Son of the White Mare – Arbelos Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Hungary, 1981
Director: Marcell Jankovics
Writers: László György, Marcell Jankovics
Cast: György Cserhalmi, Vera Pap, Gyula Szabó, Ferenc Szalma, Mari Szemes, Szabolcs Tóth, Ottó Ulmann

Release Date: June 8th, 2021
Approximate Running Times: 86 Minutes5 Seconds (Son of the White Mare), 78 Minutes 24 Seconds (János vitéz)
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 Aspect Ratio / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Both Films)
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Hungarian (Both Films)
Subtitles: English (Both Films)
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $39.99

"Traversing an otherworldly canvas, Son of the White Mare follows mythic folk heroes Treeshaker, Stonecrumbler and Irontemperer as they descend into the perilous Underworld on an epic quest to battle the forces of ancient evil and save the cosmos." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5 (Son of the White Mare, János vitéz)

Here’s the information provided about Son of the White Mare's transfer, "New 4K restoration from by original camera negative by the Hungarian National Film Institute – Film Archive in collaboration with Arbelos."

Here’s the information provided about János vitéz's transfer, "New 4K restoration by the Hungarian National Film Institute – Film Archive."

Son of the White Mare comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 44.4 GB

Feature: 20.6 GB (Son of the White Mare), 18.3 GB (János vitéz)

The transfers for Son of the White Mare and János vitéz are new 4k restorations and the results are spectacular. Colors are nicely saturated, image clarity and black levels look solid and the image retains an organic look.

Audio: 5/5 (Son of the White Mare, János vitéz)

Son of the White Mare and János vitéz each come with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Hungarian. Both audio mixes are in excellent shape, dialog always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced and ambient sounds are well-represented. Both films come with removable English subtitles. 

Extras:

Extras for this release include U.S. theatrical trailer for Son of the White Mare (1 minute 50 seconds, DTS-HD mono Hungarian with English subtitles), an archival short titled The Making of János Vitéz (3 minutes 24 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Hungarian with English subtitles), an interview with director Marcell Jankovics titled Brighter Colors (33 minutes 42 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Hungarian with English subtitles), two shorts films: Sisyphus (2 minutes 22 seconds, DTS-HD mono Hungarian with English subtitles) and The Struggle (2 minutes 34 seconds, DTS-HD mono Hungarian with English subtitles), an Air Indian commercial Dream of Wings (8 minutes 43 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Hungarian with English subtitles) and feature film directed by Marcell Jankovics titled János vitéz (78 minutes 24 seconds, 1.37:1 Aspect Ratio / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC, DTS-HD mono Hungarian with English subtitles) and twenty-page booklet with an essay titled The Film That Stands Alone written by Charles Solomon, an essay titled Animation Art in Context: Feature Films of Marcell Jankovics written by Eleanor Cowen and information about the restoration/transfer.

Summary:

It’s not surprising that Son of the White Mare and János vitéz are paired for this release. Thematically both films have many similarities. Most notable how both films revolve around a protagonist who goes on a mythical journey.

That said, though there are many areas where Son of the White Mare and János vitéz overlap. Ultimately, Son of the White Mare is the stronger of the two films. Son of the White Mare has a stronger narrative and its visuals are more refined than János vitéz.

Both films do a superb job drawing viewers into their worlds. Also both films are overflowing with imagination and experimental filmmaking. And though animation has come a long way since these films inital releases. That does not take away from both films' potency. 

Arbelos Films give Son of the White Mare an extraordinary release that comes with a wealth of extra content, most notably János vitéz, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer