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Mifune
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Another entry in the Dogma movement, "Mifune" is an enjoyable mix of comedy and drama. The movement has its filmmakers using natural light and sound, handheld cameras and generally, nothing flashy. I suppose in my opinion, it's a way of bringing things back to the idea of having a story and characters that are good enough to entertain without the need for effects or other additions.
The story opens with the wedding of Kresten and Claire; everything seems to be going well until the man's past enters into the picture. His father has died, and he must return to his roots - a poor farm and his mentially handicapped brother. He hires a prostitute (Iben Hijele from High Fidelity) to be a housekeeper.
The film moves unpredictably towards a predictable ending. The two are going to end up falling for one another, but with the odd situation and interesting look and set-up of the film, we're kept constantly slightly on edge. I've only seen a couple of the films from the Dogma movement, and I really liked the look of this one. Although the sound quality occasionally is so-so, the use of natural-light makes for warm, visually pleasing images.
The DVD
VIDEO: There's definitely a few things to say about the image quality of "Mifune". It certainly is a low-budget effort, and the full-frame presentation does have some minor marks and other small flaws. Some scenes also do look slightly grainy. The image also varies occasionally, from looking fairly sharp and crisp to somewhat on the soft side. Detail is generally good, and I never felt that it got hazy or lacked clarity.
I also felt that most of these small flaws could be overlooked due to the richness of many of the images throughout the film. There's a natural beauty to the look of most of the film, and I quite enjoyed the film's "look" and use of natural lighting. Colors are bold and nicely saturated, looking excellent. I didn't see any instances of pixelation or shimmering, either. An enjoyable presentation.
SOUND: "Mifune" is presented in Danish mono. I'm suprised that any film is released in mono in this age. Er, wait. Woody Allen does it all the time. Never mind. As for "Mifune", the sound seemed to vary from being soft enough so that I had to turn up the volume to being easily heard, which was odd. As one could imagine with a low-budget production (and in mono), the sound is very limited and mostly dialogue-driven. I enjoyed watching it once with the English subtitles, then the second time having both the subtitles and the insight of the director's commentary talking about the on-screen events and behind-the-scenes information.
MENUS:: Menus are pretty basic, with no music or animation and only a few minor options.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary track from director Soren Kragh-Jacobsen, who does speak perfect English, and does have a lot to offer about what it took to bring the low-budget picture to the screen. What I found most fascinating is listening to the filmmaker talk about the ways of Dogma filmmaking. The production is allowed more freedom of movement, planning out a scene and not having to wait - just going out and getting it. He also covers many of the other aspects behind the movement, as well as his own feelings about the state of films today. I found his comments to be honest and insightful and although there are a few small pauses in the commentary track, I found it to be very enjoyable.
Trailers: Mifune, Central Station, Dogma, Hideous Kinky and Run Lola Run.
Final Thoughts: An enjoyable movie and worth a look as a rental.
Another entry in the Dogma movement, "Mifune" is an enjoyable mix of comedy and drama. The movement has its filmmakers using natural light and sound, handheld cameras and generally, nothing flashy. I suppose in my opinion, it's a way of bringing things back to the idea of having a story and characters that are good enough to entertain without the need for effects or other additions.
The story opens with the wedding of Kresten and Claire; everything seems to be going well until the man's past enters into the picture. His father has died, and he must return to his roots - a poor farm and his mentially handicapped brother. He hires a prostitute (Iben Hijele from High Fidelity) to be a housekeeper.
The film moves unpredictably towards a predictable ending. The two are going to end up falling for one another, but with the odd situation and interesting look and set-up of the film, we're kept constantly slightly on edge. I've only seen a couple of the films from the Dogma movement, and I really liked the look of this one. Although the sound quality occasionally is so-so, the use of natural-light makes for warm, visually pleasing images.
The DVD
VIDEO: There's definitely a few things to say about the image quality of "Mifune". It certainly is a low-budget effort, and the full-frame presentation does have some minor marks and other small flaws. Some scenes also do look slightly grainy. The image also varies occasionally, from looking fairly sharp and crisp to somewhat on the soft side. Detail is generally good, and I never felt that it got hazy or lacked clarity.
I also felt that most of these small flaws could be overlooked due to the richness of many of the images throughout the film. There's a natural beauty to the look of most of the film, and I quite enjoyed the film's "look" and use of natural lighting. Colors are bold and nicely saturated, looking excellent. I didn't see any instances of pixelation or shimmering, either. An enjoyable presentation.
SOUND: "Mifune" is presented in Danish mono. I'm suprised that any film is released in mono in this age. Er, wait. Woody Allen does it all the time. Never mind. As for "Mifune", the sound seemed to vary from being soft enough so that I had to turn up the volume to being easily heard, which was odd. As one could imagine with a low-budget production (and in mono), the sound is very limited and mostly dialogue-driven. I enjoyed watching it once with the English subtitles, then the second time having both the subtitles and the insight of the director's commentary talking about the on-screen events and behind-the-scenes information.
MENUS:: Menus are pretty basic, with no music or animation and only a few minor options.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary track from director Soren Kragh-Jacobsen, who does speak perfect English, and does have a lot to offer about what it took to bring the low-budget picture to the screen. What I found most fascinating is listening to the filmmaker talk about the ways of Dogma filmmaking. The production is allowed more freedom of movement, planning out a scene and not having to wait - just going out and getting it. He also covers many of the other aspects behind the movement, as well as his own feelings about the state of films today. I found his comments to be honest and insightful and although there are a few small pauses in the commentary track, I found it to be very enjoyable.
Trailers: Mifune, Central Station, Dogma, Hideous Kinky and Run Lola Run.
Final Thoughts: An enjoyable movie and worth a look as a rental.
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