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Blu-ray Review The Innocents Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

Matt Hough

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The Innocents Blu-ray Review

Henry James’ masterful story The Turn of the Screw was brought to chilling cinematic life by Jack Clayton in 1961 as The Innocents. A mixture of psychological horror with an allegorical treatise on moral degradation, The Innocents is one of the most adult horror films ever made. Like Robert Wise’s The Haunting made a couple of years later, without showing graphic gore but instead relying on the camera and the sound to instill a feeling of dread in the viewer, The Innocents is one of those movies that reverberates in your head long after it finishes, and its enigmatic qualities are so beautifully ingrained that the movie brings you back for multiple revisits always exerting a power on the viewer that builds and builds.

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Studio: Criterion

Distributed By: N/A

Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Audio: English PCM 1.0 (Mono)

Subtitles: English SDH

Rating: Not Rated

Run Time: 1 Hr. 40 Min.

Package Includes: Blu-ray

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Disc Type: BD50 (dual layer)

Region: A

Release Date: 09/22/2014

MSRP: $39.95




The Production Rating: 5/5

Determined to be shed of his responsibility for his orphaned niece (Pamela Franklin) and nephew (Martin Stephens), their uncle (Michael Redgrave) hires Miss Giddens (Deborah Kerr) to be the new governess and gives her absolute authority over the country estate household since he refuses to be present. Housekeeper Mrs, Grose (Megs Jenkins) seems very friendly and fills Miss Giddens in on all the family’s history including the deaths of the last governess Miss Jessel (Clytie Jessop) and of the uncle’s valet Peter Quint (Peter Wyngarde), who, it turns out, had been engaged in an abusive love affair with Miss Jessel before their deaths. The children seem to be angels on the surface, but various strange events occur which lead Miss Giddens to think the ghosts of the dead lovers are present and doing their utmost to possess the children. She’s determined to keep that from happening.The stage version of the story titled The Innocents was written by William Archibald though Truman Capote’s final adaptation of it served as the basis for most of the shooting script. It’s a brilliant piece of Gothic horror filled with much shuddery symbolism. The concept of beauty masking ugliness carries through from the gorgeous country estate hiding all kinds of unpleasant secrets and occurrences to something as simple as the estate’s roses which continually wither when brought indoors. The children so bright and shining have an undercurrent of something rather monstrous (like Miles’ choke hold and full-lipped kiss of Miss Giddens or Flora’s unending, ear-piercing screams when asked about Miss Jessel late in the film), and beautiful lakes and exquisite music boxes all seem to hold something sinister and unearthly. And Jack Clayton has made sure that he keeps us on the edges of our seats with two gripping tours of the house: first during a game of hide-and-seek (which leads us to a creepy attic with a nodding doll and later to our first full glimpse of Quint) and later when Miss Giddens frantically searches for the children which comes complete with a shock “boo” moment and camerawork by Freddie Francis which stretches those shadows out into ghostly infinity. Throughout, ghostly voices calling from just out of eyeshot or eerie images at the edges of the screen or at a distance so we can barely make them out keep suspense heightened and make us doubt, just as Miss Giddens or Mrs. Grose does, what we’ve actually seen or heard.Deborah Kerr always considered this her greatest performance (typically, it didn’t bring her any awards attention at all), and she is on screen almost constantly. It’s a tour de force performance filled with both high spirits and low and with the actress completely fearless in doing whatever needed to be done to complete the scene for its full effect (particularly her last shot in the movie). So magnificent is her work that we really are never quite sure if she's seeing what she claims or if what she's imagining could be blamed on the psychosexual imaginings of a frustrated spinster. As for the children, Pamela Franklin was new to films while Martin Stephens was an experienced hand: both give wonderfully edgy performances which truly walk to tightrope between adorable and creepy but both unquestionably memorable. Megs Jenkins couldn’t be better as the agreeable housekeeper who begins to have her doubts about Miss Giddens’ intentions, and Peter Wyngarde and Clytie Jessop as the two ghosts fulfill everything required for their ethereal characters. Michael Redgrave is wonderful in his one scene role as the selfish bachelor not wishing to be saddled with two young charges.


Video Rating: 5/5 3D Rating: NA

The film’s Cinemascope 2.35:1 theatrical aspect ratio is faithfully delivered in this 1080p transfer using the AVC codec. Freddie Francis’ deep focus photography has never looked so stunning as it does here with its sharpness superb and reference grayscale rendering which emphasizes the inkiness in all those shadows and the brightness of the whites. Contrast has been applied quite consistently, and there’s not a speck or mark to mar the presentation. The film has been divided into 14 chapters.



Audio Rating: 4.5/5

The PCM 1.0 (1.1 Mbps) sound mix is typical of its era but has been cleaned up with terrific precision so that there are no age-related artifacts like hiss or flutter to spoil the ambiance of this sinister mansion. Dialogue has been excellently recorded, and it has been combined with Georges Auric’s music and the chilling sound effects with utmost care to make sure they blend in masterful harmony.


Special Features Rating: 4/5

Audio Commentary: film historian Christopher Frayling provides a comprehensive history of the film and its cast and crew that also makes for entertaining and enlightening listening.Christopher Frayling Introduction (23:19, HD): despite its title, it’s more of a critical essay on the film and should not be watched until after the main feature has been seen as it gives away many surprises and interpretations of the events of the story.John Bailey Interview (18:54, HD): the acclaimed cinematographer discusses cinematographer Freddie Francis’ masterful work on the movie noting camera tricks he used for effect and emphasizing the immense of lighting required for the film’s effects to register.Crew Collective Interview (13:48, HD): cinematographer Freddie Francis, editor Jim Clark, and script supervisor Pamela Francis share memories of working on the production discussing their own work and praising the work of producer-director Jack Clayton.Theatrical Trailer (2:49, HD)Enclosed Pamphlet: contains the cast and crew lists, information on the remastering of the film for high definition, and an essay on the movie by film author Maitland McDonagh.Timeline: can be pulled up from the menu or by pushing the red button on the remote. It shows you your progress on the disc, the title of the chapter you’re now in, and index markers for the commentary that goes along with the film, all of which can be switched on the fly. Additionally, two other buttons on the remote can place or remove bookmarks if you decide to stop viewing before reaching the end of the film or want to mark specific places for later reference.


Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Jack Clayton was named Best Director by the National Board of Review for his work on The Innocents, and it’s easy to see why. This tremendously effective psychological ghost story is hard to beat on any level, and the Criterion release presents the movie in its best possible light with reference quality picture and crisp and effective mono sound along with the usual excellent selection of bonus features. Highly recommended!


Reviewed By: Matt Hough


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GlennF

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Aug 11, 2013
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Love this movie. The acting is superb. (I have always been a big fan of Deborah Kerr). The photography amazing. The ending is memorable! I have the DVD so will have to wait until some day when I am feeling very rich, or there is a sale, to justify buying it again, but if you don't own it already, it is well worth the purchase.
 

HenryDuBrow

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Henry.
Love this film, one of the best ghost films ever made if not the best. Going with the comparison grabs on dvdbeaver, this new release looks darker like clouded weather almost even for indoor scenes I prefer a brighter picture.
 

chas speed

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jeff
HenryDuBrow said:
Love this film, one of the best ghost films ever made if not the best. Going with the comparison grabs on dvdbeaver, this new release looks darker like clouded weather almost even for indoor scenes I prefer a brighter picture.
I wouldn't go by the screen grabs on DVDbeaver. I have noticed that they often look different when you see them on Blu-ray, but you have to be happy by all the additional picture info on this release compared to the other ones.
 

Malcolm Bmoor

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A question about the sound sources for pre-Dolby era films:

Being old enough to remember the crackle/pop background in optical tracks before the late Dr Ray Dolby brought Dolby A from the recording studio into cinema sound, are DVDs & Blu-rays dating from after the adoption of mag tracks during the production process able to utilise the mag Master or are we hearing valiant processing of the final optical track?

(Please take time to recover from that excessively long sentence)

I'm interested to know whether the mag Masters are generally available and usable as the quality from DVDs & Blu-rays tend to be far better than I remember from cinemas in the old days and it's either a tribute to processing or use of non-optical sources.

(Not quite so long)
 

philip*eric

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philip jaeger
Its a shame that Pamela Franklin was not asked to participate in this release - she has done several audio commentaries including one for THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE. Her memories of making this classic would be invaluable .
 

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