Coppola's additions make Eliade's ontological burgoo just another case of too many cooks.
Where the film seems to get way too heavy-handed and go off into live-action "Yellow Submarine" land is when a second umbrella gets zapped by lightning and lies flaming in obvious duplicate symbolism. Only this time it's a woman named Veronica who reminds him of Laura (or IS it Laura--Alexandra Maria Lara plays both parts). Lightning has the opposite effect on her, aging her but sending her mind back in time to, we suppose, previous existences. She suddenly starts speaking in Sanskrit and other ancient languages, which, to a professor of linguistics searching for the Fountain of Language, is like talking dirty, it's such a turn-on. Next thing you know, we're off on a "Passage to India" quest to find a cave that she may or may not remember. In the meantime, the war has ended (as we're clumsily informed with newspaper headlines that thud across the screen, not just once, but all through the film) and we've been spending some 14 years with Dominic without really knowing it. One minute he's evading the Nazis and Herr Rudolf, and the next minute he's taking care of his gender counterpart after her lightning strike.
Is it deep? Is it far out? Is it provocative?
Somewhat. But not nearly as much as you'd think. As I said, it tries too hard to be profound, and Coppola's additions make Eliade's ontological burgoo just another case of too many cooks.
Video:
Visually, the 1080p (AVC/MPEG-4) picture looks stunning. Though it's a dark and murky film with color washes that add emotional texture to the scenes rather than splashes of realistic color, the level of detail is superb. Black levels might be a little low in some scenes, but for the most part it's a great-looking picture. You notice this especially when characters are backlit and you can see wisps of hair as sharply as if they were under a microscope. "Youth without Youth" is presented in 2.35:1 aspect ratio.
Audio:
Coppola and Co. went with an English or French Dolby True HD 5.1 soundtrack, and it does a nice job of rendering the dialogue with clarity and also showcasing the original musical score. There's a nice wide spread across the speakers, natural use of the surround speakers, and a good timbre that makes the audio seem both clear and resonant. Subtitles are in English, English SDH, and French.
Extras:
Coppola's commentary is full of measured remarks that mostly touch on the action on the screen and what he was thinking or trying to accomplish. About a third of the way through the film he begins talking more about comparisons between Eliade's text and his film, and tries his hand at interpretations. But he stops way short of discussing these in any depth, probably because as a director he's conditioned to keep moving and not fall behind as the scenes progress. When, for example, he tries to tell us about what he was trying to suggest in one scene, he briefly mentions the Buddhist concept of there being four ways of looking--so, not so, so and not so combined, neither so nor not so--but doesn't go any further than that. He also doesn't refer back to previous films, and so anyone hoping for a comparative/retrospective approach will be mildly disappointed.
The only other bonus features on this 50-gig disc are several under-20 (minute) making-of documentaries on behind-the-scenes with Coppola, the music of "Youth without Youth," and the make-up process. They're average to slightly above-average.
Bottom Line:
Watching a film by Francis Ford Coppola based on a Mircea Eliade story about a guy struck by lightning who becomes young again and is sought after by the Nazis, I was shocked to discover that the word coming into my mind in too many instances was dull. Maybe it's a case of high expectations, but "Youth without Youth" really disappointed me.
Is it deep? Is it far out? Is it provocative?
Somewhat. But not nearly as much as you'd think. As I said, it tries too hard to be profound, and Coppola's additions make Eliade's ontological burgoo just another case of too many cooks.
Video:
Visually, the 1080p (AVC/MPEG-4) picture looks stunning. Though it's a dark and murky film with color washes that add emotional texture to the scenes rather than splashes of realistic color, the level of detail is superb. Black levels might be a little low in some scenes, but for the most part it's a great-looking picture. You notice this especially when characters are backlit and you can see wisps of hair as sharply as if they were under a microscope. "Youth without Youth" is presented in 2.35:1 aspect ratio.
Audio:
Coppola and Co. went with an English or French Dolby True HD 5.1 soundtrack, and it does a nice job of rendering the dialogue with clarity and also showcasing the original musical score. There's a nice wide spread across the speakers, natural use of the surround speakers, and a good timbre that makes the audio seem both clear and resonant. Subtitles are in English, English SDH, and French.
Extras:
Coppola's commentary is full of measured remarks that mostly touch on the action on the screen and what he was thinking or trying to accomplish. About a third of the way through the film he begins talking more about comparisons between Eliade's text and his film, and tries his hand at interpretations. But he stops way short of discussing these in any depth, probably because as a director he's conditioned to keep moving and not fall behind as the scenes progress. When, for example, he tries to tell us about what he was trying to suggest in one scene, he briefly mentions the Buddhist concept of there being four ways of looking--so, not so, so and not so combined, neither so nor not so--but doesn't go any further than that. He also doesn't refer back to previous films, and so anyone hoping for a comparative/retrospective approach will be mildly disappointed.
The only other bonus features on this 50-gig disc are several under-20 (minute) making-of documentaries on behind-the-scenes with Coppola, the music of "Youth without Youth," and the make-up process. They're average to slightly above-average.
Bottom Line:
Watching a film by Francis Ford Coppola based on a Mircea Eliade story about a guy struck by lightning who becomes young again and is sought after by the Nazis, I was shocked to discover that the word coming into my mind in too many instances was dull. Maybe it's a case of high expectations, but "Youth without Youth" really disappointed me.
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