Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Passion – Entertainment One (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: France/Germany, 2012
Director: Brian De Palma
Writers: Brian De Palma, Natalie Carter, Alain Corneau
Cast: Rachel McAdams, Noomi Rapace, Karoline Herfurth, Paul Anderson, Dominic Raacke, Rainer Bock, Benjamin Sadler, Michael Rotschopf

Release Date: November 5th, 2013
Approximate Running Time: 101 Minutes 21 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: R
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 English, Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: OOP

"Brian De Palma returns to the sleek, sly, seductive territory of Dressed To Kill with an erotic corporate thriller fueled by sex, ambition, image, envy and the dark, murderous side of passion. At a Berlin ad agency, an outgoing American and her no-nonsense European colleague engage in an escalating personal and professional rivalry that quickly becomes a deadly power struggle." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Passion comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 20.6 GB

Feature: 18.3 GB

The source looks excellent; flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity, contrast, and black levels are solid, and compression is very good.

Audio: 5/5 (DTS-HD 5.1 English)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English and a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix in English. For this review I only listened to the DTS-HD 5.1 audio track. Also, there are a few dialog exchanges in German, and these come with hardcoded English subtitles. The DTS-HD 5.1 audio track sounds excellent; dialog is always clear, and everything sounds balanced and robust when it should. Included with this release are removable English SDH subtitles.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer (1 minute 51 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and an interview with director Brian De Palma and actresses Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace (7 minutes 4 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles).

Other extras include previews for other films released by Entertainment One.

Summary:

A rivalry between a protégé and her boss turns deadly when one of them is publicly humiliated by the other.

Filmmakers are drawn to some genres more than others, whether by choice or because they are pigeonholed. For me, the most exciting and entertaining for my money is the thriller genre. It is a genre that Alfred Hitchcock set the ground rules for and one that Brian De Palma has flourished in throughout his career. After a five-year break from directing, Brian De Palma returned last year with the erotic-charged thriller Passion, a film that finds its origins in a French thriller titled Crime d'amour.

Narrative-wise, things are straightforward; well, at least the first two acts are fairly conventional. That is until the pivotal final act comes around, and then things start to go awry. There is a shift from reality to a realm rooted in the darkest recesses of one's mind. The opening setup almost gives off the impression that this is a soap opera and not a murder mystery. To further reinforce the lack of danger early on, the moments that should signal that something big and important is about to happen are not fully taken advantage of. Keeping audiences engaged in a thriller is difficult once momentum is lost. That said, timing is everything.

There are two performances that stand out: Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), who portrays Isabelle James, an executive's protégé, and Karoline Herfurth (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer), who portrays Isabelle James’ assistant. These two characters serve a similar role; they are working under someone who they aspire to be, and yet internally they could not be more unalike. The most disappointing performance is Rachel McAdams's (The Notebook) portrayal of Christine Stanford, the manipulative boss whose character takes credit for Isabelle James's ideas. Her performance is too one-note.

Though there are areas where the narrative is lacking, when it comes to the visuals, Passion has all of the style that one has come to expect from a Brian De Palma film. Without giving away too much of what happens in the final act, there is a nightmarish quality to the events that unfold, which provides a deeply satisfying experience. Another area where Passion excels is Pino Donaggio’s (Carrie) superb score, which does a phenomenal job reinforcing the mood.

Since the dawn of the new millennium, Brian De Palma’s output has been spotty. Though these films still have moments that remind us of what Brian De Palma is capable of as a filmmaker, the only one that stands out is Femme Fatale. That said, despite its shortcomings, Passion is actually a very good thriller that fans of Brian De Palma should thoroughly enjoy.

Entertainment One gives Passion a solid audio/video presentation.








Written by Michael Den Boer

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