Indie distributor A24 continues their hot streak with two of 2018's best films, Paul Schrader's First Reformed and Ari Aster's Hereditary. Both films are now on Blu-ray in North America and we took a look at the releases below
In Paul Schrader's First Reformed, Reverend Toller (Ethan Hawke) minister's to his small congregation at a local historical church while attempting to cope with the loss of his son and his marriage. He soon finds himself having an acute crisis of faith when he's called in to help counsel the husband of one of his congregants who finds the world to be to painful to bear. The more he digs into this man's story, the more his faith begins to crumble, until it's all he can do to keep getting up in the morning and fighting the good fight. When his church's reconsecration ceremony turns into a corporate and political free-for-all, Toller's faith is all but gone. Can anyone help him?
Paul Schrader is one of my favorite filmmakers, his Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is an avant-garde masterpiece, and his work on films like Cat People, Hardcore, and writing for Taxi Driver are unmistakably brilliant. With First Reformed, he attempts to create a film about faith and the challenges of maintaining one's faith in the face of horrendous pain and strife. Schrader frames the film in a claustrophobic 1.37:1 aspect ratio, both mirroring the look of those great films by De Sica and Bresson, as well as defining the mise-en-scene in much the same physical shape of the small chapel that is his salvation.
Hawke's performance is one of intense power, he's given multiple unwieldy mouthfuls of monologue in voiceover that are part of his character's journal that he manages to make sound natural in spite of their arcane grammar. He's ably supported by Amanda Seyfried as the pregnant woman who called him in to help her husband, and Cedric the Entertainer in a surprisingly effective dramatic turn as the leader of a mega church that sponsors Rev. Toller's relic. All of the performances work wonderfully, but without Hawke's complete dedication to his character, First Reformed would feel very trite.
A filmmaker from the old school genre world, it would be a surprise if Schrader didn't add a bit of fire to First Reformed, and he does in the form of a violence crisis of faith that threatens to explode, both literally and figuratively, all over the film. Rev. Toller's deteriorating faith turns violent in an attempt to regain the moral high ground and atone for all the bad done in the world, but it doesn't quite work out the way he wanted it to. The finale is an exceptional and ambiguous series of images and feelings that leaves the audience to make up their own minds.
The Disc:
A24's Blu-ray looks and sounds great. Those averse to the 1.37:1 aspect ratio might be irritated, but it is what the film demands, so suck it up. Schrader's palette is subtle, with only one great scene of visual flourish, but the toen is handled well and the colors, fine detail, and grain structure all look great.
There aren't many extras listed for the film, but the ones that are present are excellent. First up is the featurette Discernment: Contemplating First Reformed, a fifteen minute EPK style set of interviews that gives a viewer a feel for the making of the film and some of the decisions made on screen. Decent, but not a knockout. The other extra, however, is exceptional. We get a feature length audio commentary from Schrader in which he discusses the 'why's and 'how's of First Reformed in great and humble detail. Not only are we privy to his process in regards to everything from casting to set design, we also get incredible thematic insights into the film and where it came from in his mind. He's a wonderful speaker and incredibly knowledgeable, making this a must listen commentary, one of the best I've heard from a filmmaker on his own work. Astounding.
Bursting out of Sundance 2018 to choruses of 'scariest film ever' and 'the next The Exorcist, rookie director Ari Aster's Hereditary had a lot to live up to when it hit theaters earlier this summer. I was fortunate to see the film at an advance screening to review it for Screen Anarchy, and here's what I thought at the time:
Ari Aster's Hereditary is an emotionally devastating family thriller, a terrifying supernatural mystery, and one hell of a complex horror film. This is the kind of film that builds tension for every one of its one-hundred-twenty-seven minutes, and when that dam finally bursts, floods the audience with the kind of traumatic revelations that will haunt them all the way home. It's one of the best horror films in recent memory, and the kind of film that will have critics and analysts sparring for decades to come. Hereditary is amazing.
Annie Graham (Toni Colette) is an acclaimed artist suddenly thrust into mourning when her estranged mother passes away. The two were never terribly close, but they share enough traumatic history that Annie's grief reverberates through her family unit. The four of them, husband Steve (Gabriel Byrne), son Peter (Alex Wolff), and daughter Charlie (Milly Shapiro), live a relatively common life in a home in the woods. A home that will soon play host to a number of strange goings-on that threaten to tear the Graham family apart in a way that is as psychologically gory as any slasher.
Since releasing to cinemas, the merits of the film have been debated by those who feel about it the same way that Sundance audiences (and I) did, and those who find it either too derivative or nonsensical to be scary. I suspect those conversations will continues for years to come, but I don't expect Hereditary to complete fade from the spotlight anytime soon, and that's the mark of a quality film.
The Disc:
Hereditary looks and sounds great on Blu-ray. The format effectively replicates the theatrical experience in terms of audio and visual elements, with the bold color palette swinging wildly from cold looks to incredibly warm depending on the needs of the moment. Fine detail is remarkable, which is especially important given the nature of Colette's character's miniature artwork and the degree to which it is featured in the film. The sound design and use of the full field of sound was an incredibly important part of the film's atmosphere in the theater and this Blu-ray does a great job recreating the experience.
There are only a few small bonus features on this disc, though I expect that at some time in the not too distant future, this title may be revisited with further context added. We get a behind the scenes featurette with interviews of the filmmaker, producer, and performers that is interesting, but not terribly detailed at less than a half an hour. There are also a few deleted/extended scenes included that don't really add much to the film and aren't missed.
Hereditary is one of the best films of the year and this is a solid way to see it for yourself.