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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

 

H D - S E N S E I

A view on Blu-ray by Gary W. Tooze

Jinnah [Blu-ray]

 

(Jamil Dehlavi, 1989)

 

The 2024 Indicator Region FREE Blu-ray is reviewed HERE

 

 

Review by Gary Tooze

 

Production:

Theatrical: Dehlavi Films

Video: Eureka Entertainment

 

Disc:

Region: 'B'-locked (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player)

Runtime: 1:49:48.000

Disc Size: 26,243,027,286 bytes

Feature Size: 25,670,522,880 bytes

Video Bitrate: 28.00 Mbps

Chapters: 11

Case: Transparent Blu-ray case

Release date: November 28th, 2016

 

Video:

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Audio:

LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit

 

Subtitles:

English (SDH), none

 

Extras:

• None

DVD included

 

Bitrate:

 

 

Description: An epic biopic about the life of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the man who founded the Muslim nation of Pakistan in the wake of Great Britain s relinquishment of control over India.

After his death in 1948, Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Christopher Lee) awaits final judgement in the afterlife and must tell the story of his life, before celestial bureaucrats decide his fate. His story covers the intense political strife and bloody events that led to the formation of the Muslim nation of Pakistan.

Attracting much controversy during production, but released to great acclaim, particularly in Pakistan, Jamil Dehlavi's Jinnah is an intelligent and moving piece of cinema, with a performance by Sir Christopher Lee that he personally believed to be the finest of his career.

 

 

The Film:

Biography of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of modern Pakistan is told through flashbacks as his soul tries to find eternal rest. The flashbacks start in 1947 as Jinnah pleads for a separate nation from the Muslim regime, infuriating Lord Mountbatten. Mountbatten then tries to enlist Gandhi & Nehru to persuade Jinnah to stop his efforts. Gandhi sides with Jinnah, which upsets Nehru. However, Jinnah turns down the offer to become prime minister and the film takes another slide back to 1916, which reveals all of the political implications that have occurred.

Excerpt from MRQE located HERE

It is 1947. Now that India is no longer a British colony, politician Mohammed Ali Jinnah (Christopher Lee) sets himself a simple task: 'To carve out a country'. But how and where to start?"; The founding father of Pakistan is faced with a King Solomon conundrum, but errs on the side of partition, with a new country that will safeguard the rights of the Muslim minority by breaking free of Hindi-dominated India. An advocate of fair play and religious freedom, Jinnah militates for a separation of faith and state.

Jinnah falls in love with Ruttie (Indira Varma), a Parsee who when she reaches 18 converts to the Muslim faith and marries him, while Jinnah's devoted sister Fatima (Shireen Shah) - a political activist in her own right (We don't want the English to be our rulers, but we do want them to remain our friends";) - renounces marriage so as to accompany her brother on ";the long road of his destiny";. And it is a long and bloody struggle, with Jinnah demanding of an English officer, ";Are we just cannon fodder?"; and claiming of the internecine carnage visited on hundreds of thousands of his compatriots in the name of independence: ";I died a million deaths myself."

Jinnah strays from the straight and narrow biopic path by having a figure called The Narrator (Shashi Kapoor) trying to access data stored on computers imported from the future and escorting the black-clad Jinnah back in time. These debates - between Jinnah the elder statesman and Jinnah the young, ambitious self-described "soldier in the service of the birthright of Pakistan" - leaven the conventional period-picture format. Chief among the convincing performances, archetypal vampire Christopher Lee shows a commanding, imperturbable presence.

Excerpt from IOFilm located HERE

 

The 2024 Indicator Region FREE Blu-ray is reviewed HERE

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

Jinnah is decent on Blu-ray from Eureka in the UK.  The image quality shows a rich layer of grain and colors are bright and bold enhancing the presentation. This is single-layered with a supportive bitrate. It is neither glossy nor pristinely sharp but shows some pleasing texture and minor depth. Black levels are inky and impressive. I would guess the 1.85:1 aspect ratio HD transfer is a strong representation. This Blu-ray offers a consistent and rewarding 1080P presentation.

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio :

The audio is transferred via a linear PCM 2.0 channel track at 1536 kbps (16-bit). There are some effects but they are minimal and the audio is basically authentically flat. The film's score is credited to Nigel Clarke + Michael Csányi-Wills and subtly it adds some emotion to many scenes. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'B'-locked.

 

 

Extras :

Surprisingly no extras at all - especially considering that the film definitely deserves discussion. Being 'Dual-Format' a PAL DVD of the feature and extras is included.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
Jinnah is a very good film - and covers an important political figure largely neglected in western lore. This was an interesting bio-pic from many levels. What a fabulous choice for Eureka to release on Blu-ray. It would make a good double-bill with Ghandi, to see yet another layer of this fascinating juncture of history. The 1080P presentation is worthy and it ranks as a film that I will, certainly, watch again. Strongly recommended! 

Gary Tooze

November 18th, 2016


The 2024 Indicator Region FREE Blu-ray is reviewed HERE

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.

Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction.

Gary's Home Theatre:

60-Inch Class (59.58” Diagonal) 1080p Pioneer KURO Plasma Flat Panel HDTV PDP6020-FD

Oppo Digital BDP-83 Universal Region FREE Blu-ray/SACD Player
Momitsu - BDP-899 Region FREE Blu-ray player
Marantz SA8001 Super Audio CD Player
Marantz SR7002 THX Select2 Surround Receiver
Tannoy DC6-T (fronts) + Energy (centre, rear, subwoofer) speakers (5.1)

APC AV 1.5 kVA H Type Power Conditioner 120V

Gary W. Tooze

 

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