Review by Gary Tooze

Production:

Disc:

Video:

Audio:

• A new interview with Asian cinema expert Tony Rayns (42:00)
• Theatrical Trailer (1:05)
• PLUS: A booklet featuring new and archival writing

• DVD included

Bitrate:

 

 

 

The Film:

At first sight, you wouldn't clock this as a film from the director of A Summer at Grandpa's and The Time to Live and the Time to Die. But despite the shift from his usual rural settings to the extremely mean streets of present-day Taipei, this is another of Hou's haunting accounts of the joys and terrors of adolescence. The central character is a young woman struggling to keep her father and elder brother (cop and thief respectively) from each other's throats, while nursing a distant crush on one of her brother's friends, a too-pretty gigolo who gets into trouble when he starts dating a gangster's moll. The tangled relationships resolve themselves into a mesh of disappointments and frustrations, but despite the downbeat mood there are charming eruptions of humour, and the sheer eloquence of Hou's mellow visual style makes the film a lot more life-enhancing than most.

Excerpt from Critics at Large located HERE

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

Daughter of the Nile is comes to Blu-ray from The Masters of Cinema group in the UK and is advertised as a "New 4K restoration". It's a dual-layered transfer with a max'ed out bitrate. Hou go-to cinematographer Huai-en Chen frames consistent, introspective, mid-range shots.  The image quality carries a richness in the colors with a thick film-like presence. The interiors are dark but detail visible and expressive. There is not much depth in the heavy image - transferred in the 1.85: aspect ratio. This Blu-ray, a function of the source, probably represents a very authentic presentation of this lesser-seen Hou film.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The audio is transferred via a linear PCM 1.0 mono track at 1152 kbps (24-bit). The film's score is credited to A score is credited to Hung-Yi Chang (Stanley Kwan's Full Moon in New York with Maggie Cheung) and Ch'en Cihyuan (only film credit) and there is some pop music when in the club and at the beach. It's flat with some minor sync issues but is clean and audible. There are optional English subtitles and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'B'-locked.

Extras :

We are treated to a new interview with Asian cinema expert Tony Rayns running almost 3/4 of an hour discussing Hou and much more. It was highly interesting and gives the Blu-ray significant value. There is also a theatrical trailer and the package has both a liner notes booklet, featuring new and archival writing, and a second disc DVD.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
Daughter of the Nile is an extremely rare Hou film. It's a bit of an odd duck when looking at his oeuvre (less festive-esque - slightly more mainstream narrative) but some signature telltale signs announce it as Hou - very character-centered visuals with less dialogue, family-unit influenced by a, corrupt, external world. Hou casts Taiwanese singer Yang Lin in the main role as Lin Hsiao-yang, a conflicted young woman who attends school in for half the day while also working at KFC. It's certainly, an unjustly, neglected piece of cinema and another great choice for MoC to release on Blu-ray. The 1080P presentation offers a rich presentation and the package with Rayns, extensive booklet, etc. makes it a must-own for Cinephiles. Very strongly recommended! 

Gary Tooze

May 27th, 2017