Source United Kingdom | Publisher : Arrow Films | Release date : 12 June 2023
Video format
2160p24 – Ratio 1.19
Dolby Vision / BT.2020 – HEVC encoding
Master intermediate 4K
Soundtrack
English DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles
English
Rated 4.5 out of 5
Artistic : 8 | Video : 9.5 | Audio : 9.5
It is brought to the attention of our dear readers that, in addition to the specified and used viewing equipment, the rendering may differ from one installation to another, whether or not it is calibrated, as well as personal preferences and expectations may influence notation. Moreover, the images in the article are not representative of the edition tested.
Test equipment and condition (Config. HP: 5.1.4)
Video broadcaster : Sony Bravia XR-65A80J (Dolby Vision Luminous)
Sources : Oppo UDP-203 Audiocom Reference | Zappiti Reference
Pregnant : Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar (DTS Neural:X), SVS SB-4000
Work - Twofold
In the last third of the 19th century in the United States, two lighthouse guards came to raise the previous team on a remote island off the coast of New England. They must stay there for four weeks, but the storm will stop the boat from picking them up...
Under the darkest sun, Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Northman) convenes a closed lock up from the Lovecraftian abyss to explore the meanderings of madness. And while a « giant phallus » reverberates the dark ailments of the human psyche, insolent Prometheus Pattinson (which delivers with Dafoe, out of or in the case of conjugated solilocks, a staggering performance) under the monstrous grip of light will be severely punished. Until the botist, this proposal of psychological horror iconoclast is a sensory experience whose evil foam of his mental reflection may drop (for a long time) at the bottom of your bowels. Radical cinema!
- Light on all floors?
Following the German expressionism of the 1920s, this photograph with sepulchral beauty (a sumptuous black and white that highlights the ambient mist and plays with the threatening presence of light) tending towards the orthochromatic dsantan was captured in 35 mm in format 1.19 (a reduced frame) to reinforce the confinement of the two characters (isolated in confined places). This UHD Dolby Vision transfer reproduces with much more finesse than its HD counterpart (published in 2020 via Universal Pictures).
The thick but always uniform grain that moves with stability is perfectly supported by compression (a constant flow that exceeds 80 mpbs), the pique and the fine details benefit from a not negligible improvement clearly perceptible (the mustache of Ephraim, the wrinkles of Thomas, the weaving of clothes, the roughness of the landscapes, the dilapidation of the installations), the shades of grey seem infinite (point of shiftization here), the contrast ratio is even more astonishing with its incredibly dense blacks (regulate properly your diffuser) and its episodicly blinding whites (voluntarily more troublesome by day), and the light sources impose their truth by burning reflections (cf. the parabolic mirrors of the lighthouse).
SON - The seagull of discord
Atmospheric (the permanent resac of the sea) and very aggressive (many strident effects), this agonizing soundtrack (the stubborn lamentation of the lighthouse) which remains no less subtle (the felted dialogues) is long-lasting.
The dynamics are vehement (the storm), the natural elements fully occupy the space (the wild nature, the seagulls), the partition of Mark Korven painfully penetrates the mind, the LFE channel is not there to laugh (the fog horn) and the clarity of the voices remains despite the accents of the 19th century.
CONCLUSION - Harms of loneliness
In this nebulous nightmare where the most disturbing fantasies burn the prosaic in the shelter of light (but until when?), the spectators « imprisoned » will only be able to see the victory of the « This » on the « Over me » during more strangely intoxicating 4K Ultra HD (very special A/V) visions!
What did I like about this movie, a real baffling about me. And this actor game!
I can't help but stay... Robert Eggers, a damn safe value about me. Really sound « Nosferatu » where he will find Anya Taylor-Joy and Willem Dafoe!
[...] in Scandinavian animist folklore, which enshrines the unique vision of Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse), the fine flower of the inde-American cinema, and the warrior grandeur of Alexander [...]