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House Of Mirth
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
I'm one of those people who, when faced with a period piece, either ends up enjoying it immensely or disliking it completely, it seems. "The House Of Mirth", I'm pleased to say, ended up in the former catagory. It's a film that grabbed me from the opening frames and whose excellent, almost electric performances held my attention. Based on the novel by Edith Warton, the film stars Gillian Anderson("The X-Files") as Lily Bart, a woman of high society in the 1920's, who, during the piece, sees her life crumble before her.
The film stars with Lilly meeting Lawrence Seldon(Eric Stoltz) at a train station. It's obvious that there's an attraction between the two, but they aren't married and she's looking. Lawrence doesn't make enough, in her opinion, and she seeks marriage elsewhere. Other candidates include Percy Gryce (Pearce Quigley), and the wealthy Sim Rosedale ( Anthony LaPaglia), but it turns out that her choice in men becomes her smallest problem. Lily also happens to have a bit of a gambling problem, and gets herself in debt before she knows it. Gus (Dan Ackroyd) is there to provide financial advice, but Lily doesn't consider the price.
I'm rather shocked that some really seemed to have disliked Anderson's performance here. Personally, I think she's fantastic in the role; wonderfully subtle and energetic, as well as offering rich emotions during the more dramatic scenes. This is a character who knows shes attractive and uses it for her advantage - should she be terribly sypathetic? Probably not, but Anderson remains very much so here, especially during the later scenes. The supporting cast is also quite good - Stoltz has very good chemistry with Anderson, and their scenes together are highly entertaining. Laura Linney, also highly regarded for her performance in "You Can Count On Me", is able to play nasty quite well as Bertha, the woman who wants to see Lily taken down a notch.
If there's any problems with "The House Of Mirth", it's just that there's quite a few characters to keep track of and the film doesn't always find enough time to really let everyone shine. It's an interesting choice to have Anderson in the lead role; she's got to carry the picture, and Anderson succeeds in doing so here. It's a very fine "House" indeed, well-written and superbly acted - definitely worth a viewing.
The DVD
VIDEO: I was a bit nervous when I saw some slight print flaws during the opening credits, but like most titles from the studio, there turned out to be really nothing much to worry about. Presented in it's original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and anamorphic, "The House Of Mirth" looks great. Sharpness and detail are not perfect, as the film does offer its images in a slightly soft focus - soft, but not heavily soft or hazy.
Problems do appear a few times throughout. Although very infrequent in appearance, print flaws did appear at a couple of other brief instances besides the opening credits. These were limited to a couple of speckles, though - no major wear, to be sure. A couple of slight instances of edge enhancement also appeared, but were so minimal as to be hardly noticable.
The cinematography of Remi Adefarasin ("Elizabeth", "Sliding Doors") looks beautiful here - his sun-drenched exteriors and well-lit interiors are marvelous to watch, and colors - from the deep greens of the meadows to the reds, browns and other warm colors of the rooms, look fine, as well.
SOUND: "The House Of Mirth" offers a Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation that sometimes exceeds expectations. Yes, most of the film does place in interiors and does simply offer dialogue, but the outdoor scenes open up quite well. Whether walking in the fields or sitting on a train, ambient sounds are nicely distributed around the listener, making for a convincing sense of surroundings. Surrounds aren't used heavily, as to be expected, but I was pleased to hear that they were not ignored, either.
Audio quality seemed to be fine. The film's beautiful score mainly stays in the front, and sounds clear and crisp throughout the picture. Sound effects, such as the outdoor sounds during an early walk in the woods, seemed natural and convincing. There really wasn't much at all in the way of bass, nor did there need to be. Dialogue is clear, easily heard and doesn't suffer from any problems. A fine soundtrack, offering a bit more detail than most period films do.
MENUS:: A slight animated opening leads into the elegant looking main menu with film-themed backgrounds.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary with director Terrence Davies. Listening to it, one might wish that the director was paired up with additional cast and crew members to record the track. Although he does talk occasionally and make some fine points about the acting, the story (differences between novel & film), or the production, there's quite a few lengthy pauses of silence during the track. Those who are greatly interested in learning more about the picture might want to take a listen, but otherwise, the track might prove to be slow going.
Trailers: House Of Mirth, Age Of Innocence, Little Women, Sense and Sensibility and The Remains Of The Day.
Deleted Scenes: Deleted scenes are presented here playing back-to-back with optional commentary from the director, who discusses the details of the scene and why it had to be cut. Overall, the picture had to be cut down to 140 minutes and some scenes and extended moments that the director would have liked to have seen in the film had to be deleted. The director seems to be more animated during the commentary for these deleted scenes, discussing his feelings about important points that were lost. A little over 12 minutes of footage in all.
Also: Filmographies, weblink.
Final Thoughts: "Mirth" is a terrific movie, superbly acted and lead by Anderson's stellar performance. Tristar's DVD provides fine audio/video quality and some fairly good extras. Recommended.
I'm one of those people who, when faced with a period piece, either ends up enjoying it immensely or disliking it completely, it seems. "The House Of Mirth", I'm pleased to say, ended up in the former catagory. It's a film that grabbed me from the opening frames and whose excellent, almost electric performances held my attention. Based on the novel by Edith Warton, the film stars Gillian Anderson("The X-Files") as Lily Bart, a woman of high society in the 1920's, who, during the piece, sees her life crumble before her.
The film stars with Lilly meeting Lawrence Seldon(Eric Stoltz) at a train station. It's obvious that there's an attraction between the two, but they aren't married and she's looking. Lawrence doesn't make enough, in her opinion, and she seeks marriage elsewhere. Other candidates include Percy Gryce (Pearce Quigley), and the wealthy Sim Rosedale ( Anthony LaPaglia), but it turns out that her choice in men becomes her smallest problem. Lily also happens to have a bit of a gambling problem, and gets herself in debt before she knows it. Gus (Dan Ackroyd) is there to provide financial advice, but Lily doesn't consider the price.
I'm rather shocked that some really seemed to have disliked Anderson's performance here. Personally, I think she's fantastic in the role; wonderfully subtle and energetic, as well as offering rich emotions during the more dramatic scenes. This is a character who knows shes attractive and uses it for her advantage - should she be terribly sypathetic? Probably not, but Anderson remains very much so here, especially during the later scenes. The supporting cast is also quite good - Stoltz has very good chemistry with Anderson, and their scenes together are highly entertaining. Laura Linney, also highly regarded for her performance in "You Can Count On Me", is able to play nasty quite well as Bertha, the woman who wants to see Lily taken down a notch.
If there's any problems with "The House Of Mirth", it's just that there's quite a few characters to keep track of and the film doesn't always find enough time to really let everyone shine. It's an interesting choice to have Anderson in the lead role; she's got to carry the picture, and Anderson succeeds in doing so here. It's a very fine "House" indeed, well-written and superbly acted - definitely worth a viewing.
The DVD
VIDEO: I was a bit nervous when I saw some slight print flaws during the opening credits, but like most titles from the studio, there turned out to be really nothing much to worry about. Presented in it's original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and anamorphic, "The House Of Mirth" looks great. Sharpness and detail are not perfect, as the film does offer its images in a slightly soft focus - soft, but not heavily soft or hazy.
Problems do appear a few times throughout. Although very infrequent in appearance, print flaws did appear at a couple of other brief instances besides the opening credits. These were limited to a couple of speckles, though - no major wear, to be sure. A couple of slight instances of edge enhancement also appeared, but were so minimal as to be hardly noticable.
The cinematography of Remi Adefarasin ("Elizabeth", "Sliding Doors") looks beautiful here - his sun-drenched exteriors and well-lit interiors are marvelous to watch, and colors - from the deep greens of the meadows to the reds, browns and other warm colors of the rooms, look fine, as well.
SOUND: "The House Of Mirth" offers a Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation that sometimes exceeds expectations. Yes, most of the film does place in interiors and does simply offer dialogue, but the outdoor scenes open up quite well. Whether walking in the fields or sitting on a train, ambient sounds are nicely distributed around the listener, making for a convincing sense of surroundings. Surrounds aren't used heavily, as to be expected, but I was pleased to hear that they were not ignored, either.
Audio quality seemed to be fine. The film's beautiful score mainly stays in the front, and sounds clear and crisp throughout the picture. Sound effects, such as the outdoor sounds during an early walk in the woods, seemed natural and convincing. There really wasn't much at all in the way of bass, nor did there need to be. Dialogue is clear, easily heard and doesn't suffer from any problems. A fine soundtrack, offering a bit more detail than most period films do.
MENUS:: A slight animated opening leads into the elegant looking main menu with film-themed backgrounds.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary with director Terrence Davies. Listening to it, one might wish that the director was paired up with additional cast and crew members to record the track. Although he does talk occasionally and make some fine points about the acting, the story (differences between novel & film), or the production, there's quite a few lengthy pauses of silence during the track. Those who are greatly interested in learning more about the picture might want to take a listen, but otherwise, the track might prove to be slow going.
Trailers: House Of Mirth, Age Of Innocence, Little Women, Sense and Sensibility and The Remains Of The Day.
Deleted Scenes: Deleted scenes are presented here playing back-to-back with optional commentary from the director, who discusses the details of the scene and why it had to be cut. Overall, the picture had to be cut down to 140 minutes and some scenes and extended moments that the director would have liked to have seen in the film had to be deleted. The director seems to be more animated during the commentary for these deleted scenes, discussing his feelings about important points that were lost. A little over 12 minutes of footage in all.
Also: Filmographies, weblink.
Final Thoughts: "Mirth" is a terrific movie, superbly acted and lead by Anderson's stellar performance. Tristar's DVD provides fine audio/video quality and some fairly good extras. Recommended.
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