardson’s classic is a still startling benchmark work of realism.

 

 

The Film:

Excerpt from TCM located HERE

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

A Taste of Honey looks excellent on Blu-ray from Criterion and is cited as a "New, restored, 4K digital transfer".  This dual-layered Blu-ray, with max'ed out bitrate, reproduces a very strong 1080P presentation. It balances beautifully between heavy film-grain textures and surprising detail in the film's frequent close-ups. Contrast is rich and carries a film-like heaviness in the origin al 1.66:1 aspect ratio. Flawless.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Typically flat, linear PCM mono track at 1152 kbps (24-bit) - that sounds predictably passive. The score is by John Addison (The Honey Pot, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, Strange Invaders) and subtly augments the grass roots feel. There are optional English subtitles and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'A' disc.

Extras :

Extras start with Momma Don’t Allow a Free Cinema 21-minute documentary short film by Tony Richardson, shot by Lassally in 1956. It was Richardson's first theatrical film and was shot at a jazz club in North London. The 'Free Cinema' movement was founded by Richardson, Lindsay Anderson and Karel Reisz (who directed Momma Don’t Allow,) and consisted of documentaries that were produced on small budgets outside the mainstream British film industry and depicted the everyday lives of working-class people. There are new interviews with actors Rita Tushingham (18:17) and Murray Melvin (18:38) whose performances as Jo and Geoffrey in A Taste of Honey brought them international acclaim, including awards for best actress and best actor ay the 1962 Cannes Film Festival. In these interviews, recorded by Criterion in London in May 2016, Tushingham and Melvin (who also originated his role in the play) discuss the film's production. Criterion include a 15-minute audio interview with director and co-screenwriter Tony Richardson from the 1962 Cannes Film Festival presented with film clips and behind-the-scenes images. It was conducted by Gideon Bachmann and covers the state of British Cinema, Richardson's approach to filmmaking, and what drew him to adapting A Taste of Honey for the screen. There is a 15-minute excerpt from a 1960 on the television show Close-Up. In this interview with A Taste of Honey playwright Shelagh Delaney discusses growing up in Salford, England and writing her hit play A Taste of Honey at the age of eighteen. Also as a supplement is a 20-minute interview from 1998 with cinematographer Walter Lassally who discusses working with Tony Richardson and the unusual shooting methods used in A Taste of Honey. Remaking British Theater: Joan Littlewood and “A Taste of Honey,” is a new 22-minute piece about the film’s stage origins, featuring an interview with theater scholar Kate Dorney. The package also has a liner notes booklet with an essay by film scholar Colin MacCabe.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
A Taste of Honey is a wonderful, touching "kitchen sink" drama.  The HD presentation is exquisite and genuinely advances the film's expression. Tushingham's debut is inspiring. We can't endorse the film enough - just see it. Criterion's Blu-ray package is a strong recommendation. A totally appealing and authentic a/v and loaded with great extras of a beautifully human film. Don't hesitate.

Gary Tooze

August 1st, 2016