Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
Cosmos
Collapse
X
Collapse
-
Cosmos
Released by: Arrow Academy
Released on: October 17th, 2016.
Director: Andrzej Zulawski
Cast: Sabine Azema, Jean-Franacois Balmer, Jonathan Genet
Year: 2015
The Movie:
Based on the 1965 novel by Witold Gombrowicz, Cosmos, Andrzej Zulawski's final motion picture, follows a young man named Witold (Jonathan Genet) who has tried but failed to pass the bar exam. He and his friend Fuchs (Johan Libereau), a man who has just recently left his job in the fashion industry, are getting some rest and relaxation at a guesthouse run by the Madame Woytis (Sabine Azema) and her husband Leon (Jean-Francois Balmer).
When Witold comes across a dead sparrow hanged in the nearby woods, things take some strange twists and turns, particularly once he meets and becomes obsessed with Lena (Victoria Guerra), Madame Woytis' daughter. And then there's the unusual matter of the maid and Leon's unusual tendency of explaining the meaning of life with one word: 'Bleurgh.'
A genuinely strange film, Cosmos is complex and philosophical in the way that most of Zulawski's work tends to be, but at the same time it's also a simple story of people interacting with one another. We get elements of romance, drama and even a bit of science fiction in and amongst the meandering philosophical nature of the film. It's all quite fascinating, even if it might take repeat viewings to really click. It's also not nearly as dark as some of Zulawski's better known pictures. While there are certainly macabre moments here, the hanged sparrow and what follows are good examples, but there is some effectively dark comedy at work as well.
The performances are solid here. Genet makes for a perfectly believable leading man, a young guy just trying to get away from the pressures of the world. We can buy him in the part with no trouble at all. Likewise, the same qualities apply to Libereau. Really though, it's Sabine Azema, Jean-Francois Balmer and Victoria Guerra who make more of an impression. They're an odd family to be sure but these three actors are careful not to overdo it lest this all crumble down into some sort of self-parody. Additionally the production values are top notch. Zulawski may have shot this digitally in high definition and so it lacks the texture inherent in 35mm film, but once you get accustomed to seeing his work presented this way you won't mind so much. Rather, you'll get lost in the visuals and be consistently impressed with the creativity behind the compositions used in the picture.
Zulawski likes visual contrast. Here he pairs off suicide with passionate sex, and in doing so quite literally pairing life and death against one another. Surrealism and reality are also occasionally at odds with one another throughout the film as Zulawski posits that while all of this might be meaningless, we should at least try to find something more here. Cosmos is definitely one of those pictures out of which you will receive as much as out of it as you are willing to invest in it. This is not an easy film, but it is remarkably well mad and in its own bizarre way, genuinely fascinating.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Cosmos arrives on Blu-ray from Arrow in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer framed at 1.85.1 widescreen on a 50GB disc. Shot digitally, the picture is crystal clear showing no print damage, dirt or debris. Colors are nicely handled here and look quite natural, especially in the scenes that take place outdoors. Black levels are nice and deep and there are no problems with compression artifacts or overt aliasing. Skin tones are nice and natural looking and the transfer sports strong detail, good depth and impressive texture.
The only audio option offered is a French language DTS-HD 5.1 with subtitles provided in English only. The 5.1 track uses the surround channels rather well when music is used and during the few scenes that feature more aggressive sound effects/foley. The track is crisp, clean and clear with good balance and no audible defects to note.
Extras on the disc start off with a thirty-one minute featurette entitled Hanging Sparrows which is a look back at the making of the movie made up of interviews with cast members Jonathan Genet, Jean-Francois Balmer, Victoria Guerra and Clementine Pons as well as with cinematographer Andre Szankowski. Director Andrzej Zulawski also appears in the piece by way of some archival footage shot during the production. It's an interesting piece that offers up plenty of insight into the director's methods, what he was like to work with, the various participants' thoughts on the film and more.
Also on hand is the eleven minute A Brief History of Gombrowicz which is an interview with Rita Gombrowicz, the wife of the late writer, in which she discusses the of Witold Gombrowicz in some detail. Those not familiar with the writer's work would do well to check this out as it provides some welcome context for Zulawski's adaptation.
In Bleurgh we spend eight minutes with Daniel Bird discussing the films of Andrzej Zulawski and how the director went about translating Cosmos into and English language feature. Arrow has also included eight minutes of behind the scenes footage that shows off what it was like on set, a half hour press conference held at the Locarno Film Festival followed by a forty-five minute Q & A session and a three minute Awards Ceremony clip alongside eight minutes of footage showing off both Lisbon and Estoril festival introduction to the feature before it was screened. Outside of that we get international and UK trailers for the feature, menus and chapter selection.
The Final Word:
Cosmos is a bizarre film, but then it wouldn't be a Zulawski picture if it were conventional. This one is worth watching more than once just to make sure you pick up on the subtle and not so subtle intricacies of the story and the production. The movie is also quite clever with its black humor and features impressive cinematography and a nice score. Arrow's Blu-ray is a very nice package overall, presenting Cosmos in beautiful shape and with some nice extra features different than those found on the US Blu-ray release.
Posting comments is disabled.
Categories
Collapse
article_tags
Collapse
- album review (218)
- album reviews (274)
- arrow video (271)
- blu-ray (3225)
- blu-ray review (4162)
- comic books (1392)
- comic reviews (872)
- comics (988)
- dark horse comics (484)
- dvd and blu-ray reviews a-f (1969)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews G-M (1711)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews N-S (1757)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews T-Z (878)
- dvd review (2512)
- idw publishing (216)
- image comics (207)
- kino lorber (391)
- movie news (260)
- review (318)
- scream factory (279)
- severin films (298)
- shout! factory (537)
- twilight time (269)
- twilight time releasing (231)
- vinegar syndrome (497)
Latest Articles
Collapse
-
Released by: Grindhouse Releasing
Released on: March 12th, 2024.
Director: William Grefé
Cast: William Shatner, Jennifer Bishop, Ruth Roman, Harold Sakata
Year: 1974
Purchase From Amazon
Impulse – Movie Review:
Directed by the one and only William Grefé, 1974’s Impulse is one of those rare films that allows you to witness what it would be like if a really sweaty William Shatner got mad at a lady carrying balloons. Before that...-
Channel: Movies
04-15-2024, 01:20 PM -
-
Released by: Severin Films
Released on: April 30th, 2024.
Director: Andrew Legge
Cast: Emma Appleton, Stefanie Martini, Rory Fleck Byrne
Year: 2022
Purchase From Amazon
Lola – Movie Review:
Irish filmmakers Andrew Legge’s 2022 movie, ‘Lola’, which was made during Covid-19 lockdowns, is a wildly creative movie made in the found footage style that defies expectations, provides plenty of food for thought and manages to make...-
Channel: Movies
04-10-2024, 04:09 PM -
-
Released by: Universal Studios
Released on: April 9th, 2024.
Director: Zelda Williams
Cast: Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Carla Gugino, Joe Chrest, Henry Eikenberry
Year: 2024
Purchase From Amazon
Lisa Frankenstein – Movie Review:
The feature-length directorial debut of Zelda Williams, 20214’s Lisa Frankenstein takes place in 1989 and follows a teenaged girl named Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) who, two years ago, lost her mother...-
Channel: Movies
04-03-2024, 03:40 PM -
-
Released by: Severin Films
Released on: April 30th, 2024.
Director: Gianfranco Giagni
Cast: Roland Wybenga, William Berger, Stéphane Audran
Year: 1988
Purchase From Amazon
Spider Labyrinth – Movie Review:
Professor Alan Whitmore (Roland Wybenga) is an American who works as a Professor of languages studies and has a fascination bordering on obsession with translating pre-Christian religious texts. He was also locked in a closet...-
Channel: Movies
04-03-2024, 03:37 PM -
-
Released by: Mondo Macabro
Released on: April 9th, 2024.
Director: Arizal
Cast: Barry Prima, Eva Arnaz, W.D. Mochtar
Year: 1982
Purchase From Amazon
Special Silencers – Movie Review:
When director Arizal’s 1982 epic begins, we meet a man named Gumilar (W.D. Mochtar), a sinister dude who has constantly bloodshot eyes. He’s meeting with a man about some sort of business deal, but a flashback shows us how some time ago he killed...-
Channel: Movies
04-03-2024, 03:35 PM -
-
Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: March 26th, 2024.
Director: Piero Regnoli
Cast: Walter Brandi, Lyla Rocco, Maria Giovannini, Alfredo Rizzo, Marisa Quattrini, Leonardo Botta
Year: 1960
Purchase From Amazon
The Playgirls And The Vampire – Movie Review:
Piero Regnoli’s 1960 goofy gothic horror, The Playgirls And The Vampire, revolves around a quintet of beautiful showgirls - Vera (Lyla Rocco), Katia (Maria Giovannini),...-
Channel: Movies
04-03-2024, 03:30 PM -