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The Movie:
"Mother Night" is based on the novel by Kurt Vonnegut; I've never read the book, but I found this attempt to bring the film to the screen to be an interesting one, well-performed and well-told. The film stars Nick Nolte as Howard Campbell, an American who grew up in Germany and became a successful playwright, with a wife.
He has a radio show where he offers anti-American and other negative messages, but is he really? In reality, the pauses between words and other such codes were actually messages to the Allied forces. As the film begins, he is about to go on trial for being a war criminal, and the flashbacks that proceed afterwards examine which side he was on, and who he harmed more.
His problem during all of this is the fact that the Americans can not help him, and have disavowed knowledge of who he is and what he does. Eventually he returns to New York after the war, and finds that he has no life; no country, few posessions, no identity. As he says in one piece of narration, "we are what we pretend to be." Nolte's performance easily carries the film; along with "The Thin Red Line" it's one of his better recent efforts. Other supporting cast members don't make as much of an impression, but I didn't find any one performance lacking. "Mother Night" does stumble a few times in the second half, but overall, it's a well-written movie that offers a great Nolte performance.
The DVD
VIDEO: Another great New Line presentation; this one is definitely above their average work, and that's certainly good since the film has some stunning images, even if they aren't too bright and bold looking. Sharpness throughout the presentation is generally very good, with only a few scenes seeming soft in nature, but intentionally so. Detail is very good, as is clarity. As with most efforts from the studio, the image quality is consistent and never slips.
The print used is especially clean, free of any sort of marks or scratches, and only displaying one or two extremely minor speckles. I didn't notice any instances of pixelation, but there was a bit of shimmering once or twice. Nothing to distract me from the film, though.
Colors are varied throughout the film; some scenes display bold, rich colors, while others present more of a subdued color palette. Both ways looked excellent, with no faults that I noticed; some of the scenes with richer colors look extremely pleasing.
As one would expect from the studio, this is a very strong effort.
SOUND: The sound mix is particularly pleasing, never overdoing it but keeping the audio open and active. Certainly, this is a dialogue-driven movie, but there are slight touches where surrounds enter and provide some enjoyable background sounds. Yes, there are many times where it folds up and becomes mainly dialogue, but I still thought the decision to take it beyond that at points was enjoyable.
The score is particularly rich sounding, and envelops the listener when it appears. As one would expect, this isn't an agressive soundtrack, but it's one that has especially high quality, and comes through with impressive clarity and detail. Dialogue, which is never overshadowed, sounds clear and clean.
MENUS:: The menus are non-animated, with film themed art; it may be basic, but it seems appropriate for the film.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary by actor Nick Nolte; it's not as much of a commentary as it is an interview - and we get to hear every moment of it. It was recorded at Nolte's house in March of 2000, and opens with an example of Nolte's being a good host as he offers his guests something to drink. It's also not really geared towards the film as much as it spins out to many topics such as acting, fame, politics and more.
The commentary does talk about the film somewhat, but doesn't really get very specific; it mainly talks about his opinion on the story and his experiences during the production. Most of the discussion is quite interesting, but it occasionally becomes a little rambling and all-over-the-place.
Commentary Two: This a commentary from director Keith Gordon and Robert Weide, screenwriter. The commentary is very good, providing insight into the characters and story - mainly focusing on that aspect of the film. Also, they do occasionally chat about the film's production and things that came up along the way. There are some pauses now and then throughout the discussion, but I found their comments interesting.
I still enjoyed the Nolte commentary a little more; to hear the actor's viewpoint on so many different subjects was definitely a treat.
Deleted Scenes: This section provides 7 deleted scenes and an actual early trailer that was shown to the studio. A commentary is available for all of the scenes, and although they should probably have been left out, it's always nice to see what was left out of the final product. What I also like is that the scenes can be selected on their own, and don't just play back-to-back.
A Conversation: This is a conversation between Nick Nolte and Kurt Vonnegut on the set of "Mother Night", where they are being interviewed by the film's screenwriter. The two casually chat about the character and the story, as well as the production in general.
Also: A news clip of the Eichmann trial; historical biographies, cast/crew notes(Nolte's bio contains a trailer for his "Simpatico".) and the trailer for "Mother Night"(Dolby Digital 5.1)
Final Thoughts: I'd thought that "Mother Night" would be another New Line catalog title where they would release it as a movie & trailer DVD; thankfully, they have done a fine job with a good film like "Mother Night" - audio/video quality is good and there are some great extras. It's not a movie for everyone, but it's worth a look as at least a rental.
Film Grade
The Film ***/****
DVD Grades
Video 90/A- = (540/600 possible points)
Audio: 85/B = (510/600 possible points)
Extras: 87/B = (348/400 possible points)
Menus: 75/C = (150/200 possible points)
Value: 83/B = (166/200 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1714/2000
DVD GRADE:B/85%
FILM GRADE: B
DVD GRADE: B
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