If you're not familiar with Robert Harris, he's a respected film archivist and industry insider who has worked on many film restorations and remasters including The Godfather for DVD and now blu-ray. In my opinion, the on-line world is very lucky to have his "A Few Words About" column available on the internet.
Here is Robert Harris' A Few Words About Walkabout...
Nicolas Roeg's brilliant 1971 Walkabout is an art film in the truest sense of the word. It is also gorgeous to look at, multi-layered in a sense that re-visiting always gives one something else to think about, but most important, it is a film that has beautifully stood the test of time.
Walkabout is one of those films that has seen its share of home video releases, in virtually every incarnation possible, but we finally have nirvana, as Criterion's newly minted Blu-ray appears to my eye, as if viewing a pristine 35mm print.
Color and densities are beautifully rendered. I would think that anything less would not have passed muster with Mr. Roeg, who in his early career was a lighting cameraman, and one of the best. I've often wondered what David Lean's Dr. Zhivago would have looked like had Roeg completed the film, as his remaining scenes are magnificent.
In an interview filmed in 2008, actress Jenny Agutter notes that one of the film's themes is about the end of innocence and the inability to return. But it's also about other things, and for those who have never seen the film, they are best left undiscovered. Working one's way through the film's multiple layers is part of its charms.
While there are occasional stumbles, usually on the studio level with Blu-ray, many releases over the past year have been nothing less than marvelous. Criterion's Walkabout is another that can be added to this very special list.
A perfect Blu-ray.
A magnificent piece of cinema.
Highly Recommended.
RAH
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/forum/thread/300063/a-few-words-about-walkabout-in-blu-ray
Here is Robert Harris' A Few Words About Walkabout...
Nicolas Roeg's brilliant 1971 Walkabout is an art film in the truest sense of the word. It is also gorgeous to look at, multi-layered in a sense that re-visiting always gives one something else to think about, but most important, it is a film that has beautifully stood the test of time.
Walkabout is one of those films that has seen its share of home video releases, in virtually every incarnation possible, but we finally have nirvana, as Criterion's newly minted Blu-ray appears to my eye, as if viewing a pristine 35mm print.
Color and densities are beautifully rendered. I would think that anything less would not have passed muster with Mr. Roeg, who in his early career was a lighting cameraman, and one of the best. I've often wondered what David Lean's Dr. Zhivago would have looked like had Roeg completed the film, as his remaining scenes are magnificent.
In an interview filmed in 2008, actress Jenny Agutter notes that one of the film's themes is about the end of innocence and the inability to return. But it's also about other things, and for those who have never seen the film, they are best left undiscovered. Working one's way through the film's multiple layers is part of its charms.
While there are occasional stumbles, usually on the studio level with Blu-ray, many releases over the past year have been nothing less than marvelous. Criterion's Walkabout is another that can be added to this very special list.
A perfect Blu-ray.
A magnificent piece of cinema.
Highly Recommended.
RAH
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/forum/thread/300063/a-few-words-about-walkabout-in-blu-ray
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