I wrote in my last post that the stars of Marriage Story, "never stop digging to reveal intimate truths Hollywood rarely gets near." Well, Ordinary People is one of those rare exceptions. Granted, it's hard not to notice that both films' idea of relatable people seems to be the unusually financially privileged, which may strain some viewers' empathy. But if you can get past that, it's a powerful drama that builds slowly as characters' backstories and the stakes they're playing for are carefully revealed. As a filmmaker, Robert Redford can always be depended on to deliver a respectable level of mature quality in his work, but I think Judith Guest's writing allows him to reach heights he's never been able to in the rest of his typically more conventional body of work. But then Redford is able to come back around and compliment that writing by getting performances out of his brilliant cast few other filmmakers could deliver.
Like, obviously veterans like Donald Sutherland and M. Emmet Walsh were always going to be great, but I don't think anybody expected Mary Tyler Moore to jump into the award races so late in her career. Of course Timothy Hutton was a newcomer who Redford essentially discovered here (though I looked it up, and he had done a couple TV movies already). And after getting used to him in all those sitcoms and trash roles like Independence Day, this film's a fun reminder that Judd Hirsch actually can act when he's given the opportunity.
If I had one criticism, it's that the film short thrifts Moore's character a bit in the long run, almost concluding with the suggestion that everything would've been fine if she wasn't always such an uptight bitch. I haven't read the novel, but I bet a little charitability was lost between the original (female) author and the men adapting it for the screen. But Moore is able to squeeze in some depth between the lines, and of course she's ultimately a supporting character in Hutton's journey, so it's not a crippling flaw. After all, it's impossible to ignore how moving all the other material is.
Paramount released this as a basic, barebones DVD in 2001, and that's basically been the whole story of Ordinary People on disc this for all time. The closest thing to any kind of special edition was a 2009 VH1-sponsored "We Love the 80s" edition that came in a colorfully tacky slipcover and included a bonus "Music From the 80s" CD. The DVD inside is still exactly the same. It hasn't been until early this summer that it made its HD debut on blu-ray, as we've said, from Shock Entertainment in Australia. And it's Region B locked, so even this release's potential reach is still limited.
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2001 US Paramount DVD top; 2020 AU Shock BD bottom. |
So does that mean this BD is some kind of worthless side-grade? No, we have gained ground here. The DVD is slightly windowboxed to 1.82:1, which the BD corrects to a properly matted 1.85:1. I left the borders around the first set of shots so you can see the difference, but the most important difference is that it means the blu winds up revealing more information on the right-hand side (and a sliver along the bottom) that the DVD shouldn't have been cropping. And while the blu appears to be artificially sharpened, we can see that the DVD's compression makes it even softer; so the blu-ray is preserving at least a smidgen extra detail and clarity. It's a slight boost, but it's still a boost.
Now, the back of the case lists 5.1 audio, but I'm actually happy to report that is incorrect. They in fact provide the original mono track in Dolby Digital 2.0. I'm less pleased to tell you that it's lossy, though. Oh, and there are no subtitles. The DVD had subtitles (and also a French dub). Couldn't they just hold onto those, you might ask, but apparently not.
Shock's blu is also completely barebones. The DVD at least had the trailer, but I guess Shock couldn't hold onto that either. In fact, there isn't even a menu screen; it's just the one movie file on a single-layer disc. They've really done the bare minimum.
So yeah, this isn't a blu-ray to get excited about, except for the fundamental fact that it's exciting there's a blu-ray at all. But the film's a masterpiece, and this is the best edition going. I imagine most people will prioritize nearly every other title in their wish lists first, but eventually you do need this on your shelf. So credit where it's due to Shock, for at least giving us something. Now do Rachel River. 😉
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