De Palma & De Niro: The Early Films – Arrow Video (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Dates: USA, 1968 (Greetings), USA, 1969 (The Wedding Party), USA, 1970 (Hi, Mom!)
Directors: Brian De Palma (All Films), Wilford Leach, Cynthia Munroe (The Wedding Party)
Cast: Jonathan Warden, Robert De Niro, Gerrit Graham (Greetings), Charles Pfluger, Jill Clayburgh, William Finley, Robert De Niro, Judy Thomas, Jennifer Salt (The Wedding Party), Charles Durning, Robert De Niro, Allen Garfield, Lara Parker, Jennifer Salt, Paul Bartel, Gerrit Graham (Hi, Mom!)

Release Date: December 3rd, 2018 (UK), December 11th, 2018 (USA)
Approximate Running Times: 87 Minutes 24 Seconds (Greetings), 91 Minutes 48 Seconds (The Wedding Party), 86 Minutes 31 Seconds (Hi, Mom!)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Greetings, Hi, Mom!), 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (The Wedding Party)
Rating: 18 (UK), R (USA)
Sound: LPCM Mono English (All Films)
Subtitles: English SDH (All Films)
Region Coding: Region A,B
Retail Price: OOP

"In 1963, Robert De Niro stepped in front of a movie camera for the first time. The resulting film, a low-budget black and white comedy called The Wedding Party, would take three years to complete, and another three years to be released, but it would also establish a hugely important working relationship for the aspiring actor. One of the filmmakers, long before he became synonymous with suspense thanks to Carrie, Dressed to Kill and other classics, was Brian De Palma. He and De Niro would team up again in the next few years for two more comedies, both with a countercultural bent.

Greeting is a freewheeling satire focusing on a trio of twentysomething friends – a conspiracy theorist, a filmmaker, and a voyeur played by De Niro – as they try to avoid the Vietnam War draft. Hi, Mom!, originally named Son of Greetings, returns to De Niro’s voyeur, now an aspiring maker of adult films, for another humorous glimpse at late-sixties society, this time turning its attentions to experimental theatre, cinéma vérité, the African American experience, and the white middle classes." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.75/5 (Greetings), 4.5/5 (The Wedding Party), 4.25/5 (Hi, Mom!)

Here’s the information provided about Greetings' and The Wedding Party's transfers, "The Wedding Party and Greetings have been exclusively restored by Arrow Films for this release.

The Wedding Party is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1 [sic] with mono audio. The original 35mm camera negative element was scanned in 2K resolution on a 4K Arriscan at OCN Labs, CT. The film was graded on Digital Vision's Nucoda Film Master and restored at R3Store Studios in London.

All materials for this restoration were made available by Troma Entertainment Inc.

Greetings is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with mono audio. An original 35mm camera internegative element was scanned in 2K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director at EFilm, Burbank. The film was graded on Digital Vision's Nucoda Film Master and restored at R3Store Studios in London.

All materials for this restoration were made available by Charles Hirsch and Academy Film Service."

Greetings and The Wedding Party come on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45.7 GB

Feature: 19 GB (Greetings), 20.8 (The Wedding Party)

Though Greetings is the weakest of the three transfers, it is still by far and away the best it has ever looked on home video. Some minor source debris remains, and grain remains intact, albeit at times it looks thick. Colors look correct, image clarity and black levels are strong, and compression is solid.

The Wedding Party looks great; image clarity and compression are solid, and contrast and black levels are strong throughout.

Here’s the information provided about Hi, Mom!'s transfer, "Hi, Mom! has been exclusively restored by Arrow Films for this release and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with mono audio. An original 35mm interpositive element was scanned in 2K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director at EFilm, Burbank. The film was graded on Digital Vision's Nucoda Film Master and restored at R3Store Studios in London.

All materials for this restoration were made available by MGM."

Hi, Mom! comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 28.2 GB

Feature: 25.5 GB

Hi, Mom! looks great; image clarity and compression are solid, contrast and black levels are strong throughout. That said, grain is more pronounced in the black and white sequences.

Audio: 4/5 (All Films)

Each film comes with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix in English, and all films come with removable English SDH. All audio tracks sound clean, clear, and balanced. Range-wise, all audio tracks are satisfactory.

Extras:

Extras on disc one include Greetings press book (4 images), an interview with screenwriter/producer Charles Hirsch titled Charles Hirsch on Greetings (11 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with film critic and filmmaker Howard S. Berger titled Brian De Palma: Early Years (11 minutes 41 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and an audio commentary for Greetings with Glenn Kenny, author of Robert De Niro: Anatomy of an Actor.

Extras on disc two include a theatrical trailer for Hi, Mom! (1 minute 54 seconds, LPCM mono English, no subtitles), and an interview with Charles Hirsch titled Charles Hirsch on Hi, Mom! (9 minutes 38 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles).

Other extras include reversible cover art (Greetings on the front cover and The Wedding Party on the inside cover), reversible cover art for Hi, Mom! (inside cover art original poster art), a 44-page booklet with cast & crew information for The Wedding Party and Greetings, an essay titled A Life in Cinema, A Cinema in Life written by Brad Stevens, an essay titled Before the Revolution written by Chris Dumas, an essay titled The Director as Superstar: Brian De Palma written by Joseph Gelbis and information about the transfers, and a 20-page booklet with cast & crew information for Hi, Mom!, an essay titled American Godard written by Christina Newland and information about the transfer.

Summary:

“No, I think the basic influence was Godard, mainly because the Godardian manner had a lot of influence on Greetings and Hi, Mom!, going out in the street, improvising. Except we didn’t do so much improvising ultimately because we rehearsed everything so much, and we just didn’t have enough film to improvise. When you figure it all out, the most expensive thing in Greetings was the stock, and getting it processed. But that spontaneity, telling stories that are happening to you politically at the time, the people who are your friends, that you went to college with, stuff like that. I’d say Godard was the most influential. And plus he had this very stunning visual style, and was full of ideas.” - Brian De Palma

Greetings: Three friends try to avoid the Vietnam draft.

Greetings revolves around three friends: Jon Rubin (Robert De Niro), a peeping tom who wants to become a filmmaker; Lloyd Clay (Gerrit Graham), a conspiracy theorist who’s obsessed with John F. Kennedy’s assassination; and Paul Gerald Shaw (Jonathan Warden), a serial dater who uses a computer dating service.

Brian De Palma is one of Hollywood’s most controversial directors; several of his films have pushed the envelope. Throughout his career he has battled with the MPAA over content, and, in many instances, he was forced to alter his vision, while many of his peers were able to get away with things that he was punished for. Though Brian De Palma is most known for his Hitchcock-like thrillers, he initially began his career primarily working in the comedy genre. That said, comedy played a significant role in his first five feature films: The Wedding Party, Greetings, Murder à la Mod, Hi, Mom!, and Get to Know Your Rabbit.

Brian De Palma, even at this early stage of his career, has already developed a strong visual style—bold pastel title screens, sped-up motion, time-lapse photography, jump cuts, and partially masked lenses. Many of these camera techniques he still uses and has refined through the years. He also was the editor of Greetings, and his lightning-fast cuts help capture the chaotic mood of the late 1960s. Another strength of composer Eric Kaz’s score that perfectly captures the counterculture vibe of Greetings.

With Greetings, Brian De Palma takes advantage of his lack of budget as he uses the streets of New York to his fullest advantage. Greetings achieves its documentary feel through the actors improvising their dialog and their lack of knowledge of how to play to the camera. All three leads, Robert De Niro, Gerrit Graham, and Jonathan Warden, have little or no experience making movies. The lack of screen presence from the three leads actually helps the film give a gritty realism. One of Brian De Palma’s strongest attributes as a filmmaker is his ability to take controversial material and turn it into a satire. Uneven at times, Greetings is a fascinating look at late 1960s culture.

The Wedding Party: In the days leading up to his wedding, a groom gets cold feet.

So much of why The Wedding Party works revolves around the groom’s indecision. Though the premise is well-executed and the narrative presents the events that unfold in a conventional way. That said, The Wedding Party is a film that is more influenced by avant-garde cinema than by mainstream cinema. The influence of avant-garde cinema is most felt in the way sound is used and the way editing manipulates images

Most of the performances are serviceable. The most memorable performance is Judy Thomas’ portrayal of a wallflower named Celeste. Notable cast members include Jill Clayburgh (An Unmarried Woman) in the role of the bride, Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver) in the role of one of the groomsmen, and Brian De Palma regulars Jennifer Salt (Sisters) and William Finley (Phantom of the Paradise).

The production company's bankruptcy prevented The Wedding Party from being officially released until 1969, despite being filmed in 1963. Though this is the first feature film that Brian De Palma directed, to compare The Wedding Party to his other films would be unfair, since he was one of three co-directors.

Hi, Mom!: Vietnam veteran Jon Rubin has developed a peeping tom fetish since returning to New York. He watches his neighbors with his recently acquired camera. Joe Banner is a producer of pornographic films. Jon convinces him to finance a film about the sex lives of his neighbors. A falling out with Joe Banner leads Jon to an unlikely collaboration with one of his neighbors, Gerrit Wood, an avant-garde artist and an extremist Black Power organization. Has Jon found what he’s been looking for, or has he gone off the deep end?

By the late 1960s, the studio in Hollywood was on its last legs, and several ambitious filmmakers decided it was time to push the envelope. During this period of his career, Brian De Palma's cinema was heavily influenced by new French directors like Jean-Luc Godard and the films of Alfred Hitchcock. There are several similarities in Hi, Mom! that trace back to the cinema of Alfred Hitchcock. Jon Rubin likes L. B. Jefferies in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Both characters like to explore their voyeuristic side through the lens of a camera as they watch their neighbor's every move.

Hi, Mom! like most of De Palma’s earliest films, it is overflowing with biting dark humor and a distrust of authority. No scene in Brian De Palma’s filmography epitomizes subversive humor and distrust of authority more than Be Black Baby!. These are a series of black-and-white scenes in Hi, Mom! that revolve around a theater troupe who subject a white audience to what it is like to be Black. The main focus of the narrative is Jon Rubin’s obsession with filming his neighbors sexual habits.

Where Greetings relied heavily on improvising, Hi, Mom! has a more defined narrative structure. Visually Hi, Mom! has more experimentation than its predecessor when it comes to camera techniques. Robert De Niro returns in the role of Jon Rubin, and this time around he delivers a more fleshed-out performance. Eric Kaz delivers another solid score that is in line with his score for Greetings. Ultimately, Hi, Mom! is a film that perfectly captures the mood of the late 1960s, and it is also a showcase for the talents of Brian De Palma and Robert De Niro before they became household names.

De Palma & De Niro: The Early Films is an excellent release that gives each film strong audio/video presentations and informative extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer