Alamo Bay

Released by: Twilight Time
Released on: September 10th, 2013.
Director: Louis Malle
Cast: Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Ho Nguyen, Donald Moffat
Year: 1985
Purchase From Screen Archives

The Movie:

Directed by Louis Malle and shot on location in Texas, 1985's Alamo Bay stars Ed Harris as Shang, a Vietnam veteran who lives in the titular fictitious Texas town where he bare gets by working as a shrimp fisherman. He's a surly and trouble man who is prone to falling inside a bottle and who dearly loves his boat but isn't quite sure how he's going to keep making the payments on it. Shang is having a fling with a woman named Glory (Amy Madigan), but even here, he knows no happiness.

When Glory's father, Wally (Donald Moffat), rents a boat out to a group of Vietnamese immigrants things get complicated. Shang has no love for the Vietnamese and he has no problems making that known when he starts showing up for work every morning with a loaded rifle at his side. When the Vietnamese start following Shang and a few of the other locals to the spots they know provide the best shrimp yields, they understandably take offence to that despite the fact that the competing boats are breaking no laws. When a Ku Klux Klan recruitment officer shows up in town and meets with Sheng and a few of the other men in town, tensions rise and things can only go from bad to worse.

Alamo Bay is an unhappy film filled with unhappy people dealing with a problem that feels very real. On that level, it's an interesting picture in that it the movie allows us to see both sides of where the two opposing forces in the movie are coming from when they do inevitably collide. These men, some of whom went to war against the immigrants now moving into their town, worked hard to build up their businesses and find the most lucrative spots to fish while the immigrants swoop in and take advantage of their hard work. At the same time, the immigrants are here to make better lives for themselves and what they're doing is completely legal - no man owns the ocean. Throwing the Klan element into the mix might seem like opting for a cliché but the predatory nature of hate groups is such that it's not in the least bit out of the realm of possibility for something like this to take place. This makes it less of a convenient plot device and more of an unfortunate reality.

Amongst this misery and toil, however, there are relationships and as many good movies do, Alamo Bay tests its relationships. The central coupling is that of Shang and Glory. Their love affair is tempestuous at the best of times but there's one key moment where they go to a honkytonk and slow dance to an old country song that does show a completely believable tenderness between the two characters. Their relationship is further tested when tensions in the town arise and Glory backs her father's decision to continue renting equipment to the Vietnamese. This adds yet another layer of complication to things.

The performances are what make this movie work. To be sure, Malle's direction is steady and his message important but no matter how effectively he gets the scenery down right or the locations completely authentic, the acting carries the story. Ed Harris is excellent here, he portrays his characters anger and resentment very believably but is also occasionally able to muster up a little sympathy for him. Madigan is just as good, her strength in this role being her ability to put us in her shoes as she's torn between two men she obviously cares for. The film plays out as a slice of life, it offers no real solutions to the problems that it details but it doesn't really have to do that in order to work. It's a grim picture, almost unrelentingly so, though Alamo Bay is also very well made and as such, quite worth seeing.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Alamo Bay arrives on Blu-ray framed in its original aspect ratio of 1.85.1 and presented in AVC encoded 1080p high definition. This is a fine transfer, naturally grainy in spots but for the most part pretty clean. Detail is good if sometimes the haziness caused by some rather 'hot' location shooting results in softness. Close ups look very good, you'll note the sweat on the brow of a fisherman or the stubble on his face as easily as you'll spot the frilling of a jacket or the water stains on a boat. Colors are nice and natural looking and black levels are good and there are no notable issues with compression artifacts, edge enhancement or noise reduction to be spotted.

The only audio option for the movie is the original English language track in DTS-HD 1.0 mono. Optional English subtitles are provided. This is a dialogue heavy movie, it's not an action picture, and on that level the mix here works well. Character sound nice and natural on the lossless track, there's reasonable depth here. The score also sounds quite nice and there aren't any problems with any hiss or distortion.

Extras on the disc include the film's original theatrical trailer and an isolated score. Liner notes from Julie Kirgo are included inside the Blu-ray case that make an interesting point about how often times the most accurate and sometimes barbed observations on a specific culture come from an outsider, as is this case here with French director Malle casting his gaze on the trials and tribulations of society in the American south.

The Final Word:

Alamo Bay certainly isn't feel good movie of the year material but as depressing and forbidding as it is, Malle's film paints in realistic strokes. The acting is top notch, the movie is very nicely shot and capture some great locations, and Twilight Time's Blu-ray looks and sounds good. Certainly not a movie for everyone and not a picture concerned with mainstream appeal, it's nevertheless a very well made film given a fine presentation.

Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!