Firstly, a massive thank you to our Patreon supporters. Your generosity touches me deeply. These supporters have become the single biggest contributing factor to the survival of DVDBeaver. Your assistance has become essential.

 

What do Patrons receive, that you don't?

 

1) Our weekly Newsletter sent to your Inbox every Monday morning!
2)
Patron-only Silent Auctions - so far over 30 Out-of-Print titles have moved to deserved, appreciative, hands!
3) Access to over 20,000 unpublished screen captures in lossless high-resolution format!

 

Please consider keeping us in existence with a couple of dollars or more each month (your pocket change!) so we can continue to do our best in giving you timely, thorough reviews, calendar updates and detailed comparisons. Thank you very much.


 

Search DVDBeaver

S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Ken Loach
UK | Spain | Germany 1996

 

The first collaboration between director Ken Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty – a relationship which now extends to fifteen feature films and shorts, including My Name Is Joe and I, Daniel Blake – Carla’s Song tells the story of George (Robert Carlyle, Trainspotting), a Glaswegian bus driver, and Carla (Oyanka Cabezas), a Nicaraguan refugee. Set in 1987, the film follows the pair as they meet, fall in love, and travel to Nicaragua in search of Carla’s former lover, a possible victim of the civil war.

***

George (Carlyle), a Glaswegian bus driver, is headstrong and goofy enough to steal his sweetheart away on a diversion around Loch Lomond in his double-decker. The object of his affection, Carla (Cabezas), is a refugee from Nicaragua. Alerted to her suicidal tendencies, George persuades Carla to return with him to Central America, so that she can confront the ghosts of her past, and resolve her relationship with the mysterious Antonio. The year's 1987, and he has no idea what life's really like in a war zone. A film of two halves, this has all Loach's virtues and failings, and in that order. The first hour is sharp and funny, tender and real. George's courtship of an exotic stranger whose pain he can only dimly comprehend rings very true. His attention makes things harder for her, and he's in over his head well before they touch down in Managua.

Excerpt from TimeOut located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: September 20th, 1996

Reviews                                                                                                       More Reviews                                                                                       DVD Reviews

 

Review: Indicator - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

or buy directly from Indicator:

Bonus Captures:

Distribution Indicator - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:50:39.466        
Video

1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 44,069,267,987 bytes

Feature: 32,347,475,520 bytes

Video Bitrate: 34.61 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

LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Commentary:

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

Subtitles English (SDH), None and optional English for the commentary
Features Release Information:
Studio:
Indicator

 

1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 44,069,267,987 bytes

Feature: 32,347,475,520 bytes

Video Bitrate: 34.61 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

Audio commentary with director Ken Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty (2005)
An Extraordinary Thing (2021, 18:05): producer Sally Hibbin recalls the challenges of filming in Nicaragua
Two Worlds Collide (2021, 8:24): editor Jonathan Morris discusses working on an ambitious, international scale
Tuning in to Nicaragua (2021, 9:57): composer George Fenton details his approach to scoring the film
Background to the Art (2021, 13:52): art director Fergus Clegg on recreating the late-eighties setting of Carla’s Song
Sounds of Music (2021, 9:44): sound recordist Ray Beckett discusses the technical aspects of Loach’s documentary style of filmmaking
Keeping Up Appearances (2021, 9:31): script supervisor Susanna Lenton relates the complexities of shooting the film in sequence
Ten deleted scenes (11:51)
Original theatrical trailer (2:02)
Image gallery: publicity and promotional material
Limited edition exclusive 36-page booklet with a new essay by Michael Pattison, Paul Laverty on Carla’s Song, an account of screening the film in Nicaragua, Ken Loach on recutting the film, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits


Blu-ray Release Date:
April 26th, 2021
Transparent Blu-ray Case

Chapters 12

 

 

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Indicator Blu-ray (March 2021): Indicator have transferred Ken Loach's Carla's Song to Blu-ray. The film had previously been released on Blu-ray by Twilight Time in the US HERE. It is on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate and looks pleasing in 1080P. It can show some waxy softness but this is not digitization but a consistent consequences of the production as put to digital. I expect it compares very favorably with the Twilight Time HD presentation. It is very clean, has true colors, decent contrast and some depth and texture in the 1.66:1 aspect ratio. This looked quite fetching on my system with beautiful countryside in Strathclyde, Scotland, and the greens of the Nicaraguan jungle. 

NOTE: We have added 50 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Indicator use a linear PCM 2.0 channel track (24-bit) in the original English, and some Spanish, languages. There are effects from the bus-driving and activity to the second half war-zone bullets and bombs. The score is by George Fenton (Ladybird, Ladybird, The Crucible, The Fisher King, Planet Earth, Life) and supports the film well via the uncompressed audio transfer. Indicator offer optional English subtitles, for the feature (SDH) and commentary, on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Indicator Blu-ray offers a the same commentary as found on the Twilight Time Blu-ray with director Ken Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty from 2005. Perhaps because of the accents - Indicator include the option of subtitles for the commentary. We learn a lot about the production evolution, remembered anecdotes, some pauses to enjoy certain scenes, talk of shooting in Scotland and Nicaragua but generally about being truthful to the story's themes, subtle changes, the title choice etc. Also duplicated are the 10-deleted scenes, cut by Loach to tighten the film. They run almost a dozen minutes. Indicator stack the supplements with six new (2021) interviews; producer Sally Hibbin recalls the challenges of filming in Nicaragua, editor Jonathan Morris discusses working on an ambitious, international scale, composer George Fenton details his approach to scoring the film, art director Fergus Clegg on recreating the late-eighties setting of Carla’s Song, sound recordist Ray Beckett discusses the technical aspects of Loach’s documentary style of filmmaking and script supervisor Susanna Lenton relates the complexities of shooting the film in sequence. These run about 70-minutes in total. There is also an original theatrical trailer and image gallery of publicity and promotional material plus the package has a limited edition exclusive 36-page booklet with a new essay by Michael Pattison, Paul Laverty on Carla’s Song, an account of screening the film in Nicaragua, Ken Loach on recutting the film, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits.    

I echo some of the critical comments of Ken Loach's Carla's Song enjoying the first half - and it's occasional humor and budding romance - more than the politically-charged second half with its resemblances to typically obvious liberal Hollywood. Loach is an impressive filmmaker and I think he realizes the story to its highest potential. Oyanka Cabezas, Carlyle and Scott Glenn are strong and carry the film in its more plodding and scattered moments. The commentary helped and its ambition is, certainly, a positive attribute. The high-end a/v and extras-stacked, limited edition (3,000 copies), Indicator Blu-ray make this package very enticing for Loach fans.

Gary Tooze

 


Menus / Extras

 


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

 

 

Optional subtitle sample for the commentary

 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


More full resolution (1920 X 1080) Blu-ray Captures for DVDBeaver Patreon Supporters HERE

 

 

 
Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

or buy directly from Indicator:

Bonus Captures:

Distribution Indicator - Region FREE - Blu-ray


 


 

Search DVDBeaver

S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

 

Hit Counter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DONATIONS Keep DVDBeaver alive:

 CLICK PayPal logo to donate!

Gary Tooze

Thank You!