Some Call It Loving – Etiquette Pictures (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1973
Director: James B. Harris
Writer: James B. Harris
Cast: Zalman King, Carol White, Tisa Farrow, Richard Pryor, Veronica Anderson, Logan Ramsey, Brandy Herred, Ed Rue, Pat Priest, Joseph DeMeo

Release Date: July 14th, 2015
Approximate running time: 103 Minutes 3 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: OOP

"In this modern day re-imagining of Sleeping Beauty, a disillusioned musician named Robert (Zalman King) obtains a carnival act from a sleazy carny and brings home a young girl (Tisa Farrow) who has been asleep for many years. After bringing her to his secluded castle and awakening her with a kiss, Robert tries to introduce her to his strange and magical world, but as their relationship develops Jennifer begins to pine for a life that is more complex than Robert can offer." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Some Call It Loving was completely scanned & restored in the USA by Etiquette Pictures artists. The picture was scanned in 2K on an Arriscan, from the original 35mm camera negative. Kodak's Digital ICE technology was used to detect & remove thousands of small dirt & dust hits during the scanning process. The image was then manually restored using the digital restoration suite PFClean. Color grading was performed on DaVinci Resolve 11."

Some Call It Loving comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 29 GB

Feature: 21.7 GB

The source used for this transfer is in great shape. Flesh tones and colors look correct, black levels are strong, compression is solid, and the image always looks organic. Also, though image clarity is strong, there is an intended soft focus look to the visuals.

Audio: 4/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English with removable English SDH. The audio is in great shape; there are no issues with hiss or distortion. Dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well represented. That said, things can sound limited at times.

Extras:

Extras for this release include outtake footage (15 minutes 55 seconds, with audio commentary by director James B. Harris), interview with James B. Harris titled Some Call it History (6 minutes 52 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an interview with cinematographer Mario Tosi titled A Dream So Real (8 minutes 27 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with James B. Harris and moderator Sam Prime, reversible cover art, and an eight-page booklet with an essay titled This Order Functions Quite Differently From Most Orders written by Kevin John Bozelk, and information about the transfer. 

Included with this release is a DVD that has the same content as the Blu-ray included as part of this combo release.

Summary:

Some Call It Loving was written and directed by James B. Harris, a filmmaker who first rose to prominence because of his collaborations with Stanley Kubrick. He produced three films with Kubrick: The Killing, Paths of Glory, and Lolita. In 1965, he would make his directorial debut with the film The Bedford Incident. Key collaborators on Some Call It Loving include cinematographer Mario Tosi (Carrie 1976 version, The Stunt Man) and composer Richard Hazard (Nickelodeon). The screenplay for Some Call It Loving was adapted from a short story titled ‘Sleeping Beauty, written by John Collier.

The narrative revolves around a lonely jazz musician who becomes enamored with a sleeping beauty exhibit at a carnival. He was unable to get her off his mind and was not willing to play the game of buying a kiss with her for one dollar. The jazz musician makes the owner of the exhibit a monetary offer he can’t refuse. From there, the jazz musician takes the young woman home, and shortly there, she awakens from her slumber. Now awake, will she be everything his heart desires, or has he set himself up for something that is unattainable?

Love is so much more than a four-letter word. Throughout the history of cinema, countless filmmakers have tried their hands at trying to capture the essence of what love is. The majority of these depictions come off as nothing more than superficial fluff.

Also, whenever a film comes along that does not conform to what is considered the normal way of telling a story cinematically, there are those who quickly define such films as bizarre, or even worse, call said films incomprehensible. Case is point; Some Call It Loving!

Though Some Call It Loving employs elements from the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ persona, the end result is something that transcends the original source material and any other inspirations. At the heart of Some Call it Loving is an exploration of love and how one's viewpoint of said love can become distorted.

One of Some Call it Loving's greatest strengths is the way it presents its subject matter in a dream-like fashion. In a perfect world, everyone would not only find love; they would also find their romanticized version of love. Besides love, Some Call It Loving does a remarkable job exploring the other end of the spectrum, loneliness.

Cast in the role of the protagonist is Zalman King, who is most remembered for his contributions to erotic cinema as a filmmaker in The Red Shoes Diaries and Two Moon Junction. He delivers an utterly convincing performance, which makes his character's fate all the more resonate. Other notable cast members include Tisa Farrow (Zombie) in the role of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and Richard Pryor (The Mack, Car Wash) in the role of drug addict.

From a production point of view, there is not any area where Some Call It Loving excels and then some. The first-rate visuals are filled with a tremendous amount of atmosphere. Pacing is never an issue, as the narrative moves along briskly from one moment to the next. Another strength of Some Call It Loving is the use of Nat King Cole’s ‘The Very Thought of You’. Ultimately, Some Call It Loving is an extraordinary film that has for far too long languished in obscurity.

It is a shame that Etiquette Pictures only released four films since all their releases were excellent. Some Call It Loving gets a solid release from Etiquette Pictures that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and insightful extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer