Why So Blu?

Film 

Mobius is a film I had no idea ever existed. I came across it when I was given the PR release for it and saw that it had actors that I really liked in it. Why wouldn’t I review it, right? Jean Duajrdin is a Russian FSB aka KGB agent who is on the case of an international money-laundering ring. Alice (Cecile De France) is a wunderkind derivatives dealer who is consulting in Monaco. She was basically given the boot in the U.S. due to her role in the, what is alluded to, Lehman Brothers collapse of 2008, which led to the great recession of our time. Tim Roth is powerful Russian oligarch Ivan Rostovsky who has his eyes set on Alice and her talents. If he she can do what she did and bet on futures and risky investments then why can’t she do that with Ivan’s money, too?

The trick in Mobius is to keep both eyes peeled, because not everyone is who they say they are. Dujardin’s character is Russian but a Frenchman plays him, Alice is technically American and is played by a Frenchwoman, and Ivan is a Russian played by an Englishman. This is in no way a distraction, because all three of these characters are given incredible amounts depth and you are shown why these nuances make sense in the context of the story.

The other star of Mobius that should be mentioned is the country of Monaco. Wow, is it ever beautiful, and the way the cinematography showcases the geography and scenery of the tiny country is really cool and immersive. It’s like I was there. From walking the streets, to going for a drive, to taking a hike, or even going for a swim – the world of Mobius is spectacular. Jean Dujardin as Moises is at the top of his game when it comes to work. He’s a highly decorated Russian agent who doesn’t mix business with pleasure no matter the assignment. This usual way of being doesn’t quite gel when he’s asked to tail Alice, unbeknownst to her, that he’s a special agent. Alice is a genius when it comes to the financials and the leverage of the uber-wealthy’s money and is very social savvy. She’s not a damsel in distress waiting for a savior to come and sweep her off of her feet.

Ivan Rostovsky is the paranoid billionaire who needs Alice to basically fund his wealth through various channels, so that it goes in dirty in one end, and comes out clean in the other, legitimizing Rostovsky’s assets and getting the law off of his back. I did enjoy how everyone navigated the various points through the storyline, which included man twists and turns but nothing that would bog the story down or make it “unbelievable.” The word Mobius is taken from the Mobius strip, which is: a surface with one continuous side formed by joining the ends of a rectangular strip after twisting one end through 180°. It’s a very clever title, because it makes perfect sense in the context of the story.

I don’t think Mobius received a theatrical release in the states and that’s unfortunate, because it’s a really good movie with stellar performances and a very cool story. Lionsgate has released this on Blu-ray and I think it’s worth tracking down. It’s not an overly complicated film but it does lend itself to classics of the past, most notably Notorious and Three Days of the Condor. If you’re into spy thrillers, romance thrillers, or espionage tales, then Mobius is right up your alley.

 

Video 

Encoding: AVC MPEG-4

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Clarity/Detail: The streets of Monaco are alive with the sound of wealth and power. Unfortunately, contrast fluctuations combined with bits of crush bring the rating down a bit; otherwise Mobius on Blu-ray looks damn stunning.

Depth: Daytime exteriors out and about are the real winners in Mobius as these scenes just leap out at the viewer. It just makes me want to fly out to Monaco. Then the cost of visiting hits me and I don’t want to go anymore. #ISTILLWANTOGO

Black Levels: For all the good things this transfer has I would have to say that the black levels do crush more often than not combined with subtle contrast fluctuations that I mentioned before.

Color Reproduction: The color wheel spins in favor of this great looking Blu-ray with a very natural palette, with no visible signs of boosting or banding.

Flesh Tones: There several instances of bare flesh and for all intents and purposes the exposed skin and not so exposed skin of those that keep their clothes on is great. Everyone has a natural and healthy complexion to him or her

Noise/Artifacts: I didn’t notice any anomalies present, with the minor exception to the scenes of crush that was mentioned earlier.

Audio 

Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish

Dynamics: Mobius is a dramatic thriller and the scenes of sharp violence contrast really well with the scenes of typical procedural work done by all of the agencies working together. Then, of course, we have the scenes of sex and the club, which serve to give you a reminder of what you’re watching.

Low Frequency Extension: There a couple scenes that take place in a trendy club and lounge that feature some stellar electronic music and man did it make me want to get up and get my groove on! The LFE channel during those scenes stole the show and solidified the reference level audio on this Blu-ray.

Surround Sound Presentation: The rear channels produced great ambient sounds along with some nice directional bits that never cluttered the soundscape.

Dialogue Reproduction: Mobius is primarily a dialogue driven film and it’s in several languages, so the fact that dialogue levels in everyone of those languages is a testament to the royal treatment it has received on the Blu-ray format.

Extras 

Mobius has quite a few interview segments with director Eric Rochant and the primary cast, which include: Jean Dujardin, Tim Roth, and Cecile De France. A short making of featurette and theatrical trailer are also included.

• The Making of Mobius – A Great Couple of Cinema (HD, 4:18) – Writer-director Eric Rochant talks about Jean Dujardin and Cecile De France and what they had to bring to the roles as rival operatives and lovers.
• An International Cast (HD, 3:59) – A short featurette focusing on the actors and their methods.
• The Mobius Ribbon (HD, 1:53) – What is a Mobius ribbon? This short featurette explains it all.
• Interview with Director Eric Rochant (HD, 18:54) – An extended interview segment where writer-director Eric Rochant goes into great detail on the genesis of Mobius. It’s a very fascinating and entertaining interview.
• Interview with Tim Roth (HD, 5:51) – Tim Roth discusses the methods he used while working on Mobius. Those methods differed slightly from the rest of the cast.
• Interview with Jean Dujardin (HD, 12:42) – A very funny and entertaining interview with Jean Dujardin as he goes into expect detail on what went on during filming. I forget that Jean Dujardin has a comedy background, so it’ somewhat jarring to see him talk about a non-comedic role while making jokes about a non-comedy.
• Interview with Cecile De France (HD, 3:51) – A very short interview with Cecile De France as she talks about what she had to bring to the table while filming Mobius. 
• Trailer (HD, 2:01) – Not the best trailer I’ve ever seen, which is unfortunate, because it does make the movie look like some DTV dreck. It’s not.

Summary 

Mobius was a pretty damn awesome film. It combined various elements of espionage, thriller, love story, and exotic locales and meshed them very well. The stellar ensemble cast work beautifully together in all of their respective native and non-native languages-roles. The Blu-ray has great video and an awesome audio track, yes, even for what some might call a “quiet” thriller. The special features are more than adequate as the interviews with the cast and director are fairly entertaining and not annoyingly static like they tend to be in most cases. Mobius is highly recommended!

Order Mobius on Blu-ray!