Why So Blu?

Le Quattro Volte (Blu-ray Review)

Le Quattro Volte (The Four Times) is a peculiar little film from the folks over at Kino Lorber. I was initially a little skeptical about taking the job of reviewing it, because when it was initially described to me by another reviewer, it didn’t quite do anything for me. Then I decided to do a little bit of research and five minutes later I was ready to do it! Yes, the film is a foreign one, Italian, but considering it takes place in the Italian countryside, I knew it would look damn good.  How was the film and Blu-ray, you ask? Let me tell you… 

 

Film

Le Quattro Volte (The Four Times) is the story of reincarnation. We watch as the soul of an old goat herder is transported from human to animal to vegetable to mineral. Yeah, that’s a pretty unbelievable thing to take it all at once, but I’ll go ahead and let you take it in before I continue…

You ready? We follow an old goat herder as he goes on with his day tending to the goats in the Italian mountainous region of Calabria. He is not well as he develops a cough that gets progressively worse as time goes on. Through the magic of filmmaking we will be transported three more times as the proverbial circle of life continues on.

Le Quattro Volte is such a weird little film, but not in a weird way, if that makes sense. I mean, I know what the film is about, and I know what it’s trying to say, but maybe due to the lack of dialogue it comes off more like a documentary than an actual film…even though this is NOT a documentary, but an ACTUAL film. You still with me? Le Quattro Volte has no voice over or dialogue whatsoever. Sure, you can hear the villagers chatter in the background, but none of the characters that appear onscreen ever say anything. It’s like the viewer has become the fly the on the wall. We watch as events unfold with no sense of time.

There is one scene with a very tenacious dog that plays out as if it were not scripted. It made me laugh quite a bit, because it comes off very natural. The camera placement during that scene also helps the authenticity level a bit.

It’s not until the very last frame of the film that we really understand what it all meant, but even then, some may still not understand what it was all about. Maybe that was its purpose? Le Quattro Volte is a slow burn of a film, so that may turn some people off, but to those that want something unique I would highly suggest a viewing.

Video

Le Quattro Volte is presented in 1080p, 1.85:1, widescreen. Set in the lush Italian countryside this Blu-ray should be one of the titles that highlight what the format can do. It almost succeeds, but not quite. This is not to say that Le Quattro Volte doesn’t look great on Blu-ray, because it does. There are lush valleys and green pastures all around, but I felt that the color was not pumped up as much as it should have been. Maybe the contrast levels were too bright, so they countered each other? Skin tones look natural, or as natural as they can with regards to a sickly old man. Sharpness levels are fine and there is a nice layer of grain throughout the presentation. If the colors had been boosted just a smudge, I have no doubt that this would have been a video reference disc.

Audio

Le Quattro Volte is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1. This is one of those titles that cannot be rated in terms of how dialogue sounded, because there isn’t any. The lossless track is more than adequate, because it doesn’t overwhelm the viewer at all. Unless you count the goats. At times I felt like I was the goatherder. During some scenes the goats envelope the room and you can hear them yacking about as their bells clang. It’s a better than average soundtrack.

Special Features

C’mon, a trailer and a still gallery do not cut it.

• Theatrical Trailer
• Still Gallery

Final Thoughts 

Le Quattro Volte will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but that’s still no excuse to check it out. It’s a very unique little film and the Italian scenery will do the soul some good. The Blu-ray has great video and audio, but they really skimped on the extras. A little bit of insight could could have propelled the score even higher, but oh well.

 

 

Order Le Quattro Volte on  Blu-ray!