Celestial Clockwork (1995) [ID3758HL]
Watched this last night. Here's an alternate take to the spiel I wrote in my Letterboxd Diary (see my signature link) last night about the fillum:
A refreshing take on the Cinderella story that hurtles along for 83 minutes before ending rather abruptly but sort of satisfyingly.
It's enjoyable enough with it's beige cast complete with token flamboyant characters. The problem I had with it is that the whole film is cobbled together in such a way that it ends up confusing itself and not really knowing what it wants to be. Is it a portrayal of a woman who wants to become an opera superstar? Or an avante garde indie piece sprinkled with incredibly dated psychedelic sequences to try and be edgy and different?
The short run time doesn't help either. It doesn't offer enough time to flesh out the characters so you end up not really caring all that much about them. It's an alright film and it killed an hour and a bit but I probably wouldn't watch it again.
Regarding the Laserdisc itself, it made for a surprisingly pleasant audio experience, the video was a different story though. Presented in typical 4:3
video quality was around level par. It appeared as though there was at least some attempt to put together a decent transfer, but the image is a touch on the soft side. This film has lots of very vibrant scenes in it. Lots and lots of colour and flair, like a giant cumulus 1990's bio-luminescent cloud had burst and vomited all over it. So it's a shame that the soft image often leads to significant bleed.The whole film revolves around yer wan wanting to be an opera star so audio should be a big deal for this disc. Thankfully it proves to be the case. There is a magnificent Dolby Surround track presented here. Lots of nicely spaced sounds and foley effects are dotted across the whole width of the soundstage. More importantly, the moments when yer wan is belting out a few corset bursters need to be accurately represented, which they are. Yer wan and the aul fella who plays the piano both sound great!
A so-so film presented on a disc with an average to good picture but made up for with some tremendous audio. If you can find this disc cheap enough, take a punt. It's alright. Worth a shot.
Side note: This film is presented in both French and Spanish (Latin American Spanish, not Castellano) and has burned in purple subtitles.