Product: Ryan's Daughter (Two-Disc Special Edition) (2006)
Rating: 4.0
They really, REALLY don't make them like this any more
This neglected film has many things going against it.By today's standards, it moves too slowly. Robert Mitchum is seriously miscast. Maurice Jarre's score is an overblown outrage which nearly wrecks everything.But give Lean a chance. He is, after all, a Grand Master. Be patient with his leisurely pacing; allow the windswept, desolate landscape and magical lighting to work its enchantment.It's a tone poem, you see.One of the opening titles proudly announces, "Photographed in Super Panavision on the west coast of Ireland." What director nowadays cares enough to demand the finest image quality possible? Who has the clout to insist on months of expensive location shooting, when digital "money shots" are only a point and click away? Not even Steven Spielberg, the most powerful director in Hollywood, has ever made a genuine 70mm epic! RYAN'S DAUGHTER represents the end of a grand tradition: Movies in which the natural grandeur of the settings, and the vastness and clarity of the presentation, were important reasons for seeing the film.And the DVD really delivers. The anamorphic picture, made from the original 65mm negative, looks as if it was filmed yesterday. Not a scratch or speck of dust are visible. The image is sharp as a tack, and the colors are beautifully graded, with a wide tonal range and no digital artifacts. Visually, this is a reference quality disc.The sound isn't bad for the period. The stereo image is broad and clean, but rather flat. This is a good one for headphones. Too bad there's no way to turn off Jarre's idiotic music. Imagine if Clannad, or some other traditional Irish band, had written the score instead!Aside from Mitchum, who cannot be blamed, the cast is very fine. Even the minor roles are unusually well handled. Miles is heartbreakingly beautiful. The sex scenes are surprisingly erotic but unfailingly tasteful. The story has a fateful Irish edge; by the intermission, you know you're in for downward spiral of unremitting tragedy.No, RYAN'S DAUGHTER is not as fine as LAWRENCE or ZHIVAGO or even A PASSAGE TO INDIA, but it's still very good indeed, and very beautiful. Well worth setting aside a rainy evening.