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Bloody Sunday: Special Edition
Paramount // R // April 22, 2003
List Price: $29.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
"Bloody Sunday" is a stunning movie, not only because of its performances, but its style. Shot in a pseudo-documentary fashion, this dramatization of a tragic confrontation between protesters and British soldiers on Jan. 30, 1972 in Derry, Ireland so successfully feels like a documentary that its intensity and impact are greatly heightened. Some may find the rough and shaky appearance of the film irritating, but I felt that it worked quite well. There are no instances of score heard throughout the main body of the movie, no crane shots and no lighting. All of this is handled in an expert manner, working for the movie instead of against it.
The film focuses on several characters, but the lead is Cooper (James Nesbitt), a civil rights activist who is in the middle of planning a peaceful rally in the town square. The camera runs behind Cooper as he hands out flyers and tries to break up the occasional squabbles between soldiers and townfolk. Meanwhile, the British troopers who are occupying the town are fed up with their time there (one soldier tells of 43 British troops dead) and seeking to rid the town of the "hooligans".
The British forces, however, will hear nothing of the march (British Major General Robert Ford (Tim Piggott-Smith) says that no protest will be allowed, peaceful or otherwise), and continue to try and make their presence felt in the town. We hear and see British soldiers discussing their plans both on the street and in their headquarters, as well, as the movie shifts between the two sides after fade-to-blacks. While the fades may be a bit jarring at first, they do add to the feeling of dread about the impending disaster that will occur. Those scenes are nothing short of horrifying, as the scenes of British soldiers (who claimed they were being attacked from IRA members; some say that there was rock throwing - no) firing into an unarmed crowd are panic-stricken, deeply saddening and heartbreaking. 13 were dead and many more were wounded by the time the day ended.
The film is lead by an absolutely outstanding performance by Nesbitt, who brilliantly portrays a man who desperately wants to help his fellow townsfolk, only to watch a non-violent protest decend into chaos and horror. His final scenes, showing his shock and devastation on how something of such good intentions as a non-violent rally could go so terribly wrong, are especially well-played and emotional. Nesbitt's performance, like the rest of the film's, are naturalistic to a remarkable degree and amazingly, consistently so. There's nothing showy or overdramatized about any of the efforts.
The movie does not go into great deal about the background of the history at the time, but simply launches the viewer into a very raw, very powerful look as to what happened that day and how that tragic and devastating day destroyed the civil rights movement and any hope of a peaceful resolution, only succeeding in further heightening the conflict and leading to an upsurge in IRA recruitment.
"Bloody Sunday" is an emotionally intense and very compelling movie that does a remarkable job of pulling the audience into a recreation of the events that's convincing to the point that the film feels more - I almost forgot it was a recreation at times - like newsreel footage than a feature film. The film shared the Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival with Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away", and also won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Bloody Sunday" is presented by Paramount in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The presentation is generally excellent - the only noticable fault that I spotted was the presence of some light edge enhancement in a few scenes. Maybe a print flaw or two (I'm guessing the light grain present is an intentional element of the cinematography), as well; other than that, the presentation looked quite fine.
Sharpness and detail were inconsistent, but usually impressive; many of the cold, outdoor scenes offered striking clarity, depth and definition. The film's color palette remained quite bleak throughout, but the presentation offered it accurately and with no concerns. Black level remained solid throughout, while flesh tones looked fine.
SOUND: The presentation is in Dolby Digital 5.1, but the majority of the film's soundtrack folds up the front. This isn't a bad thing, necessarily; the "documentary"-ish presentation of the material suggests a more subtle sound approach. Occasional surround use does occur for some ambience, but the rear speakers are mostly silent. However, the issue that some viewers may have is not with the sound quality, but the dialogue: the accents are pretty heavy at times, and may require the use of subtitles for some. There are Domestic English and UK versions of the 5.1 track, but in comparisons between the two, I didn't hear much of a noticable difference.
EXTRAS: The DVD includes two audio commentaries - one from director Paul Greengrass and actor James Nesbitt and the other from author Don Mullen, writer of the book "Eyewitness: Bloody Sunday", and a witness to the events that happened that day. Mullen's commentary is generally interesting, but uneven; he has some interesting comments about the production and history to share, but they're offered in-between some fairly sizable gaps of silence. Mullen's memories of the day's events are deeply moving.
The commentary from Nesbitt and Greengrass also adds some discussion of the historical background and aftermath of the terrible day. The two also chat about some of the challenges that they faced in recreating the events, especially in the documentary-style way that they did.
"History Retold" is a 23-minute documentary that features interviews with the director, actors, producers and even the film's military advisor. Many of the film's actors were not professions, either; we learn more about how people who were witnesses and locals were extras for the film and how real ex-British soldiers played the soldiers in the film. The real Ian Cooper also talks with actor Nesbitt about the events of that day. That 7-minute interview piece can also be seen in its entirity on the DVD.
Final Thoughts: A shocking, haunting and powerful recreation of a horrifying, tragic event, "Bloody Sunday" offers an award-worthy performance from James Nesbitt, while also doing a remarkably effective job in bringing the viewer into the middle of the terrible events of this January day. Paramount's DVD edition certainly offers quite a bit, giving viewers two good commentaries and other features, as well as fine audio/video quality for the feature. Highly recommended.
"Bloody Sunday" is a stunning movie, not only because of its performances, but its style. Shot in a pseudo-documentary fashion, this dramatization of a tragic confrontation between protesters and British soldiers on Jan. 30, 1972 in Derry, Ireland so successfully feels like a documentary that its intensity and impact are greatly heightened. Some may find the rough and shaky appearance of the film irritating, but I felt that it worked quite well. There are no instances of score heard throughout the main body of the movie, no crane shots and no lighting. All of this is handled in an expert manner, working for the movie instead of against it.
The film focuses on several characters, but the lead is Cooper (James Nesbitt), a civil rights activist who is in the middle of planning a peaceful rally in the town square. The camera runs behind Cooper as he hands out flyers and tries to break up the occasional squabbles between soldiers and townfolk. Meanwhile, the British troopers who are occupying the town are fed up with their time there (one soldier tells of 43 British troops dead) and seeking to rid the town of the "hooligans".
The British forces, however, will hear nothing of the march (British Major General Robert Ford (Tim Piggott-Smith) says that no protest will be allowed, peaceful or otherwise), and continue to try and make their presence felt in the town. We hear and see British soldiers discussing their plans both on the street and in their headquarters, as well, as the movie shifts between the two sides after fade-to-blacks. While the fades may be a bit jarring at first, they do add to the feeling of dread about the impending disaster that will occur. Those scenes are nothing short of horrifying, as the scenes of British soldiers (who claimed they were being attacked from IRA members; some say that there was rock throwing - no) firing into an unarmed crowd are panic-stricken, deeply saddening and heartbreaking. 13 were dead and many more were wounded by the time the day ended.
The film is lead by an absolutely outstanding performance by Nesbitt, who brilliantly portrays a man who desperately wants to help his fellow townsfolk, only to watch a non-violent protest decend into chaos and horror. His final scenes, showing his shock and devastation on how something of such good intentions as a non-violent rally could go so terribly wrong, are especially well-played and emotional. Nesbitt's performance, like the rest of the film's, are naturalistic to a remarkable degree and amazingly, consistently so. There's nothing showy or overdramatized about any of the efforts.
The movie does not go into great deal about the background of the history at the time, but simply launches the viewer into a very raw, very powerful look as to what happened that day and how that tragic and devastating day destroyed the civil rights movement and any hope of a peaceful resolution, only succeeding in further heightening the conflict and leading to an upsurge in IRA recruitment.
"Bloody Sunday" is an emotionally intense and very compelling movie that does a remarkable job of pulling the audience into a recreation of the events that's convincing to the point that the film feels more - I almost forgot it was a recreation at times - like newsreel footage than a feature film. The film shared the Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival with Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away", and also won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Bloody Sunday" is presented by Paramount in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The presentation is generally excellent - the only noticable fault that I spotted was the presence of some light edge enhancement in a few scenes. Maybe a print flaw or two (I'm guessing the light grain present is an intentional element of the cinematography), as well; other than that, the presentation looked quite fine.
Sharpness and detail were inconsistent, but usually impressive; many of the cold, outdoor scenes offered striking clarity, depth and definition. The film's color palette remained quite bleak throughout, but the presentation offered it accurately and with no concerns. Black level remained solid throughout, while flesh tones looked fine.
SOUND: The presentation is in Dolby Digital 5.1, but the majority of the film's soundtrack folds up the front. This isn't a bad thing, necessarily; the "documentary"-ish presentation of the material suggests a more subtle sound approach. Occasional surround use does occur for some ambience, but the rear speakers are mostly silent. However, the issue that some viewers may have is not with the sound quality, but the dialogue: the accents are pretty heavy at times, and may require the use of subtitles for some. There are Domestic English and UK versions of the 5.1 track, but in comparisons between the two, I didn't hear much of a noticable difference.
EXTRAS: The DVD includes two audio commentaries - one from director Paul Greengrass and actor James Nesbitt and the other from author Don Mullen, writer of the book "Eyewitness: Bloody Sunday", and a witness to the events that happened that day. Mullen's commentary is generally interesting, but uneven; he has some interesting comments about the production and history to share, but they're offered in-between some fairly sizable gaps of silence. Mullen's memories of the day's events are deeply moving.
The commentary from Nesbitt and Greengrass also adds some discussion of the historical background and aftermath of the terrible day. The two also chat about some of the challenges that they faced in recreating the events, especially in the documentary-style way that they did.
"History Retold" is a 23-minute documentary that features interviews with the director, actors, producers and even the film's military advisor. Many of the film's actors were not professions, either; we learn more about how people who were witnesses and locals were extras for the film and how real ex-British soldiers played the soldiers in the film. The real Ian Cooper also talks with actor Nesbitt about the events of that day. That 7-minute interview piece can also be seen in its entirity on the DVD.
Final Thoughts: A shocking, haunting and powerful recreation of a horrifying, tragic event, "Bloody Sunday" offers an award-worthy performance from James Nesbitt, while also doing a remarkably effective job in bringing the viewer into the middle of the terrible events of this January day. Paramount's DVD edition certainly offers quite a bit, giving viewers two good commentaries and other features, as well as fine audio/video quality for the feature. Highly recommended.
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