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Released by: Magnolia Pictures
Released on: April 16, 2013.
Director: M.L. Pundhevanop Dhewakul
Cast: Ananda Everingham
Year: 2011
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The Movie:
Directed by M.L. Pundhevanop Dhewakul, 2011's At The Gate Of The Ghost (alternately known as The Outrage) is basically a Thai retelling of Akira Kurosawa's classic Rashomon. Based on a play written by Thai playwright M.R. Kukrit Pramoj which was in turn based on Rashomon's script, like the movie that inspired it the picture is an interesting take on honesty and morality based around a mystery explained by the testimony of those who were there.
Set in Thailand and making great use of that country's beautiful scenery, the movie introduces us to a monk (Mario Maurer) who is on his way to visit his aging father. As he travels, he debates leaving the monastery to live a secular life. While he wrestles with his Buddhist faith, a warlord (Ananda Everingham) is found murdered, the body discovered by a humble woodcutter (Petchtai Wongkamiao) who reports his discovery to the police. They in turn promptly head out and arrest a notorious local criminal named Singh Kham (Dom Hetrakul) who may or may not be responsible for the deed. Nowhere to be found is the victim's wife, Kham Kaew (Laila Boonyasak). As the cops go about interviewing all of the witnesses that they can round up, they find that each one has a different take on how the events played out and in regards to who actually committed the crime.
So yeah, this one follows the basic premise of Rashomon pretty closely, at least in terms of how it all unfolds and why. Where it really differs, however, is in the visuals department. Kurosawa's moody back and white movie shot in Japan takes on a much more colorful, quirky look once it's been transported to Thailand and shot in widescreen. It's really a gorgeous looking film and although it tells a fairly grim story of crime and murder the use of color in the compositions that make up the picture is outstanding.
Like the movie that inspired it, the movie is made up of flashbacks and bits and pieces of memories that don't always unfold in the most linear of fashions, but it works. Even if you've seen the original movie this take on the classic source material has enough of its own thing going on that it makes for a pretty engrossing watch. Shutter's leading man, Ananda Everingham is probably the best known cast member to western audiences. He's good here but scenes are occasionally stolen by the beautiful Laila Boonyasak and the tough, surly Dom Hetrakul (who recently appeared in Bangkok Revenge). The cast do well with the effectively scripted material and the visuals are consistently impressive enough that the movie is never less than a treat for the eyes. It doesn't necessarily improve on Kurosawa's movie, but it does offer up a unique and worthwhile alternate take on the story - this is worth seeing.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The AVC encoded 1080p high definition 2.35.1 widescreen transfer has nice color reproduction and decent black levels and it looks pretty good though some banding is a little too easy to spot throughout the movie. The movie also tends to lean towards the soft side of things, so detail doesn't always blow you away like you might hope it would, but the scenes that take place outdoors show beautiful colors throughout. Skin tones look lifelike and realistic but some minor noise creeps a few scenes, particularly those that take place in lower lighting. This isn't a reference quality presentation but it's definitely a very good one.
The Thai language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track with optional subtitles provided in English or Spanish is a pretty solid one. This mix delivers pretty much exactly what you'd expect from a movie of this type - surrounds are used well in the action scenes, particularly those involving the archers, and your subwoofer will punctuate the hits quite effectively. Scenes that take place in the jungle also make nice, subtle use of the surrounds - pay attention during the scene that takes place near the waterfall and you'll notice some interesting animal noises in the background as well as the rush of the water filling in the soundscape. An optional English language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track is also included.
Extras? We get a seven minute featurette entitled The Making Of A Legendary Story that gives us a look at the different techniques that the cast used to bring their characters to life and a quick four minute collection of random behind the scenes clips. Aside from that, we also get a trailer for the feature, trailers for a few other Magnolia properties, animated menus and chapter selection. The featurettes are in standard definition, the trailers are all in high definition.
The Final Word:
At The Gate Of The Ghost sure is pretty to look at and it's entertaining enough, even if it fails to improve on the Kurosawa movie that so obviously inspired it. Magnolia's Blu-ray is light on extras but it looks and sounds very nice. If you're got an affinity for Thai filmmaking, you'll enjoy this and a few stand out scenes and set pieces do make it worth seeing.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
