Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25201 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-01-28
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 111 minutes

Synopsis
Based on the best-selling novel by Irish author William Trevor, Egoyan's follow-up to his critically acclaimed THE SWEET HEREAFTER is technically impressive in the way it serves up its somber, ghoulish tale. The film is effortlessly smooth, indelibly rendered and yet simultaneously bone-chillingly creepy and oppressive--one can practically smell the decay lurking beneath the gleaming surfaces of Hilditch's immaculate kitchen. Egoyan once again proves he is a director who is completely in control of his material and vision, even if the story hasn't sprung singularly from his mind. He also remains one of the few artists who have the ability to craft a film that is slickly accomplished, emotionally grueling to watch, and entertaining at the same time.

Customer Reviews

Great film but DVD labelled widescreen though in fact 'TV' format
This is a superb film, especially when seen the way it was intended to be seen.

The low rating is for the item itself not the film and is intended to provide information for potential buyers in the belief that it may materially affect their decision to purchase said item.

Unfortunately for this purchaser the DVD I ordered turned out to be presented in the severely cropped 4:3 format despite being clearly labelled Widescreen on the back cover.

Disappointed, I raised the issue with Amazon.co.uk customer service and they were great about it.

Bob Hoskins is outstanding in a fine, disturbing movie
The Sweet Hereafter is such a first-rate movie that I wanted to take another look at this one, which Egoyan made two years later. It's not in the same league as Hereafter, but it is an excellent, disturbing movie.

Bob Hoskins plays Joseph Hilditch, who runs a big kitchen operation to feed the employees of a factory. At night he cooks elaborate dinners in his own gadget-filled kitchen while watching old video tapes of a cooking show. The star of the show had been his mother, an enveloping presence who completely dominated young Joey. Then he eats his meals alone, listening to Mantovani and other standbys of the Fifties. He also occasionally helps out young women when they are in distress.

Felicia (Elaine Cassidy) has come to his city from Ireland to look for her lover, who left to find a better job and promised to write regularly. He never wrote and she found herself pregnant.

They meet. He takes her in. Through flashbacks and circumstance we learn that Hilditch is a disturbed and violent individual. The movie sets all this up in an uneasy, quiet, almost sympathetic way, and then deals with how these two deal with each other.

This isn't some sort of murder or horror story; Hoskins doesn't jump out of closets. It's about two damaged people in which more damage can happen. I liked it a lot.

presented in 1,33:1
the back cover states the aspect ratio as 2,35:1 (that's in fact how the film was shot), while the film itself is presented in 4:3. It's only the first three minutes (credits opening sequence), when you can admire the original aspect ratio. After that the DVD turns to heavily "censored" 1,33:1 throughout the movie.
I mean: this is not a talk show, this is a piece of art by the highly respected Atom Egoyan...