Source France | Publisher : Studiocanal | Release date : 27 September 2023
Video format
2160p24 – Ratio 1.85
Dolby Vision / BT.2020 – HEVC encoding
Master intermediate 4K
Soundtrack
English LPCM 2.0
LPCM 2.0 (The Theatrical Cut)
Subtitles
English
French
Rated 4.5 out of 5
Artistic : 10 | Video : 9 | Audio : 8
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 : Philips 65OLED908 (Dolby Vision Filmmaker)
Sources : Oppo UDP-203 Audiocom Reference | Zappiti Reference
Pregnant : Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar (DTS Neural:X), SVS SB-4000
WORK - Dance, sex, nature and traditions
Western Highland Police Sergeant Howie arrives in Summerisle, a small private island on the west coast of Scotland, to investigate the alleged disappearance of a girl. On site, he discovered an island delivered to neo-paganism where pagan cults dominated.
Deeply destabilizing and full of bizarreness, this minimalistic esoteric thriller that has been able to influence Midsommar mixes the ingredients of the polar with British horror cinema (a small smoke of the Hammer isn't it?) for an anxiety immersion in a particularly strange community led by the Great Christopher Lee. The masterpiece of folk horror!
IMAGE - Welcome to Summerisle
From a 4K restoration initiated in 2013 by the British Film Institute under the supervision of Robin Hardy From various elements (the original 35 mm negative, a 35 mm second-generation interpositive and 35 mm copies, including one from the Harvard Film Archive), this UHD Dolby Vision transfer is the bulk of the incredible time if it is during the added (happily not very present) passages of the Directors Cut and Final Cut that appear in a much inferior quality since the details are soft, the faded colors, the particularly hard contrasts and the coarse grain (I did not deliberately take into account in the note). There are no compression problems.
Stabilized and cleaned, the image from the source material is very pleasant to the eye and marks a visible difference with its HD counterpart (also descending from the same restoration). The silver texture fully retains its organic nature, the definition hardly fluctuates and the details display with more precision (wrinkles, pores of the skin, hair, clothes and other costumes, more or less bare bodies, morose buildings, etc.).
The colorimetric palette which gains in warmth during the day and coldness after dark shows more luxuriant primary (green meadows, blue sea, red ribbons) and a healthier carnation, contrasts benefit from a nice boost (black levels are of a beautiful depth and white scale gets an increased radiance), light sources « Burn » a very different intensity (sunset, fire) and high luminances are better covered (the clouds are more visible).
SON - Summer is a-comin' in 🎶
From LPCM 2.0 full-flow mono (for all) of great fidelity to the source that delivers with as much balance as cleanness (excluding the few unrecovered passages of the negative on the Directors Cut and Final Cut) crystalline voices, strange atmospheres with marked subtlety and obsessive songs.
Only available on the Theatrical Cut, the VF sounds just as well (dynamics as the sounds are fully preserved) despite a less harmonious dubbing period.
CONCLUSION - Love, Peace & Fire
Since humanity does not seem to be able to do without the divine, the small community of Summerisle is ready to welcome you for the celebration of May 1st... A great pagan festival made unforgettable by the present 4K Ultra HD (which takes in the three montages of the film) whose A/V performances are at the height of the straw man!
The film's OST is really amazing, these folk scenes are the biggest success of the film. They contribute to this special atmosphere, I loved. Too bad that the tragic stakes are more on the surface, it has grown older on that side on the end especially even if it has to be put back in the context of the era. It's fun to see how Ari Aster transformed the trial with Midsommar.
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