|
| Cold
Comfort Farm |
|
|
|
|
| . |
. |
| Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Eileen Atkins,
Sheila Russell, Stephen Fry, Freddie Jones, Joanna Lumley,
Ian McKellen, Miriam Margolyes, Rufus Sewell Directed by: John Schlesinger |
Theatrical Release: 1995
DVD Release: 2003
Released by: UniversalDolby Digital
2.0 Surround
Widescreen (anamorphic) |
| Other Eccentric Families on DVD Families who are different have been populating movies for a long
time. Many of the best movies about these lovable eccentric groupings have arrived on DVD.
Going back to 1938, Frank Capra directed a movie about the Sycamore family, You
Can’t Take It With You (***1/2, Columbia TriStar). It stars James Stewart as the
outsider who is taken home by the family’s only stable member, Jean Arthur, where he
meets zany Lionel Barrymore, Edward Arnold, and Ann Miller. The DVD transfer is crisp,
classic black and white.
One of the sleeper hits of the last decade was an
Australian film, The Castle (***, Miramax), which tells the story of the eccentric
Kerrigan clan. The family fights to keep its home: its "castle" next to an
airport that wants to absorb it. The video transfer is outstanding and the movie has many
deep laughs.
Paramount’s edition of The Addams Family (***)
has a funny cast, headed by the perfect Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston. Again, it's a fine
video transfer, with good 5.1 sound, too. One of the best things about this film is that
there’s an equally good sequel, Addams Family Values (***, Paramount), also on
DVD.
The most recent eccentric family on film is in The Royal
Tenenbaums (***1/2, Criterion). Patriarch Gene Hackman heads the Tenenbaum crew.
Anjelica Huston appears as an eccentric matriarch again, with the genius children played
by Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, and Ben Stiller. The DVD edition is almost as odd as the
movie, with its out-of-the-ordinary artwork and singular extras. The transfers are up to
Criterion’s usual high standards.
The Sycamores, the Kerrigans, the Addams, and the
Tenenbaums: all guaranteed to spice up your summer with lots of laughs.
...Rad Bennett
radb@hometheatersound.com |
|
|
In this film, Flora Poste (Kate Beckinsale), a prim and
proper young woman living in 1920s England, is suddenly left alone when her parents die.
She sends out letters to all her relatives outlining her problem and waits to see who
might answer. Her most challenging offer turns out to be the best: an invitation from
eccentric, distant relatives who live at Cold Comfort Farm. These gentle, fringe loonies
turn out to be dominated by a grandmother who has sequestered herself in a room that she
only leaves twice a year. Whenever she speaks, she recalls a childhood vision, and says,
"I saw something nasty in the woodshed. There have always been Starkadders at Cold
Comfort Farm."
This fearsome matriarch is determined that the Starkadder
family will stay there with her, but young Flora has other ideas. She helps each of the
eccentric family members to use his or her quirk as a talent to get away from the farm.
Cousin Amos, for instance, played with fire and gusto by Ian McKellen, has been a sometime
preacher at the Church of the Quivering Brethren where, in one of the more hilarious
scenes in this movie, the congregation literally shakes. Flora convinces Amos that if he
had a Ford truck he could go out into the world, carrying his message far and wide. She
then gets Elfine, the daughter who dances in the woods like a Theodora Duncan wood nymph,
to be noticed by the richest, most eligible bachelor in the valley. After getting other
family members to realize their worth, Flora turns her attentions to the old woman
herself.
This turning of seeming adversity into positive energy
raises Cold Comfort Farm far above its imitators. It is genuinely thrilling to see
these hapless folk succeed. It makes us think that maybe we can as well. The movie has
heart without sappiness, and displays humor without turning viscous or resorting to
overused self-deprecation.
The DVD has no extras beyond a trailer, but it boasts one
of the best anamorphic images in the catalog. Every aspect of the farm, gritty or
glorious, is revealed in vivid detail, and the color is luscious. Seldom has a green
forest seemed so inviting! The sound is first rate, too. It reproduces with great accuracy
every nuance of Robert Lockhart’s Stephen Sondheim-influenced score, as well as most
of the intricate dialogue. The best news of all is that this wonderful movie can be
obtained for less than 15 bucks. Universal originally put a $14.95 list price on it, but
it's usually discounted way below that. Recently Universal seems to have packaged the
movie with Casual Sex?, a far inferior film, for $19.98. It’s still a bargain
if you buy the duo and toss out the movie that is not Cold Comfort Farm.
Why has Universal gone to such lengths to unload this
movie? It probably hasn’t sold, but that’s because no one knows about it, and
one of my privileges as editor of this review section is to be able to discover and point
out unsung masterpieces. This is one such instance: a film worthy of a director who once
won the Academy Award for Midnight Cowboy. |
