Angel At My Table and
The Piano may be her most famous films, but
Bright Star is probably my favorite
Jane Campion (to really call it, I'd have to go back and rewatch
Portrait Of a Lady). At the most basic level could be described as a
John Keats biopic, but it's so much deeper than that. It's also actually the story of Keats' fiancee rather than the poet himself. It's also a rich exploration of Keats' work, poetry in general and a tragic romance, while still being quite sharp and witty. There's a debate in-film about whether poetry should spark the head or the heart, this film does both. I wasn't particularly familiar with any of the cast, but they're all pitch perfect, even the kids. And as beautifully shot as this movie is, it's really the strikingly original soundtrack, which has some nice strings and stuff, but most notably features a full vocal choir performing these gently lyrical pieces of
Mozart.
So like yesterday's post, this is another DVD-only release from
Sony, who released this as a new release in 2010, and at least it's not
entirely featureless (more on that below). But it did come out on blu
that same year in different parts of the world, including Australia,
Germany and Norway. I went with the Pathe disc from France because they
gave it the fullest special edition. They released it as both a BD and
BD/ DVD combo-pack, plus a stand-alone DVD version and a single disc BD
reissue in 2015. I went with the combo-pack, so we can look at three
versions today.
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1) 2010 US Sony DVD; 2) 2010 FR Pathe DVD; 3) 2010 FR Pathe BD.
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As
is the norm for Import Week, these discs are using the same master for
their transfers, so the biggest distinction between the two DVDs is just
that the French one is PAL. It's not the only distinction, though, as
the Sony disc is 1.84:1, which Pathe corrects to 1.85:1 (the Sony has a
basically imperceptible vertical stretch, which you'd only catch in a
direct screenshot comparison like this). But PQ-wise, the only real
pertinent difference is the BD bumping the image up to HD. It sharpens
the picture and gives the edges cleaner lines. This film sometimes has a
softer look, which can disguise the benefits, but there are also a
number of gorgeous, richly detailed wide shots that significantly
benefit from the additional clarity.
The blu also bumps the 5.1
track up to DTS-HD, and the French discs both include a French dub in
5.1, also in DTS-HD on the blu. The one downside is that Sony included
optional English and English HoH subtitles, while the Pathe only has
optional French ones. French discs often have a bad (and deserved) rep
for forced subs, but they're perfectly removable here; they don't even
default to on.
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Working With Jane
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So again, the Sony isn't entirely bereft. It has one deleted scene
and three very short featurettes (ranging from two to three minutes
each) which interview Campion. Stitched together, that's a 7-minute
interview with the director, which is better than nothing. It also has a
whole bunch of bonus trailers, but none for
Bright Star itself.
Pathe, on the other hand, has a whole bunch more. It has the same
deleted scene as the Sony, plus another one. And it has a really
nicely-crafted half hour behind-the-scenes documentary entitled
Working With Jane. And it has
three of Campion's early short films:
A Girl's Own Story (1984),
Passionless Moments (1983) and
An Exercise in Discipline
(1982), making this a bit of a treasure trove for Campion fans. It also
includes a photo gallery and the film's French-language trailer. Plus
it comes in a cool,
purple case. I think some also came in a slipcover, but AmazonFR didn't send one with mine.
Pathe doesn't include the three
featurettes from the Sony, though. So if you want to be a hardcore
completist, you can pick up the US disc and pair 'em together for a
fuller special edition. But honestly, they're awfully short, so I'd
only consider it if it was a cheap used copy. Or if, like me, you
already had the DVD and are just double-dipping to the blu as an
upgrade.
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