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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "A Pure Formality")

 

Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore
Italy / France 1994

 

From Giuseppe Tornatore, the acclaimed director of Cinema Paradiso, The Legend of 1900, The Best Offer and Malena, comes this dark and mysterious thriller with top-notch performances by Gérard Depardieu (Buffet Froid, Green Card) and Roman Polanski (The Fearless Vampire Killers, A Generation). Onoff (Depardieu) is a famed author who hasn’t published anything in years and has become a recluse. One rainy night, he is picked up by the police, who find him running across the French countryside in the rain, breathless, without any identification and apparently suffering from short-term memory loss. A murder has been committed in the nearby woods, and suspecting Onoff’s involvement, the authorities detain him at a dark, leaky command post to await the arrival of the Inspector (Polanski), who’s ironically a fan of Onoff’s work. Through painstaking interrogatory dialectic, the Inspector delves into Onoff’s mind, and brings the writer to a new and unexpected realization. Music by legendary maestro Ennio Morricone (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The Sicilian Clan).

***

Onoff (Gérard Depardieu) is a once-famous French writer who has remained out of the public eye in recent years, but when the police spot him running in the rain in the general vicinity of a murder site, they take him into custody for questioning. Confronted by the inspector (Roman Polanski), Onoff claims that he has no recollection of the evening's events, resulting in a back-and-forth between the two men that may or may not result in the uncovering of the truth.

Posters

Theatrical Release: May 15th, 1994

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Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover

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Bonus Captures:

Distribution Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:51:27.180        
Video

2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 36,066,906,908 bytes

Feature: 34,928,676,864 bytes

Video Bitrate: 37.93 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate Blu-ray:

Audio

DTS-HD Master Audio French 1554 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1554 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps

Subtitles English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio:
Kino

 

2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 36,066,906,908 bytes

Feature: 34,928,676,864 bytes

Video Bitrate: 37.93 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

NEW Audio Commentary by Entertainment Journalist and Author Bryan Reesman
Trailers


Blu-ray Release Date:
March 17th, 2020
Standard Blu-ray Case

Chapters 12

 

 

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (March 2020): Kino have transferred Giuseppe Tornatore's A Pure Formality to Blu-ray. Unfortunately, the 1080P has some DNR. It can be unnaturally soft, losing texture, but I wouldn't say it was the most egregious that I've seen. The HD presentation still has some good detail in close-ups but certain scenes reek of digitization. It looks more like it was on the D1 source. Colors have a paleness but despite these weaknesses the video is not fatal in that it is not very watchable. I thought it was but had some disappointment at the waxiness. There are heavy speckles in the opening credits and some frame-specific damage in the final two minutes (see sample below) - otherwise it is very clean.

NOTE: We have added 33 more large resolution Indicator Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track (16-bit) in the original French language. The film has a lot of rain (almost constant) and some aggression but notable is the score by Ennio Morricone (The Great Silence, Luna, A Bullet for the General, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, U Turn, Stay As You Are etc. etc.)  sounding a bit deeper with more consistent dialogue. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray has a new audio commentary by Journalist and author Bryan Reesman (Rock Stars at Home) and he jumps right in discussing how Tornatore can be an acquired taste, meta-physical questions that arise from his viewing, the fact the clock has no hands and the phone lines are always busy, split diopter shots, utilization of the color blue, and he spends quite a lot of time on memory and how inefficient it can be, hallucinations, how A Pure Formality did poorly at the box-office in the US... I liked his analysis, referencing many other films. It was nice to hear him again (enjoyed his previous commentaries on The Deadly Trap, The Andromeda Strain and video essay on The Quiet Earth.) There are also some trailers but none for the film.

A Pure Formality was fascinating. It comes across as a mysterious detective-murder-thriller but reminded me, in its conclusion, of the 2003 film Identity - which I also really liked. I also saw signs of Polanski's own Death and the Maiden, as well. Giuseppe Tornatore crafted a immersive film experience - one that I am still trying to get my head around - regarding the ending. The Kino Blu-ray is imperfect but has a commentary and the film remains a must-see, imo.

Gary Tooze

 


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Box Cover

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Distribution Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


 


 

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