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Released by: Magnolia Home Entertainment
Released on: January 20, 2015
Director: Gregg Araki
Cast: Shailene Woodley, Eva Green, Christopher Meloni, Thomas Jane, Shiloh Fernandez, Gabourey Sidibe, Sheryl Lee, Angela Bassett
Year: 2014
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The Movie:
The year is 1988, and 17-year-old Kat Connors' mother has disappeared. Everyone assumes she walked out of her miserable marriage into a new life somewhere else. Kat didn't really get along with her mother, so she isn't particularly bothered by the woman's absence. She has her misfit friends, her less-than-bright boyfriend, and her father to distract her. But as she gets older, her interest in her mother and what might have happened to her grows. She has an affair with a police detective and moves away to college, all the while remaining haunted by her past.
Based on Laura Kasischke's 1999 novel of the same name, White Bird in a Blizzard is as old-fashioned as its setting, and director Gregg Araki has no intention of letting his viewers forget it. He takes a vivid yet sparse, Sirkian approach, his framing centered on blocks of color (or lack thereof, depending on the shot) that reflect the emotional content at each scene's core. It's a smart move; the result is a beautiful work of minimalist art, its visuals as superficial as most of the central characters appear—at least on the surface—to be. It very well may be Araki's most visually splendid production, with a coherent, connected narrative to match. What's strange is that critics have either dismissed it or trashed it outright, suggesting that it's old hat. Nothing could be further from the truth. It's Todd Haynes on steroids, with stunning performances from Shailene Woodley and Eva Green.
Araki has always pushed the envelope, from his early works (The Living End, 1992, and The Doom Generation, 1995) to his most celebrated and controversial films (Totally Fucked Up, 1993, and Mysterious Skin, 2005). White Bird in a Blizzard is another in a long list of challenging, thought-provoking works from the director, with a final twist that viewers absolutely will not see coming.
It's nothing short of criminal that Woodley's frank and naturalistic work here has been ignored this award season. Best known for her stellar performances in popcorn fare (Divergent, 2014) and doomed teen romances (The Fault in Our Stars, 2014), she knocks the door down as sexually precocious, angsty Kat, who pursues carnal relations with a man twenty years her senior and flippantly dismisses her mother's disappearance until she comes to suspect the real culprit. Every bit as amazing is French actress Eva Green as her depressed, flighty, alcoholic mess of a mother. Were Kat in the hands of a lesser actress than Woodley, Green would doubtless have stolen the show. As it is, they're perfect foils for each other. And theirs aren't the only performances worth touting: Christopher Meloni plays Kat's doormat father with a surprising degree of restraint and control, while a subdued Angela Bassett more than holds her own as Kat's psychiatrist.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Magnolia has seen fit to release White Bird in a Blizzard with an MPEG-4 AVC encode—in 1080p high-definition—at a ratio of 2.39:1. Even better, though it's a relatively short film with only a few extras—most of them short as well—it has been placed on a 50GB disc with an extremely high bit rate. And boy, does it show! Clearly sourced from a digital master, the image has exceedingly sharp detail and vibrant color reproduction, with various color schemes representing different time periods (the film alternately takes place in the 1970s, '80s, and '90s). There's a great deal of depth and texture to the image, with solid black levels. There are no problems with crush, debris, noise, or artificial grain. Araki has an amazing eye, and the BD's visuals do it full justice.
The audios are every bit as top-notch as the visuals. The film's primary track is in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. It's a flawless presentation of the film's dialogue, score, and predominantly '80s post-modern soundtrack. Tracks by New Order and This Mortal Coil, among others, are melded seamlessly into an original score by Robin Guthrie and the incomparable Harold Budd. A second track featuring audio commentary by Woodley and Araki is also included. The commentary provides little in the way of background information; it's mostly Woodley and Araki reacting to scenes from the film as they unfold, but it's entertaining nonetheless, if mostly for the interplay between the two.
The extras include five deleted and extended scenes, all of which are interesting but were wisely left on the cutting room floor. An interview with Woodley runs approximately six minutes and reveals just how charming and intelligent the actress really is—and why she's Hollywood's current “It girl.†An interview with Araki runs approximately eight minutes and provides a glimpse into the way the auteur's mind works. “AXS TV: A Look at White Bird in a Blizzard†is a three-minute promotional featurette that includes snippets from the aforementioned interviews alongside snippets from the film, and the original theatrical trailer is included as well. Rounding out the list of extras are trailers for other Magnolia releases, including The Two Faces of January, Frank, V/H/S Viral, and Honeymoon (all 2014). While the trailers are in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, the remainder of the extras are in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.
The Final Word:
White Bird in a Blizzard is an overlooked gem. It's easily Araki's best film, with a deceptively nuanced screenplay and superlative performances from a talented cast. Magnolia's Blu-ray offers everything the format should: great visuals, great audio, and great extras. In short, it's the perfect release of a perfect film.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
